This sand makes noise- Mojave National Preserve

Posted on November 2, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

We had several excursions planned for our time in Las Vegas but we have found even more since we arrived. This past Sunday there was an article in the local Sunday paper about the Mojave National Preserve.  The Mojave National Preserve is the the third-largest park service in the lower 48.  It is only smaller than Yellowstone and Death Valley, but it its one of the least visited.   This preserve is less than 2-hours from us so with weather in the low 70’s at the beginning of this week we decided to make the trek down to California (1 hour and 45 minutes) to explore the area. The drive in is quite scenic once you leave the I-15 for the Morning Star Mine Road and Kelso Cima road.  On this drive you will see the largest concentration of Joshua Trees in the world.  There are significantly more Joshua trees here than in Joshua Tree National Park.

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Drive out through the Joshua Trees

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The biggest concentration of Joshua Trees in the world is here in the Mojave.

The visitors center in Kelso is at a historic train depot that played an important role in the expansion of the west. Continue reading →

Posted in Dog Friendly, hiking, National Parks and Monuments, The journey west | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Las Vegas is for…Hikers…and it’s dog friendly!

Posted on October 31, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

John and I have been to Las Vegas several times.  I have been here a few times for conferences and John and I have flown in here and quickly “got out of town” to see all the surrounding national parks (Zion, Bryce and The Grand Canyon).  What we had never taken the time to do was explore the area close to Las Vegas.  We have been here 5 days of our 21 so far.  We are currently staying at the Thousand Trails in Las Vegas.  The park is “OK” but the sites are pretty cramped and there are NO amenities in the park.  The pool and spa are currently under repair, they suffered major damage during a wind storm this spring.  We were fortunate to get a very nice site along the back wall.  We are parked in site #2 and I have to say it might be the biggest in the park. img_1990 The site has full hook ups and 30 & 50 amp power.  We can connect up at 30 amp for no additional fee, but if we connect up to 50amp we pay a surcharge of $5 per night.  We did pay the additional fee for a few days during the very high temperatures so that we could run both air conditioners.  We drove from the park to the strip (free parking at the Mirage/Treasure Island) and it took about 15 minutes- so I guess this park is all about “Location”.  In addition to being close to the strip we are just over 30 minutes away from Red Rock Canyon and Lake Mead National Recreation area.  Valley of Fire state park is about 1-hour away.  These three parks should have enough hiking in them to keep us busy for the better part of these 21 days.   Continue reading →

Posted in Dog Friendly, hiking, National Parks and Monuments, State Parks, The journey west | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Indiana- Turkey Run and Covered Bridges

Posted on October 28, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

If you were to ask me about Indiana 2 years ago I would have known very little.  Since we started traveling just over a year ago we have now made 3 visits to Indiana.  The first 2 visits were to do warranty work on our motorhome in Decatur, Indiana.  This last stop was on our way west.  We have a Thousand Trails campground in Clinton Indiana that we wanted to check out since it was very close to the I-70.  The name of the campground is Horseshoe Lakes and the campground is built around several small lakes.  What we didn’t know when we booked our stay is that Parke County, Indiana is known for it’s 31 covered bridges. dsc_0336Each year on the 2nd Friday of October they have a 10-day covered bridge festival that draws over 1-million people. Since I didn’t know this at the time that I booked our stay, we ended up leaving the area the day before the festival started.  Despite that we had an awesome time. We booked ourselves for 3-nights and so we had 2 full days to explore the area. The campground was very nice and we ended up with a huge back in site with full hook ups.  There were multiple hiking trails that weaved through the park and you can spend hours walking the woods and around the lakes.  This park had TONS of walnut trees and probably the biggest, happiest squirrels I have ever seen.   Continue reading →

Posted in Dog Friendly, hiking, State Parks, The journey west | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

27 hours in Utah-2 National Parks, 1 National Monument and 1 National Forest

Posted on October 23, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

We decided to book ourselves for 4 nights in Hurricane, Utah on the way to Las Vegas.  After 3 days here we wished we had booked 7.  We are staying at the St. George KOA for $10 per night using our RPI membership.  It looks like the “rack rate” is about $42 per night, so this is a great deal.  The campground is located across the street from Red Cliffs National Recreation area, something we would have explored if we had more time.

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Red Cliffs National Recreation area- the view from the KOA

John and I have been to most of the parks in this area and done tons of hiking, but it is always good to go back.  The scenery in these parks is breathtaking.  The one challenge is that there are limited things to do with Gizmo in these national parks.   Continue reading →

Posted in Dog Friendly, National Parks and Monuments, Sightseeing, The journey west, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Donnell Pond Public Reserve Lands- an escape from the “free park day” crowds

Posted on September 24, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

The weather was cold and rainy yesterday so we were ready to head into the park for a day of adventure.  What we didn’t know was that it was Public Lands Day and admission to Acadia National Park was free.  The crowds were unbearable.  We couldn’t even find a place to park and the buses were full.  We made a quick change of plans and headed out of the Acadia area to one of our other favorite spots, Donnell Pond Public Reserve Lands.  The ride from our camping spot at Narrows Too is less than 45 minutes and the traveling is easy.

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Gizmo’s favorite hike all week- Acadia behind him

Continue reading →

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Way Down East- Escaping The Crowds

Posted on September 23, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

Summer is definitely peak season, but don’t be fooled into thinking there will not be crowds in Acadia in fall.  Fall is a great time to visit Acadia and I think lots of people have learned that.  The weather is perfect for hiking and biking, the park buses are still running and the foliage is starting to change.  The cruise ships start making their fall foliage cruises to Maine with frequent stops in Bar Harbor.  This past week there were numerous ships in port.  This brings crowds to Bar Harbor and Acadia national park.  On Thursday we heard there were going to be 3 cruise ships in port and we decided we were going to stay clear of the entire area.

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West Quoddy Head-one of the best

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Keeping our Camping Costs Down

Posted on September 20, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

John and I knew that campground fees were going to be one of our biggest costs as we set out on this adventure.  We don’t mind the occasional night of “boondocking” but we do love having full hook ups.  One of the things that we wanted to make a decision on the first year was wether or not to get a campground membership.  We purchased our Passport Americamembership but the savings on this are limited.  Passport America is great for the times when we are traveling to our destinations vs. longer stays.  The decision to purchase Continue reading →

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An old story about Gizmo hiking the 4000 footers of NH

Posted on September 9, 2016 by gizmogoeswest
Mount Madison
Osceola, Gizmo’s first 4000 footer
Finishing the 48 4000 footers on Mt. Adams
Mt Monroe with Mt. Washington in the background

Gizmo came to live with us in 2010. My mom had just gone into a nursing home and a friend thought he might be good company for my dad. My dad was not able to manage him but didn’t want us to give him up. We were not looking for a dog. We spend almost every Continue reading →

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North Conway- hiking, floating, biking and shopping

Posted on September 3, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

One of our favorite places to go locally is North Conway, NH.  This is one town that really has it all.  There is hiking, kayaking, tubing, shopping and scenic drives.   Continue reading →

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Camden Hills State Park

Posted on August 26, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

Last Friday afternoon I came home from another very long week at work and told John I was ready for a camping trip.  Trying to score a camping site (without a reservation) in a Maine state park on a beautiful weekend in Maine is pretty close to trying to win the lottery.  We decided we would get up Saturday morning, pack our camping gear and try to get a “non-reservable” campsite.  We called ahead and found out 3 sites might be opening.  We were at the gate waiting in line at 10am and were very lucky to score an excellent site for one night.

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