Mike-Liz Sep-Oct 2019 Adventures

Contrast of Retirement Adventures - September-October 2019

(Disclaimer – This blog turned out to be a lot longer than I had originally planned so hope you still enjoy it.)

I retired Jan. 1, 2019, and it’s been non-stop ever since, but last couple of months were exceptionally busy. This blog is about an unusual contrast in activities that Liz and I experienced in September and first week of October.

The first two weeks of September included driving to New Orleans to spend a couple of days in “The Big Easy” before meeting Liz’s daughter, Tara, for a cruise to several locations in the Gulf Caribbean. Liz and I arrived at our hotel after the seven-hour drive from Little Rock then had a nice dinner close to the hotel. The next morning, we spent most of the day at the World War II Museum that was walking distance from the hotel. I highly recommend this museum if you have any interest in WWII and its history. The only important point I want to make is as we were leaving, we stopped at the gift shop to see what trinket I couldn’t live without. I found the perfect memento which was a .50 caliber bullet that had a groove cut into the side to make it a bottle opener. Of course, this made the bullet totally inert. As I paid for the item the cashier asked if I was flying home from New Orleans and I said no, we were driving and that I understood that it would never get through TSA at an airport.

Tara flew into New Orleans later that day and we met for dinner then decided to walk to the French Quarter to visit Bourbon Street. While in the Air Force I spent several months at Biloxi, Miss. on two occasions. Both times I attended Mardi Gras and it is a must-do experience if you like to party. It wasn’t Mardi Gras-level craziness but even this time Bourbon Street was packed with weird and unusual sights and people. We made it the full length then returned, having a few drinks and enjoying the fun but eventually returned to our hotel since we had to board the ship in the morning.

The next day we drove the short distance to the port, found our parking garage and entered the terminal for boarding. Nothing unusual about this but we got an early loading window thanks to Liz’ excellent planning. We found our room and I was enjoying the view from our balcony while Liz and Tara toured the ship. I was totally surprised when I heard the following announcement over the ship’s speaker system: “Will Michael Stanley please report to the Security Office in the main lobby”. I finally made my way to the appropriate office and a security person said, “Please follow me off the ship to the terminal building.” No explanation of why. As I walked back off the ship at the gangway another security officer standing at the gangway said, “See me before coming back on the ship.” Of course, lots of people were coming on the ship at the time and I was getting many stares as I was escorted off the ship.

I was brought into another security office in the terminal and a not-very-friendly officer asked me if I had a .50 caliber bullet made into a beer opener in my bag. It then hit me that I had thrown it into my bag while packing without thinking. I said, “you must have a pretty good x-ray machine to be able to identify it so accurately”. He didn’t see the humor in my comment. I said it was a mistake and yes it was what he stated. He made a point to tell me it can’t be taken on the ship, but I could take it to my car if I want. I didn’t bring the car keys off the ship and it was too far to walk back to the car anyway. I said he could have it as a present from me, still no appreciation from him. I dug into the bag, placed it on his desk and was then escorted back to the gangway to re-board the ship. As I passed the security officer at the top of the gangway I said, “They let me back on the ship after my interrogation.” He didn’t smile either but lots of the passengers boarding at the same time gave me some strange looks.

We departed New Orleans later that day for a two-day run past Cuba to Montego Bay, Jamaica. Once again Liz did a great job planning our cruise in especially two areas: 1) She had all our shore excursions scheduled and 2) she bought the unlimited drink option for all three of us. Number 2 meant that I could get any drink I wanted and as many as I wanted for the next week while on the ship. She did the same thing on a cruise we did several years ago and on the first day she asked me how many drinks I had. After doing the math in my head I said “10.” I slowed down on the following days as a result. On this cruise they had a limitation of no new drink for at least 10 minutes. Not sure how much a deterrent that is, but I didn’t try to beat my record from the previous cruise.

Our excursion on Jamaica was to a zip-line well into the countryside in the jungle. We boarded the bus with maybe 20 other passengers and spent the next hour driving through small towns, mountain roads and finally into the jungle. Our bus driver was very entertaining with history of Jamaica and other interesting information. Liz and I had donea zip-line on another trip that was usually tall towers with zip-lines between the towers. This one was unique in that as we pulled into the small compound in the jungle, all I could see was a path heading into the jungle up a steep trail. We were assigned to a couple of guides who fitted us with the appropriate harness and safety gear then we started up the trail into the jungle. All I remember is the trail was steep in several areas and a couple of our members needed help from the guides to reach the top of the first zip-line. These zip-lines were not from a tower to another tower but from the top of a steep ridge to either a big tree or another ridge with a deep ravine or stream in between. In addition, the zip-line went through heavy overgrowth such as tree branches, etc. Each new zip-line required climbing another steep trail until we ended up on a dirt road at the end then walked back to the compound where lunch was waiting for us. The guides were really great, and the simple chicken lunch was very good. We all boarded the bus for the long ride back to the ship down the narrow, winding road out of the mountains.

This was my first time in Jamaica and my impressions are that the people were very friendly, but the standard of living is pretty low for the areas we saw. Most of the people along our path lived in cinderblock houses in different levels of construction or disrepair. The roads were in bad shape and very narrow but lots of traffic. One interesting observation was all the school kids wear uniforms and get a very good basic education per our bus driver’s comments. Most must leave the island to pursue advanced education or jobs. While shopping at one of the booths at the port I asked the salesgirl if she would take US dollars and of course she said yes. While paying I saw some Jamaican paper money in her draw and asked what the conversion rate was. She said something I didn’t understand so I asked what $5.00 US would be in Jamaican money. She handed me a $500 Jamaican bill! That means $1.00 Jamaican is worth 1cent US. I brought one home as a souvenir.

Our next port of call was Grand Cayman Island. Whereas Jamaica is an independent country, Grand Cayman is still a British possession (I assume that’s what you would call it). Our excursion here took us to the end of the island where we boarded another (much smaller) boat that took us into the middle of the lagoon to a shallow sand bar where we swam with the stingrays. There were at least 10 or more other boats doing the same thing with probably 50+ people in the water at the same time. The guides would catch a stingray and bring it up for you to kiss and get your picture taken. Both Liz and Tara kissed one, but I was satisfied with only touching it. The guides also gave us chum (bait) to hold so the stingray would come take it out of your hand. I didn’t get adequate instruction on how to hold the chum so when the stingray got my chum it also took one of my fingers in its mouth and took off. Luckily, they don’t have teeth but the rough cartilage in its mouth still felt uncomfortable as it nibbled on my finger. There were many, many stingrays swimming among the people in the water between their legs and all I kept thinking was there are also sharks in these waters and we have all this chum being dangled in the water with a bunch of plump tourist as the main course. I was glad to get back on the boat and heading to shore. We were then taken to a sea turtle sanctuary where they had hundreds of sea turtles in different age groups being raised so they could be released later. Once again Liz and Tara got into the pool with the turtles while I provided on shore safety oversight. We then returned to the ship.

This was also my first time on Grand Cayman and what a difference it is from Jamaica. It is evident that there is lots of money on Grand Cayman with all the modern shopping areas, homes and excellent roads. This bus driver was also very entertaining and said they love tourist because they make this standard of living possible. There are no mountains on Grand Cayman so unless you love the beach and fishing, it would get boring very soon (for me anyway).

Our next port of call was Cozumel, Mexico, which is an island off the coast of Cancun. Liz and I had flown to Cancun several years ago and stayed at an all-inclusive resort at Playa del Carmen and had a great time there. Our excursion on Cozumel took us via taxi down the coast to an all-inclusive beach that included food buffet, beach access and all the drinks you want. We found our beach chairs and quickly got to know the beach staff for our section. From that point they never let me not have a drink in my hand. We spent all day on the beach to include snorkeling around some Mayan ruins in the water close to the beach. The highpoint for me was they had a Hobie Cat sailboat on the beach available to the guests. I talked to the staff for the boats and kayaks and asked how I can take one out. He asked for my sailing experience and after telling him I’ve owned a dozen sailboats including a Hobie 16 he had me sign a waiver and gave me some life jackets. The wind in the morning was light and I took Tara out for the first ride. We had a great time but not much excitement due to the wind. Only one other guy took the Hobie out and he had a hard time getting it to sail in the light winds. A Hobie Cat is harder to sail than a monohulled sailboat because you must have speed to make it tack (change direction through the wind). Around noon Liz and Tara were snorkeling so I took the Hobie out alone. This time the wind is picking up and I was having a great time going up and down the beach in the channel. Later Liz said she was disappointed not to get to go out on the Hobie, so I once again signed it out but this time the staff guy said, “The wind is pretty strong, don’t tip it over.” I said no problem. He had watched me on the two previous outings so let me take it out. This time Liz and I are flying up and down the coast in white caps with spray flying in or faces. It had been years since I owned my Hobie 16 but when we got back to shore, I told Liz “I got to get me another Hobie Cat.” She said, “of course you do.” She knows me too well!

The next day we started our two-day run back to New Orleans where Tara flew back home, and we drove back to Little Rock.  It was a great trip, but I prefer being at port rather than the long open sea sections. All I did was eat, drink, eat, drink and then go to the evening show to drink some more. Maybe that isn’t so bad after thinking about it.

After returning to Little Rock we had less than a week before we started our second adventure in the Utah desert. We had been asked to join some of our kayaking/canoeing/rafting friends to do a 10-day flat-water canoe trip on the Green River in Utah. There would be four tandem canoes, so eight people, all the gear for the 10-day trip including lots of water and a portable potty which we call a groover. For those not familiar with the term groover, it comes from the early days of wilderness river trips that required you carry out EVERYTHING including human waste. To do this a .50 caliber ammo can would be used since it had a water/airtight removable lid. As you sat on the can it would dig grooves into your thighs — therefore the name groover. Modern groovers are welded aluminum boxes with airtight lids that use a basic toilet seat on top. This process usually eliminates the faint of heart from such wilderness trips.

Pre-launch details:

·         4 canoes and 8 paddlers; Mike and Liz, Catherine and Dave, Marcel and Joe, and Pat and Bo (in an inflatable canoe). Catherine was permit holder and worked hard to make all the arrangements, get the gear together, and plan and prepare all the meals.

·         Liz and I had to borrow a 17’ Old Town Tripper canoe from a friend to have a boat big enough for the trip. I had to modify my racks on the F-150 truck to carry this long canoe the 1,200 miles one way to/from Moab, Utah.

·         We would all meet in Moab two days before the launch to work out the shuttle of vehicles and gather all the gear/food/water and even ice we would use. We camped two days at Moab with the other paddlers and I learned a valuable lesson on our first night. Liz and I were told that there would be lots of sand to deal with, but I didn’t understand what that meant. I figured since we would be camping mostly on sand bars that we would drag sand into the tent from our feet (WRONG)! Our first night in the RV camp the wind started blowing and as Liz and I lay in our 2-person tent the sand was blown up under the rain fly and then settled in our faces including eyes and mouth. I determined that a two-person tent wasn’t going to work for a 10-day canoe trip, and something had to be done about sand in our faces. So we bought a 4-person tent for the 2^nd night and on the river plus we were told by the more experienced canoe paddlers that we needed to put our heavy bags on the edge of the fly on the windward side of the tent so sand doesn’t get blown in (an important detail we didn’t grasp during our earlier trip discussions).

·         We would launch from a private ranch (Ruby Ranch) that is just south of the town Green River, Utah. We had arranged for a commercial shuttle to take the paddlers, boats and gear from Moab to Ruby Ranch.

·         Final destination would be the confluence with the Colorado River some 100+ miles downriver. The shuttle company would pick us up in a jet boat that would take paddlers, canoes and gear up the Colorado to Moab.

·         To reduce some of the load of the canoes we took one of the trucks to the only other access to the river the day before launch, which was Mineral Bottoms about 45 miles downriver from Ruby ranch. In the truck we stored water for the last half of the trip, more ice and even more clothes in case the weather turned cooler than expected.

·         This area is desert and is not something to take lightly. We would need to carry 1 gallon of water per person per day for the trip, so this meant 10 days x 8 paddlers = 80 gallons total (20 gallons per boat). This is a lot of water and a lot of weight (~167 lbs). We planned on carrying half that amount of water and resupply at Mineral Bottoms. I had a 6-gallon water bottle on my boat plus several smaller water bottles. I also carried the groover, so some of the other boats carried more water than we did.

