Traveling Dorothy: Our Adventures in KoKo

Highlights of Our Adventures in KoKo

Noster Adventuresto

Draft Work In Progress - January 30, 2023

Updated 02/08/23 - scroll to Memories

Dorothy Taking Delivery September 2007

We have crossed the country 15 times from Alabama to west of the 100th meridian. We have spent at least one contagious month in each of the eleven western states. We have spent enough time in Oregon and Utah to claim citizenship - more than once. We don't make reservations. We don’t have a schedule. Our trips last 6-8 months.

We spent two months touring Alberta and BC. Got as far NW as Prince Rupert. We would have stayed longer, but it was in the 90’s and there were forest fires. The CG’s in their parks are super. I think every time we parked someone immediately came over to welcome us.

Boasting here. National Parks, Monuments, Presidential Libraries, and State Capitals we have visited.

National Parks - 82

Arcadia NP

Arkansas Post NM

Armistad NRA

Arches NP

Aztec Ruins NM

Bandelier NM

Badlands NP

Big Bend NP

Big Cypress National Preserve

Big Hole National Battlefield

Big South Fork NRA

Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP

Bryce Canyon NP

Buffalo National River

California Trail NHT

Canyonlands NP

Island in the Sky

The Maze

The Needles

Canyon de Chelly NM

Capitol Reef NP

Cedar Breaks NM

Chiricahua NM

Choco Culture NHP

Colorado National Monument

Crater Lake NP

Craters of the Moon NM

Curecanti NRA

Death Valley NP

Devils Tower NM

Dinosaur NM

El Malpais NM

Everglades NP

Fort Davis NHS

Fort Laramie NHS

Gila Cliff Dwellings NM

Grand Canyon NRA

Grand Portage NP

Grand Teton NP

Grant Kohrs Ranch NHS

Great Basin NP

Great Sand Dunes NM

Guadalupe Mountains NP

Hovenweep NM

Joshua Tree NP

John Day Fossil Beds NM

Lake Roosevelt NRA

Land Between the Lakes

Lewis & Clark Trail NHT

Manzanar NHS

Mesa Verde NP

Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot NM

Mount Ranier NP

Natchez Trace

Natural Bridges NM

Navajo NM

Niobrara National Scenic River

North Cascades NP

Olympic NP

Organ Pipe NM

Ozark River - National Scenic River

Petrified Forest NP

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Pony Express National Historic Trai

Pipe Spring NM

Pony Express Trail

Fort Ruby National Wildlife Refuge Redrock Canyon National Conservation Area

Rocky Mountain NP

Salinas NM

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP

Tent Rocks NM

Theodore Roosevelt NP

Valles Caldera National Preserve

Voyageurs NP

Walnut Canyon NM

Waterton - Glacier NP

White Sands NM

Wind Cave NP

Whiskeytown NRA

Wupatki Sunset Crater Volcano NM

Yellowstone NP

Yosemite NP

Zion NP

Presidential Libraries - 9

George HW Bush Library

George Bush Library

Dwight Eisenhower Library

Gerald Ford Library

Herbert Hoover Library NHS

Lyndon Johnson Library

Richard Nixon Library

Ronald Regan Library

Harry Truman Library

State Capitals - 17

Alabama

Arkansas

Colorado

Idaho

Iowa

Kentucky

Louisiana

Montana

New Mexico

Nebraska

Nevada

North Dakota

Oregon

South Dakota

Texas

Utah

Washington

Wyoming

We joined 16 other Lazy Daze on a month-long trip to Cabo. Most nights we parked on the beach.

More images from the Baja and Back trip:

Heck, if you just want to look at pictures, there are a few hundred on Flickr arranged by state.

Boring prose:

We put over 140,000 miles on KoKo and half that much that in the Jeeps. Over 2,200 nights in KoKo.

We found many cherished places where we had nothing but a horizon for a view. Sadly, most of these places are now closed or overrun with people. When we "discovered' The Alabama Hills, we had it to ourselves. The last time we were there we had to share “our place” with several others.

We’ve kayaked in Florida, Utah, Oregon, Washington, California, and other states.

