Capital Reef to New Mexico

We left Richfield, UT on Tuesday morning and headed in the direction of Capital Reef.  It was only 70 ish miles and since we had camped there 5 years ago, we decided that driving through the Park was good enough.

Mike found us yet another scenic by-way to take and within short order of leaving Capital Reef, we were driving through the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. 

We have seen tons of rock on this drive so far; and even though it’s only rock, it’s so darned pretty.  I’m sure from the pictures being posted that you would agree with this statement. 

Next stop along the way was Natural Bridges National Monument.  We set up and took the short 13 mile loop through the park to get a closer look at the bridges.  Pretty interesting to read how the bridges are formed, mostly by water wearing through the rock to create the bridge.  Only problem is, with erosion on-going; these bridges are only temporary.  Eventually the water will erode away enough of the support base; and the whole thing will come tumbling down.

We tried out our new airbed on Tuesday night, and it was horrible!  Had built-in pillows and the angle was hard on both our necks.  Also was one of those double high beds and every time Mike moved, it felt like I was on a bouncy-castle and thought I was going to be tossed off.  Found another Walmart in Cortez, Colorado and exchanged it for a new bed.  Single high and no annoying pillow.  Much better and so far, so good…

Wednesday, we headed to the “four corners”.  This is where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah all meet.  And at one point, I had one of my limbs in each of the 4 states, at the same time.

Next stop, Mesa Verde, Colorado.  This National Park has Pithouses that date back to 600 A.D. and Cliff Dwellings that date back to 1200 A.D.  We were here 5 years ago; and were so impressed that we had to see it again.

Stayed at a private campground below the Mesa.  Asked if the hot tub worked, and was told yes.  Well it turned out the only jet was the one that keeps the water circulating and it was luke warm at best.  Also asked if the internet worked, again was told yes, but not at our site as promised and not for the first few hours that we were there. 

But it turns out that it was still a good decision to stay there.  One it was a lot warmer then it would have been at the NP campground.  And it turned out that the NP campground, with no facilities at all wanted $27.00 a night!  The private one was around the $22.00 mark.  And even though the hot tub was a complete joke, the internet finally worked long enough to do a few things; and make a few phone calls.

On Friday morning, we packed up and this time our destination was Great Sand Dunes, NP in Colorado.  What a beautiful place this was; and the campsite that we found, was probably the nicest one that we’ve had so far.

Our site had a great view of the Dunes and only 1 neighbour!  Turns out that we were at 8100 foot elevation; and thought for sure we would be in for a long cold night. 

We ended up not having a campfire; as it was really windy; so off to bed early we went.  Were woken up sometime in the middle of the night by Coyotes howling.  Apparently they had a kill; and were celebrating with howls/yips.  Guess they wanted the whole campground to know about it. 

By this time the wind had completely stopped; and much to our surprise it was warmer than expected.  Got up early this morning and New Mexico was our destination.  Again found ourselves on a scenic route.  About an hour or so into the drive; we were waved down by a man at the side of the road.

Turns out that he was a cowboy; and his herd of 53 Angus cattle were being herded up the highway, heading in our direction.  We turned off the car; and had a nice chat with Scott the cowboy.  When the herd arrived, Mike got out and took some pictures. 

We had only passed a half dozen or so cars on this quite highway, and Scott told us that he only has to stop cars once in a while.  He was a bit surprised to find out that we were Canadians, and asked in a kind way if we were “lost”.  We chuckled over that one.  We’re pretty sure that when he tells the story to his friends, it’ll be something like this… Stopped a car heading East on the 104 and can you believe it… they were from Canada… and they sounded funny!  He told us that he had been to Calgary for the Stampede and had met some really nice people… but they sounded funny to him.

We continued on to the State Park campground, but with the temps still reading in the mid 30’s at almost 5pm and hardly a tree in sight, we decided to push on. 

We are now in the Northeast corner of New Mexico; about 70 miles from Amarillo, TX.  And because of the heat; decided to spend another night at a hotel.

Please click here to look at our pictures.

Bryce Canyon National Park

On Friday night, Mike made a comment about how well our air bed was keeping the air; and what a comfortable sleep it was providing for us.  Well, the airbed leak gods must of heard him, cause on Saturday morning, we woke up on the ground.  All of the air leaked out over night.