Launch Day:

We drove to the shuttle office in Moab at 8 a.m. where we unloaded the canoes and gear which was then loaded onto a canoe trailer and large van. We left for Ruby ranch and an hour and a half later pulled up to the Green River launch site. Liz and I have done multi-day raft trips, but never done a multi-day canoe trip of this duration so had to figure out how to load the canoe with all the gear, water, groover and several other pieces of group gear. All of this had to be secured to the boat with straps so nothing would be lost in case of a tip-over. Yes, this was a possibility since although this is a flat-water section of the Green River it does have current of about 4-5 mph. In addition, strong winds were our greatest concern because it can cause the river to form white caps and getting sideways with the wind and waves is not a good idea. We had met some friends at the campground who had just completed their trip and they told of us some close calls they had due to high winds. Although Liz is a great white-water kayaker and I’ve done some serious white-water rivers in an oar-raft, neither of us are very experienced in a tandem canoe. I was not looking forward to learning on this river in high winds.

Day-1 we finally headed down-river around noon and after paddling for a short time, pulled onto a sand bar for a quick lunch. I was in the back of the canoe with Liz in front. Since the weather/wind was perfect we put in about 12 miles until we found a suitable sand bar for the first camp. We had a tasty dinner and settled in for the evening.  Nothing unusual happened the first day but Liz and I were still trying to determine what worked best for us in the tandem and camping on a sand bar.

Day 2 was another perfect day and Liz became Captain of our canoe with me moving to the front of the boat to provide power and keep my opinions to myself. Liz is an excellent paddler and we knew from the moment we were invited on the trip that we were not very compatible in tandem boats including canoe or paddle raft. In a kayak Liz makes all the decisions and, on an oar-raft I do the same thing. In a tandem canoe (also known as a divorce boat) you can only have one captain. We made good miles this day and found another perfect sand bar to set up camp and watch the sun set.

Day-3 started as another perfect day with our plan to make good miles and camp within a couple of miles of Mineral Bottoms. This would let us have a lay-over day (Day-4) on the river but more importantly was we wanted to be able to pull into Mineral Bottoms early on Day-5 to beat any other groups that may be launching from that limited access. In addition, our shuttle company was bringing down a groover replacement on Day-5 which also helped reduce our total load for both sections. It was good that we had made plans for a lay-over day because in early afternoon of Day-3 the wind picked up and the last couple of miles were difficult to say the least as we had to fight a 30+ mph with gusts in our face. We found a sand bar 1.8 miles from Mineral Bottoms and set up camp. It rained hard that night, but our new tent handled it with no problems.

Day-4 lay-over, the wind started early and continued all day. Moab area has no shade, so we used a nylon canopy we call a “fly” that has two poles and tied down at the corners. This provided enough shade barely big enough for all 8 of us to set in our camp chairs but as the sun moved, we had to continually relocate our chairs to stay in the shade. On several occasions wind gusts would cause part of the fly to come undone so it required constant monitoring. Late in the day a massive wind gust came across the camp and played havoc with several of the tents. One was flattened and broke one of the tent poles, which then slashed a huge gash in the tent fly. Another was pulled out of its stakes and rolled over bending one or more of its poles. I watched our new 4-person tent bend almost to the ground but popped up with no damage. In all respects it was a pretty miserable day on the sand bar. I had brought my satellite phone for emergencies and decided to call my son to get a weather forecast. He said the weather was expected to be windy again tomorrow and gradually improve over the rest of the week. We still had 55+ miles to do on the Green River to get to the confluence so calculated how many miles per day we would need to make if we lose another day to the wind since we had to be there on day 10 to meet the shuttle jet-boat. No decision was made but several alternative plans were discussed.

Day-5 we broke camp as the wind again started blowing directly upriver. It was a tough 1.8 miles from our camp to Mineral Bottoms. I was in the back of the canoe on this leg and it was all I could do to stop the canoe from being turned sideways due to the wind. In addition, we had found starting on day-1 that the river was lower than expected and we had run aground on submerged sand bars several times, which required one or both of us to get out of the canoe and walk it to deeper water. The Green River is extremely silty so you couldn’t see the submerged sand bars in time (this is also the reason we couldn’t filter water as needed for drinking). Halfway down to Mineral Bottoms, Liz and I got stuck on a sand bar and it was a difficult effort to get it to deep water especially with the wind blowing a gale upriver.

