Quest for Casita

On our road trip in 2011, we figured out staying in motels was too limiting; not close enough to nature. On the other hand, tent camping was not our cup of tea either. We kept seeing small fiberglass travel trailers and knew we had to have one.

Our new Casita trailer is fully self-contained and light enough to tow with our small SUV.



We tried all winter to find a used Casita or Scamp fiberglass trailer but they are so popular it proved impossible, so we ordered a new one from the Casita factory in Texas.  After snagging the Casita, we made a great circle looping from the suburbs of Dallas through Missouri, Nebraska, the Black Hills of South Dakota, the Pryor Mountains Wildhorse Refuge in Montana, Yellowstone National Park to see our son Charles, Crater Lake Oregon and back home via the Redwoods.

Up close, Mt. Rushmore impresses you with the scale and accuracy.

Rod and Susan are impressive up close too.

We visited the Pryor Mtn wild horse refuge last year and really fell in love with the beauty of the Big Horn Canyon bordering the refuge, the Pryor mountain scenery and the majesty of the wild horses themselves.

The Pryor Mountain wild horses are said to be direct descendants from Spanish horses that escaped captivity in the 1600s.

The striped leg markings are a sign of Spanish horse blood.

The Pryor Mountains provide a dramatic backdrop to the wild horse's range.

 We enjoyed watching golden eagles soaring in the Big Horn River canyon.

From the horse refuge we continued on to Yellowstone National Park where our son Charles is working for the summer.  Charles led us on sight-seeing excursions around the park, from Yellowstone falls, Old Faithful and some of the hot springs and geyser basins.

Bart the poodle is a seasoned traveler, says he much prefers the wilds of Montana and Wyoming to the searing heat of Texas.

Our son Charles, spent his summer cooking at Canyon Village and Old Faithful. Lodge.

The Grand Prismatic Springs churns out thousands of gallons of hot water every minute.

Polychromatic algae.

From Yellowstone we proceeded to Hamilton Montana to visit with my old buddy Byron Williams and wife Mary.

Old friends, great scenery, camping in the Casita was so much fun...like a whirling trip to the County fair.

 Wheeeeee.......

Nothing like the thrills and chills of hanging out upside down.

Despite all the fun we were having, forest fires just over the Bitterroot divide in Idaho were too much to cope with.  We hit the road and headed west and then south through Idaho and Oregon.  So much more spectacular country to explore in future trips in the Casita. 

Fire raged just over the crest of the Bitterroot range, filling the Bitterroot with smoke and making outdoor activity difficult.  We headed for cleaner air and blue skies of Crater Lake and the north coast of California. 

Crater Lake is just a little over 200 miles from home, big time scenery, very lightly used by the public.  I got the feeling there were more Europeans in the park than Americans, 

Five weeks and 6,500 miles on the road in our cozy little Casita would seem like enough, but it was hard to stop.  We're looking forward to many more adventures in our Casita.

And now the quest for Casita becomes the cause to sell the Casita.  We fell in love with the Escape 21' manufactured in Chilliwack, British Columbia.  We'll be leaving soon to pick it up.  If you read this far, maybe you want to buy our Casita.  You can learn more here: 

2012 Casita 17' Spirit Deluxe for Sale, $17,950

Another Bari good dive!

The Bari Reef dive site is one of our all time favorite sites.  Bari, the house reef for the DenLamen and Sand Dollar is located close to downtown Kralendijk right off the main oceanfront road Kaya Grandi.  You drive right up to the water's edge, park, gear up and seconds later you enter the water over a narrow sand beach.  Nothing could be easier.  And from the looks above water, you might think not much is going on at this site, but you would be wrong.  The experts say more species of marine life have been sighted at Bari than any other dive site on Bonaire.  The variety always makes this an interesting dive and keeps us coming back multiple times each visit here.

Park next to the water and walk in, what could be easier?

 Normally we just kick out to the edge of the reef, ignoring the sand flats, to drop on to the top of the reef, but not at Bari.  You never know what you will see in the shallows.  On this day, Charles quickly spotted an octopus and other lurking fish.

