Dunfey Alaska Journey

Arrived at Milly’s cousin’s home in Tucson late in the afternoon of Oct 1st. We were greeted by Arthur Havemeyer and partner Kathy. We stayed 3 nights there parking our camper on the gravel in front of their home.

We had three wonderful evening meals with the meats cooked on the charcoal grill by Arthur. We relaxed each evening in the privacy of their enclosed back yard enjoying beer or good wine.

On our first full day in Tucson, Arthur drove us up to Lemon Mountain. It was about an hours drive each way. The road wound up into the mountains along many cliffs and switchbacks. We reached a small village just beyond the mountain which had recently been rebuilt after being destroyed by fire. We had lunch of chilli and pizza before heading back to Tucson.

The next day, we went to Saguaro National Park near Tucson to hike among the local desert cactus.

We left Tucson towards New Mexico. We ended up staying at Elephant Butte State Park near Truth or Consequences, NM. Our campsite was located on a hill overlooking the lake. We gave up on kayaking and went for a hike along the lake shore. The winds were horrendous. They howled all night making sleeping difficult.

We decided to go to Santa Fe, NM after stopping in Albuquerque, NM at the Indian Pueblo Culture Center/Museum.

We stayed two nights at the Black Canyon Campground in Santa Fe National Forrest above Santa Fe.    

We went into Santa Fe for breakfast. We ran into special event detours and saw about 12 police motorcycles escorting a bunch of cars. At breakfast, we asked the waiter what was going on. He checked and reported back that Spanish Royalty was in town for the 400th anniversary celebrations. We wandered into the Basilica just before the Spanish Crown Prince and his Wife arrived there. We were given the last 2 tickets and attended the welcoming service.

In the afternoon, we went up to the mountains to hike among the Aspens. We visited the Santa Fe Ski area and discovered that they ski there from Thanksgiving to April. 

We found the Santa Fe shopping area outstanding. It’s too bad that we are not shoppers. We could have spent a fortune there.

On the morning of October 7th, we headed to Amarillo, Texas on our way to Tennessee.

We stopped for lunch around 3 PM at the fameous Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo before continuing on to Elk City, Oklahoma.

We just confirmed our Tennessee factory appointment near Knoxville for the day after Columbus Day. It may last several days.

Santa Fe and Spanish Royalty

We visited with our Son’s extended family for 3 days in Foster City. We stayed at a RV Park in Half Moon Bay.

One day, we toured wine country with our daughter-in-law’s parents, Geoff and Dianna Wood.

Our daughter, Kim, joined us for 3 days at Yosemite. We came into Yosemite from the south. We stayed at Crane Flat National Park Campground.

We visited Yosemite Valley several times. We hiked to Taft Point which had quite exciting views looking down into the valley far below.

On our final day at Yosemite, we traversed the length of the park to go to Mono Lake. Mono Lake is very similar to the Great Salt Lake in Utah. We went from forest to arid desert. The limestone formations in and near the lake were fascinating to see. On the way back to our campsite, Kim and Fred kayaked in a Yosemite mountain lake.   We also hiked down into a sequoia Forrest and back out.

Yosemite and Mono Lake Pictures

Kayaking in Tenaya Lake at Yosemite

When we got back from Yosemite, we parked our camper for 4 nights in an alley behind the house where Kim lives. We stayed at Alex and Elena’s apartment for 3 nights. Our new grandchild, Evelyn, seemed more active when we got back. She really is a delightful baby!

Family Pictures..

Fred got a chance to hit some tennis balls with Alex one afternoon.

Our last night in San Francisco we had dinner in Mountain View with our daughter, Kim. She took us to a Japanese Sabu Sabu restaurant. We ate beef and various veggies cooking them “fondue style” in a mild spicy broth. We noticed that almost all the customers were Japanese.

After breakfast at Kim’s on 9/28, we headed for Tucson to visit Milly’s cousin, Art.  We spent the first night boon docking in Mojave Desert. Then we stopped at 2 pm at Lake Havasu State Park for an overnight stay. Lake Havasu City was much larger than we expected. On our way to Tucson, we travelled along the Colorado River. We saw many small retirement communities along the Colorado nestled in the mountains.

As we post this, we are south of Phoenix on Route 10 within an hour of our Tucson destination.

San Francisco, Lake Havasu Pictures