So not only did we almost freeze our butts off, we also had a hard ground to boot!  We packed up early on Saturday morning and headed the very short drive to Bryce Canyon campground.

The first sign (at the gate) said all campgrounds were full!  What???  We had seen numerous sites that had a departure date of the 15th, and there was no way that by 10 in the morning they were all full. 

Turns out that they weren’t and the person responsible for updating the sign, hadn’t gotten to it yet.  Boy what a relief!

We picked out a nice big site and were set up shortly after.  It only takes us about 15 minutes from start to finish, including making the bed up.  Once we were done that, we headed off to find the showers.  Got back to the site, had lunch and just relaxed for a few hours.

Late in the day, we got in the car and made our way to the end of the views.  Since all of the view points are on the left side, the park recommends that you drive to the end and work your way back.  So that’s what we did.

Five years ago, we did the exact same thing, and five years ago we were wowed and bedazzled by the sheer beauty of Bryce.  And we certainly weren’t disappointed this time either.  Of all the places that I been to and seen, Bryce Canyon is still the prettiest place that I’ve ever been to.

We spent a good couples of hours, working our way down and since it was getting close to sunset, we decided to save the amphitheatre for the next day.

Had dinner and a fire.  Pumped up the airbed and off to bed we went.  Not near as cold as the night before… thank god!  And again, was on hard ground by the morning.

Sunday, we headed out to Ruby’s, which is a large complex outside of the Bryce Gates.  They sell all kinds of camping gear, supplies, etc.  But the only airbed they had was a “full” size and we knew that wasn’t going to work. 

Asked the clerk where the closest Walmart was and the answer was 90-100 miles in any direction that we picked - North, South, East or West.  Guess we would be spending one more night on this airbed.  I tried to find the leak, but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

In the afternoon, Mike decided that he was going to go for a hike into the Queens Garden.  So, while I typed the Grand Canyon/Zion blog, he started the mile plus hike from Sunset Point to Inspiration Point.

Turns out he should have done it in the other direction; as a large part of the hike was uphill.  It took him just over an hour; and by the time I was done the blog, drove over to the other parking spot, he was only another 10 minutes or so.

And so far, no aches or pains from the uphill trek… not bad for a guy who’s 61!

Today we were packed up and on our way shortly after 9:00 am.  And our destination was Richfield, UT.  We arrived here early afternoon.  Booked into a Quality Inn.  I got my hair cut while Mike got an oil change on the car.  Our computer told us a couple of days ago that one was needed.

And when we met up again, off to Walmart we went and bought ourselves a new airbed.  This one is a double high bed, and since it didn’t have a built in air pump, we bought one of those too.  Mike is under strict orders to not mention how good the air is holding…

We came back to the hotel, did some laundry, ordered a pizza for dinner and just came back from the hot tub a short time ago.

Tomorrow we’re headed on another scenic drive.  We’ll probably spend a night or two in Capital Reef NP before heading to Natural Bridge, Mesa Verde and the four corners.

It’s been 5 weeks since we left home and have put just under 10,000 kilometres on our SUV and have seen some beautiful scenery so far.

Please click here to look at our pictures.

The Grand Canyon, South Rim

Our first day in The Grand Canyon was a wet and cloudy one.  We could hardly even see the canyon.  We were hoping that the next day would clear; and our “hopes” were answered.  What a difference a day makes in the weather.

After sopping up all the water in our tent, apparently it isn’t water proof!  We headed over to the free shuttle and away we went.

We spent most of the day being wowed and bedazzled by the beauty of the Grand Canyon.  And having a shuttle to take you right to the viewing points was great.  A couple of the points were less than a half a mile apart and very flat, so we walked.  When the points got a little longer in between, we rode.  It was perfect!

And even though there were still some clouds, it was nothing compared to the day before; and as the day wore on, the clouds dissipated even more.

After dinner, we headed to the rim to see the sunset; but got there a little late.  There is lots of signage in this park, but never for where we wanted to go.  And needless to say, by the time we found a parking spot, the sun had pretty much set for the day.

The next day, we started the drive towards Zion, NP and again the beauty of this area, had us “wowing” for most of the drive.  It was pretty cool to be driving in the canyons, and looking up at the rock. 