We finally made it to Mineral Bottoms and then had to make a major decision, continue or pull off the river. I called my son again on the Satellite Phone and the weather now said it would blow the rest of the day and start to decrease tomorrow. This meant we would probably have to make another lay-over day at Mineral Bottoms and hope the wind would stay manageable for another five days to make it to the confluence. One of our paddlers had some medical issues that prevented him being able to provide the power required to offset the strong winds. Lots of discussions among the eight paddlers decided that it was best to pull off the river now rather than risk possible weather/medical issues downriver.

Since one of our trucks was already at Mineral Bottoms, we decided to take it plus the drivers for the three trucks still at Moab and go get the other trucks and return to Mineral Bottoms to load our gear and canoes. This would be at least a 3- to 4-hour turn around so the other four paddlers would have to wait it out at Mineral Bottoms until we returned. I didn’t mention earlier but the last five miles of the road to Mineral Bottoms is down a 1,000 foot, very steep road with lots of blind switchbacks. On the 2^nd day in camp prior to launch I had followed our resupply truck down and then back up this road to pre-stage the supply truck, so this was my 2^nd time up this road and it was exciting to say the least. Just as we got to the top of the switchbacks, we came upon our shuttle van bringing our replacement groover to meet us. We asked if he was able to load our canoes and gear plus the four paddlers still at the bottom and bring them to Moab. He agreed and we were very happy since this would reduce our time and effort to get everything and everyone back to Moab. We waited for over an hour at the top and finally the shuttle van came up the switchbacks with our canoes, gear and remaining paddlers including my wife. We heard about this after we got to the Moab shuttle complex because the four paddlers left at the bottom had to load all the gear and canoes without our help.

After sorting the gear and loading the canoes onto our trucks we then discussed what everyone would do next. Dave decided to head on back home. Liz and I plus Marcel decided to stay in Moab for a few more days to do some sightseeing (more on this later). We also decided we wanted out of the blowing sand so found a cabin for the first three days then a motel for the last 2 days. Katherine, Joe, Pat and Bo decided to find a camping site further into the mountains and out of the heat in Moab. As we separated, the only firm group plans were that several of us wanted to rent jeeps to ride the White Rim Trail.

Off River activities:

Day-1 - Liz and I plus Marcel drove into Canyonlands and the Island in the Sky section to hit all the major viewing spots and take photos. Pat, Bo, and Joe accompanied us in their truck.This section of Canyonlands is comprised of three levels. The bottom level is formed by the Green River and Colorado River that flows down both sides then meets at the Confluence at the southern tip of Island in the Sky. The next level is a shelf that circles most of Island in the Sky and is where the White Rim Trail (WRT) is located. It is a 100+ mile-trail suitable only for 4x4s with high ground clearance and dual sport motorcycles (no ATVs or OHVs allowed). I had ridden my dual sport on a section of the WRT during our TAT ride and wanted Liz to see this fantastic place if possible. The third and highest level is the top of the mesa called Island in the Sky. We could see the rivers and the WRT from the Island in the Sky and it is beautiful.

Canyonlands is a National Park but, on the way out, you pass Deadhorse State National Park. We decided to take a look and glad we did. This also has some great views, but it also has a strange feature I had never heard about. The cowboys, many years ago, would drive the wild horses onto this section and they would eventually come to the end of the mesa with no place to go. The mesa narrows down to about 30 yards before it expands out again thus trapping the horses in a small section of the mesa. The cowboys had built a rough fence at the narrow spot and would close it after the horses were in the trap. The cowboys would cut out the best of the horses and then leave the rest to die of starvation and lack of water. Not sure why they wanted to kill the horses but that’s the story and how it got its name.

