Home ??

Chandler, AZ (July 23, 2009) ..

The blog has been kind of silent for the past week or so because we have the home on wheels in a campground in Chandler, AZ so that we could househunt. After 5 days of traipsing through one home after another we found 5 or 6 that we definitely could live in. Yesterday we made an offer on the home pictured above. The offer was accepted today by the owner but since it is a short sale we still need approval from the seller's bank. Closing will be in 3 1/2 months so we expect to move in around November 11th. The house is a 4 bedroom with a huge master, 3 car garage with a nicely landscaped backyard which includes a salt water pool !! It has lots of features which make it perfect for entertaining and accomodating guests from out of town. We are looking forward to seeing lots of our friends and relatives in the winter.

Now that this is settled we will be travelling to Utah to continue our journey through the western states !!!

Grand Geology

Grand Canyon, AZ (July 17, 2009) ..

Today we made it to the Grand Canyon sometimes known as the world's largest geology lab. The views were awesome and if you click on the above photo a condor can be seen flying just at the horizon. Ellen,Ed and Andrew rode the tourist railroad from Williams to the Canyon, a two hour trip each way.

Riot of Color

Las Vegas, NV (July 15, 2009 ) ..

The Bellagio has the most beautiful hotel lobby in the world. Pictured above are some of Dale Chilhuly's 2000 hand blown glass flowers suspended from the ceiling in front of the registration desk. The hotel is modeled after it's namesake on Lake Como, Italy. The indoor botanical garden contains thousands of plants and flowers along with a nice collection of tropical birds. Scaled down hot air balloons hang from the glass ceiling which exposes the whole area to plentiful direct sunlight.

Water Extraveganza

Las Vegas, NV (July 14, 2009) ..

Pictured above is the water show outside the Bellagio just across the street from our accomodations. They have a show every half hour and the water can spray as high as 200 feet. The fountain lies in an artificial 8 acre lake. The Bellagio was completed in 1998 at a cost of 1.6 billion dollars !!!

Pictured below is the half size replica of the Eiffel Tower standing in front of our hotel room at the Paris Las Vegas hotel and casino.

Tao Birthday

Las Vegas, NV (July 13, 2009) ..

Today was Erin's 26th birthday. Nine of us limo'd to Tao (restaurant) located in the Venetian Hotel to celebrate the event. Ellen thought the birthday was marvelous and she thought Erin looked very cute. Erin is pictured above on the way to the restaurant.

Ellie's New Retirement Program

Las Vegas, NV (July 13, 2009) ..

Attention blogoshpere. Ellie won $1000 on her second spin !!! ... on no other than the Wheel of Fortune game. Now she has concocted a plan to visit Vegas every few weeks to earn $$$ to pump up her 401k plan. Congratulations and best of luck in your future gaming endeavors.

Vegas View

Las Vegas, NV (July 12, 2009) ..

We finally made it to Vegas after that big traffic jam in the desert. The above picture is a view from hotel room as we await the arrival of the birthday girl. The temperature is 107 at eight in the evening making the pool look very inviting. No diving from the room .. 18 floors is too high. We'll take the elevator.

Desert Jam

Hoover Dam, AZ (July 12, 2009) ..

On the way to Vegas in the motorcar we encountered a traffic jam in the desert 5 miles from the dam. It was bumper to bumper stop and go for 1 1/2 hours. As the temperature soared to 114 degrees the air conditioning shut down automatically several times to prevent an engine overheat. When its running the AC keeps the car very cool even at such high temperatures, when not the windows come down ... hey it's a dry heat !!!! Andrew and Lindsay are with us; we are headed to the gambling capital of the US to celebrate Erin's 26th birthday.

Impact Crater

Meteor Crater, AZ (July 10, 2009) ..

On our way to Williams, AZ we made a side trip to Meteor Crater since it was only a few miles from I-40. This impact crater owned by the Barringer family has been featured several times on the Astronomy Picture of the Day website. It is the best preserved of all the impact craters on planet earth; the others have been hidden and eroded by wind and weather. Diameter is approximately 4000 feet and depth is about 570 feet. The iron meteorite that created the site is estimated to have been about 150 feet in diameter weighing 300,000 tons travelling at a speed of 25,000 to 40,000 miles per hour. It's interesting to note that this crater is very similar geologically to those created by underground nuclear testing in Nevada and New Mexico.

The above photo was made by Ed the lower one was retrieved from the web. For more information about the crater go to ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_Crater

Home State

Lupton, AZ (July 9, 2009) ..

Today we crossed the border and left New Mexico behind in favor of our new home state, Arizona. We'll be camping here till the end of the month; begin looking at houses on the 18th. Bargains abound since the real estate bubble burst. Ellen has sent her top 10 MLS listings to the realtor. Closing date on the new home will determine the end of our trip. We're looking forward to living in the Grand Canyon State and hope to have lots of family and friends visit in the winter.

Artichokes

Albuquerque, NM (July 8, 2009) ..

Today we visited the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens and Aquarium. Pictured above is an artichoke in bloom !!!! This is something that neither one of us have ever seen before. Click on the photo to see the enlarged version. What a beautiful bloom !!! Check out the trumpet vine below. The garden had many varieties. Who knew that such flora grew in the high desert.

VLA Day

Magdelena, NM (July 7, 2009) ..