With the time difference, by the time we arrived at Zion, the only camping sites left were in the group camping.  We “shared” our site with a couple from Austria and another from Holland.  We sat around the fire and shared stories well into the night, before heading to bed.

The next day, we again took advantage of the free shuttle and took an 80 minute return drive through the park.  When we got to the end; we headed along the trail, which parallels the river.  I gave up about 10 minutes in, but Mike continued to the end.  And took some more great shots along the way.

Next stop, Bryce Canyon.  And since it was only 60 ish miles up the road, we figured by getting there mid afternoon, we would have plenty of sites to choose from… wrong!  As we pulled into the last “open” campground, the ranger was putting up the “full” sign.  Back up the road we went to Red Rock Canyon (the second Red Rock Canyon we’ve been to on this trip - last one was outside of Vegas).

But the sites were small and most of them on a slope.  Only other option was to drive 14 miles on a dirt road to Kings Creek.  Lots of empty spaces here, thankfully!  Set up, and once again had comments/questions about our tent.

Most of the tents that we’ve seen on the trip so far, as small, domed; 1-2 person tents.  Ours looks like the Taj Mahal compared to some of them.  And so far, every campground that we’ve set up at, at least one person has come over and made comments about our tent.

But even though we have a large comfy tent to sleep in, it didn’t stop the freezing cold air from coming in.  Boy, what a long, cold night that was!  In fact, our hand soap turned to gel - not quite frozen, but pretty darn close.  Thank goodness for our hoodies!

Because of so many pictures, I’ll hold off on the Bryce pictures and story for the next blog. 

Please click here to take a look at our pictures.

Las Vegas to The Grand Canyon

When I last wrote a blog, we were getting ready to go and see Donny & Marie.  Well that never happened.  Our show got cancelled twice in a row… bummer!  So on the Thursday night we ended up going to see the Jubilee show.  It was pretty good and it was cool to see a traditional Las Vegas show.

We didn’t do quite as well at the poker table as we did in Reno; but we still had a good time.  I think I did more walking in the week in Vegas than the total trip up to this point.  It seems like every parking garage was about a mile or so (well it felt like a mile) to the casino.

When we decided to finally leave the craziness, noise, traffic, etc.  we headed to the Red Rock Canyon for a driving tour.  What a beautiful place this turned out to be.

We got as far as Kingman, AZ on Friday night; and decided on another hotel.  Sometimes when you’re trying to make some ground, it’s just easier to stay at a hotel. 

While there, we chatted with Mike’s cousin on Facebook; and decided that since we were only 3 hours to Phoenix, that we would go and visit for the weekend.

We ended up only getting to visit Pati and her boys.  Teresa got really sick on Saturday and her brothers were out of town.  We still had a great visit with Pati and her boys, and were glad that we made the detour to visit.

We left Monday morning, and decided to drive one of our favourite “scenic” roads.  We’ve been on many of “America’s prettiest roads” and this one still remains one of the prettiest that we’ve been on.

It’s the Apache Trail through the Superstition Mountains, just east of Phoenix.  We’ve already done the trail twice, both times with the truck.  And let me tell you that it was MUCH easier driving with the Escape.  The sharp tight turns and narrow road didn’t seem near as tight or curvy with just our little SUV.  I still miss our big, noisy, smelly, gas guzzling truck; but on this trip so far, I haven’t missed it at all.

You wind your way along a dirt road, with mountains to your right and Canyon Lake, Apache Lake and eventually Roosevelt Lake all on the left.  Saguaros, prickly pear cactus, and ocotilla’s intermingled with mountains, makes for this place to be absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.

Our original plan was to make it to Sedona for the night, but we got as far as Camp Verde.  Another hotel for the night.  The next morning, we drove into Sedona, and I think it’s gotta be America’s prettiest town. 

Beautiful red rock mountains surrounding the entire area.  We finally also got our first sight of “hoodoos” and “spires”.  A couple of hours later, we arrived at the South rim of the Grand Canyon, just as the skies opened up!

Whoever said it never rains in Arizona is wrong as far as we’re concerned.  We haven’t had much rain on this trip, none since Yellowstone, and it’s rained here on Friday, a bit on Saturday, and lots of rain today.

