Our Nest on Wheels

Delta, Utah.

Not exactly a destination. This small town is located on the western side of Utah, about 90 miles from the Nevada border. It's technically not on the loneliest road in America, as that is only in Nevada, but as there is nothing much on Hwy 50 from Delta to Ely, it's sort of the unofficial start of the loneliest road.

We stayed in Delta because we were going from north of Salt Lake City to St. George and this seemed to be about half way. And it's a bit off the beaten track. And almost everywhere we've stayed, we've found that there are some interesting things to see nearby. Delta was no exception. We discovered that Delta was the location for a World War II era internment camp for American citizens of Japanese ancestry.

There's not too much left of the 42 blocks with 12 barracks each and other buildings, or the 6 guard towers, or the barbed-wire perimeter fence. There are some foundations of buildings left, and some old rusty metal equipment, and signs indicating where various buildings were. But it's a bleak, windy, inhospitable place. We asked ourselves why the government thought that they needed guard towers and a fence, when it certainly was the case that anyone heading out on their own would not be likely to make it very far.

One of the things that stood out to us about this camp was that they used the term "Concentration Camp" on some of their signage rather than the less emotion-charged "Relocation Camp." The site falls under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service (see details here), and we've seen a trend in recent years for the Park Service to be a bit more honest about some of the darker times in our nation's past, revising how they refer to the treatment of Native Americans, for example, and now how they refer to internment camps. It's a welcome change.

The only parts of the site that provided any recreational activities were the gymnasium and this ball field. There were a couple schools (elementary and high school), a church, and a hospital. Most of the internees were women and children. Imagine being in the Nevada desert for 3+ years without much of anything to do. In a tar paper shack. In the winter.

This sign, located in Delta, nicely sums up the experience at Topaz. No sugar-coating, no attempts at justifying the awful things done to fellow citizens. Just an honest assessment of a horrible mistake.

I'm hoping that we don't run across any more of these camps. The story is always pretty much the same and it doesn't end well. I hope we as a nation can learn from this.

 Lake Powell in Page, AZ.

We were here 3 years ago. From the campground we could walk to the water. Back then it was a bit of a hike, not the short walk to the water's edge that it was when Lake Powell was full, some 20 years ago. But now, when you get to where the water was 3 years ago, you still have a quarter mile to go before you reach the water.

Here's Jane standing by the "No Lifeguard" sign that used to be just before you arrived at the water.  Look over her left shoulder. Those black dots you see are cars parked in a new parking lot by the new boat launch. That new parking lot is still high above the lake level.

The water in Lake Powell is low. The lake is at around 29% of capacity, and the lake levels will continue to fall until sometime in April or May. The typical cycle is that the lake reaches its low point some time from mid-April to early May. Then the spring melt and runoff from the mountain snows begins and raises the lake level. In some years, the lake will rise over 40 feet in elevation from the spring runoff. In 2021, the lake rose only 2 feet.

The western US is facing a water crisis. Twenty years of drought and an over-allocation of the existing water have brought us to the point where water usage will have to be cut back. Nowhere is this more visible than at Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Both reservoirs are at the lowest point that they have been since they first reached full pool. It's rather shocking to come back after only 3 years and find that the water is down almost 50 feet from where you last saw it.

That strategy will work only for some time. The lake is currently 158 feet down from full and has the potential to drop another 30 feet or more before the spring runoff. Here's the view from the Antelope Point marina, a floating marina that is now so far below the pedestrian ramp leading to it that the ramp is no longer usable. They have had to cut a new path through the rock to access the marina. What will happen when the lake drops some more?  I don't see a viable solution.

by Steve

We have fallen into a travel pattern of spending 7 months on the road, from April through October, and then 5 months in Tucson. Unless there's a global pandemic, and then we might sit tight for a while. This means that we are typically traveling back to Tucson in late October. There really are just a few ways to get to Tucson: either we are coming down from either the north, through Flagstaff; from the east, through Las Cruces; or from the west, which would be from either Las Vegas or Yuma. Since we have spend a far bit of time exploring Utah, we are usually coming from the north. A convenient stopover a couple of hundred miles from Tucson is Camp Verde, and we've stayed there 4 times now.

