The Road Goes On…

Category: Utah

Southern US Trip Summary

This morning at home we feel as though we are living between two worlds. Before we enter back into our everyday life with all its responsibilities we look back on six and a half weeks of excitement and adventure. We’re happy we did write the blog so that we don’t forget all the things we saw and experienced. It definitely is a trip to remember and does rival our Route 66 trip from two years ago.

What worked well:

WIND Mobile’s Unlimited US Roaming. We’ve been WIND Mobile customers for a number of years now and their price just can’t be beat. For $15 a month we had unlimited voice calling, texting and 1GB of data while in the US. This allowed us to keep in touch and look up things on the road.

Good Sam Membership: This RV club membership cost $25 a year and give you 10% discount at member campsites. It definitely paid for itself.

America the Beautiful Pass: This $80/year pass gives you free entrance to US Parks and other recreation sites. It paid for itself as well.

Garmin GPS: We love our Garmin GPS system. At the start of the trip we had the RV/Trucking dezl 760 model but it was stolen in Albuquerque so we bought a nuvi 2689LMT to replace it. These GPS units have campground locations pre-installed and provide lots of information on arrival times, traffic conditions, etc.

Allstays Camp and RV App: We use this app on our iPads all the time to look for campgrounds. It shows the location of campgrounds and gives information about their rating, facilities and distance from your current location.

NOAA Weather Pro App: This app for the iPad and iPhone shows a map with weather conditions. It also has the ability to send alerts to your phone when severe weather is nearby.

Visitor Centres, Park Rangers and Bureau of Land Management offices: These are always a source of great information and have invaluable knowledge of local conditions and opportunities.

Frugal RV Travel Guides: These guides have great route information as well as tips on inexpensive places to stay overnight.

Here’s a map of the entire trip. This is an image grab from Google Maps as it wasn’t possible to use the entire GPS track on a live map, probably because of its size.

August 26, 2015
Moab, Utah to Gallup, New Mexico

Today was a driving day and we really wished for plain, non-interesting scenery so that we were not distracted. For the most part, this was true.

Once in a while we did stop and looked at strange rock formations in the plains of the desert.

We made it to Gallup in good time. We knew Gallup from our Route 66 trip and hoped to have an early dinner at Earl’s Family Restaurant. Unfortunately, they are not open on Sunday evenings, nor are most of the other restaurants. We did finally find one that was open called the Coal Street Pub and had great burritos.

Our home for the night is the USA RV Park in Gallup where the swimming pool has a huge American flag painted on the bottom of pool. The park is very patriotic and military personnel get a free or discounted stay.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

August 16, 2015
Moab, Utah

The day started very early with the alarm ringing at 5:30AM. The goal was to be at Arches National Park for sunrise or shortly thereafter.

Martin did a 5Km hike to the Delicate Arch and Ruth and Pepsi drove and hiked to the viewpoint of this arch as well as a few others.

We had breakfast just before noon at the Jailhouse Cafe in Moab and then strolled around town and saw some woodworking, sandstone and native craft stores as well as two photography galleries.

We went back to the campground to escape the heat and had a snooze in air conditioned comfort.

In the late afternoon we once again ventured out, this time to Canyonlands National Park where we visited the Green River Overlook.

There were thunderstorms all around us so we thought it best to head home.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

August 15, 2015
Boulder, Utah to Moab, Utah

While eating breakfast at our beautiful dispersed campsite, a cowboy with a truck arrived and delivered a new batch of cattle. Within two minutes, the cows were off to graze and the cowboy drove off with his loyal dog.

It was difficult to depart from this serene site and we had to take a picture of our morning view.

The drive on Hwy 12 and 24 is spectacular and we stopped several times to try and capture the beautiful rock formations.

We stopped at the Fruita visitor centre and watched a 20 minute video on the geological development and history of the people who have lived in this area. Fruita was a Mormon settlement at the junction of two rivers and is an oasis where fruit trees can thrive. The settlement is now a national park and visitors are encouraged to pick fruit in the orchards that are still maintained by the park. On the day we were there, Ginger Gold apples were ready to pick. Any apples you eat while in the orchard are free and any you want to take with you at $1/pound.