Today we visited the Very Large Array (VLA) located about 50 miles west of Socorro. The VLA is a series of 27 linked radio telescopes 25 meters in diameter each; it is considered to be one of the premier astronomical observing sites on the planet. Ellen was fascinated by the fact that they all moved in unison every few minutes. Ed was too and tried to align his hat with whatever celestial object they were observing. Even though it is summer this powerful radio telescope array was observing the winter heavens. The scopes run day and night 362 days per year.

Our prarie dog friends from last month in South Dakota were apparently doing their best imitation of the VLA. Wonder what they were looking for in the skies above ???

Aviation LightHouse

Albuquerque, NM (July 7, 2009) ..

While biking this morning Ed came upon this structure sitting in the middle of nowhere in the thin air of the high desert just west of Albuquerque. They are scattered throughout the whole country. Most people never see them, those that do mostly ignore them. They are not a part of the collective consciousness like light houses but they serve a similar purpose. Like their nautical cousins they are rapidly moving toward extinction being replaced by the same GPS that we all use to navigate our cars in fast moving traffic. So what is it ??? It's the Albuquerque VOR transmitting at 113.2 mhz. A VOR is a ground based radio navigational aid at a known position that allows airline pilots to compute a heading and distance to the station thus enabling them to know their exact location in the sky. These stations also define highways in the sky (airways) when linked one to the other.

For more information about VOR's go to ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHF_omnidirectional_range

Sunset Virga

Albuquerque, NM (July 6, 2009) ..

Today the setting sun lit up the underside of the clouds near our campsite. In the photo above long parallel tendrils of rain can be seen falling from a developing cumulus cloud. Notice the rain does not reach the ground. This is a weather phenomena known as virga .. the falling rain evaporates on the way down because of extremely low humidity; it's a common occurance in the high desert of the southwest but not usually seen in the midwest. Local sailplane enthusiasts stay away from the virga because the evaporation creates cool air which in turn falls to the earth rapidly in the form of stong downdrafts.

Atomic City

Los Alamos, NM (July 5, 2009) ..

Project Manhattan launched the United States into the atomic age. Los Alamos was the main development center for the production of the world's first atomic bombs which were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The nuclear research done at Los Alamos made the bomb and atomic energy possible. Whether for good or evil the nuclear genie was let loose from the confines of eons of human history never to be restrained again. Since then many power stations have been built employing this technology and huge arsenals of highly destructive weapons have been built by the US and USSR. The bomb ended World War II but the future will determine if the work of Oppenheimer and his associates becomes a blessing or curse for mankind.

For more information about Los Alamos go to ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project

Photo courtesy of the Bradbury Museum

Fireworks On Board

Santa Fe, NM (July 4, 2009) ..

Happy Birthday USA !!! Today we celebrated the 4th of July in Santa Fe. Since our campground is on a hillside overlooking the city we were able to sit outside and watch numerous fireworks displays in all directions. There were fireworks inside the motor home as well as seen on this screenshot of our flatscreen tv. This celebration was in Boston. We had fun celebrating the 4th and look forward to doing it again next year in Arizona.

Santa Fe Southern Railroad

Lamy, NM (July 3,2009) ..

Today we took a trip on the Santa Fe Southern Railway. We boarded their excursion train in downtown Santa Fe and travelled for an hour and a quarter south to the small town of Lamy (elev. 6500', population 135). The weather started out as rain but as time went by the sun appeared and Ed was able to go out on the flatbed car to take pictures like the one above. We had lunch at Lamy and then the train returned us to Santa Fe.

For more information about the tourist rail line go to .. http://www.sfsr.com/

Taos

Taos, NM (July 2, 2009) ..

Today we visited Taos which is primarily an art and skiing center located in the Rio Grande River valley (elevation 7000 feet) surrounded by the beautiful Sangre DeChristo mountains. Pictured above are some whimsical and melodious wind chimes featured at one of the many fine art galleries found in the historic downtown district. Taos is a year round resort and is home to several celebrities including Julia Roberts, Dennis Hopper, Lynn Anderson and Donald Rumsfeld. Didn't have lunch with any of them.

Pictured below is an empty wine bottle cork board found in front of a local restaurant.

The Guv'ner Will Be Right With You

Santa Fe, NM (July 1, 2009) ..

One of the interesting places we explored today was the capitol building in Santa Fe. Like the rest of the city it is designed to blend in with the surroundings. Therefore it is only 3 floors tall. Also it is the only round capitol building in any of the 50 states. The inside is beautiful; it's appointed with marble and travertine tile; many fine examples of New Mexican art are interspersed throughout the facility. One refreshing aspect of the capitol is its' accessibility. The front is protected from the would be terrorist's truck attack by a few small flower pots. There are no metal detectors, no innocent taxpayers being frisked; security is very subtle and out of sight. You just walk in. We did it, went upstairs and walked right into the governer's office. The receptionist was happy to see us and told us that Bill Richardson is always spending time with tourists but unfortunately he was out of town during our visit. She slipped away from the desk so that we could take a photo of the wood panel wall and the great seal of the State of New Mexico. Check it out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico_State_Capitol

Santa Fe

Santa Fe, NM (June 30, 2009) ..

Today the home on wheels made it to Santa Fe. We're staying at the Santa Fe Skies RV Park until Monday the 6th when we leave for Albuquerque. Weather is fine and is forecast to be around 90 degrees, sunny and of course low humidity till Monday. Right now the relative humidity is 25%. We're looking forward to our stay here and also expect to make a day trip to Taos. One thing we noticed about Santa Fe is that there are no tall buildings and the architecture is consistantly sandstone colored adobe.