Day 32 & 37

Day 32
Sunday, 10/11/15
Albuquerque,NM to Lubbock, TX


Hi Ho Hi Ho it is off to home we go.  We are headed home.  We drove through flat and desolate land all day today. Stayed at a nice RV park with shade trees. It was 91 degrees when we stopped so the trees were a welcome sight. Got some laundry done. 

 

Day 33
Monday, 10/12/15
Lubbock, TX to Sherman, TX
Lazy L RV Park

Today was rocking and rolling all day. Felt like when you fight the waves in the sailboat.  The wind blew 35-40 steady all day with gust 45-50 and of course they were coming at us broadside.  We did not see many RVs on the road so thinking some travelers decided to sit today out.  We saw hundreds of wind turbines today. They sure had plenty of wind to generate electric today! We made it to Sherman TX about 5:30.

We set up the trailer and unhitched the truck and headed for Celina TX about 30 min away to see Lee's cousin and her husband. Barbara, Mark, Lee and I went out to dinner, visited a little after dinner and met Harry and Heidi the family cats.  Harry is a lover. Nice to see them again. Last visit they were in SC. 

Day 34

Tuesday 10-13-15 

Sherman, TX  to Hot Springs, Ak

Cloud 9 RV Park

Nice RV park but tonight was the Democratic debate and getting CNN was a big deal.  We listened to the first part on xm radio in the truck then they finally got it on cable TV.  Days drive was uneventful but kept thinking how much the lay of the land and plant life looked like central WV. 

Day 35

Wednesday 10-14-15

Hot Springs, AR to Tupelo, MS

Barnes Crossing RV Park

Stayed just off the interstate near a shopping mall. Both our nerves are getting frayed. Need to get home and rest. 

Day 36

Thurs. 10-15-15

Tupelo, MS to Marietta, GA

Atlanta Marietta RV Park

Long day of driving, mostly in silence.

Day 37

Friday 10-16-15

Marietta, GA to Little River, SC

HOME 

Josh called to see where he could get a key to the house.  He and girlfriend Kristie decided to come to the beach for a long weekend to celebrate her quitting her job.  Think they did not realize we were going to be home Friday night.  We beat them home by a couple of hours but by the time we got the frozen food and refrigerated food from the trailer to the house they were almost here. Think both them and us expected to come home to an empty house. Saturday we each went our own way, us unloading more of the trailer stuff and trying to organize things. They went bike riding at a bike park we did not know existed. We got together for dinner but since we had not been to the grocery store everyone was pretty much on their own for food.  Spur of the moment house guests when you have been RVing for 5 weeks is a bit disorganized. Sunday we all went to Wonder Works the upside down house with a little bit of everything for everybody. Everyone enjoyed that. 

IN CONCLUSION

We declared our National Parks excursion a success but were unhappy with how terribly crowded they all were for late Sept and early Oct.  Would never go in the summer. We got pretty good with setting the trailer up and breaking it down but it is still a pain in the you know what. Should have done it when we were younger and stronger, really wore us oldsters out. 

Here is the map of the whole trip, something over 7,000 miles. 

Day 30 & 31

Friday
10-9-15
American RV Park
Albuquerque, NM

Day 30
We left Cortez CO around 10 and arrived in Albuquerque around 4pm. We contacted Lee's cousin Mary Ellen. She and her husband Roger and his family were here at the same RV place as us.  Mary Ellen and Roger came over to our trailer and we all visited. I had not seen her in years. It was great to catch up and to meet her husband. Lee had met him but I had not. 

We decided to all go out to eat at a place Mary Ellen and Roger had heard about. It was fantastic. Everyone loved their food and the deserts were free because we were first time customers. The only problem was we all ate too much. 
Pic below 

Saturday
10-10-15
American RV Park
Albuquerque, NM
Day 31

We planned to get up at 4 am, leave by 5am and drive the 7 miles to the festival grounds. We got off at 5:08 and at 8 were just at the exit to the festival. We were  back at the RV park before 9 and ate breakfast with Roger and his sister and brother - in - law.  

After breakfast we went back to the trailer and went to sleep and did not get up til about 2:30pm. After that we went to Old Town  to the art museum. There was a group of 5 musicians performing in the lobby when we arrived so we sat and listened to them for a while then looked through the 7 galleries of art works. The next thing we did was hunt an old church, mission style in Old Town. Very impressive in a way newer things just can not be.  Then I looked for a place Mary Ellen's sister- in- law suggested I might find woven place mats.  I did find them and bought 4. Thanks for the suggestion. We poked around Old Town until we got hungry and came back to the RV park to make dinner. We watched a little TV while we sorted through today's pictures. We tied up some loose ends so we can get off quickly in the morning. Day after tomorrow we will be in the Dallas area and see Lee's cousin Barbara. 