We have found a number of interesting things to see and do within a short distance of Camp Verde. There are several National Monuments, including Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well. There's the historic mining town of Jerome, and the red rock country of Sedona. We've been to all of them a few times now. But right outside of Camp Verde is an attraction that we had not seen: the Out of Africa Wildlife Park.

Some of the first animals you'll see when you visit are giraffes. There are three of them, and they will put their head into the tram you are riding to take a piece of celery from your hand. (Celery is provided as you board the tram.) As the tram takes you through a large area you'll see giraffes, antelope, zebras, ostrich, water buffalo, etc., all roaming freely.

The zebras are the bandits of the group, having learned how to hold up the tram until the driver gives up some food.

These guys look like they are grinning about some inside joke.

Up the hill from the "safari" area that is accessible only via the tram is a whole series of large fenced-in areas for predators that couldn't be trusted to not eat the zebras or giraffes. The first one we saw was a tiger. Not just your normal run-of-the-mill tiger, but a rare white tiger.

We saw this white tiger right after seeing a regular orange tiger. And we thought "Wow, they have 2 tigers"! But as it turns out, they have a whole lot of tigers. We lost count, but think that it's at least a dozen. Most all of them are rescues. 

Then there are the lions.

One of the nice things about this park is that the lions and tigers have larges spaces to roam. Some of their enclosures are connected to others, giving them extra spaces to explore and live in. But the best part is that there are viewing platforms that enable you to see the lions without having to look through a fence. We were fortunate to find a group of lions that appeared to be posing for us. 

At this park, I got some of the best big cat pictures that I've ever taken. In addition to the lions and tigers, we also saw panthers and a mountain lion. The mountain lion is named "Sage" and knows its keeper's voice. When the keeper calls, the puma responds with a squeak. I don't think I've ever heard a mountain lion before.

A variety of other animals round out the residents of this park. Here's a face that only a mother could love.

If you look at the ears on this fellow, you'll see that he's really interested in whatever sounds we are making. He's not interested in eating us, despite the drool. Rhinos are herbivores. 

If you find yourself in Camp Verde and have some time, the Out of Africa park is worth a visit. Expect to spend around 4 to 5 hours if you want to see the whole park. Wear sturdy shoes and plan on a fair bit of walking. Don't expect a lot of creature comforts for the visitors. The roads and walkways are not paved, and there are only a couple of spots in the park with drinking fountains and bathrooms. But that all adds to the rustic wild feel of the place.

If you've been following this blog, well, you haven't had much to follow this year.  We have not been very good at writing about the places we've been, when we've been there. And once we move to the next place, the mind tends to focus on the new stuff we're seeing and doing.  

But now that we're situated back in Tucson for the winter season, maybe we can get you up to date on our travels.  We were in 27 different locations this summer, mostly in Oregon and Washington, and mostly along the coast. We do keep a map up to date on where we've been, by year.  Here's the map for 2021.

The last post we made was about our crabbing fun when our kids came out for a visit. That was back in June and July.  Since then we've been to Gig Harbor, Anacortes, Port Angeles, LaPush, Oceanside, Cascade Lakes, Coer d'alene, Missoula, West Yellowstone, and a half dozen other places.  We'll try to hit some of the highlights in new posts over the next couple months.

Since every blog post should have some pictures to add interest, I'm going to add a pic from our last stop, which was Camp Verde, Arizona.  

Enjoy the lion, and look for a few new posts coming soon.

Our daughter came out to Oregon for a visit. We went to the beach, the Sea Lion Caves, lighthouses, tidepools, and crabbing. We had good luck crabbing, catching 11 Dungeness crabs. She learned about "cleaning" them, which involves splitting the crab in half, pulling off the legs, and removing the gills.

 by Steve

We are in Bend, Oregon. This area of central Oregon is considered "high desert" as it gets only around 11 inches of rain per year. But you'd really not know it to look around. There are lakes and rivers (and irrigation canals) all around. And snow--lots of snow--in the Cascade Range. This is an area where volcanoes were once very active.

