National Civil Rights Museum Memphis

It was a relatively short drive to Memphis (230KM) where I checked into the Graceland RV Park for two nights.  The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis is located at the Lorraine Motel where Dr  Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4th 1968. (This was a year before we came to Canada and I would have been working at Worthing Hospital at the time).
The museum provides a reminder of the history of African Americans. Slaving in America from 1619-1861. The thirteenth amendment of the American Constitution in 1865 during the Civil War which abolished slavery.  The fifteenth amendment in 1870 that declared that rights to vote not be denied on account of race. In spite of this there was continuous discrimination and the rise of the Klu Klux Klan which was formed on December 24th 1865 just after the end of the Civil War.  When Ulysses H. Grant was president there was an attempt at Reconstruction. The KKK members were mostly members of the defeated Confederate army.
The museum has exhibits on the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956) the 1960s student sit ins, the Freedom Riders (1961) and the Jim Crow Laws. Would recommend the museum to anyone visiting Memphis.

L

Little Rock biking

 After visiting the Clinton Center I had parked in a large parking area that is part of the Park.  I asked a security guard whether I could park there overnight. He said “no problem”.  Being self sufficient and able to be “off grid including internet” for a few days I decided to stay in the parking lot of the night. Firstly I found that it was monitored by police at night - there were two police cars parked nearby till about 11 pm. Then I found it was a center for bicyclists. That evening I bicycled  along an extensive river front park bike way to the center of Little Rock. It was about 30C and I was glad to find a pub for a cool beer and air conditioning. I was conscious of many more African Americans than one had seen to date. In the pub however a white woman at the bar was concerned about the safety of my bicycle (I had left the lock behind) and got the pub to agree to me bringing my bike into the pub! She said “It’s not safe with all the homeless people we have here in the city”. An extraordinary contrast to the Clinton Center not far away.
I found where I was parked for the night was a meeting point for local bicycle clubs.

The William J.Clinton Presidential Center and Park

Now in Little Rock Arkansas. The Clinton Center was on my list of things to do on this trip.  It is a striking building and enables one to remember the Clinton presidential years Jan 20th 1993 to January 20th 2001. He was the 42nd President of the United States. I looked for documentation of his impeachment (December 19th 1998) but did not find it. Inspite of the impeachment proceedings he was not removed from office. (Lessons to be learned from to-days interest in the Trump presidency).

The center contains a wonderful testament to Bill Clinton’s values, his success on the international scene (tributes from world leaders like Nelson Mandela) and in some progress on US citizens social issues like health care, employment and education.  There is a mock up of the Oval Office and of the Cabinet rooms.

Lake Eufaula Oklahoma

The next state to pass through was Oklahoma. In the last month there has been widespread flooding which meant that the rivers were still high and I had been told that some of the camp sites would not be accessible.  However after passing through Oklahoma City on I 40 I turned right to look at the Eufaula Lake area and found a camp site which looked as though it had been flooded in the last month and less than 20% of the sites were occupied. There seemed to be no park ranger to pick up ones fees but I found a very nice “ pull through” site, had a nice quiet evening, a couple of bike rides around the park and to look at the lake and then was on the road again early in the morning. This is just a park road.

  

A sad story

I stopped for fuel at a Flying J and went for a coffee and light brunch at a Denny’s.  The waitress was a thin lady who looked in her 60s but she was keen to talk. The told me she had lived in Oklahoma for a couple of years since her husband died. She moved to live near her son and to be with her daughter. She had previously been a social worker in Missouri and she and her husband lived on a small farm. Their health insurance premiums became too expensive so they gave them up. Shortly thereafter her husband was diagnosed with some type of cancer and underwent two rounds of chemotherapy. Before he died they had incurred medical bills of about $600,000. They had to sell the farm and she to move. I asked her if she had considered going bankrupt. She said her son had suggested it but she decided against it.

A recent op-ed piece (June 11th) in the Times Colonist by Eike-Henner W. Kluge titled "Health Care: Be careful what you wish for" stated "Many US economic experts believe that elderly couples will need between $200,000 and $300,000 in US in savings just to pay for the most basic medical coverage. US studies have shown that 67% of all bankruptcies in that country are the result of medical expenses. 32.5 million people (still) have no access to health care. 96% of physicians who leave Canada to practise in the US return here."

Eike Kluge is a medical ethicist who used to teach at the University of Victoria.

It was sobering to meet someone who had been directly affected by the dysfunctional for profit health care industry here in the US.

The lady told me she was saving up for an air fare to enable her to visit some cousins in the UK who lived near Manchester.

