The morning sun on the rock formations was majestic!
I have had an absolutely fantastic motorhome trip to visit Monument Valley. Although I grew up in Flagstaff, I am embarrassed to say that I never have visited Monument Valley. It is spectacular!
This Mexican Hat is quite famous in southeastern Utah!
I started off spending the night in a dispersed camping area in Mexican Hat, Utah. I had a fantastic spot to camp with a perfect view of the famous Mexican Hat! No one was around me, so it was quiet and had a great view of the stars at night.
I loved this early morning photo that silhouetted Mexican Hat rock! As the sun became closer, I noticed a sliver of the moon up above!
From Mexican Hat to Monument Valley, I drove through the road that was made famous by running Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump. It was fun to recognize the location.
Forrest Gump running and running made this section of Utah road extremely famous!
The morning sun was wonderful as it highlighted the rock structures on my way to Monument Valley.
I loved the clouds in this early morning photo!
Below are some fun photos from my 3 hour “sunset tour.” I need to return here. I was breathtaking and difficult to take in all the scenes. This was a wonderful bucket list item!
I thought the left mitten was beautiful! The correct name is West Mitten Butte.God is quite creative and awesome! This is East Mitten Butte.God has a sense of humor. Do you see Snoopy laying down on his back?This is Chief! I think he is awesome and fierce!Monument Valley has some amazing rock formations! Everywhere you look there is something amazing to see!My guide showed me a number of different petroglyphs. I think she said this was estimated to be 900 years old!This photo was taken through a hole in Submarine rock looking north in Monument Valley.The amazing rock formations in Monument Valley never end!I think this was my favorite rock formation. It is called Totem Pole. She timed our trip so we could see Totem Pole highlighted by the setting sun. This is the eagle eye! I had to use my cell phone to take the photo because my 18 mm wide angle lens was not wide enough to capture the whole eagle.The setting sun created some nice “U” highlights of Monument Valley!The setting sun created a fun photo of the Three Sisters!As we arrived back at our tour starting point, the sunset created a warm glow on West Mitten Butte.
I absolutely loved visiting Monument Valley! It was well worth the trip!
It is so fun to visit Wisconsin. Where else can you wear a cheese hat? Although I tend to not eat as much cheese today as I have in the past, it is a requirement to buy cheese curds when traveling in Wisconsin. Cheese curds are fun and squeaky to eat!
Beautiful shoreline at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore!
I really enjoy seeing our national parks. Today I was able to discover beautiful sections of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Two spectacular aspects are beautiful waterfalls and beautiful coastline. I went on a hike and thought the colors were amazing! The upper peninsula of Michigan is rugged and beautiful. I would like to spend a longer time here on a future trip.
This is Munising Falls. I loved all the waterfalls in the upper peninsula!I love listening to the sound of the water.All the rain produces rivers and streams flowing everywhere in the upper peninsula.The intense green throughout the forests is awesome!Never, in my entire life, have I been on a hike and encountered a sign about snowmobiles!I love the vibrant ferns!The coastline is simply stunning!Interesting rock formations.I have been captivated by the green foliage. Gorgeous forests throughout the upper peninsula!
The Mackinac Bridge is an amazing engineering accomplishment!
Today I drove over the Mackinac Bridge in the motorhome during a rainstorm! Everything was fine, but I was very careful to stay in my line going uphill and then downhill. The Mackinac Bridge is truly an engineering marvel. It is huge and awesome and commands attention. It is amazing that it opened in 1957.
This monument was dedicated to the union workers who built the bridge and died during its construction.Truly an amazing bridge!The massive bridge is visible in the midst of the rain storm!This is a clear spring called Kitch-iti-Kipi (“Big Spring”). The wind is slightly rippling the surface of the spring, but it is crystal clear! You can see 40 feet down to the bottom of the spring. Over 10,000 gallons per minute of water gush from the spring! All of these logs are under water, but the water is so clear, it almost seems like they are on the surface.“UP” is how people often refer to Michigan’s upper peninsula. A person living in the UP is commonly called a “yooper.” This Yooper bar is a candy bar made in the UP. It is a requirement for anyone visiting the UP buy a Yooper bar!This is the famous red lighthouse at Manistique, Michigan in the upper peninsula facing south.
Today was a milestone for me in my RV travels. With our previous diesel pusher and our current motorhome, I have had the opportunity to sleep in our motorhome in all 48 lower states. Michigan was my final state to complete all 48 states!
It is fun that I was able to arrive in Traverse City as my first tourist stop in Michigan. Traverse City is known as the “Cherry Capital of the World” because of all cherries grown in the area and the wide variety of cherry products that are available for purchase. I had a wonderful time going from store to store tasting various cherry products. The obvious cherry jams and syrups were wonderful. The cherry trail mix was great, and the chocolate covered cherries were outstanding. I tasted 6 different cherry wines (more were available, but a tasting event was limited to 6 wines). It was a difficult decision, but I decided to buy bottles of two different cherry wines. Cherry fudge was bursting with flavor too. The cherry salsas were great. There were also unusual items. Cherry flavored barbeque sauce? Cherry bacon spread? Cherry queso?
