Great Basin National Park, Nevada

One of our goals in retirement is to visit every National Park. I don't know if that will happen, but we've seen several so far. The Great Basin N.P. is the newest park in the U.S. The great basin itself is a 220,000 square mile area where all the water doesn't run outside the basin. No river or stream connects to another and heads to an ocean or body of water. The main attraction in the park is the Lehman Caves. They were discovered in the late 1800's. Mr. Lehman used a candle to traverse the cave. The ranger, who was our guide, had a candle and showed us what it would be like. We saw 2 feet in front of us. In the early 1900's it was an attraction that was used for weddings, parties, boy scout camp outs, and dances. With all the stalactites and stalagmites in the caves if people could break them off they took them, which is a shame. At least they are very hard, like rock, and it's not easy to do.

The other part of the Great Basin N.P. is 10,000 feet up. It has a grove of bristle cone pines that are between 1500 and 3500 years old. Their needles can be 40-50 years old. Also there was 2 alpine lakes and the only glacier in Nevada. The glacier was 8 miles back on a trail, so we bypassed that one, but we did go on a 6 mile round trip hike to see the grove and the lakes. Did you know that Nevada is the third most mountainous state behind Alaska and California?

We camped by tent in Ely, NV and the weather was perfect. It was a wonderful trip and I'm looking forward to seeing more of our great country. If anyone still reads this, know that I still miss my friends and the beauty of Alaska. Bye for now, Vicki & Ed

Happy Birthday America!

I love a small town during a holiday! July 4th was no exception. Everyone had their flags out in their yards and was anticipating some good times. Panguitch starts out with a pancake breakfast put on by the Lions Club, next a parade and games for kids, then a rodeo followed by some great fireworks. We could see them from our campground. I hope everyone took a minute to think about the original July 4th and how much (especially now) our freedom means.

Saturday Night Balloon Glow

It was packed on Main Street for the balloon glow. There's 1500 people in Panguitch, and I bet everyone of them plus a couple of thousand more were there. It's a fun time with all the shops open and booths scattered around with goodies for sale. The balloons didn't stay inflated for too long because a wind started to come up and the street is pretty narrow when there's a giant balloon in the middle of it. I'm so glad I am here this summer, I've really enjoyed the escape from the Arizona heat, and all the great things we've done so far. That's it for now, Hugs & kisses, Vicki & Ed

PANGUITCH 2010 BALLOON/MOTORCYCLE RALLY

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You would think that after being here 3 summers that the Balloon Rally would get boring-no way! This year was the best. One morning when the balloons went up, they flew over our KOA campground, and one even landed behind the tent area. Everyone is always so excited and it's a very fun time. On Saturday night, the balloon glow was packed with people. The balloons didn't stay up long because the wind started coming up, but it was still fun to walk around and watch them get blown up and then taken down.

BOB GOES UP IN A BALLOON

Bob, the owner of our KOA, got to ride in a balloon at the rally. The KOA has been sponsoring this event for years and so this ride was overdue. The picture of the KOA campground shows our 5th wheel. We are the big white one closest to the house.