Saturday, June 17, 2017

Trip home from Spring Training

March 27 - April 20th (Days 546-571)


These blog entries are being written a few months (!) after the trip, for a variety of reasons. So, comments will be short and hopefully accurate!





The day after Judy and Candy arrived, we all went to the Museum of Musical Instruments. We highly recommend this place and look forward to returning to it again. We only spent a few hours here, and could have spent days.
From their website:
Embark on a fascinating journey through sound at the world's largest musical instrument showcase. Hear, see, and feel the spirit of music around the globe as you explore engaging exhibits for music lovers of all ages at Phoenix's Musical Instrument Museum.
Discover a wide range of interactive galleries, home to 6,500 instruments from 200 different countries. Experience the music of the world as you travel through exhibits dedicated to Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania, Europe, Latin America, and North America in the Geographic Galleries. In the Mechanical Music Gallery, fill your ears with the majestic notes of the Orchestrion, a 25-foot (7.6-m) creation that imitates the sound of an orchestra.















Beautifully crafted instruments throughout history, and ones made from whatever could be found!





After Phoenix, we camped at  Lost Dutchman State Park, which is at the foot of Superstition Mountain. Hiking, cards, good food and fun ensued.



Found near Globe, Besh-ba-Gowah was one of many settlements for the Salado people dating to approximately 1200 AD. The ruins are some of the largest found in the state with an estimated 400 rooms, however, portions of the ruins were bulldozed for construction projects between the 1940s and 1980s. Today, the ruins are partially restored and a museum and bookstore exist at the site to provide more information about the ruins and the people who lived there.










Can't believe we don't have  pictures, but wanted to mention that we managed to meet up with John VanDerZwaan, Harris's friend from high school. He met us at a camping spot somewhere along our route to New Mexico.








Candy likes the scenic routes...this was a pull out at the top of a very very very windy road.























We stopped for an afternoon at Truth or Consequences...and found a flea market in progress...didn't buy anything though!




Roper Lake? some other spot? don't remember. Regardless, this is where John joined us for dinner?


We headed for Albuquerque, New Mexico, to visit college days friends, Jim and Diane Lindstrom at their new home. We camped outside the city and visited them and old town for a couple of days. We have pictures on our phones, but not here. hmmm.It was great fun to see them and catch up.

After Albuquerque, we split up. We headed for Utah, Idaho, Oregon and home. Candy and Rick headed for Denver to visit their kids before going home to Montana. We kept in touch with our phones about weather and sights along the way.  We only hit snow the first morning out of Albuquerque, and that wasn't too bad.











Strange pillars in Utah...always a wonder.
We arrived home April 6th. We wanted to come home before Easter, and in time to host a going away party for Kyle, Serenity, River and Skye, who were moving back to Juneau. Because they were staying at our house while we were gone, we ended up sleeping in Howie in the driveway until the 20th. Nice to have an extra room when you need it! Since we were having problems with the installed house battery, Harris put in a pair of new agm batteries that should give us just over 100 amphours to use when not hooked up! This should be better when camping in national parks.



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