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Gulliver's Travels 03/29/2021

3/29/2021

The Southwest

Part II -- California

Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and I agree(ed) on one thing: President James Polk should not have gone to war with Mexico in 1846. When I went to Utah, California, Arizona, and New Mexico in January, I should have required my passport to enter Mexico. Nonetheless, those "stolen states" have incredible natural beauty, so I enjoyed it, either it be Mexico or the United States. (But I still hope that we allow California to secede. If it doesn't, I'm for kicking them out of the Union. Wisconsin then can regain the leadership in milk production--and Wisconsin dairy farmers won't have to unfairly fight against the massive California herds that benefit from subsidized water coming from the Sierra Nevada. There, I got THAT off my chest!).

I visited two national parks in California: Death Valley NP and Joshua Tree NP, plus a couple of national monuments. I also drove for a ways on old Route 66 west of Needles--as I did in 1946 and 1961. Both its pavement and my body have aged approximately the same--but from different kinds of abuse.

Death Valley, looking west to its sand dunes

Boron salts, called borax, was mined in Death Valley in the 1880s

This is the lowest point in North America.

Zabriske Point in Death Valley, made famous by the 1970 movie

It's pretty evident why it's called Death Valley

Joshua Tree National Park

Lots of cowboy movies of our youth seemed to have been filmed here.

Octillo cactus

Even cacti eventually die.

Upcoming event:

Arizona is next, with lots of beautiful scenery--and very, very old people in winter, so be careful not to catch old age if you visit there.

Dale

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Gulliver's Travels 03/01/2021

3/1/2021

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Dale Sievert

The Southwest

In January I spent two weeks traveling in four states of the Southwest. I began in Utah, then went to California, Arizona, and New Mexico. About 15 National Parks, National Monuments, State Parks, and other beautiful spots were visited. All were far more beautiful than Wisconsin (especially in January)--or anywhere in "snowbird country" of the South (and far less boring, at least to me). I did lots of hiking on trails (one day for nine hours--without tiring, which is surprising at 58--or whatever 8 I am).

I will break up the trip into three sections, the first being Utah. Part II will be California, and Part III will be Arizona and New Mexico combined. The second and third sections will come in a month or two, as I am soon off to the first of three relatively short trips over the next two months to : 1) the Deep South from Louisiana to Georgia; 2) Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky; 3) From San Antonio west to Big Bend National Park on the Rio Grande River. While I'm "young"--and as long as I've now had my two Covid shots.

Part 1 - Utah

Well, here I go again with my favorite state, Utah. The trip there in January was the 14th time I went to see its phenomenal beauty. And it was the coldest I ever experienced, starting out one morning hiking at three above zero (but it was a "dry cold"--which, technically, actually makes it feel even colder, as evaporation off exposed skin occurs at an even faster rate, so its cooling effect is pronounced). All my places to visit were in the lower third of the state.