It was early March, 2019… and a great time of year in the sunny Southwest to take a Road Trip!   Therefore, Alice & I, along with good friends Duane & Becky Sutherland, decided… lets go check out the Salton Sea!  So we planned our trip, traveling from Yuma, Arizona, heading to the East shore of the Salton Sea… and as we discussed our trip, we noticed on the map – Slab City is on the way!   Slab City… 640 acres, 120′ below sea level… with no local laws, no local governance, no services, and described by some as an ‘Enclave of Anarchy’… and to we Children of the 60’s…(at least some of us) vaguely reminiscent of the 1960’s.   View the pictures… and see what you think!

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Imagine a time… when America had no coast-to-coast Highways… only railroads, waterways, and ‘National Trails’ from earlier Westward expansions.   It was not that long ago – only about a hundred years or so.   This post is about one of the very first coast-to-coast highways – US Highway 80… and its legendary 6½ mile stretch of road called ‘The Old Plank Road’.    This 6½ mile stretch, located in the extreme southeast corner of California, was passable by only the most hardy & persevering of drivers… indeed, this stretch of road was literally built on ‘shifting sands’… and accordingly assembled out of portable 8’x12′ road sections constructed of wooden planks that could be, and often were, ‘shifted’ over the sands… as the roadway routinely became unpassable under the shifting sands of California’s Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area.  

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Monday, August 21… The Great American Eclipse of 2017... Alice & I, and several of our friends, really wanted to see the Darkness of Full Totality that would come with this Eclipse.  The problem? The Line of Totality would be 160 miles away, and we had commitments to be elsewhere the day before, and the day after.   So… if we were going to see Full Totality on Eclipse Day, we would have to leave early in the morning, drive the distance, find a comfortable spot, get set up, and only then… sit back and relax to enjoy the event (10:27 AM, MST) . And that is just exactly what we undertook to do.

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Alice and I have been ‘Summering’ in the Black Hills of South Dakota for several years now, and have come to really love the Mountains, Canyons, Creeks & Lakes found here.   Recently, we undertook a pleasant short hike on the Roughlock Falls Trail, located in one of our most favorite back-country areas – Spearfish Canyon. This post is about that hike…and to also share some recent Regional news that we just learned… that evidently this area is designated to become South Dakota’s newest State Park – “Spearfish Canyon State Park”.   Excellent news, as this post will show why.

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Alice and I have long enjoyed roadtrips into the back country. Recently, during one of these trips along California’s CR S24 in Imperial County, we came across an old Dam located on the lower Colorado River… that somehow looked familiar.   Sure enough – turns out just the night before we had watched an old 1936 Gene Autry Cowboy movie titled ‘Red River Valley’… about a ‘new’ irrigation Dam in the old west… Yep – it was the same Dam!   We were intrigued… and made plans to come back.

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Winter 2017 in Southern Arizona has been a relatively wet one… and the desert shows it.   During a couple of recent return exploratory hikes at the Sears Point Petroglyph site, not only did we come across some new (for us) Petroglyphs… but we also found a desert in bloom.   This post, mostly pictures, shares the contrasting beauty we saw… 

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Hello, folks.   Alice and I are ‘back down home’ again, in the Deep South of East Texas.   A few days ago, we had an opportunity to take a Fall Boat Trip up an old historic waterway of mid-1800’s America… Big Cypress Bayou… with our destination being the historic Steamboat City of Jefferson, TX.   And what a trip!   This is the Ark-La-Tex area, full of history that centers around Texas Independence, French Cajuns, the Louisiana ‘Neutral Strip’, bad Outlaws, and… music, like KWKH’s 1950’s “Louisiana Hayride”.

