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Volcano Trails hike
Like so much of the country, Albuquerque is in a record setting heat wave. So we left early for our hike, and found one close to where we are parked. We hiked the Volcano Trail in the Petroglyphs National Monument early in the morning. The three dormant volcanoes (JA, Black and Vulcan) we walked around or over are about 130,000 years old
This hike is in the open sun, no shade. It is 3.2 miles long and we had an elevation gain of around 500 ft. Most of it was packed sand and gravel, some pretty rough rocks and steep. We had some great panoramic views, especially from the top of Black. Normally you’d have a great view of Albuquerque, but the heat haze limited visibility somewhat.
We noticed some interesting plants, including a plant that looked dead but had pretty purple flowers….. and in the same plant yellow berries. These are silverleaf nightshades, also known as desert berries.
Finally, on the road
So we’ve sat out almost 1 1/2 years with COVID. Although we did make it to the west coast last year, most of the time it was in quarantine and social distancing. Now, fully vaccinated, we finally hit the road for real.
The first day was fr m Waxahachie to Quanah, where we spent two nights in the Old Town Cotton Gin RV park. Two nights because we can only get one night in Amarillo. Lack of park capacity will be a problem this year.
It wasn’t easy though, the “feels like” temperature in Quanah was 112F. Fortunately our AC handled it without too much of an issue. We decided to eat out but could only find one restaurant open in all of Quanah, called Dutch’s Cafe. It was nicer inside than outside, with a Texas atmosphere, and the food was OK. Good thing as it was the only option in the whole town.
First hike of 2021
We’ve now arrived in Albuquerque, and there are many hiking trails. Our first hike was in the Petrogliph National Monument. An easy trail, just over two miles, and the chance to admire some ancient Native People artwork. Very interesting.
The whole central US is in a heat wave, many places setting all time highs. True for ABQ as well, temps well over 100, so we went early in the morning. It’s a time of day we like anyway so that came out just fine.
We’re baaaaack!
So I left my blog to go to Facebook. After trying it for some 6 months I have decided to go back to my blog. Facebook is just too full of negativity, especially about politics. Most posts are just “shares” and contain at best misconstrued statements, but much of it is just plain inflammatory. You can see the influence of organizations unfriendly to the United States. I truly think many people who share these posts do so thinking they are sharing opinions when in reality they are being manipulated.
Oh well, from now on we’re back on the blog. I may still post on FB sometimes but this will be my main social platform.
End of the blog
I’ve enjoyed writing this blog for the many years now. And of the many comments and discussions I’ve had from readers. But it is getting more difficult to maintain, and somewhat redundant because of the other social media we use. So this will be the last entry.
You can still follow us on Facebook. Just look for John Laninga and Romola Laninga and you will find us. Friend us and we will always be up to date. And, we also maintain a rather extensive photo album. This can be found at http://www.laninga.com. And finally, my motorhome has its own blog, which you can find at https://my15aspire.wordpress.com/
See you down the road!
Oregon Coast
The last few weeks have been terrific to be on the Oregon Coast. Temperatures in the low 50 overnight and high 60 daytime, beats the Texas heat wave anytime! But all things come to an end and we are moving to Washington Sate and a cruise to Alaska. But before we go, a few pictures from the Florence, Seaside and Astoria areas of the Oregon Coast
Crabbing in Oregon
Our friend Jack Napoles invited me to go along crabbing with his neighbor Phil. Crabbing would be in Charleston, right by Coos Bay, Oregon. Now Romola and I love crab, so this invitation was gratefully accepted.
First we bought several pounds of chicken quarters, which we used as bait. The chicken was put in the crab pots and in the boat. We then launched the boat and dropped the first of 9 pots. After 4 pots, we moved across the bay and dropped the remaining 5.
After a wait of around an hour, we pulled up the first pot. It was full of crab! At least 4 were legal size and went into the holding bin. This process was repeated until each pot had been dropped twice. We ended up with our limit of 36 good sized Dungeness crabs, plus many Red Rock crabs (Red Rock crabs are an invasive species, quite aggressive, are red in color and have a large claw considered extra tasty. Something like the Florida Rock Crabs….).
The next step was to clean the crab. In the store, you always find them whole, but it is much easier to do a simple clean and throw away the crab shell that would be thrown away anyway. Phil used a special device, like an upside down knife, to break the crab, save the edible parts, and throw away the rest. Later, at home, he brought a large pot of river water to boil and cooked the crab. Jack and Sylvia put up a table on their deck next to the river of their most beautiful house and we devoured several crabs each. Most delicious!
Heceta Lighthouse Hike
Well it’s been about 4 weeks since my heart work in Petoskey, and we were in a beautiful place with magnificent weather, and a known hike nearby so we went for it. Not too long, just about 3 miles, but a reasonable amount of elevation gain, equivalent to about 85 flights of stairs.
Found that I’m not as good as I used to be health wise but still able to enjoy a moderately difficult hike. Especially since the scenery was so beautiful, it doesn’t get much better than this. So yes, I’m hiking again, still enjoying it, just have to not overdo it. It’s almost as if we’re getting old…
History, repeated
Romola and I have volunteered at Fort Vancouver for 4 summers. Our tasks were to man the information booth, and help people with the history of the area. So since we were in the area we took a drive to our old volunteer sites.
Alas, they now have Monday’s off and so the fort was closed. So we took a nice walk around the fort, Pearson Air Museum, and through downtown back to the visitor center. So we had a nice walk but will have to visit the fort itself some other time.
Montana Car Museu
Deer Lodge is a small town on Highway 90 that you can easily miss. But you really should stop, there is a lot to see. This was the original home of Montana’s first prison. Now closed, it is an interesting museum of old style prisons, and the political shenanigans that went into building it. But there is more, much more.
One ticket price gets you into the prison museum, but also four others. These include the Wild West, Yesterday’s Toys, an old town replica, and a most excellent car museum. We’ve seen it before but made a point of stopping by to visit these artifacts of our (and our parents) youth.
Here is a small sample of some pictures of our visit.
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