We have driven roads that terrify others. The Caliente-Bodfish Road stands out. The Million Dollar Highway and the Moki Dugway pale next to it. Crossing the coast range in northern CA with oncoming log trucks will make one pay close attention.

We have been to all the state capitals in the eleven western states and most capitols in the midwestern and southern states. We toured the Truman, Regan, Nixon, LBJ, and Bushes libraries. We have visited all the western national parks and monuments.

We have enjoyed fresh caught trout and salmon dinners several times compliments of kind fishermen.

Good Eating

Some restaurants stand out – one in the Oregon high desert that has no electricity - everything is cooked on a wood fire.

When you make your reservations, your choices are steak or chicken. The steak will be at least 16 ounces. If you choose chicken, you get the whole bird. You start with a family-size bowl of salad, an equally large bowl of cowboy soup, and a pan of homemade rolls. The entree comes with a baked potato. The dessert is strawberry shortcake.

Cooking on a wood stove

Steak, potato, homemade rolls, and a Mason jar of tea

Difficult to eat it all, so they give you takeaway containers. We learned to overnight park across the street from the restaurant next to the old outhouse. We just waddle out to the rig. Where? Get on the road and find it.

Parked next to the old unused outhouse

The best BBQ in Texas. The best can be endlessly argued. Our pick is Coopers in Llano. (Not to be confused with any Coopers) We eat at Cooper's for three days: Ribs, Prime Rib and Cabrito. There is always a meal or two to go.

If it's meat, it will be in the pit. You buy it by the pound.

Fine Dining

Texas - This is a place you decide to go for no other reason than to eat the best steak anywhere. The ranch was not making much money, so in 1983 they decided to sell their beef cooked rather than on the hoof. It's in Buffalo Gap. No AC, so summertime might not be the best time. I like the Zucchini Perini with my strip steak.

ZUCCHINI PERINI

Only the food is fancy.

Nevada - There is more to Nevada than Reno and Las Vegas. There are over a dozen mountain ranges. The highest mountain in the state is NW of Vegas, a cool place to hang out. The scenic mountains around Lamoille are well worth a few days. We enjoyed the springs and mineral hunting in the Sheldon Wildlife Refuge. An out-of-the-way place.

Memories At Cedar Breaks

Have you ever seen a hawk on the wing? The time we most vividly remember watching hawks was on the dirt road in Montana (seems most roads in Montana are dirt) leading to Cedar Breaks. (The Missouri River) It's pretty close to nowhere with miles and miles of fallow fields teaming with hawk food. When we would see a pair, we would pull over and watch them hunt. They were Red-Tails as I recall.

Hawk Hunting Country

Where Your Canola Oil Comes From

Memories In the San Juans

We "discovered" the San Juan Mountains by accident on our first western trip in 1994. They remain our favorite mountains. We have returned four times, spending up to a month parked in a fantastic location along Mineral Creek. There are hundreds of miles of Jeep trails, all maintained by the county. Nothing technical, just views for 10's of miles from several 12,000-foot passes.

The town of Silverton as seen from the top of Kendall Mountain. The road headed to the top of the picture goes to Ouray, the northern limit of the San Juans. Silverton is the only incorporated municipality in the county.

US550, from Silverton to Ouray

The picture postcard Silverton with train service to Durango

Our usual parking spot

In our first years on Mineral Creek everyone there was into wheeling. So there was that common interest. Every night someone would have a large fire and 20-30 people would bundle up and sit around the fire telling lies and watching the stars.

South Fork of Mineral Creek

It's common to find sheep grazing in the mountains.We chatted with one herder who was brought from Chile to care for the herd for the summer. The dogs were not aggressive but preferred that you remain at a distance from his flock. This dog is saying "you are good where you are".

We met Keith (and Sandy) on our first trip and have remained friends over the years.

One of the half dozen passes

We are suckers to feed Hummingbirds. If they see red, either a feeder or a cap on your head, they will come. It gives me pause when one of them will hover in front of me beak-to-beak while I am adding sugar to the feeder. They amuse us.