So far as we know

 Mom and Dad had two favorite places to travel and camp after the kids were grown and gone:  McArthur/Burney area, and Oak Creek Canyon.  By coincidence, we’ve been to both of those places in the last year.  We visited the McArthur/Burney area in Northern California last summer, and we just drove Oak Creek Canyon north of Sedona in Arizona this trip. Sedona may have grown a little, and the canyon might be a little more developed than they would remember, but it’s still a charming place.  The canyon is lined by lots of rocks that look like this. From the top looking back, the canyon looks like this. It’s a pretty steep road at the top. Still at Zane Grey. We’ll move along tomorrow. 

Killdeer

 We come across this Killdeer.Who seems fine. Until she suddenly seems to have gotten hit by a truck and is practically lying in pieces on the ground.   So we look for the eggs; for the nest she is trying to distract us from. It’s not much of a nest, just a spot in the rocks on the ground.   As we leave the nest alone and step back, the killdeer is suddenly fine again. 

I could be a zero

 For weeks, I’ve been reduced to describing myself as a number.  How’m I doing?  About a five.  Sometimes a one or two.  Sometimes an eight.  For weeks, I’ve been known by my kidney stone pain level.  A one or two; I can function through that.  A five; that’s downright uncomfortable.  An eight; it’s time for narcotics and a heating pad. The pain level has gradually dropped off over the last several days.  I haven’t been above a one since last week.  It hasn’t hurt at all today.  I’ve been a zero all day, and I’m fine with that. There is no way to be sure the stone is really gone, unless I go back in for another cat scan; but why would I go in for a cat scan if nothing hurts?  If I can continue to be a zero for the next few days…. It might be time to say goodbye to my little friend. 

Moving right along

 The travel day ended at just the right time, at Holbrook, AZ. 2016 Summer Trip Map We thought we were on our way to Flagstaff tomorrow to lurk until the weather farther south cooled, but as we call ahead now, we find everything booked.  Guess everyone else had the same idea.  Now we’ve remembered a place south of Flagstaff, only partway to Phoenix, we stayed at once a long time ago and really enjoyed.  Zane Gray RV Park.  A small thing.  We’ve reserved a couple days there starting tomorrow night. Thinking about the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park.  Funny thing though, the ancient Puebloans that built the cliff dwellings, spent most of their time there out on, or in, solid ground.  They were there from about zero AD.  For the first 750 years or so they lived in pit houses; holes in the ground with wooden rafters and roofs.  Gradually, they shifted to more above-ground masonry homes for another 250 years or more.  They only built and lived in the cliff dwellings for about a hundred years, from 1200 to 1300AD, and then they were gone.  The cliff dwellings were not a long term deal; they were only for a few generations. So, spectacular as these cliff locations are:   Most of their history was spent in these: