Tom Schmiedel and Laura Butterworth southwest camping trip

Tom Schmiedel and Laura Butterworth trip through southwest USA at Valley of Fire State Park

November 9, 2022 I drove down to Valley of Fire on Wednesday, November 9. Laura met me there, as she had arrived from Great Basin the night before. That afternoon, we took a bike ride from the campground to the east side park entrance. As with all of these southwest parks, the roads through it are dramatically scenic. The red-rock formations here are of a different hue from Colorado National Monument and Zion, which of themselves were very different as well. It is amazing how

Laura Butterworth and Tom Schmiedel Hiking Angel's Landing, Zion National park

November 1-3, 2022 Probate Hearing I moved from the BLM campground to a Best Western in Moab downtown on November 1. The sole reason for this was for a Probate Court hearing on November 2. My Mom had died in April 2020, and she had put some assets in my name: a checking account, a life insurance policy, and her car. These came to me upon her death. She had told me how she wanted these assets distributed, and I planned to do that. My sister Patty and brother Kenny did not like

Independence Monument October 22-26, 2022 It was a nice day for a drive. It was not too cold, not too warm. The weather was definitely better than the weather I had driving across the mountains in October 2021. It was warmer this time, and it was precipitation free. I arrived at the rest stop near Fruita, on the west side of Colorado National Monument, around 2PM. I had some lunch, and then I wanted to empty the van’s waste tanks of any fluids. Some fluid must have settled ou