Crossing Northern Texas

After passing through Amarillo in Northern Texas I was looking for somewhere to stop for the night. I had been struck by the vast numbers of wind turbines or wind farms - hundreds of them. Another striking thing was the largest cattle feedlot that I had ever seen - thousands of cattle in open pens and a stink that lingered on for several Kilometres. It was enough to make one want to be an vegetarian!
Then I spotted on the map “McClellan Creek National Grassland Park”.  It was about 5 km off the Interstate highway. A wonderful quiet camping spot whose sites were only about one quarter full. The  National Parks annual pass was even valid.  It was bare camping but one can survive for as long as four days without needing to hook up or empty tanks. A pleasure to hear bird sounds and even have a wild turkey wander by the RV in the morning. This is what the camping spot looked like.

Crossing the Continental Divide

Yesterday I drove from Moab Utah, crossed through Colorado, then into New Mexico to stop for the night at a Good Sam RV park at Rio Rancho New Mexico. It is near Santa Fe. Much of the day was driving through arid country with some hay farming at about 7000 feet. The sign as we crossed the Continental Divide said 7580 feet. From there we started downhill. It is hotter lower down and I was glad to be able to put on the air conditioning as the temp was around 33C. I checked to see if there was any music on in Santa Fe - which is well known for its Opera and dancing but there was nothing so I shall continue on east along Inter State 40 to Amarillo (Texas), Oklahoma City (Oklahoma), Little Rock (Arkansas) to Memphis (Tennessee). From there I will head south to Vicksburg  - the first battle site that I will visit of the American Civil War.

Mountain Biking at Moab

”Moab is home to the greatest mountain biking on the planet”. So says the web site. Encouraged by son Mark I picked a route that did not look too challenging and transported my mountain bike (it has front shock absorbers and a seat shock absorber) on the back of the Honda Fit tow car. I managed to get on the trail by 0900 hrs but even so it was a clear summer day and by the time I had finished the ride of 3 1/2 hrs it was very hot (likely about 33 C). I had plenty of water and snacks. The mountain bike trail called “7 up” was mostly downhill but rough rocky terrain. It eventually joined the road up to the starting point.   I likely covered about 30 KM. The numbers of mountain biking routes in the area is staggering. If I was younger and had more energy I would have done more!

Arches National Park

After the visitor center (which is at 4085 feet) with its excellent history of the park I drove up about 25 KM to the Devil’s Garden Trailhead. This is at about 5000 ft.  From here I hiked for about an hour and a half. It is the  arches that make this park so unique. They are sandstone and every few years one of the arches collapses. If I had not already spent time in three other National Parks I would have spent longer here. One could spend several days exploring the many hiking trails and in addition there are longer backcountry hikes possible. It was a Sunday which may explain why there were so many visitors. Even in the car one had to wait 15 mins to pass the entrance gate.

The pictures gives one an idea of the dramatic scenery including the most well known Amphitheater arch and also the Navajo Arch. 

Moab

Moab as a town  was established because of a nearby Uranium mine which is no longer active. The town has now expanded into an adventure capital. There are many hiking trails. It claims to be the mountain biking capital of the world. There are an amazing number of mountain biking routes over the mostly sandstone rock. There are multiple opportunities to take an OHV (off-highway vehicle), a UTV (utility terrain vehicle), or an ATV (all terrain vehicle) off road along designated or non designated routes. Of interest is that in Utah ATVs can be street legal and it seems there are 25 mph speed limits throughout the town. On this first day I decided to visit Arches National Park which is just north of Moab.

Capitol Reef National Park

From Torrey it was a short drive to Capitol Reef National Park. It is a huge advantage to have the Honda Fit tow care (it is known as dingy towing or flat towing). As with all National Parks there was an excellent small museum and of course a gift shop. The geology of  these rock formations and how they were formed millions of years ago is fascinating and never ending. A couple in a Utah licensed plate car came up to me and said they were from Toronto and wanted to say hello to another Canadian! At the end of the drive up the park there is a rough road leading to a short canyon walk.

