Denise and Rick Cunningham

Like many boomers we're planning the "next chapter". We live a fairly chaotic life in Georgetown in Washington DC. I'm a former fashion executive and journalist. Rick's an engineer and computer scientist. We're about ready for a little change of pace. Travel... perhaps moving to warmer climes ...and definitely savoring more moments. We never set out to buy an RV...matter of fact, we had never even been in one and I definitely don't camp. But, now, with more time and a growing aversion to the insults of air travel, we bought a 40' motor coach. Our grandson, Ian, named it Gigantor. We call it Tor for short.

We're seeing things you just can't from the air and finding that we've so much to discover on this continent. In the past two years, we've taken three marvelous six-week trips. This time, we're "chasing the sun for as long as it fun". We left on October 5, 2009. We'll see how long we last!

We're searching for great places to stay, sights worth seeing, golf courses worth playing, great restaurants, shopping, farmer's markets. We're on the road in search of the high road.


Thursday, April 8, 2010

Red Rock Canyon

April 6 ~ 7

Discovering  Red Rock Canyon (redrockcanyonlv.org) was a welcome relief.  We had never heard of it before, but we're glad we found this little jewel in the Mojave Desert.  It is a National Conservation Area run by the Bureau of Land Management and if you're a hiker or rock climber, this would be paradise. We, on the other hand, just took the 13 mile scenic drive with short walks at multiple stops along the way.

The centerpiece of the park is called Calico Hills.




The hills were originally sand dunes that were calcified as minerals leached into the core.  The  iron elements "rusted" the rock.
This was the extent of our rock climbing!




Others were more daring!
Other formations created a cone effect.


The foliage in the park was almost non-existent.  Was hoping to catch some wild flowers, but everything was very scraggly.  But as we were exiting, we came across some really neat things.

Wild burros literally stopped traffic.  It wasn't exactly like a "buffalo jam" but it was cool.  And they do make that abrassive braying sound you here in old cowboy movies.



Joshua trees were flourishing and we finally got to see them in bloom.  They start out looking like an artichoke.

Then blossom into a waxy hyacinth-like flower.




Habitat for Humanity


The press conference to introduce Habitat's first LEED house in Nevada went off very well.  Local dignitaries and media in attendance.  Rick had worked on the finishing touches to the house and gave explanations of the solar heating system to people who toured the house.  I manned the sign-in table and kept the doughnuts stocked.



Rick is a team leader on a Habitat build that will take place at the National Association of Broadcaster's convention that starts on Sunday.  I'll help wherever they need me.

Finally got around to using a mole spice mix I bought in Tucson.  Last night made a Chicken Mole that was fantastic...topped with spiced  pumpkin seeds, over rice with "fajita seasoned" squash.  Really good.

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