See pics below- Tap

Fri.

Saturday

Day 29

Thurs
10-8-15
Ancient Cedars RV Resort
Cortez , CO

Today was Mesa Verde day.  Despite the fact that some of the sites we wanted to see were closed we had a full day of it.  We toured 2 cliff dwellings, Balcony House and Spruce Tree House and viewed several more from a distance.  Balcony House might have been called Obstacle Course house.  We hiked down a steep path, walked down many steps and then once at the house you climb a 32ft ladder made of tree limbs to get into it. But there is more! Once inside you squeeze through narrow cracks in the rocks to pass from one room to another, crawl on your hands and knees through a narrow tunnel and regret the extra helping the night before. You climb up more ladders made of round tree limbs and up rock faces where small notches were carved as toe and foot holes. Will be sure to add pictures of some of that.  

The Spruce Tree house was easier.  It was a steep path to it and lots of switchbacks but once there you could see what you were allowed access to easily.  It was much larger, 3 stories at least. Much like an apartment building. The Anasazi were way ahead of their time. We did a driving tour to see several other styles of dwelling, Besides the cliff house there were partially submerged houses, all above ground and some almost completely under ground. We got some distance pics of the crown jewel Cliff Palace. A month ago we could have gone in but not today. The finale was as we were leaving the park exhausted and thirsty a healthy looking coyote appeared along the road beside us.  He looked right at us but by the time we got the camera out he had decided he did not like our looks and turned to leave.  We got a pic but he was leaving.

Tomorrow we are heading to Albuquerque hoping to catch the tail end of the balloon festival.   

Day 27

Tuesday, 10/06/15
Canyonlands and Arches National Parks
Moab, UT

We started off at Canyonlands National Park.  We saw Mesa Arch, Green River Canyon, Buck Canyon, Grand View Overlook and Whale Rock. I had not expected to be very impressed by Canyonlands but was. The Colorado and Green Rivers carve up the park into distinct sections. We mostly explored the Island in the Sky area. 

By mid-afternoon we were ready to go to Arches Nat'l Park which was very nearby. We covered a lot of territory quickly. Saw a lot of named rocks and arches. We did miss a few because storm clouds were gathering and lightning was flashing. We managed Double Arch, Turret Arch, Sand Dunes Arch, Balanced Rock, Tower of Babel, Garden of Eden. Just as we wore out and got in the truck to leave the thunderstorm cut loose. As we drove down the steep road out of the park we were graced with numerous waterfalls that had not been there minutes before. It was easy to see how quickly a heavy rain could turn into a dangerous flash flood in a narrow steep canyon.  

Day 25 & 26

Sunday, 10/04/15
Wonderland RV
Torrey, UT

We headed for Bryce around 9:45. Did  a lot of walking from parking areas to viewpoints. The ranger at the entrance gave Lee a lecture with a smile. We left our trailer at the entrance and went to the various overlooks. Not sure if Zion or Bryce was better. Like comparing apples and oranges. 

Ran across a couple from Charleston SC. We chatted a while, they were concerned about the conditions at home as were we. We drove through mountains 10,000 ft to reach Torrey , UT. It is a little crossroads of a town. The mountains were open range. So every twist in the road you had to be ready for a cow or calf in the road. They were not branded like in the old days but had ear tags.  One a year everyone has a cattle drive and drives them all to a central point where the various ranches sort out the cattle that are theirs. 

3 Pic below map. From Bryce     First pic of fins, very thin wall like structures.  Middle pic is of grottos, they eventually completely hollow out and form windows. Last is Lee with grottos in distance. 

Monday, 10/05/15

Archway RV

Moab, UT

We waffled about whether to stay put or move on, but when the rain stopped about 9:30 we decided to go.  We took off for Capitol Reef park. It was a brief reprieve. The park was a short 20 mile side trip and could be done as a drive through, no hiking to viewpoints. We didn't get many pics because of the rain, but it was ok.  We drove to the door step of Canyonlands and Arches parks and checked in at Archways RV Resort.  It stopped raining as we got here and the sun came out so we set up camp in the sun.  Didn't last long but long enough.  We will do Canyonlands and Arches tomorrow and come back here Tuesday night. Then drive all day Wednesday and try to tuck in near Mesa Verde  CO. Then Thurs see Mesa Verde. From there we intend to head home. 

