2014 – A Year of Beauty

Our RV travels in 2014 were absolutely stellar in every way. It was a year full of memories that we will always cherish.

Here is a retrospective look at our 2014 travels with links to each post. Enjoy them all from this page, or read the first post and then use the right arrow at the bottom of each post to link to the next.

ARIZONA

2014 was our first year back in our fifth wheel after four years of alternating between our RV and sailboat, and we returned to the full-time RV lifestyle with enthusiasm.

We started in Phoenix, Arizona, where we did lots of hiking and photography in the lush Sonoran Desert.

Despite knowing the Phoenix area very well, we were delighted to discover the beauty of the Salt River and the lovely shores of Saguaro Lake.

The waterbirds dancing on the riverbanks were absolutely enchanting, and the wild horses kept us captivated, especially when a small family group showed up with a newborn colt.

Phoenix is teeming with little oases in the desert.  We camped at pretty Roosevelt Lake where we saw early signs of spring in April.  Soon the wildflowers in the desert began to bloom in earnest.

 

 

In late April, we left the Phoenix area and headed north to Sedona, where we enjoyed stunning drives around town.

Sedona is Mountain Biking Mecca, and we tested our skills on the very challenging mountain bike trails through the red rock vistas. Wow! and Ouch!

The West Fork Hiking Trail, with its thick vegetation and glassy waters, was a highlight during our Sedona stay, as was the sensational and lively 4×4 drive down Schnebly Hill Road.

 

 

The warmth of May sent us further north to hike the glorious slot canyon at Wire Pass Trail that is part of exquisite Paria Canyon.

We explored the Toadstool Trail nearby where the wildflowers were a riot of color blowing in the breeze. What a surprise it was when a massive, unmarked red rock canyon opened up in front of us beyond the end of the trail!

From the Arizona/Utah border we zoomed through Utah. We LOVE Utah but knew that if we stopped there we’d never leave!

NEVADA

We made a pit stop in Ely, Nevada, where we accidentally stumbled on the annual Nevada Open Road Challenge car race and mingled with exotic cars and their drivers.

With speed on our minds, we stopped at the site of many land speed records, the Bonneville Salt Flats and then Lamoille Canyon outside Elko, Nevada.

Driving across northern Nevada into southern Oregon, we saw vast stretches of absolute emptiness, where there is literally nothing out in the middle of nowhere but strange road signs!

OREGON

What a thrill it was, then, to arrive at spectacular Crater Lake National Park on Memorial Day weekend where the wondrous royal blue of the lake was set against the blinding white of the surrounding snow-capped peaks.

Bend, Oregon, proved to be fun, trendy and a true outdoorsman’s delight, and we mountain biked, hiked and took stunning scenic drives around central Oregon.

The Two Bulls wildfire smoked us out of Bend, however, and sent us packing to the east — with stops at the Crooked River and John Day National Monument.

 

The deeper we got into eastern Oregon, the more we fell in love with the area.

Baker City was absolutely charming, not only for being a friendly and wholesome small Victorian-era town that is the same size it was in the 1940’s, but for its thrilling annual bicycle race.

Still floating on a high from the bicycle race, we arrived in the tiny town of Joseph in far northeast Oregon to be swept off our feet completely.

 

The Wallowa mountains are a gorgeous range, and they set the backdrop for this small, remote outpost that boasts not only a sweet main drag but a pretty town beach nestled into the mountains.

One great way to enjoy the scenery around town was to ride the old railroad tracks on funky bicycle rail cars. Another was to take the special tramway into the heavenly peaks.

A delightful hike along Hurricane Creek was filled with wildflowers and views. Unfortunately, we were pushed down the road once again by a series of wildfires.

IDAHO

We glimpsed Hell’s Canyon in Idaho where the hellacious ruggedness is tamed by bucolic river views.

A skip and hop across Idaho brought us to to the old train depot town of Shoshone, which is so humble you would never guess a multi-millionaire’s paradise is just a few miles north.

We reached Sun Valley just in time for the annual Sun Valley Road Rally car race on the Sawtooth Scenic Byway which included six $2.7 million Bugatti Veyrons and a very happy young gazillionaire who took his Veyron to victory while setting the course record.

