On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Good Morning All,
This post is for Balloon Juicers who are on the road, travelling, etc. and wish to share notes, links, pictures, stories, etc. from their escapades. As the US mainland begins the end of the Earth day as we measure it, many of us rise to read about our friends and their transient locales.
So, please, speak up and share some of your adventures, observations, and sights as you explore, no matter where you are. By concentrating travel updates here, it’s easier for all to keep up-to-date on the adventures of our fellow Commentariat.
Have at ’em, and have a safe day of travels!
Should you have any pictures (tasteful, relevant, etc….) you can email them to [email protected] or just use this nifty link to start an email: Start an Email to send a Picture to Post on Balloon Juice
Lots of Pics from Quinerly, Poco included! I’ll post a bunch more from the mailbox Monday, so keep ’em coming!
Pics shown in order that I downloaded then uploaded them, so any error of sequence is mine!
Chet
Great pics!
raven
What’s your road, man? — holyboy road, madman road, rainbow road, guppy road,
any road. It’s an anywhere road for anybody anyhow
OzarkHillbilly
Got another email from Poco. Something about how his Mama wasn’t feeding him enuf Mormons. I think. He’s not a very good typist.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly: It’s hard to type on a keyboard with paws.
Baud
Damn that’s gorgeous.
satby
Beautiful pictures Quinnerly. Looks like it was already getting hot in the desert, how have the temperatures been?
Currants
Oh, Quinerly, lovely pictures. I miss that part of the world. I lived on the Navajo Res. in Ganado teaching, just for a year, but oh, I loved that landscape. Have to admit that although we had snow, I don’t think I ever saw water in any of the river beds while I was there. Well, some very, very small amount in the Canyon de Chelly, but that was it. (Also the Colorado, but only saw that once.)
rikyrah
Those pictures are so beautiful ???
Iowa Old Lady
What gorgeous pictures! Made even better by a dog.
JPL
Poco needs to wake up and share his adventures with us. The photos are beautiful.
SiubhanDuinne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Where can I get one of those?
SiubhanDuinne
The pictures are gorgeous, Quinerly, and Poco is a love. I’ve been enjoying your trip reports. Thanks to you for writing, and to Alain for setting up a dedicated “On the Road” site.
Tenar Arha
Wow. Thanks Quinerly!
BellyCat
Stunning, Quinerly!
On our end, we logged a little over 1,200 miles — doing some primo mountain-biking along the way — and have finally landed in Florida to see MIL and my Sis. Today, ToddlerCat gets his first taste of sand and surf!
Broke a shock mount on the way down and rediscovered how great total strangers can be when asked to help with travel mishaps. Seems to bring out the best in people — some genetic hangover from our halcyon nomadic past?
Found a mobile welder who said he’d jump on it after I found replacement shocks even if some other folks had to be pushed off and suffered “butt hurt” (whose lexicon immediately endeared him to me). Then temporarily stowed the Airstream at a chicken feed store cum uhaul dealer which time apparently forgot for the past 60 years — chickens running around inside the store, naturally. The owner didn’t want any money to stow it for a few days, but I insisted she take something so she recanted and said that her boy (tall and lanky) get a gift card to his favorite restaurant.
Got some travel-helpin’ tales? Have at!
SFAW
Beautiful photos, even the ones that don’t include Poco.
satby
@BellyCat: And are there pictures of the chicken feed store, or of the trip? Do share!
Quinerly
@Currants:
Have a wonderful memory of Ganado, AZ many days back that I may have already shared earlier. Spent a couple of hours at Hubbell and on the grounds (even had the sweet pleasure of watching an actual trade..an older Navajo lady came in with a rug for the post to buy). I stopped at that gas station at that intersection, went in to pay,and as I was coming out an elderly Navajo man (walking)had stopped at the back of my car. He was reading my liberal bumper stickers and waiting to tell me how much he hated Trump and loved Hillary. We ended up sitting down on a bench and talking about the area…and politics….his friends came looking for him and joined us. It got a little odd when he wanted me to follow him home to see his livestock…his wife had died a few years ago, he lived off of 191, and his buddies were egging him on. Needless to say, Poco and I were already running late to our Holbrook stop and had to decline his invitation.