Pics after map are  of Capitol Reef

Day 24

Saturday, 10/03/15
Panguitch, UT
Paradise RV Park

We got off to an easy start and headed for the last section of Zion left to explore. It was worth the side trip up Kolob Canyon. The first picture after the map is taken there. After that we took a slight
detour to Cedar Breaks National Monument. Awesome topography. that is the last pic. The pictures do not do these places justice. 
Finally we ended up in Panguitch, UT. that is about 20 miles from Bryce Canyon which will be the first half of tomorrows travels. 
It was overcast and cloudy today and it sprinkled on us some, but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny. Also wish it would stop raining at home. Tough to be away and worry about what is happening to your stuff. 

Day 23

Friday, 10/02/15

Virgin, UT

Zion River Resort

We headed to Zion National Park around 9:30 but by the time we got there all the parking was full. We decided to drive to the east entrance and go through the 1+ mile tunnel and see if there might be parking when we got done.  The deal with the east entrance is that you drop 2000ft in a short time and go through a tunnel that has several openings like windows to look out on the mountains around you. When we got to the park boundry we ate lunch and started back to the central area of the park.  On our way we saw 4 female big horn sheep resting under some trees in the shade up on the hillside. pic below. When we reached the central area there were still no parking places so we went to Springdale which is a town about 3 or 4 miles out of the park. Fortunately the park runs shuttles from several places in town into the park. From there you can catch another shuttle that goes to the areas in the park private vehicles are not allowed. 

Our camera battery konked out in about 2 hrs so we did not get as many pics as we had hoped but tried to fill in a little with the cell phone camera. The park shuttle took you to the highlights, several named mts and cliffs.  We saw climbers climbing straight up very high, very sheer cliff faces, with ropes and spikes of course, 

looked suicidal to me. One of the stops was Weeping Rock. Is had one nonporous layer where all the rain that fell and filtered through the rock got stopped and ran to the end of that layer and dripped down in anything from a rain like drip to a water fall like drip depending on the weather.  This has been a dry year so it was more like rain. pic below. It was strange in the middle of a desert to see water loving plants growing below and on this rock face. 

We took the shuttle back to town. It just happened to stop at a ice cream and candy store. We got some ice cream and walked a block to the truck and drove back to the campground.  

Tomorrow we will see an extreme NW corner of Zion on our way to Cedar Breaks and Bryce Canyon. A successful day despite the camera problem. Tomorrow will take an extra battery. 

Tap below for map & 3 pics. 

Day 22

Thursday, 10/01/15
Virgin, UT
Zion River Resort & RV Park

Tough start of the day. The sewer overflowed, could not get the hitch and trailer to mate until we tried several times. Lee smashed my right hand between the sway bars and the truck bumper. 
We finally got headed south on I 15 to Zion. I tried to book 2 nights inside the park but they only had 1night and it was for Friday night. I booked a site for tonight at a pricey RV park about 12 miles out of Zion. We arrived around 2pm to 91 degree temps and went straight to the Zion park for maps and general info. Big difference  2 days drive south makes. 

We drove in the south entrance and immediately hunted our site for tomorrow. It was tiny, looked too small for the trailer & truck and only had electric. We went to the visitors center to get maps and found out because of excess traffic some roads were only open to the parks shuttle buses. We will plan our day tomorrow trying to use mostly shuttle buses. 

The rocky mountains and high sheer cliffs are stunning We should have lots of pics by this time tomorrow. It is hard to get a good pic of such a huge scale landscape. A 360 degree panorama would be necessary to do it justice. 

We ate at a pricey restraunt, Ruth Chris style where you pay for your sides separate. Lee had prime filet and I got sea bass.  Set us back over $100.  Be a while before we do that again.

Tap for pics below. 

Day 21

Wednesday, 09/30/15
Provo, UT
Lakeside RV Campground

We left Boulder WY about 10:15. We got on a secondary road with no route markers and were not sure if we were in the right place.  We talked to a local stopped along the road who reassured us we were where we wanted to be. We saw numerous herds of antelope during the day.  I quit counting after a dozen herds. I saw a moose in the middle of a stream. Lee pulled over and got the binoculars to try to get a better look.  It was definitely a moose but as it walked across the river it got behind trees so it could not be seen. This was in SE WY. 

We drove through miles of high plains, through large ranches and small towns. Eventually we drove through the Wasatch Mts which had a desert like look. Bare cliffs with lots of red rock molded by wind into many strange shapes and holes led us into the Salt Lake City area.  We are camping just south of Salt Lake City in Provo, Utah in a nice camp ground and hope to be in Zion Nat'l Park tomorrow afternoon. 

Tap for 2 pics below

Day 19 & 20

Monday, 09/28/15
West Yellowstone MT
Grizzly RV Park

No pics today.  No travel, no pics.