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Alice and I enjoy exploring American History…and our retired traveling lifestyle fits well with this hobby.   Recently, we made a weekend visit to a very historical segment of the Oregon Trail  located in Southeast Wyoming… a 12-mile stretch between Fort Laramie  and Register Cliffs (Guernsey), about a day’s travel for the Emigrants.   This short blog update comes as a result of an interesting side trip that we made while on that visit, one that unexpectedly grabbed our emotions… and prompted this brief post.   It serves as a lasting visible reminder of the hardships that the early Emigrants faced while traveling the Oregon Trail… and what strong people they, and therefor we, Americans must have been.

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When coming to Las Vegas, most people arrive with a certain set of expectations and images in mind… Glittery Casinos… the Las Vegas Strip… Fremont Street… Pawn Stars. but there is another side to Las Vegas – the places outside… that most never see.   With this post, I would like to visit a couple of those locations… one of them that happens to be out in the desert… and the other that happens to be… up above the desert.

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Arizona’s Lower Gila River Valley is well known for its early American Indian settlements and Historical Trails. Indeed, the visible evidence of these Settlements & Trails are found all up & down the Valley.  So, when Alice and I first heard of a large Petroglyph site at a location in the Valley named Sears Point…  not far from the Painted Rock Petroglyph site… we did some research at the local Wellton, AZ, Pioneer Museum… and a few days later with our good friends Al & Barbie Rupiper, headed out to find it.

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Los Algodones, Mexico… Situated on the Mexican.. Californian, and Arizonian (Yuma) borders… Legendary among Snowbirds for its high quality, low cost dental services and Pharmaceuticals… And consequently, a Winter destination for tens of thousands of Canadian & American retirees.  This Travel Post comes from a recent day trip that Alice and I took to Los Algodones, along with our good friends from Michigan, Bruce & Sue Burt.

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Jim & Alice LaPeer… Black Hills, South Dakota

Hello, Folks. It is January 2016, and Alice and I just arrived in Yuma, Arizona.   We enjoyed a nice Christmas last month with family back in Texas, Ohio, and Michigan, but now…its good to be back on the road again.   We’ve re-connected with good friends from previous year’s travels, and are enjoying Arizona’s sunshine & warm weather.   This will be our 4^th year of RV’ing.   In response to requests from friends back home in Michigan (and elsewhere) we’ve updated last year’s post about ‘Observations on Motorhoming‘.   Here it is – Enjoy!

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South Dakota… a beautiful State that has played a major role in our country’s history… and also in it’s Defense.   Treeless Prairie Lands dominate South Dakota, especially it’s land west of the Missouri River.   This Blog Post, modest and mostly pictures,  shows what that land looks like.   The pictures come from a recent road trip that my good friend Mo Jones and I took… driving back country roads to visit a 50 year old Cold War Relic… An Air Force ICBM Minuteman II missile site… Delta 9.

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In 1874… Gold was discovered in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory.   That year Col. George Armstrong Custer had led a large scientific Expedition to the Black Hills looking for a suitable location to establish a new Fort…and to investigate earlier ‘rumors of Gold’. Indeed, the famous Catholic Missionary, Father Pierre Jean De Smet, had written earlier about seeing gold possessed by Lakota Sioux Indians during his 1840’s Western travels. This 1874 gold find proved unfortunate, however, because even though the 1868 Treaty of Laramie had ‘forever’ granted the Black Hills to the Lakota Band of Indians… the discovery of gold caused a rush of thousands of gold prospectors into the Black Hills that was in clear violation of the Treaty.   This created a crises that ultimately brought about the Black Hills War of 1876 – 77, taking the lives of Colonel Custer and five Companies of his 7^th Cavalry at the famous 1876 ‘Battle of the Little Bighorn‘.

This post is about one of the lingering after effects from the influx of thousands of prospectors – Ghost Towns.   These rapidly built gold mining ‘boom towns‘…lived briefly & lived brilliantly, but most ultimately had to close down when the gold played out… becoming just ghost towns.

