I am running out of battery (16%) on my iPad so I may not get this out until tomorrow or will have to be brief now. It seems that those two expensive Mophie battery packs i bought for this trip are not charging properly from the Defender and so i cannot rely on them.
A note about my postings. I have been dictating all of my postings and I only proofread them once after that. Normally when I write something important, and my blog postings are important, I would revise and revise and revise. Unfortunately, there is no time to do that on the road, just as there's no time to go beyond what I called the level–one postings, just a recording of some of the day's important events and happenings. So, consider these postings only raw material for whatever I intend to do with them. And also, I do not worry about spelling issues, grammatical issues, proper punctuation, and the like. I'm just trying to get my recollections of the day down in writing.
I poked my head out of the tent last night at 2 o'clock hoping to see millions and millions of stars like I saw back in 2001 here, but the clouds did not cooperate. Otherwise,the day started off splendidly – a great night's sleep, clear sky, clean fresh air, the sun poking it's fiery body over the mountains by 8 o'clock. The park supervisor stopped by my site pretty early and returned my check that I had made out for the yurt yesterday saying that if I didn't use it I don't have to pay. That was nice of him to do that. Just another reason why this park is one of my favorite parks anywhere in North America.
As I slowly broke camp, Donner was moping because he knew that there were dogs not too far away. Finally, realizing the number one purpose of this trip, I approached the owners, two very fine gentleman named Rob and Ed from Portland and asked them if Donner could meet their dogs. They heartily agreed and so I brought over to meet their two absolutely wonderful but idiosyncratic dogs named Bailey and Shiloh. Shiloh most certainly teased Donner in a way he had never been teased before, and he loved every minute of it. Bailey, in the meantime, did her best to interfere with the bonding going on between Shiloh and Donner, but Donner seem to enjoy that too. Bailey surely has the nicest teeth on a dog I have ever seen, and Donner pretended not to notice and carried on.
I finally got on the road at noon after a well–deserved and clearly needed shower. The rest rooms here are probably the best I have seen any of my trips.
After leaving Cave Lake State Park, we jumped on route 50 for about 60 miles and finally came to the intersection at Route 93. This was my last chance to make a decision to go to the Grand Canyon and it took me all of just a few seconds to make the decision, and so I turned right and headed in the direction of the Grand Canyon. Why should I come back on a 5000 mile round-trip journey when I can accomplish seeing the Grand Canyon now for the expense of only a few hundred extra miles? A no brainer.
The 93-mile drive along route 93 was absolutely spectacular. Most of the time we were driving at the edge of vast valley and alone on the road most of the time. The ride was made even more enjoyable by playing over and over John Denver's Take Me Home Country Road.
We took a rest stop only 90 minutes after we started because I did not know when we would have another opportunity on the long, hot, treeless road. We drove a couple miles into the mountains to a camp called Paterson Pass State Park and spent a pleasant 30 minutes resting and enjoying the marvelous scenery snd desert setting.
When we came to the intersection of Route 319 where we had to turn east, we passed Cathedral Grove State Park, which Zena, a neighbor, and Rob suggested I visit on my way, and so that is what we did. The visitor center was closed, so I consulted the maps and saw that there were no other state camps coming up in the next couple of hours, snd so since we were heading into a new time zone tomorrow, I set my clock ahead one hour from 345 to 445, and decided to pitch the tent in this camp for the night. It is set in the high desert, and offers a spectacular views of red rock mountains that stretch as far as the eye can see. One of them in particular reminded me of Ayers Rock in the Australian outback, and it's amazing how seeing something like that triggers wonderful memories of times past.
As for Donner's attractions here, the only creature so far he sensed here, but did not see, was a rabbit hopping over the desert floor.
A note about my postings. I have been dictating all of my postings and I only proofread them once after that. Normally when I write something important, and my blog postings are important, I would revise and revise and revise. Unfortunately, there is no time to do that on the road, just as there's no time to go beyond what I called the level–one postings, just a recording of some of the day's important events and happenings. So, consider these postings only raw material for whatever I intend to do with them. And also, I do not worry about spelling issues, grammatical issues, proper punctuation, and the like. I'm just trying to get my recollections of the day down in writing.