A scenic highway

From Bryce Canyon there is a scenic highway where the views are ever changing from arid dry desert and sandstone hills to productive farming valleys to forested land. The motor home was working hard and at one point it seemed to be overheating. I realised why when we passed a summit sign saying 9200 ft. I slowed down and turned off the air conditioning. The reason for this is that the air conditioner actually creates more heat in the engine. I had booked into an RV site in Torrey for two nights. Torrey is at 6837 ft and at night the temperature was down to 4C.  I needed a rest day to do laundry and general clean up as I had been on the road for eleven days. It was close to Capitol Reef National Park.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Having spent three days at Zion National Park I was not expecting to be awed by the views at the Bryce Canyon National Park. At Zion you spend a lot of time looking up (except from Angel’s landing!) but at Bryce Canyon the views are all down from the rim where there is an excellent trail. There is parking outside the park and a shuttle up to Bryce Point which stops at multiple places to hop on and off. The photographs really do not capture the experience of seeing Bryce Canyon. I was quite awed by the extent and amazing shapes of the rock in the canyon.  Here are a few pics to show some of the views.

Zion - Bryce scenic highway and tunnel

Between Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park is a one mile tunnel that was built in the 1920s. The maximum clearance is 13 ft 1 inch.  This motor home’s height is 12 ft 3 inches!
You have to pay for a special permit and it is then single traffic each way for the RVs to pass through.
Here is a Dash Cam taken part way through the tunnel. I recorded a dash cam video of the scenic highway but it does not seem to want to download to the blog site.

Day three Zion National Park

What to do for an encore? The free shuttle up the canyon carrying one’s bicycle was worth repeating. At the top of the shuttle there is a paved Riverside Walk on which one can bike. It was 3.5 KM and took one up to the Narrows. I had to walk the bike for some of the hike because of the crowds who seem to be so taken in by either the scenery or watching wildlife- many squirrels that they were not conscious of a bicyclist. Following this the very pleasant 11 KM bicycle ride back to the RV with a stop at the Museum. Excellent information on many subjects - history, animals, First Nations and first settlers etc.

Here is the best view of Angel’s landing hiked yesterday

You can see the winding trail up to Angel’s landing

Top of riverside walk.

Angel’s Landing

I had been alerted to this famous hike by hiking friend Liz but was also a little concerned about the wisdom of attempting it. Hiking friend Charlie who is only four years older than me having just announced that he was giving up hiking with the Wednesday Wonderers added to my anxiety as to the wisdom. The forecast was for a high of 92F.  Anyhow I caught the shuttle to the trailhead at 0700 hrs. I had plenty of water as well as snacks. The expected time for the hike was four hours. 

I was on the trail at 0800 hrs. It was amazing the numbers on the trail - but not all would have got to the top of Angel’s landing. The second hour is very steep with chains to hold onto as one hiked across narrow ridges with 1000 feet vertical drops on each side. It was quite strenuous. I enjoyed telling people my age and hearing their comments. It resulted in continued encouragement from fellow hikers - most of whom looked 30 yrs or more younger than me. I said to them. - you can do it as long as you keep physically fit and consider yourself in good enough shape to do it. (For me it is thanks to hiking and biking).

I made it and finished in just under four hours and was back at the RV before the heat of the day. The hike was 8.7KM, climbing 1488 feet to an altitude of 5990 feet. The downhill part was much easier as one could rappel using the chains on the steep downhill parts. The first hour of the trail up is paved so one was not held up by the crowds on this section.

                                     

                                      

Zion National Park

It was only an hour’s drive from Cedar City to Zion National Park where I bought a season’s pass to all National Parks (a bargain) and then parked the RV in the South Campground which had been booked two weeks ahead.
Because Zion is such a popular tourist attractions there is a free shuttle provided that drives the 45 minutes up to the canyon for about eleven kilometres. I put the bicycle on the shuttle and enjoyed a leisurely afternoon ride down (mostly downhill) the canyon road.

Day Six and Serendipity

On this sixth day - a Sunday - I left early and headed south to Salt Lake City. Fortunately I was able to find a spot to park the rig close to "Temple Square". It was 9.30 and much to my delight the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, accompanied by full orechestra and organ had just started a half hour Father’s Day concert at the Conference center. What a treat! It was being televised. The performance included "Oh Clap your Hands" by John Rutter and Sing! - music by David Willcocks (who was choirmaster at King’s College Chapel Cambridge) based on the Toccata from Widor’s Organ Symphony number 5. It was a stunning performance in the hugh convention center which was less than a quarter full. Following this I walked around Temple Square with its two visitor centres and extra ordinary history of how Brigham Young first started the building of the first temple and how the work was carried on by Joseph Smith.
As a student of world religions it was fascinating to understand the history and realise how much of the work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints has been funded. They clearly rely on many volunteer believers. I had a fairly long conversation with two young women who were very good at proselytising and informed me they were volunteers but also that those who are members of the church contribut 10% of their wages to the church. The photo of the choir is a rehearsal that took place after the concert.