Yes, we are here in May and it's a little early to be up in the mountains.  This picture was taken on a recent hike; the trail was under a few feet of snow, and the ski resort on the mountain in the background was still operating. But most of the days have been pleasant with temperatures in the low 60s, so it's just a matter of time for this snow to melt.

I'm not sure how he digs a home in the rock, or how he keeps his feet from being cut by the sharp rock, but he seems to be thriving.

Pictured here is a massive Obsidian flow on the Newberry caldera. Obsidian is a type of lava that forms when lava flows at higher temperatures than typical. It's glass-like, with sharp edges and shiny smooth surfaces. We hiked a trail in this flow and as snow covered much of it, it wasn't easy to follow. Hiking off-trail in Obsidian is not easy, nor is it recommended!

Tumalo Falls, about 10 minutes outside Bend

The Deschutes River flowing through a lava field just south of Bend

 by Steve

In our travels, we will occasionally encounter things that just should not exist. Things that shouldn't be there. The city of Las Vegas is an example--it really has no reason for existing out in the middle of the desert with virtually no resources. This post is about another one of those things: the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City. But first a little history.

The Parker Dam was constructed on the Colorado River about 155 miles downstream from the Hoover Dam.  Construction began in 1934 and was completed in 1938. The Hoover Dam was completed in 1936, so these dams were being built at the same time, on the same river. Which also meant that the lakes they created were being filled at around the same time. 

Parker Dam created Lake Havasu, and it took four years to fill, completing the lake in 1942. The resulting lake, however, was not an immediate magnet for people. This is, after all, the middle of the desert with no major cities anywhere near it. Here's where the chainsaw comes in.

In 1943, Robert McColloch started a small engine company in Wisconsin.  After a few years, he moved the company to California and began manufacturing chainsaws. At first the saws required two men to operate them, but in 1949, McColloch revolutionized the industry by making a one-man chainsaw. Sales took off, and he would go on to change the industry again by making a lightweight chainsaw.  (You can read more about the history of McColloch here.) 

By 1963, the company had expanded into aircraft engines and outboard motors. While flying over the desert looking at Lake Havasu as a place to test outboards, McColloch thought that it might be a good spot for a city. He had money from his successful chainsaw company and had decided to try real estate development, so he acquired an abandoned military base on Lake Havasu. It cost him nothing, but he was committed to developing the land as part of the deal. The problem was that this was in the middle of the desert with no good way to get there. There was only one unimproved road leading to Lake Havasu in 1964.

Nevertheless, McColloch and his realty partner start advertising, flying people in and selling them lots. But it wasn't enough; he needed something else to lure people, something beyond dry desert, sunshine, and cold river water. His realtor came up with the crazy idea of buying the London Bridge and reconstructing it at Lake Havasu. 

The London Bridge, which was the latest one of several constructed on that particular site on the Thames river, had been completed in 1831. The lampposts on the bridge had been made from melted-down cannons captured from Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo.

But by 1924, the bridge had begun sinking due to the weight of automobile traffic, and one end was three to four inches lower than the other. Since it also blocked boat traffic on the river, the city of London decided to see if anyone would be willing to buy it, and they advertised it for sale in 1967. 

McColloch and his partner bid $2.4 million for the bridge and ended up getting it. Then they had to get the thing dismantled and moved to Arizona. The London Bridge was an entirely stone structure, way too heavy to move, even after dismantling it. So they kept only the façade and even had all the stones shaved down, losing four to eight inches of depth on each one. The stones were all numbered and shipped off to Arizona, along with the lampposts that lined the bridge. The stones became the facing on a newly constructed steel frame for a bridge that spanned nothing but sand.

So that's how Napoleon's cannons ended up in the Arizona desert, on a bridge that spans a man-made channel that didn't need to be there, except as an excuse for a bridge, in a city that probably shouldn't exist. But it all works.