Yosemite National Park

I was on my way to San Fransisco a couple years ago and decided to go through Yosemite National Park and it was my lucky day. It was Fathers Day and even though I was not a father I was able to get in free. Now that I am over 62 I get into the national parks free so it wouldn't matter what day I stop in. The Senior Pass i have entitles all, over the age of 62, in free. 

It was a quiet day in the park and a very nice day.

Off in the distance is a very famous rock, do you see the one?

It is called Half Dome, see it now?

Many people have climbed this one.

I had a great time passing through.

Stop in sometime. Big rock on the right.

Monument Valley Campground

During these days of cold winter weather I think about great camp spots. 

Gouldings is the name of the camp but it is on the edge of Monument Valley that I showed you back a few months ago.

Beautiful scenery.

Not a lot of grass.

See the car and tent?

Places to hike.

With sunlight.

 

 

Fun exploring.

View out of the canyon toward Monument Valley.

Great fun!

Distant view of camp ground.

Motel that overlooks Monument Valley.

More beauty!

An old stage coach looking out into the valley.

Tim, a new friend I met there when he set up camp next to mine. I had a bike just like his at the time but I had left it at home. We had lots to talk about. Great camping trip.

Sturgis, SD

Sturgis!

That one word says a lot to someone who own a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle.

I've been there when there were 500,000 other motorcycles there. 

It is held during the first full week of August and has been held over fifty years. 

This is what downtown Sturgis looks like during the rally.

1999 while I was on my way to Sturgis.

Many people from all walks of life show up in Sturgis. 

Native American.

Yellow bike of the left is my bike from 2003.

There are some amazing bikes there with unusual paint jobs.

I like yellow.

Pepsi anyone!

Some strange bikes also.

The famous Buffalo Bike.

This is Deadwood, SD not far from Sturgis.

Guard dog on bike.

Car/Bike wash.

Downtown Sturgis.

Wild Costume.

You see everything.

Lots of dogs.

Three wheel motorcycle.

Cool!

If you are ever in SD in August you will see more motorcycles than you have ever imagined.

Canyon de Chelly

For nearly 5,000 years, people have lived in these canyons which is longer than anyone has lived uninterrupted anywhere on the Colorado Plateau. Click on the picture to see the enlarged picture. I took these pictures when I visited.

Visitor Center

An example of a Hogan that the Native Americans lived in during one period of time.

 

This National Monument is a very large canyon made by continued erosion of the sandy soil over thousands of years. Try to get the feeling of the size of the canyon. The line in the sand is a road.

The dry river bottom has many groves of trees since the river only flows during short periods of time. The bright green is the bottom of the canyon.

There is a road along the rim of the canyon where I took these pictures. When I go back I plan to travel in the bottom of the canyon and drive across the river to explore the canyon. 

It is hard to imagine a civilization of people living and farming to make a living in the canyon.

In this picture I hope you can see the housing in the sidewall of the canyon as well as below on the bottom of the canyon. The houses in the side wall were easy to defend against enemies. The height of the canyon walls are very high and the pictures hardly do it justice in showing the size.

Here is another view of the canyon wall housing. There are two levels of housing in the picture, one above the other. The way the people got to the housing was by climbing using small hand and feet cut-outs in the sandstone sides of the canyon. One slip and it could be over.

In this picture I hope you can see the cultivated field in the center where modern day Native Americans are using the land for crops. It is easy to spot the bottom of the canyon due to the greenest vegetation on the canyon floor that gets the most moisture.  

There are many beautiful vantage points. 

Can you see the small wooden building on the canyon floor near the middle of the photo with three large trees around it?

Another building and cultivated area for crops. The river is dry now but with rains in the area water can appear without it raining in the canyon. These times are called flash floods.

In some places the canyon is very narrow. Can you see the housing in the canyon wall on the far side wall? It is almost the center of my photo just above the bend in the river.

Another bend in the river going around the big rock. See more cultivated fields. I hope you get to Canyon de Shelly some day. It is in northern AZ and not far from Monument Valley in Utah. Stop in!