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It is August 2, 2015… and the 75th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has just gotten underway… Wow!   This is Day 1, of the week long event.   We attended with our good friends Greg & Suzy Joy, experienced Bikers in their own right.  For comfort & convenience, we drove with them from Hart Ranch to Sturgis for the day in their car… on roads that were definitely owned by the 1.2 Million Bikers estimated in attendance.   The day was sunny & beautiful… so perhaps its best to let the pictures speak for themselves as to what we saw.

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Alice and I are back in the Black Hills of South Dakota again this Summer.   As always, we are finding there is much to see and do here… so, when we heard from a good friend in Keystone about the local annual Fairburn Agate Days, we were off to check it out… and in so doing, ended up visiting the home of South Dakota’s Official Gemstone… the Fairburn Agate.   This short post, mostly pictures, shows the pleasant afternoon that we enjoyed at Fairburn. 

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Our visit to the famous Painted Rock Petroglyph Site started out just as the Title picture  in the post shows – an afternoon out with our good friends Al & Barbie Rupiper, traveling deep in the Arizona desert, viewing some old & interesting Indian Petroglyphs. Soon after we arrived however, we could see that this was far more than just a bunch of old painted rocks – this ancient petroglyph site also happens to be situated along a little known, but historically significant, old ‘Road’ to California… with the ancient etched images seeming to stand in quiet Testament to the people that traveled this road over the centuries.

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Jim & Alice LaPeer

Hello, Folks. It is March 2015, and Alice and I have been in Arizona for a few weeks now… We’ve reconnected with good friends from previous year’s travels, and enjoyed the sunshine & warm weather…  We drove our ‘toad‘ on a ‘road’ trip to the California coast (San Clemente) with our daughter & granddaughter who flew out for an early surprise visit… and generally eased back into the Motorhome way of living. This is our 3^rd year of RV’ing, so we are not newbies… However, we are still learning.  

This post is in response to friends back in Michigan to share our updated lessons from last year’s “Observation’s on Motorhoming“, where we discuss the Nuts & Bolts of living & traveling the American West in a Motorhome.

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Its early 2015… and we’re off traveling the West again.   After having spent the 2014 Christmas Holidays with our family back in Michigan, and celebrating our Granddaughter’s 1st Birthday, we left Michigan and drove our ‘toad‘ (tow car) south to Texarkana, Texas where we had left our Motorhome parked a few weeks earlier.  Our Winter travel  plans for the year?   After enjoying a good visit with Alice’s Family in Texarkana, we would drive slowly across Texas… across Southern New Mexico… and eventually find ourselves parked in sunny 😎  Yuma, Arizona.!

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‘These Stones‘… being Tombstones, that is.   Located in the historic, Old City Greenwood Cemetery in Weatherford, Texas… the starting point of many of the ‘Cattle Trails‘ used by Texas Ranchers to get their steers to the Kansas Rail Heads during the 1860’s – 1880’s.   Legendary ‘Cowtowns‘ like Abilene, Wichita, and Dodge City were the drover’s destination with Cemetery’s like Dodge City’s ‘Boot Hill‘ becoming famous.  But what brought us to the ‘stones’ in this cemetery… is a 1985 ‘Trail Tale’ with a strong factual background in history.

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Alice and I enjoy local history… and when our good friend Morris (Mo) Jones brought up a remote Canyon down in South Dakota’s Southern Black Hills that was reputed to have some very old Indian Pictographs & Petroglyphs… we were interested!

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Devil’s Tower… famous for the 70’s iconic movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind“… and Tower shaped mashed potatoes… and of great spiritual significance to the Lakota, Cheyenne and Kiowa Indian tribes… with a cultural affiliation by over 20 other tribes… and perhaps one of the most beautiful National Monuments in the State of Wyoming. 

But what most people don’t realize is…  That Devil’s Tower also attracts Angels.