First octopus we've seen here is surprising for being so out in the open.  Normally shy, he quickly hid under this rock as we approached.

More Bari in-shore sightings...

    Needlefish

Peacock Flounder

                                                      Great Barracuda

Donkey Dung Sea Slug

Once on the reef turning to the right (north) in front of the seaside  condos takes you to what is commonly meant as the Bari dive site.  If you turn left or(south) you find a very different section of reef, an area damaged a number of years ago by the surge of a passing huricane.  It was also the dumping ground for the town's trash.  In fact Bari is papimiento for barrel and if you look closely, you will see shreds of old rusting oil drums.  Maybe it is because it is host to a variety of reef structure, part hard corals, part sand chutes that it attracts twice as many groups of marine animals.

Today, we turned left and in the next forty minutes Charles captured a number of good shots of the junkyard part of Bari's residents.

Rod with school of Wrasse.

   Grapes of wrasse.

Queen angelfish.

Graysby (small member of grouper family) with cleaner shrimp. 

  Scorpion fish.

Blue tube sponge.

 

Junk tire with encrusting rope sponge.

Spotted moray eel looks mean but is merely a mouth breather.

Susan says she was meant to spend her life hanging out with fish.

 Schooling Small Mouthed Grunts.

Banded Butterfly Fish

 This spider looking creature is an Arrow Crab.

The appropriately named Rock Beauty.

At first glance, I thought this Sharptail Eel was a snake.

Spanish Hogfish dancing with Sharptail Eel.

Mahogany snappers are plentiful on Bari.

With so many fish swarming this one site, it is easy to understand why multiple dives are required to get the Bari best experience.



 

About Bonaire, Answer to where is Bonaire and more...

I had never heard of Bonaire until we got interested in diving.  So I'll assume for now that you probably hadn't heard of it either until I sent you my blog posts.  "It's just off the coast of Venezuela..." is my usual explanation, but here is a map to better clear up any confusion. 

Part of the Dutch Lesser Antilles, Boanaire is the smallest of the three ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao).  Only 111 square miles, Bonaire is approximately 24 miles long and ranges from 3 to 7 miles wide.  Formed by volcanic action in relatively recent geologic times, the high point on the island, Bandaris Hill is only 780 feet above sea level.  Rising and falling sea levels over time helped add to the island's surface area as fringing coral reefs adhered to the core volcano.  Ancient coral reefs are evident over much of the surface area of the island as exposed limestone/fossilized coral formations.  You are never more than steps away from the reef as it encircles the island and is the star attraction for the thousands of scuba divers that visit Bonaire every year.  

Susan checks out the entry to our own private dive site just outside our beachside condo at the Lighthouse Beach Resort.  In the background is the island's high point, Bandaris Hill.

 
Lighthouse Beach.  The reef starts about 100 yards offshore, where the water turns deep blue.

We had a torrential downpour Saturday night, so it seemed like a good idea to take Sunday off from diving to show Charles around the island.

Downpour left flats flooded.

The rain filled the many sloughs and flats around the island, causing some concern about mosquito breeding.  It had been very dry and mosquito numbers relatively low.  We learned that the breeding cycle of mosquitos varies from five to forty days depending on the species.  We're seriously hoping the water evaporates in the next few days!

Beach and hillside villas like this modest Pueblo Bonaire home offer choice ocean views north of the main town Kralindijk.

Well-known dive site, 1000 steps.  Though only 70 steps down, it feels like 1,000 coming back.

The other big employer on Bonaire after tourism and salt, Bonaire Petroleum.  Tankers carrying Venezuelan oil off-load at the BPCO terminal day and night.

 Rincon, the number two town on the island sits on the windward side of the island.  It is number one, however, in great grilled chicken, goat and iguana stew.  We like this little eatry, also known as the Rosa Cafe.

Charles samples the plato tipico.

Add a couple of cold beers and you have another satisfied customer. 

The windward "iron shore" offers few easy dive entry sites.  We hurried back to our side of the island anxious to resume our diving.