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Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, September 13, 2009
On the Cliff Palace loop you may visit one of two cliff dwellings by guided tour, Cliff Palace or Balcony House. These sites can only be reached by a one-hour ranger-guided tour. Tickets for tours are purchased only at the Far View Visitor Center. Rangers begin the Cliff Palace tour from the overlook at the end of the entrance trail. To enter Cliff Palace on a guided tour, one must descend approximately 100 feet into the canyon on a steep trail that includes 120 uneven stone steps. Throughout the tour one will climb five eight foot ladders.
The photo is from the newest of my photo galleries and the second from Mesa Verde. The gallery includes images from Cliff Palace — a Puebloan culture cliff dwelling —, the Knife Edge Trail and more.
Gallery: Cliff Palace and More — September 13, 2009, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
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Image Galleries at Haw Creek.
Image Gallery:
Around the Upper Loop, September 13, 2007
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We were camped at West Yellowstone KOA several miles west of town for nearly a week in September 2007. Our camper was a Big Horn fifth wheel by Heartland. We were set up with satellite TV and satellite internet and had almost all of the conveniences of home.
For all of the conveniences, though, we found that we were not doing the kind of camping that we really preferred. We prefer national and state park and forest campgrounds, but found in some of those kind of campgrounds that maneuvering into sites that could accommodate the size of our 5th wheel was often difficult and, in some instances, there just were not any sites that we felt comfortable with trying to get into.
We now have a small motor home and are able to get into just about any campground that we want to with little or no difficulty. The only ones we can’t get into are those restricted to tent camping and those that we can’t get to with the camper. We’ve visited a couple of places where the curves were so tight that our 25 foot motor home was over the length limit. We’re also not quite yet prepared to go too many miles down an unpaved road.
In 2009, we camped in 4 national park* campgrounds, 4 nights in each one. We didn’t have satellite TV or internet and we were doing the kind of camping we really prefer.
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Image Galleries at Haw Creek.
* Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Shenandoah National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Mesa Verde National Park
Old Colorado City, Colorado Springs, August 22, 2004, teardrop trailer
There was some sort of festival in progress the day that we visited Old Colorado City.
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Gallery:
Cripple Creek, Old Colorado City, Manitou Springs, etc. – August 22, 24, & 27, 2004
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Campground, Lake Fort Smith State Park, Arkansas, October 20, 2008
Located in a wooded valley in the Boston Mountains of the Arkansas Ozarks, the 259 acre Lake Fort Smith State Park reopened in the late Spring of 2008 four miles north of its original location, which was closed in early January, 2002. As a park reborn, with totally new facilities, it has 30 camp sites, a group lodging facility, picnic sites, a pavilion, marina with rental boats, a double lane boat ramp, a swimming pool, playground, and an 8,000 square foot visitor center with exhibit gallery, gift shop, a meeting/class room, a patio with an outdoor wood burning fireplace, and a great view of the lake and mountains. Activities for visitors include camping, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, backpacking, boating, hiking and mountain biking. The park borders lands of the Ozark National Forest.
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Park information
Gallery: Lake Fort Smith State Park
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The is one of two large offroad recreational vehicles we saw parked at one of the trailheads in Arches National Park on September 24, 2007. The other offroad RV was of similar size but on a different truck chassis. Later we saw both vehicles again, parked at a picnic area.
This RV is built on a Mercedes Benz Unimog frame.
September 24, 2009
Arches National Park
Gallery: Arches National Park
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Estes Park, September 5, 2009
Located in Larimer County, Colorado, Estes Park is a popular summer resort and the eastern entrance into Rocky Mountain National Park. The town lies along the Big Thompson River. It is named after Joel Estes, who founded the town in 1859.
Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous road in the United States, runs from Estes Park through Rocky Mountain National park to Grand Lake on the western side of the continental divide.
The town suffered severe damage in July 1982 from flooding caused by the failure of Lawn Lake Dam. In October, 2009, a fire in the Park Theatre Mall – caused by a natural gas water heater in a small closet – destroyed eleven businesses and several apartments. The building had been built in 1914 to house Stanley Steamers.
Gallery:
Estes Park and then up to Trail Ridge – September 5, 2009
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Or, at least it looks fast, to me.
In May, we visited The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia. One of the areas of the museum is The International Small Craft Center.
From a collection of over 150 small craft, the Mariner’s Museum staff have arranged 75 vessels in a 17,500 square foot center.
The collection includes finely finished Chris-Crafts, simple dugouts, fragile, thin racing shells and much more.
My nautical experience was primarily on a large submersible, but I do appreciate other vessels. The symmetry of this bow on shot of this beautiful wooden hulled boat caught my eye.
I generally try to take photos of the descriptions of displays, but, in this case, I don’t have any further information.
I’ve added 2 new Virginia photo galleries to my
Haw Creek site –
The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News and images from the
Virginia Beach ocean front. All of the photos were taken on May 10, 2009.
Gallery: The Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, May 10, 2009
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On September 24, 2007, we saw this big boy parked at one of the trailheads in Arches National Park. There was another large offroad recreational vehicle parked nearby. Later we saw both vehicles again, parked at a picnic area.
As best as I’ve been able to find online, this RV is built on a Mercedes Benz Unimog frame.
Gallery: Arches National Park
See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.