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Alice and I have spent the last couple of months enjoying Arizona’s Verde Valley area… a large river valley south of I-40/Flagstaff  that encompasses the cities of Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Jerome, Clarkdale, and Sedona, as well as the Verde River itself.   This area was also home to the Sinagua Indians during the years 500 AD thru 1425… whom Historians believe preceded today’s Hopi, Yavapai Apache, and Navaho tribes… The Sinagua left evidence of their habitation all over the Verde Valley…   hence this post of hiking pictures & narrative from our hike to the Sinagua Ruin Site of Sacred Mountain.

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One of the most beautiful hikes in the Sedona, Arizona area is located at the foot of the Mogollon Rim… in famous Oak Creek Canyon, at about the 5,400 foot elevation level.   The West Fork Oak Creek Trail #108 has it all… a creek filled with trout, rocks, canyons, cliffs, wildlife, flowers, Ponderosa Pines… and even some interesting History.

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Hi Folks. It is April 2014, and Alice and I have been in Arizona for several weeks now… We’ve reconnected with good friends from last year’s travels, and enjoyed the sunshine & warm temps… We’ve ‘road tripped’ to Las Vegas & California… and generally eased back into the Motor Home way of living.   This is our 2nd year, so we are not newbies… but we are still learning.  In this detailed update post from last year’s “Observation’s on Motor Homing”, we share some new & revised lessons and impressions.

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The 2013-2014 Holidays were long… wonderful… and Cold.   After storing our Dolphin Motorhome in Texas last November, Alice and I headed North, visiting our Baker Family in Ohio & Pennsylvania, and then staying with our Daughter & Son-in-Law in Michigan.   We enjoyed Christmas…Family… and the birth of our first Granddaughter.   Then in early March, we headed back to Texas for sun and warm weather…

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Summer 2013 is over… and it is time for Alice and I to be heading back South for a visit with Family in Texas.   While traveling from Hart Ranch (Rapid City, SD) to Texas we made a planned stop in Wichita, KS, to visit our Son, SSgt. Thomas LaPeer.   After a great family visit with Tom, we resumed our trip to Texas, passing thru the legendary Old West town of Dodge City, KS…where we were directed to another legendary site… the Santa Fe Trail !

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If you love old steam locomotives… then this Post is for you!   Around our country are still several old railroads… working steam locomotives… relics from our country’s early days when the Railroads represented far horizons beyond one’s village limit.   A steam train’s whistle would bring village kids running to the train station, to see the huge behemoth of metal… belching smoke, huffing and puffing its way thru town on its way to the next town.

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Rapid City, SD is home to Ellsworth Air Force Base… a former Minuteman Missile Base and today one of two remaining B-1 Bomber bases.   At the Entrance to the base is the very excellent South Dakota Air and Space Museum.   Alice and I had the opportunity to take a tour of the Base, and it’s associated Air & Space Museum, accompanied by our Good Friends from Hart Ranch, Mo (Morris) and Judy Jones.   Mo served 20 years in the United States Air Force, much of it here at Ellsworth, before retiring as a Master Sergeant.

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The Black Hills are a land of many varied & different landscapes.   Mountains of the 7,000 foot range… canyons, cliffs, lakes, streams, Gold!   All one has to do is take a drive in the mountains and soon a beautiful scene will come into view.   South Dakota’s Custer State Park (CSP) is located in the Black Hills… and provides protections for wilderness land and wildlife.   Here are some pictures from a hike that Alice & I recently undertook in Custer State Park… Iron Creek Trail #15.   Enjoy!

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Should anyone ever wonder… Are there are still Cowboys and Cowgirls in this world?   The answer is a resounding Yes!   Lots of them, right here in South Dakota.   Alice and I just spent two nights at the Hart Ranch Rodeo watching them… riding Broncs, Bucking horses, Barrel racing, Steers, and Bulls.   We were close enough to hear the horses wheezing as they bucked… and the Bulls snorting as they easily threw ALL comers… Bulls 10, Cowboys 0!

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