2020 Year-end Travel Summary

Our plan up until March was the ultimate RV trip - to Alaska. Even though COVID-19 forced that trip to be canceled we were able to get a trip in rather than being stuck in the house all  year. As you can see by the posts this year, we made it up to Washington where we stayed cool near the ocean for a while before working our way back to Arizona. 

The trip was made extra eventful as we weaved through forest fires and got blasted by a freak winter storm the first week of September. Yes, the first week of September in Wyoming. We then had fantastic weather for 5 days in Grand Lake, Colorado on the west edge of Rocky Mountain National Park as well as the rest of our way home (lots of smoke though). Weather is so fickle. 

We were able to see 5 new National Park Service locations (4 national monuments, 1 national memorial) in 2020 and our trip to Washington and back covered 4,700 miles. 

Here is the annual trip map. 

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument

 From Colorado Springs we traveled south to Santa Fe to visit some family for a few days before moving on to Mountainair New Mexico, about 70 miles south of Albuquerque, to go to Salinas Pueblo MissionsNM. There are three sites to see plus a main visitor center in Mountainair. Each site was originally the home to Puebloan Peoples for centuries and then taken over by the Spanish, so there is a combination of Puebloan and Spanish ruins. There are visitor centers and interpretive signs at each site which tell the story, excuse my bluntness, of how the Spanish and Franciscans ruined the lives of the people that lived there for thousands of years.

Quarai Ruins

Gran Quivira Ruins

Abo Ruins

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

 After passing through the corner of Wyoming we dropped down to northern Colorado and stayed five days near Grand Lake to try to stay cool and to do some hiking in Rocky Mountain NP. We were lucky with weather and wildfire smoke but not so much with road and trail closings. We were content just doing some short close hikes and enjoying amazing weather.

We then continued our journey south and stopped at FlorissantFossil Beds National Monument which is a fairly short trip west from Colorado Springs. This place is all about the petrified tree stumps and the history of people exploiting fossils. With the visitor center not being open due to COVID-19 we don’t know what there was to see in there. There are some walks outside that remain open with one being a mile long that passes by a number of petrified redwood tree stumps from 34 million years ago. There are also some petrified stumps to see right next to the visitor center without having to go on a long walk.

Kemmerer, WY - JC Penney

When we were in Kemmerer, WY to spend the night after visiting Fossil Butte NM, we went into the cute little town to see the J. C. Penney home and mother store. This is where James C. Penney lived when he opened the first store.

The home was not open due to COVID-19 but we were able to go into the JC Penney "mother" store opened in 1902.

Fossil Butte National Monument

We worked our way east across the rest of Oregon and Idaho to southwest Wyoming, near Kemmerer, to Fossil Butte National Monument. We were very happy that the fossil displays were open at the visitor center.

There are hundreds of amazing animal and plant fossils on display. There is a short film showing how they cut out and prepare a fossil for analysis and display. There is also a small window to watch someone carefully working on a fossil. A fluke cold blast for early September kept us from doing any hiking but the hikes didn't seem overly interesting to us anyway.

Follow the link where there are lots of pictures and videos.

On the road in 2020, finally

Our original travel plans were wiped out by COVID-19. We hunkered down at home until we could sort out what felt safe to us and what didn’t. It also allowed campgrounds to sort things out and open up. We finally left home in late July. By then it’s pretty much hot everywhere except the northwest coast so we headed for the coast of Washington. We made a quick short-as-possible trip up, which is not at all normal for us, just to get out of the really hot weather. We had one planned sightseeing stop in northern California and that ended up not happening due to forest fires.

After spending about a month in Washington we figured we would start moving again. We headed to central Oregon to go to the John DayFossil Beds National Monument (JDFBNM). There is a huge area of Oregon where fossils have been found. A small amount of this is protected by the NPS as part of this National Monument. There are three units to JDFBNM and they are spread out. We spent the night in Moro, Oregon so that we could visit two of the units the next day on our way to our campground near the third one. We would then day-trip to the third unit while staying a few days.

Clarno Unit

We drove from Moro south on US 97 to OR 218 to visit the Clarno Unit of JDFBNM. This unit has a couple short trails to hike to see some plant fossils and read interpretive signs that tell their history. There is also a very nice picnic area in a scenic setting. 

We continued east on 218, then south on 19, south on 207 and then a little east on US 26 to the Painted Hills Unit of JDFBNM. Photographs of this iconic location put this on my radar 20 years ago, we finally were able to see it in person. The unique geologic formations are beautiful and worth the drive to this remote location. 

Painted Hills

From here we headed east on 26 to Dayville where we spent a few days and made a couple trips to the Sheep Rock Unit of JDFBNM. One day we went to the visitor center and did some hikes in the Foree Area. Unfortunately, the fossil displays in the visitor center were closed due to COVID-19 requirements for personal space. We’ll have to come back some day to see these. There have been a lot of animal fossils found in this unit over the years but the hikes are all about seeing the colored canyons. The two Blue Basin trails are pretty with the Blue Basin Overlook Trail going the high route with 800 feet elevation gain to look down into the basin.

Sheep Rock Unit view from Visitor Center

One last note, from the time we left US 97 south of Moro and spent the day working our way to Dayville, the drive was beautiful. It was very slow going, especially on 218 and 207, due to almost continuous slow turns and ups and downs. But my moto of “life is not a race” allowed us to just simply enjoy the drive. At the end of the day we agreed it was one of the most beautiful days of driving we’ve ever done.

Clarno Unit - leaf fossils

Clarno Unit - leaf fossils

Painted Hills

Painted Hills

Sheep Rock Unit - Flood of fire trail

Sheep Rock Unit - Blue Basin from
Overlook trail

Sheep Rock Unit - Blue Basin from
Overlook trail

Sheep Rock Unit - Blue Basin Trail

Sheep Rock Unit - Blue Basin Trail

Coronado National Memorial

This is a location in southern Arizona that we’ve meant to get to for a long time and it finally fit into a little mid-winter trip with the camper. The Coronado National Memorial commemorates the Coronado expedition and the cultural conflict and exchange between indigenous peoples and Spaniards during the 1500s. The story is interesting but don't expect to be deluged with information. It has a very small visitor center with a summary of information. There is more information available on their website than at the location. Granted, there isn't a huge amount of information even known about the expedition so I guess I probably had my expectations too high.

That being said the location is beautiful. It is at the base of the mountains and there is some good hiking if you don’t mind mountain hiking. I did part of the Joe's Canyon trail and really enjoyed it. You can also drive to an overlook and see for many miles along the United States-Mexico border or hike to a cave that can be explored if you bring your own equipment (flashlights, etc). 

Visitor Center

View from part way up the Joe's Canyon trail

View from picnic area to where the Joe's Canyon trail goes

View across border to mountains in Mexico