A QUICK RV TRIP THROUGH THE WEST

We just returned from a quick first tour of the West, making a loop from Nevada to Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and back to Nevada. The weather was unseasonably cool and the winds were high for almost the entire trip. We even got stuck with the latest snow ever recorded in Utah - several inches worth. Some spring flowers were out, but the insects were few and we didn't end up with a single butterfly. We cut the trip short after eight days when both kids got very sick in Mesa Verde, Colorado. Two vomiting kids in a small RV isn't the pleasantest experience so I drove all day from Colorado to get back to Reno by 6PM, Monday. We will be off to resume the trip after the kids recuperate and V has had her ballet recital. The weather should be a lot warmer in a few weeks too. Here's the route we took and a video of what the wind picked up in New Mexico. Below are some photos of a few of the places we visited.
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MESA VERDE

We stayed a day at Mesa Verde in Colorado to see the Anasazi ruins. We planned a two day visit, but the kids got very sick and we had to cut that short. The famous Cliff Palace seen here is quite a bit smaller in reality than it appears in photos. Anasazi dwellings from small to large are to be found on the cliffs throughout the surrounding canyons. Like so many of the locales of the Colorado Plateau, the landscape around here is absolutely spectacular.

PETRIFIED NATIONAL FOREST

We drove through the Petrified Forest in eastern Arizona and had fun on a windy and sunny day. The small museum at the park was excellent with very interesting displays of the fossil forms that have been found in the park, including phytosaurs, aetosaurs, and metoposaurids. Too cool!

METEOR CRATER

We drove a few miles off highway 40 to take a look at Meteor Crater in Arizona.

THE GRAND CANYON, SOUTH RIM

On our first day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon we took an easy mile-long hike to little visited Shoshone Point which A captured in the photo above. (Click any of the photos for much larger views.) The following day we hiked a mile down into the Canyon on Bright Angel trail. V took out her camera to snap photos of the squirrels that tried to take our lunch. These little guys are very aggressive along this busy trail and frequently bite tourists. That's V's video of the squirrels below.

CHESS

After math, the kids get a few minutes of chess instruction. Here they're starting a 5-minute blitz game using a chess clock. We've tried a number of ways to make games between them more even, either by reducing Alton's material or by giving Verity a certain number of hints during a game. When they play complete games like this (rather than exercises and end game positions) my primary focus is to teach them positional play (proper piece development, King safety, pawn structure, etc.) rather than having them worry about all the tactical moves that they're missing. Better tactics will come with experience.

FIELD BAGS

On field trips, the kids and I each carry a field bag with the following: collapsible insect net, killing jar, digital camera, general field guide, sketch book, notebook, mechanical pencil, pen, eraser, sharpeners, and hand lens. This lets us take photos, sketches, notes, and collect and study insects wherever we go. The insect nets are from a Polish company called "Paradox" and are of a much superior quality and design than those of our leading U.S. company "Bioquip".

We always have the equipment in the field bags which makes preparing for trips a little easier and the chance that we'll forget something smaller. Having the bags color coded comes in handy too!