We just barely got the tent set up and the skies opened up again.  And while it poured, we took advantage and had our first afternoon nap since leaving home 4 weeks ago. 

It was still raining when we got up; and ended up at the Grand Canyon Café for dinner; and that’s where this post is coming to you from.

We did stop and take a peak at the Canyon itself; and there were tons of clouds making it difficult to see very much.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the rain will clear tomorrow. 

Please click here to take a look at our pictures.

Yellowstone to Las Vegas

On our way out of Yellowstone, we found the herd of Buffalo… again… took some more pictures and then made our way to Grand Tetons, NP.  There was a lot of smoke in the air; and it made it hard to see the mountains at some point.

The day after arriving there; we drove through the Park, and up and over the Grand Teton Pass, and ended up in Idaho… again.  But this time we actually drove for about 5 miles, found a gas station (used the facilities) and then headed back up and over the Tetons back into the Park.

Thankfully you can see a lot of these National Park highlights from your vehicle; as my foot is giving me lots of issues.  There are also short walks that you can do to see even more spectacular sights.

After leaving the Grand Tetons, we started to make our way further West and the next destination was Yosemite NP.  Again, we ended up in Idaho, but this time it was for roughly 30 miles, so we can now say that we were definitely there.

On our way to Yosemite, we found ourselves in Reno, Nevada.  We decided to stay for the weekend, and since there weren’t any close campgrounds, we stayed at a Vagabond Motel. 

Thanks to the dozen plus partiers on the second night there, our 2nd and 3rd night were both half price.

We also played a little poker and Mike won the tournament on the Saturday.  Roughly half an hour after that; I was in a $3-$6 cash game; and flopped a Royal Flush in clubs!  The odds of doing that are apparently 970,000 to 1.  The casino gave me a $400.00 bonus, plus a spin on the wheel netted me another $50.00; plus the pot made for a $480.00 hand.  First time in 16 years of playing poker that I got a royal flush; hopefully I won’t have to wait that long for the next one.

When we left Reno, we took “America’s Lonliest Road” to Yosemite; and was it ever lonely.  Not much to see except for mountains and sage brush.  The ride across was roughly 7 hours and we were happy to see the end of it.

Spent a few days at Yosemite; and were once again wowed and bedazzled by mother nature’s beauty.  The campsites were pretty rough; and our tent was squeezed in between 2 trees. 

Next stop was Kings Canyon and Sequoia NP.  These parks are right beside each other.  And we were able to do the drives that we wanted and to see what we wanted to within the 2 days there.

Sequoia NP has the oldest tree and the biggest tree (by volume) in it.  In order to get the whole tree in, I sometimes had to take 3 pictures.  The weather had certainly warmed up by this point; and didn’t need to sleep in our hoodies to make it through the night.

We also had a very nice large site that overlooked Fresno, CA in the valley below; and also had 2 great sunsets in a row.

Next stop was Death Valley.  And after a very long travel day (not by choice, but lack of hotels to stay at); we arrived at a lodge; which was across from the campground.  The outside temp was 41 celcius and with the wind, it felt like we had just stepped into an oven.

We found out from the lodge people that the campgrounds in Death Valley were closed because “it is too hot”!  We drove on a bit further to Beatty, NV and spent another night in an air conditioned hotel. 

The next day, we drove around Death Valley, and was surprised that the temp was only 42.  Have never seen our car reading in to the 40’s before.  At one point we were at “Badwater” which is 283 feet below sea level; and I thought for sure the temp would be higher. 

After spending the better part of the day driving around, we headed the car in the direction of Las Vegas and that’s where this blog is coming from.

We arrived here on the Saturday afternoon of the Labor Day weekend; and talk about busy!!!  We went from the serenity, peacefulness of Death Valley to the utter crazyness of Vegas inside of 3 hours.

There must have been millions (and I’m not exaggerating) of people walking along the strip.  We were lucky to find a room at all; at the Super 8; and we’re still here.  Have already noticed that things are a little quieter today.

We ended up doing a “timeshare” presentation yesterday; and no we didn’t buy anything.  But we are going to see Donny & Marie tomorrow night at the Flamingo, as a “thanks” for our time.

Please click here to take a look at our pictures.