Day-2 – Marcel had never driven a Jeep so he as driver and Liz and I as passengers rented an almost new 4-door Jeep Wrangler. Pat, Bo and Joe also joined us and rented another similar Jeep. Since I was very familiar with the WRT and how to get there using the back-door entrance, we headed off from Moab around 9 a.m. with me as tour guide and navigator. The main access to the WRT is from the Island in the Sky and down a steep road called Shaffer Switchbacks. The backdoor entrance starts just as you leave Moab on a road called Potash Road. Potash Road follows the Colorado River until it finally veers off to climb up to the middle shelf where the WRT begins. This is also where the Canyonlands boundary is located and where Shaffer Switchbacks intersects. I wanted to use this entrance because there are more off-road trails plus it takes a lot less time to get to WRT than taking the highway up to Island in the Sky and then down Shaffer’s. We had to have the Jeeps back to Moab by 6 p.m. so I computed we could drive the WRT till 1 p.m. then would have to backtrack the same trail to the start at Moab. We had a great time and it brought back lots of memories of my TAT ride on these same trails. It was great for Liz to see what I had only been talking about for over a year. Marcel was driving very conservatively over every bump, rock, hole and was averaging about 15 mph. At about 12:30 p.m. we stopped for lunch in some shade under a cliff (not a lot of shade on the WRT). It was time to turn back and everyone was having so much fun we all agreed we needed to do all the WRT in a future adventure. This requires applying for camping permits a year in advance and expecting to spend three days to complete the whole trail. One more interesting detail is that the 3^rd access to the WRT is the Mineral Bottoms Switchbacks we used when we got off the Green River a few days earlier. On the return ride I told Marcel that he’s driving a Jeep and it has a suspension made for these types of roads so man-up and drive it like he owns it. He then started driving around 25 to 35 mph and couldn’t stop grinning. We made it back to the rental office on time and ended our WRT adventure and for me it was one of the best days of the trip.

Day-3 – Liz, Marcel and I drove down Highway 191 for about 70 miles then took a road into another section of Canyonlands called the Needles. This is much less crowed with cars and people but is spectacular. Great views and hikes and we spent all day before finally heading back to Moab.

Day-4 – Liz, Marcel and I arrived at the Arches National Park about 7:45 a.m. and drove in with no delay. I had also ridden my dual sport motorcycle to Arches during my TAT ride, but it was light rain and not a very pretty day. On the TAT ride we did stop at a few places to see the Arches but almost all require some walking to get to them and I determined I was unable to hike in my motorcycle boots. As a result, I hadn’t seen much of the primary sites on my previous visit. This time we drove directly to the very end and found a parking spot easily. I knew the parking lots would fill up quickly and this was the primary viewing spot in the park. I can’t overstate that this park requires hiking extended distances, 1 to 3 miles in some cases, to see the features. On one trail we three came to a spot where the map said there should be a trail but all we could see was a pretty steep climb up a smooth sandstone rock. Liz hadn’t brought hiking shoes so stayed behind but Marcel and I made it to the top and still had to walk further to find the Arch. We finally returned after 30 min or more. Liz had hiked to several other arches and was waiting for us at the parking lot. We stopped at several other viewing locations and I finally just gave my camera to Liz and Marcel and told them to take pictures as they hiked and I stayed in the truck. On the way out of the park we came upon a gravel road that went off into the desert. We had taken this road during our TAT ride and I knew it would eventually take us back to Highway 191 and then on to Moab. I told Liz and Marcel that I have a 4x4 truck and we were taking this way out of the park. They weren’t too excited with my decision but off we went. I knew the condition of the road, but I also knew there was one spot that I wasn’t sure the truck could make it at a washed-out stream. We made it to .2 miles from the end of the park boundary and came upon the spot I remembered. Marcel and I scouted the road but could find no way I could get the truck down the drop-off without tearing off the front wind spoiler or hitting something critical under the truck. It took some maneuvering, but I finally got the truck turned around and we retraced our steps back to the main highway and the exit of Arches National Park. Although we didn’t make it all the way on the gravel road it was still fun to take the truck off-roading.

This ended our Moab experience and the next day Liz, Marcel and I drove the two days back to Little Rock.

I decided to write this blog because of the significant difference between the first part of September compared to the last part of September/October. Our Caribbean Cruise included fine food, unlimited drinks, and lots of fun in the sun. Our Moab canoe trip included gorgeous canyon and river views, along with blowing sand and uncomfortable nights in a tent. Then our final Moab sightseeing excursions provided beautiful scenery and an exciting Jeep ride on the WRT. I’m glad we did all those things, but I am especially ready to rest up for a couple of weeks before we start our next adventure (TBD).