The cool outdoor skating rink at the Sun Valley Resort was a great spot to be in August, and we watched both young kids and budding professionals compete in back to back figure skating competitions.

While boondocked in the endless lands of possibility around Ketchum, we bumped into a group of professional artists painting landscapes around the valley.

Over at the Sun Valley Pavilion, we also took in several of the free, nightly Sun Valley Symphony concerts that are held throughout August.

 

Traveling across Idaho, we visited otherworldly Craters of the Moon National Monument and stopped in Arco, home of the historic ERB-1 nuclear power plant, the first nuclear plant to power an American town.

WYOMING

Grand Teton National Park greeted us with wild skies and fabulous, lugubrious clouds.

Rising before dawn many mornings, we captured the mirrored reflections of these magnificent mountains, and reveled in the beauty of this park.

Spectacular rainbows, ancient barns, leaping bison and other wondrous sightings rounded out our stay in the majestic Tetons.

COLORADO

This year was proving to be a total thrill, and in September the wonders continued to unfold when we dropped south to visit Maroon Bells, Colorado.

Romance was in the air as Mark suddenly found himself watching a young man drop to his knee and propose to his girlfriend, and I found myself next to a wedding party’s photo shoot!

 

Black Canyon of the Gunnison left us breathless as we gaped at its steep and deep chasms. These craggy peaks showed us a raw side of Colorado that isn’t the typical brochure image.

But it was magical Ouray, Colorado, resplendent in her autumn gold colors, that truly made our jaws drop.

Ouray is an engaging small mountain town set high in the lofty peaks of the Rocky Mountains, and while we were there during the last days of September and first days of October, the aspen leaves were at their most vibrant.

 

The Million Dollar Highway was ablaze in color, and we traversed that extraordinary road between Ouray and Silverton many times.

When the weather turned to rain and the overnight temps dropped into the twenties, we woke up to find ourselves and our buggy buried in snow. Happily, the scenery had gone from stunning to truly out of this world!

ARIZONA

Ready to thaw out, we hustled over the mountains into sunny northern Arizona to the mysterious Navajo Nation.

 

This unusual land is home to a lesser known people and, after our travels through the reservation, a pro photographer friend of our showed us her special and moving video about the Navajo Nation Fair.

When I first wrote my post about this video, I forgot to include the password for viewing it. If you couldn’t watch it before, please give it another try!

From Indian Country in NE Arizona, we returned to Sedona’s red rocks, and finally went back to Phoenix where we spent November and December relaxing from our travels and visiting friends and family.

REFLECTIONS

Putting together this post has been a vivid trip down memory lane. What a year it was!!

I hope these pics and stories inspire you to go adventuring. Perhaps you’ll find a place or two among all these to add to your travel bucket list too.

Thank you for coming along with us in spirit this year as we traveled around the awe-inspiring western states.

We don’t know where we are headed next, but as we roll across the countryside next year, we’ll bring you lots more fun travel pics and stories!!

 

Goodbye, sweet 2014 — and Welcome 2015!!

An Overview of Our First 10 Years of Full-time Travel + Reflections after 9 Years!

• 10 Years of RVing and Sailing Full-time - The Early Years! - Running away in an RV, then broadening our horizons on a sailboat.
• 10 Years of Living on the Road - 2nd Half! - Fulfilling all our cruising dreams and then returning to full-time RVing!
• 9th Anniversary of RVing and Sailing Full-time - Reflections on how we started and what the first few months were like.

Summaries of Each Year on the Road - All of our travel posts in chronological order:

• 2007-2012 - Years of Discovery and Exploration by RV and Sailboat - WOW! We're FREE!
• 2013 - A Year of Transition: Goodbye Groovy, Hello Buggy! - Our last year in Mexico on our sailboat
• 2014 - A Year of Beauty in our RV - Back to full-time RVing...What a rush!
• 2015 - A Thrilling RV Journey East - From Arizona to Florida to Nova Scotia and back!
• 2016 - A Year of RVing the National Parks in America and Canada - Park to Park to the Canadian Rockies. SPECTACULAR!
• 2017 - RVing the West + Flying to Thailand, Cambodia & Paris! - What a fulfilling whirlwind!
• 2018 - The Year of the Dog! - Buddy turned our lives upside down and stole our hearts!

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