10-6-16 - Heat Escape - Day 56

                                                                    Beautiful start to the day

Our plan was to ride to Durango today.  We waited for the temperature to warm up, we packed our picnic lunch, and  left around 11 am, Unfortunately, we were calling HOG, (Harley Owners Group,) for a tow truck a few minutes later.  Amber ran hot.

Luckily, we had good phone service, was in town, and had a big pull off area.  The SWAT team arrived, AKA Southwest Area Tow, Lauren and the tow guy got Amber loaded up, and away we went to Four Corners Harley Davidson.  Along the ride in the SWAT team tow truck, we saw the real deal, San Juan SWAT.  Glad we didn't need their service.

                                                                 Real deal swat team

                                                            Four Corners HD

The dealership took Amber right in, fixed her up, took her on a test ride, and cleaned her up within an hour and 45 minutes of arriving.  Awesome service from Four Corners Harley Davidson!!!!!

Our plans changed for the Durango ride today.  We decided go to Lake Navajo State Park.  Another beautiful lake.  It was cooler today and the temps were dropping, so we layered up for our ride back to camp.

We left the windows open when we left.  When we returned we could hear Fernykat meowing loudly as soon as we turned off the key.  It was on!! She was lovey dovey (which is unusual for her), she got her treats that she demanded, and was holding her head up at the door wanting her leash on to go outside.  She checked out the brush on the sandy hillside and dug in the sand.  \We finally got the  Fernykat approval for this campground.

The temperatures continued to drop so we are inside.  The Northwest New Mexico Plateau is under a freeze warning tonight.   This is a little cooler than we wanted for our heat escape.

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/4x2EyHa4tYB5kxMMA

10-5-16 - Heat Escape - Day 55

                                                             we are in a big city, lol

We had 2 blankets and the comforter on the bed last night. The 30'ish temperatures had Fernykat in the bed with us.  I woke up this morning and realized that we have electricity, a heater unit over our bed, and we were all cuddled up trying to keep warm.  I guess we have been dry docking too long.

We were ready for a take it easy kind of day.  We got on Amber around noon and rode to Four Corners Harley Davidson.  We saw 2 Walmarts, a Sam' Club, and all kind of other retail shops and restaurants before we got to the HD dealership.  it's been a while since we have been in a big city, as Julianna would say, "We are back in civilization".

We stopped at the visitor center at Farmington and received a lot of  helpful information of things to do in this area.  We decided to go to the River Nature Trail.  It was a really nice trail on the Animas River with a great Veteran's Memorial.  We were overdressed for hiking, so we took a few pictures and plan to return for a longer visit.

We went to Aztec National Monument.  It was a really impressive national monument.  We took the back roads on the way back to camp.

Our take it kind of easy day ride was about 6 hours long.  Can't help but ride with the temperatures in the 60's on a beautiful sunny day.

                                               hard to capture a sunset in the city

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/nHMZ8h3AoGLfguxD9

10-4-16 - Heat Escape - Day 54

                                                               Bye Bye

The wind finally quit howling during the night.  We woke up to a cool, sunny, 39 degrees.

 We were sad to leave the beautiful Lees Ferry area, but it was time for our next adventure.  It was a beautiful day to relocate.

A couple hours after we left, we were looking for a place to pull over and have our picnic lunch.  The first convenient place was in Kayenta, Arizona.  It was in a parking lot near Church's Fried Chicken.  No need for a sandwich, when you got hot fried chicken.  Dang it was good.

We traveled 226 miles to Homestead RV Park in Kirtland, New Mexico.   The campground is owned by the Mayor of Kirtland.  Jenny is the campground host, we really enjoyed talking to her.  She is a hoot and a half.  The campsites are crowded but they have everything we need, and then some, including direct TV.  The laundry room is the best we have ever seen in a campground.

                                                                Kinda tight

                                                                   Fantastic laundry

Fernykat is so happy she can drink running water.  (She thinks her drinking bowl of water is to play in).  I have to psyche her out when dry docking by pouring water in her bowl at the sink for her to drink. She has explored outside and given her ??? approval.

The cool air sent  us inside. We are watching Animal Planet with the heater on.  (Obviously, we don't really need the Direct TV).  This will be our home for the next week.


Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/7KmDJRk1UAfYp1jL9

10-3-16 - Heat Escape - Day 53

                                                                 Good Morning

We had a rough time getting sleep last night in the howling wind.  The camper rocked and rolled in the gusty wind.  Several times, I thought the back of the camper was going to pass the front end of the camper.  I bet it was really rough for those that were in tents.