Quinerly
@satby:
Temperatures have been perfect for us. That’s the main reason we pick off season (usually February for NM)…Poco can sleep and relax in his room (of the “two bedroom Escape with Poco”) and Mom can have adult beverages and food a long the way…maybe some culture along the way?. We were pushing it yesterday in St. George, Utah…70 degrees. Beautiful city…again I didn’t allow myself enough time there. Highly recommend the very beautiful and very free (and doggie friendly) Red Hills Desert Garden Park…small but mighty…desert landscaping and a stream with Virgin River aquatic life and a waterfall. Check out the Painted Pony for lunch…stunning restaurant with outside second story deck dining. Tucked away on St. George Blvd. Loved St. George!
Quinerly
@?BillinGlendaleCA: @OzarkHillbilly:
Poco has very large paws…huge paws, indeed.?
Quinerly
@BellyCat:
I’m getting ready to turn up 5000 miles total from St. Louis on this trip. That will rollover on our daytripping to Page, AZ today. Tues will be our one month mark. The Escape is just as much the road warrior as the Subaru that logged a total of 285,000 miles with me (and is still running with Poco’s Aunt Sandy of “Stray Rescue”…the outfit that got him off the street, but I digress.)
Quinerly
Pictures are all from the Lees Ferry/Paria Beach/Glen Canyon area of AZ…Vermilion Cliffs added bonus. We stayed two nights at the Marble Canyon Lodge ($45 a night off season rate). Loved sitting on a big rock by the CO River where the Grand Canyon technically starts. Poco loved the beach! And could drink this water…the lapping small waves made him a bit hesitant at first…the mighty Atlantic fooled him on his first NC visit. We had the entire area to ourselves for hours. It will be a zoo in a few weeks with rafters and the 2-14 day trips that put in there.
BellyCat
@satby: Going back on Monday and will grab some pics! Even had a huge old Ringling Bros sign hanging from the rafters.
OzarkHillbilly
@Quinerly:
Hmmmmm…. A pick up line I never tried.
“Hey Baby, wanna see my livestock?”
Quinerly
@OzarkHillbilly:
Rural, less sophisticated take on “Come upstairs and see my etchings?” I must have had something really “going” that day. Later, I met that park ranger at the Petrified Forest and got that “private” tour of Jasper Forest the next day.?
satby
@Quinerly: so now, in spite of the lack of selfies, we can surmise you’re a hot mama.
Quinerly
@satby:
Men of a certain age are drawn to me.? There are stories.
HeidiMom
Poco is a very fine dog!
Quinerly
Thanks, Alain! We are off to Page by Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. More pets on vacation pics FROM OTHERS for this AM thread! Poco’s ego is getting out of hand. He needs some competition. He also wants Walter updates. His life wasn’t nearly as horrible as Walter’s pre Cole and debit but he is thankful for his home and wants to live the next few years warm, dry, happy….and sniffing exotic smells. Thanks for all the kind words. Love waking up to all of you! It’s like checking in with family. Tail wags to all!
laura
Amazing and beautiful pictures.
That Poco and his multi-directional furs is a handsome boy.
If there’s an opportunity to post a prickly pear margarita/cheesecake combo, that would be nice.
Happy motoring Quinnerly.
frosty
@BellyCat: Nice to see you again, BellyCat. Where did you land in Florida?
Yarrow
Quinerly, the pictures are gorgeous! I love the ones where Poco is looking at the view. It’s like we get to see it through his eyes.
Elizabelle
Poco looking good.
Happy Sunday, all.
BellyCat
@frosty: Sarasota until Tuesday-ish. Then off to a full-time on the road gathering in Tucson. Escapees, March 19-24.
Come on by, Quinerly (and assorted jackals)!
currants
@Quinerly: LOL I had someone offer me 5 cows for my daughter (12 at the time). That’s probably one of many things she did not relish about living there. There were so many stray animals out there–and I have to say that she’d be so at home with all you B-J-rescue types: over the course of the year she brought home–and found homes for–4 puppies and 5 cats. Yes, she picked some of them up at the dump, and yes, they spent nights in her bathtub (dry, at least after they got bathed) until they moved out.
Quinerly
@Elizabelle: @BellyCat: @Yarrow:
Thanks!