Spring 2017 Travels

Big Bear--Southern California Playground. The view of the valley is obscured by the clouds below.

Slash X Ranch on Hwy 246 just off Hwy 15 west of Barstow California. 4x4 enthusiasts weekend playground. Free camping with big food choices as displayed below.

Yes, that's 3 meat patties in one bun. What more could one ask for after a day of hard 4x4 excursions

Art Project "Seven Magic Mountains add vivid color to the Desert just south of Las Vegas.

Nevada Nuclear Test Site Tour Mercury Nevada. First Detonation 1951. No cameras, no GPS, no telescopes, no Binoculars, no cell phones, no lap tops, no firearms. Oh and no shorts? 

Next Stop Norm's brothers in Nevada. The Carroll Shelby Car Museum, Pawn Stars Pawn Shop, Mob Museum and the Nuclear Museum.

Valley of Fire, Red Rock Canyon and Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam.(not my photo) That about does it for this trip to Las Vegas

Tuweep. 65 miles of 4x4 travel to experience this obscure North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Bring the camping gear. There is a cool campground located up here in Tuweep. Only high clearance 4x4 can make it to the top.
Below is a cool Shot of Tuweep

Gasping our way through the dense pollution in Page Arizona.

Canyon de Chelly for a memorable 6 hour jeep ride through the canyon. Meet Ben Tiller. Full blooded Navajo, born in the canyon and conducting tours for the past 60 years. For an exorbitant price we rode in a dilapidated  Jeep Cherokee for 6 hours with this phlegm spitting 80 year old who continued to  eye the 4 wheel drive levers suspiciously as if he never had seen them before. Equipped with doors that only opened from the inside and windows permanently in the down position. No air conditioning (did I mention the temperatures were reaching 100 degrees) and all the dials on the dash were pegged at zero. 

I told Norm, this will be an adventure we won't soon forget. Thank you Ben.

Canyon de Chelly. In Navajo speak Canyon de Tseyi.

The Anasazi built their homes in the cliffs of Canyon de Chelly. They arrived long before the Navajo, who didn't arrive until  the 1600's. And the Navajo were not cliff dwellers, they built their lives on the canyon floor.

Pictographs depicting life of  Navajo ancestors  in Canyon de Chelly

Window Rock to the left . The seat of the Navajo Government and capitol of Navajo Nation.

Navajo Code Talkers of World War II. The Japanese cryptographers were unable to decipher the Navajo language based code 

 

    Hells Gate! On Hells Revenge Trail Moab. Worse than it looks.Yikes!

Mickeys Hot Tub on Hells Revenge Moab

 A side trip off the White Rim Trail in Moab. Down Lanthrop Canyon. The visitor center  neglected to mention this water feature