We decided to get up early this morning, take the 45 mile ride to Page, and check out the lower Antelope Canyon Tour.  We are not use to waking up and moving fast.  We boiled some water for coffee, (because it was too early to run the generator to make a pot of coffee,) ate an egg sandwich, and grabbed a hat.

We had our hopes that the canyon tour would not be busy.  It wasn’t.  We were able to book the second tour at 8:40 am. We were in a group of 10 with our tour guide, Cody.  He was very knowledgeable about the canyon.  He said the best time to take the tour was in the morning on a cloudy day.  We had both.  He told us that very few Americans take the tour.  There was us and one more in our group.  Cody took his time and took several pictures of us together, although we had to take us some usies. 

                                                         waiting our turn

The slot canyon was amazing.  We walked across in the vast, dull, desert to the entrance of the canyon.  Pretty darn boring until we got to the ladder at the entrance.  Words nor pictures can demonstrate the beauty of the canyon.  It's something you have to experience for yourself.  This is not a place for a claustrophobic person.  The canyon was so narrow at times that you could hardly squeeze through.  At times sand will blow down from the top of the canyon, I was glad I had my Tilley hat on to block the sand.

The hour tour in the canyon felt like just a few minutes.  We were sad when we got to the end and climbed out.   The views of the canyon mellowed me out.  It brought me to such a peaceful place that words cannot describe.

                                                             We made it out

We did a few chores in town then hiked the River Trail across the road from the campground in the howling wind.  Lauren was rushing through the trail to hurry up and get out of the wind until we got to the end of the trail and saw 4 Big Horn Sheep ewes   All 4 got up on a boulder and were posing, when I saw the 5^th sheep, a Ram.  This is the first adult ram we have seen that was not in captivity.  

The 5 beauties posed as long as we wanted to take their pictures.  Oh and by the way, the water and cliffs surrounding them was also beautiful.

We came back cooked ranch crappie as the wind continued to howl.  We had a gorgeous sunset with a sliver of a moon and Venus shining brightly.

We have the electric heater on tonight under our generator power.  Time to crawl under the blankets.  Tomorrow will be moving day, if the wind slows.

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/uN6M8gMHjV8dXXRX7

10-2-16 - Heat Escape - Day 52

                                                                         On the road

We planned to hike Horseshoe Bend and The Lower Antelope Canyon today.  Our plans changed when we saw the people at both.

We didn't even slow down when we saw the people at Horseshoe Bend.  We had hiked there 5 years ago with hardly anyone there.  Been there, done that, so we continued on to Antelope Canyon.

When we got to the canyon, there was a long line of cars waiting to get in, we decided to ride around Lake Powell for a few hours and come back.

We went to Lone Rock and checked out the campers on the sandy beach.  We saw one car that was bogged down in the sand.  We aren't planning on taking our camper there.  Although, the car that was bogged down was off the beaten path.

                                                                          Campground

                                                              camp on the beach

                                                               the car that got stuck

We went to Wahweap  for our picnic lunch.  We were the only ones at the picnic area, although it was like a freeway of  campers arriving across the road to the campground.  We enjoyed our nice, quiet, gorgeous view of the lake while we ate our lunch.

We went back to the Antelope Canyon and was told there was a 2 hour wait.  We decided to go to Antelope Point on Lake Powell.  It was another beautiful place.  It is one of the prettiest marinas we have ever seen.

                                                           walkway/road to the marina

We had a windy ride back to camp, but at least the temperatures was in the 70's.  The last mile before our turn to Lees Ferry Road, the wind was a strong, side ways, steady gust.  Glad the wind wasn't that bad for the whole 45 mile ride back.

We decided tonight was the night.  We would go to Navajo  Bridge  and look for California Condors.  Lauren wanted to check out a boon docking site, so we passed by the bridge and went exploring in the truck.  After a few miles, he looked on Google Maps and we were on the wrong road.  It was a very unique secluded road, just the wrong one,

We got to the condor viewing area, walked about half way of the bridge, and saw a pair of condors under the bridge.  We stayed there for about an hour watching them jump, fly, and perch in the cliff.

                                                           California Condors

We got lucky again.  We have seen 4 condors in this area.  We have been there and done that.

We will try for Antelope Canyon again tomorrow.  Wonder if it will happen or not!

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/ubuSfMsvQMCN8umQ6