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We left Meteor Crater RV Park this morning without seeing the crater but with the aim of stopping in Winslow, AZ to see the hotel designed by Mary Coulter. We did that. Worth seeing and so is Winslow. The "historic district" of Winslow needs a guiding hand and a good infusion of cash to restore it to it's glory days along Route 66. The hotel that Coulter designed and the railroad nearly demolished was bought and mostly restored by a couple with love of history and architecture in their hearts.

We were going to go to the Acoma Pueblo but decided to push on and come home. A long, long drive but we all made it.

Still Heading Home

We left Barstow, California about 8 a.m. this morning and headed to the Meteor Crater RV Park about 36 miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona, a distance of 380 miles. The long drive between Barstow and Flagstaff was difficult due to strong crosswinds that made driving the Winnebago a chore for Paula and Julie. Ann and Lyn rarely feel the wind while hauling their heavy Airstream.

The Mohave Desert is rather dull at this time of year and once through the desert and into Arizona we were happy to see mountains and mesas and snow capped peaks off in the distance. The picture above is of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert heading east towards Flagstaff. If you double click these pictures they will enlarge. We are at about 5500 feet here and the temperature will be dropping to about 24 tonight.

We thought we would spend tomorrow driving the last leg home to Santa Fe, 370 miles away. But we don't really want to end our trip and decided we would stop at the Acoma Pueblo tomorrow and stay in Grants, NM tomorrow night. We will get home early Monday.

Heading Home

We left Morro Bay at 8:15 this morning and hauled into a campground in windy Barstow at 5 p.m. It has been a long day of driving but the trek was helped by the beauty of the ride over the Tehachapi Summit. What glorious views of swaths of orange poppies riding up soft greened up mountains. The west side of the mountains was dotted by wind turbines marching across the crests. It was windy and the wind machines were racing.

In Tehachapi we went on a quest to find a mexican restaurant that had been recommended by Ellen. Paula does not care for Mexican food and was happy to see they had a menu for Americanos. She ordered a hamburger. Lyn, Julie and Ann enjoyed their Mexican fare. We had to decide if we were going to take the northern route home through Flagstaff and Gallup and up to Santa Fe or go south. The weather would be the decider. We called Paula's daughter, Lara, in NYC and asked her to go on the internet to see if the northern route would include snow. It would not. We trudged on to Barstow and will go on to Flagstaff tomorrow.

Morro Bay, California

We walked out to the Morro Bay Rock and spoke at length with a man there who is an expert on Peregrine Falcons and other birds of prey. We had just missed a falcon who had gone off in search of food for his nesting mate. There were serious bird watchers standing by their thousands of dollars in equipment waiting for a view of the pair of falcons. It is a blustery day, cold and sunny, with rain looming our way over the Ocean.

This is tattoo day once again. This time it is Julie's turn. She is getting two tattoos to add to the one she had done years ago on South Beach. When will it stop?



This is our last night here and we leave with great reluctance. The drive back to Santa Fe is a long one and we don't expect to be home until mid to late Monday. We have already made plans to return next March for a month.

Morro Bay, California

Heavy overcast and rain forced cancellation of our hike on the Pecho Coast trail out to the lighthouse near the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. (A relatively rare guided tour since PG&E doesn't normally allow folks meandering across their land.) So Peter, Ellen, Ann and Julie improvised, driving around the point at Avila to get to Shell Beach Road. After walking past some extraordinary mansions looking out at the sea, we found a trail -- heading up. In soil wet from last night's downpour, we slogged on.
Eventually found a path down to Pirates' Cove. Slippery. Which Ann confirmed when we had to rappel down the last 10-12 feet to the sand, courtesy of some previous hiker who'd strung a strong nylon line down the last slick railroad tie steps. She was fine until the last 4-5 steps -- lost her footing and went down in the mud. No injuries. Some beach combing turned up some fine examples of drying seaweed (Peter's goatee in the photo was a mystery -- we're calling it pubic kelp.) On the way back from this fine, but muddy hike, we swung into a likely looking establishment along the road offering broken up wine barrels -- staves, end pieces and the like. While wandering around (admiring the vintage cars in the tumble-down garage and the fabulously feathered chickens in the yard), we encountered two fierce geese, who advanced on us with great cacophony of honking. Ann sagely warned the rest of us that geese can bite -- and these weren't being shooed away. After the big white gander plucked at her pant legs, Ann not-so-sagely turned to walk away and got a savage nip in her calf. Big purple bruise. That's it. Paula wants to upload pix and post this!!

Morro Bay, California

Rainy day. Fog rolling in. Laundry, Albertson's, shopping, lunch, maybe a hike. Here are the pictures of brave Lyn getting her tattoo and a picture of the tattoo. She is still a bit red and swollen.