About 9:30 Seth and Lisa came by for a bite of breakfast and to say goodbye before they left to catch their plane to Oregon.  After they left I did 4 loads of laundry and we washed the dust and dirt off the outside of the trailer and truck.  That took about 2 hours. Lee did a vinegar and alcohol treatment of the front room for mold and I followed up with lysol spray. 
Tomorrow we head south out of Yellowstone and into the Tetons. 


Tuesday, 0929/15
Boulder, WY
Highline Trail RV Park

Left W. Yellowstone , Grizzly RV park around 10 am. Our trailer brakes did not seem to want to work. It got to 25 last night. After driving about an hour the brakes came on. We stopped at a view point and ate Macaroni salad and sodas for lunch. We stopped at a visitors center to get a Grand Teton park map. We took some pictures but it is hard to get just how big and impressive the mountains are. 

We saw a herd of antelope and several groups of 2. 
We took a detour off our planned route in order to find a rv park. Several had closed for the year already. We stayed at Highline Trail RV park in Boulder, WY

The trip map is in two parts because the GPS shut off and restarted.
Tap below to see pics

Day 17 & 18

Saturday, 09/26/15
West Yellowstone
Grizzly RV Park

   We met Seth and Lisa at Timberline Cafe for breakfast. We all pigged out except for Lisa, then headed off.  We took in Firehold Lake Drive and saw Great Fountain Geyser. Then went to Lone Star Geyser and saw Kepler Cascades. It was really 4 falls in quick sucession. We went to White Cone Geyser. Crossed the continenal divide twice. One of those places a small lake flowed both to the  Atlantic and the Pacific

We went to West Thumb which is part of Yellowstone Lake. We took in some thermal features there. We explored the Lake Hotel which was elegant. There was a violinist playing chamber music in the sun/sitting room. We also explored the Lake Lodge. It was more rustic, logs and all, with 2 big stone fireplaces and rockers on the front porch facing the lake. It was massive but managed to seem cozy too. We saw another big bull elk but this time 30 feet away. He was bugling. We ended the day eating at the Buffalo Bar again. I got buffalo balls, Lee ate buffalo too. 

Tap below for 2 pics

Sunday, 09/27/15
West Yellowstone
Grizzly RV Park

Seth and Lisa came over for breakfast then headed to Fairy Falls trail for some hiking.  When they got to the falls they found a beautiful 200 ft cascade. Grand Prismatic Springs was also part of their hiking excursion.  It looks like rainbow colors thus the name. 
It is also a thermal feature. 

We all planned to reunite around 5 or 5:30 and head to Mammoth Hot Springs to do a ranger lead observation of the moon eclipse. 
Lee and I decided around 12 to ride to the NE entrance of the park which traverses the Lamar Valley. The Lamar Valley is supposed to have an active bear and wolf population. We did not see either of those, but did see a few white tail deer and loads of buffalo. When we looked at the map we realized to return to W. Yellowstone and then go to Mammoth would be a 90 miles trip but to go from Lamar Valley directly to Mammoth was only 40 miles. So we asked Seth and Lisa to just meet us at the eclipse program. 

They arrived just as the rangers were assembling people to hike to the viewing point. We had already been there 1 1/2 hours. Nobody had eaten dinner so we ate sandwiches while we slowly watched the shadow creep over the moon.  By 8:30 it was getting chilly and the moon had fully darkened so we headed back to West Yellowstone.  Tomorrow is the day Seth and Lisa head back to Oregon.  So they will come by in the morning for a final visit before they head to Billings MT to turn in their rental car and catch their plane. We will leave day after tomorrow. 

Tap below for 2 pics

Day 16

Friday, 09/25/15
West Yellowstone, MT
Grizzly RV Park

Seth and Lisa took off on their own today.  They did Old Faithful and the various thermal features in that area.  Lisa did a little shopping and got 3 new tops. They came by about 10pm to tell us about their day and make some plans for tomorrow.  

 Lee worked on trying to kill the mold in the front end of the trailer.  He used a 1/2 & 1/2 mixture of rubbing alcohol and white vinegar. Then sprayed everything in the bedroom with lysol spray. After that we went shopping too.  Lee picked up 3 new shirts also. We saw an old fashion soda fountain so stopped and had real milkshakes for lunch. Then we went to the Yellowstone Historical Museum.  It mostly concentrated on the part the Union Pacific RR played in developing the area as a tourist attraction. It did have an informative film on the 1988 fire that  burned so much of the park.  Ranger Sandy gave a talk about the life of the bison and a litte about elk life styles.  

 We came back to the trailer about 3:30 and took a little nap. I woke up at 4 and felt sick to my stomach, had cramps and generally was miserable.  It had passed by about 9:30.  As I write I think I am okay now.

Tap below for a picture of Grizzly RV park.