This was my favorite wine! It was described as “cherry pie in a bottle.”Their cherry spiced wine is wonderful.These are fantastic! I am glad that samples were available to try!Yum!!I was not able to try their pancakes, but I think I would love them!I love cherry syrup!Cherry coffee is certainly worth a try!Maybe I would like this?Sounds great to me!No thanks. I think I will pass on this one.I am doubtful about this one.My taste buds said that Black Cherry and Chocolate cherry were excellent fudge flavors!I loved this colorful mural!There are several popular beaches in Traverse City!I liked this sculpture near the marina.
It is an awesome experience to stand on the shore of Lake Michigan!
I set a goal to visit as many national parks as possible on my RV trip. Some I have visited are famous, while others of not well known. I put Indiana Dunes National Park in the latter category. I had never heard of it until I started reviewing all the national parks. It is quite unique in that it has several ecosystems all in one national park. I think it is probably most well known for its beaches and dunes. It is a fascinating patchwork of properties that contain all these different ecosystems together. I thoroughly enjoyed my day visiting this national park.
I think this gentleman should receive an award for being the most awesome park ranger. He was extremely informative and excited to tell me about Indiana Dunes National Park and all the things I should see during my visit.Their bison knows the importance of wearing a mask if not vaccinated for COVID (although I think it looks more like a feed bag).I was excited to walk along this path to see Lake Michigan for the first time!The water was quite chilly, but it was beautiful to see Lake Michigan.In places, this beach had river rock mixed together with the beach sand.The name of this dune is Mount Baldy. It is amazing because it moves every year with the wind! It now almost reaches one of the parking lots.
I love visiting national parks. They are beautiful and have interesting things to see. Today I was in Ohio and came to see the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It is situated south of Cleveland in the midst of a forest of green.
One of the most popular hikes is to see Brandywine Falls. I left the visitor center and hiked the 5-mile hike to see these falls. I thought was a very nice hike with a number of fun things to see along the way.
I love our national park system.These backlit leaves caught my attention.Interesting plants along the hike.I love the intense green plants growing everywhere.Nice path for hiking.I enjoyed the shade along the trail with the light highlights on the leaves.I like the shapes of these plants.Very interesting bark on this tree.The weathered wood on this barn caught my eye.I liked looking at this wooden barn.
Getting ready for the Maid of the Mist boat ride for a closeup view of the falls!
I had a wonderful time visiting Niagara Falls State Park. Years ago, I visited Niagara Falls from the Canadian side, but today was the first time to visit the American side. The highlight was the Maid of the Mist boat ride to the base of both the American Falls and Horseshoe Falls. I stood near the front of the boat and we were complete covered with water mist. It was a very fun experience!
This was our boat filled with excited people to see the waterfalls!This is approaching Horseshoe Falls!This is the left side of Horseshoe Falls! Note the size of the people to the left of the falls.This is the right side of Horseshoe Falls! We can feel the rumble in the water!Getting closer and feeling the force of the water and mist rising up around us!The force of the water is intense!Amazing to hear the water roar!This is the left side of the American Falls.Everyone on the boat is focused on the water crashing in front of us.We move in closer to the American Falls.This is the observation tower to get a good view of the American Falls. Not the size of the people on top.This is a view of the American Falls from the observation tower. The Horseshoe Falls are in the background on the right.A view from the observation tower.
One of the highlights of this RV trip was to visit with extremely special friends Betty and Jim. I spent two winters with them when RVing in the Phoenix area several years ago. It was wonderful to see them and enjoy lunch together!
Now I know when so many people speak favorably about going to “up state New York.” It is an extremely beautiful area. It has a nice combination of rural areas and nearby major cities. I loved driving through the Adirondacks and seeing the finger lakes region. It would be very easy to spend the summer in such a nice location!
I love shopping in farm to market businesses! Great food and it is nice to talk to people growing the products.I love blueberries on my morning oatmeal!It is a rare treat for me to enjoy black raspberries!The Canandaigua Lady provides cruises around Canandaigua Lake, one of the finger lakes.I love to visit microbreweries and sample some of their products. They had several berry flavored beers that would quite good! Berlinerweiss was my favorite beer at Twisted Rail Brewing Company in Canandaigua.I enjoy all the colorful flowers growing in the area.Here is my nice camp site, complete with the pond and fountain providing soothing water sounds.
Ben & Jerry’s is an iconic Vermont establishment. My first visit to Vermont required I stop at their factory.
I do not think it is possible to visit Vermont and not stop to see Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Especially, since this is my first time to Vermont, I just had to stop. I may not agree with many of the political positions of Ben & Jerry’s, but they are an iconic Vermont establishment. Tours were currently not available, but it was still possible to buy some of their excellent ice cream!
Although this RV has seen better days, it is a friendly greeting when arriving at Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory.It was humorous to see the “graveyard” of retired or unsuccessful flavors. This flavor still sounds good to me.I think I would really like this flavor, but I guess it did not catch enough peoples’ attention.In Burlington, Vermont I climbed to the top of Ethan Allen Tower.I simply love seeing the vibrant green foliage all around this part of the country!
Fiesta on Wheels 