I poked my head out of the tent last night at 2 o'clock hoping to see millions and millions of stars like I saw back in 2001 here, but the clouds did not cooperate. Otherwise,the day started off splendidly – a great night's sleep, clear sky, clean fresh air, the sun poking it's fiery body over the mountains by 8 o'clock. The park supervisor stopped by my site pretty early and returned my check that I had made out for the yurt yesterday saying that if I didn't use it I don't have to pay. That was nice of him to do that. Just another reason why this park is one of my favorite parks anywhere in North America.
As I slowly broke camp, Donner was moping because he knew that there were dogs not too far away. Finally, realizing the number one purpose of this trip, I approached the owners, two very fine gentleman named Rob and Ed from Portland and asked them if Donner could meet their dogs. They heartily agreed and so I brought over to meet their two absolutely wonderful but idiosyncratic dogs named Bailey and Shiloh. Shiloh most certainly teased Donner in a way he had never been teased before, and he loved every minute of it. Bailey, in the meantime, did her best to interfere with the bonding going on between Shiloh and Donner, but Donner seem to enjoy that too. Bailey surely has the nicest teeth on a dog I have ever seen, and Donner pretended not to notice and carried on.
I finally got on the road at noon after a well–deserved and clearly needed shower. The rest rooms here are probably the best I have seen any of my trips.
After leaving Cave Lake State Park, we jumped on route 50 for about 60 miles and finally came to the intersection at Route 93. This was my last chance to make a decision to go to the Grand Canyon and it took me all of just a few seconds to make the decision, and so I turned right and headed in the direction of the Grand Canyon. Why should I come back on a 5000 mile round-trip journey when I can accomplish seeing the Grand Canyon now for the expense of only a few hundred extra miles? A no brainer.
The 93-mile drive along route 93 was absolutely spectacular. Most of the time we were driving at the edge of vast valley and alone on the road most of the time. The ride was made even more enjoyable by playing over and over John Denver's Take Me Home Country Road.
We took a rest stop only 90 minutes after we started because I did not know when we would have another opportunity on the long, hot, treeless road. We drove a couple miles into the mountains to a camp called Paterson Pass State Park and spent a pleasant 30 minutes resting and enjoying the marvelous scenery snd desert setting.
When we came to the intersection of Route 319 where we had to turn east, we passed Cathedral Grove State Park, which Zena, a neighbor, and Rob suggested I visit on my way, and so that is what we did. The visitor center was closed, so I consulted the maps and saw that there were no other state camps coming up in the next couple of hours, snd so since we were heading into a new time zone tomorrow, I set my clock ahead one hour from 345 to 445, and decided to pitch the tent in this camp for the night. It is set in the high desert, and offers a spectacular views of red rock mountains that stretch as far as the eye can see. One of them in particular reminded me of Ayers Rock in the Australian outback, and it's amazing how seeing something like that triggers wonderful memories of times past.
As for Donner's attractions here, the only creature so far he sensed here, but did not see, was a rabbit hopping over the desert floor.
Tomorrow I have to make a decision on whether I am going to the north rim or the south rim of the Grand Canyon. I suspect it'll be the south rim because the north rim, I understand, restricts dogs to the parking lot, and it is much colder there and I think the campground is closed. It appears to be another hundred miles to the south rim but you don't travel 6000 miles and avoid doing something just because it's going to be another hundred miles.
This park, unlike many of the others I visited and stayed in, is full and I am the only tenter here. Once again, there is no separate tent section, so i am probably in for a night of interruptions from fan and heater noises. No big deal, as i will deal with it. That's why God gave us ear plugs and Ambien.
That's it for tonight. It seems i made getting this out tonight after all, and i have 2% battery left.
Ed and Don from lovely Cathedral Grove State Park in eastern Nevada.
PS. I just noticed that the photos I posted below state Day 34. They should be Day 33. Day 34 is coming up tomorrow.