We also bought delicious pies, cinnamon bun and ice cream at the Gifford house. The Giffords were the last residents of Fruita.

A scenic drive takes you to a number of interesting geologic formations.

We continued on our way to Moab and drove through a mix of plains and attractive scenery.

We made it to Moab and had a wonderful steak/prime rib dinner at Suzie’s Branding Iron. One of Suzie’s specialities is fried bread with honey. Yum!

Our home for the night is at the Moab KOA.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

August 14, 2015
Bryce Canyon, Utah to Boulder, Utah

This morning, prior to any breakfast, we headed off to Bryce Canyon’s Sunrise point to capture the morning rays.

There were already lots of other people busy enjoying the morning, some on a horseback trail ride.

We, however, were starving and decided to splurge by having breakfast at the Bryce Canyon Lodge. The Lodge was established in the 1920s. We enjoyed the buffet so much that we forgot to take any pictures!

Our next major destination is Arches National Park so we headed off in that direction. There is so much to see along this route that we decided to take an extra day for this drive.

We stopped at the BLM Office/Visitor Centre to enquire about dispersed camping permits and locations. These are free, unserviced and largely unmarked campsites throughout the southwest. Some are on rough roads and not easily accessible in vehicles such as our van, especially in monsoon season. We were determined nonetheless. After the fourth attempt we found a perfect spot at a trailhead near a creek. We did venture out on the trail, but were stopped by some cows and a horse. All three of us retreated to the van and wrote the last two blog entries. We are in the middle of nowhere, but have great cellular internet.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

August 13, 2015
Lake Powell, Arizona to Bryce Canyon, Utah

When we got up this morning the weather was cloudy and rainy again which meant no chance to see Antelope Canyon. We did some house cleaning and started on our way to Bryce Canyon.

Our first stop was the Grand Staircase – Escalante. There we hiked the Toadstool trail through a canyon to a fascinating colourful plateau. Despite the cloudy weather, the colors of the rock formations were vibrant. We had a really good time there with lots to photograph and very few people to get into our pictures.

Pepsi enjoyed the hike and was very cooperative during picture taking time and sat quietly until the click of the camera.

On the way we saw a big sign for a German bakery and restaurant in the next town. Since we hadn’t had lunch yet, we thought this is our opportunity. We were not disappointed. The bratwurst with sauerkraut and pickle were great and the German cake even better. We decided to buy some more cake and some nice crusty bread for the next couple of days.

Just outside of Bryce Canyon we stopped at Dixie National Forest Red Canyon and saw some beautiful red rocks and had to stop for some pictures.

Finally, we arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park. We were lucky to find a nice camping site directly in the park and then headed off to the viewpoints to see the sights. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a parking spot for our van, so we headed back to the campground, parked it, and then took the free shuttle back to the Bryce viewpoint. We were so lucky. The cloudy skies cleared and the threat of a thunderstorm also disappeared. Just beautiful late afternoon sunshine to capture the splendour before us.

We hiked the Rim trail to Inspiration point and then wanted to take the shuttle back to our campground. Oops. There was no more shuttle. We had missed the fact that Utah is in Mountain time and Arizona is in Pacific time, although we were actually further west than we had been in Arizona. We had no choice but to walk the 3 kms back to the campground.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

August 12, 2015
Salt Lake City, UT to Cheyenne, WY

The morning started with pancake breakfast at Denny’s followed by a short drive to Temple Square in Salt Lake City where we toured the visitors centre and learned about the construction of the temple. Next up was a fabulous 30 minute organ recital in the Tabernacle. The organ there is the 12th largest in the world with 206 ranks totalling 11,623 pipes.

The organist Richard L. Elliot showed the full range of this magnificent organ, playing pieces by Handel, Bach, Debussy and others. It was fascinating to see his footwork while playing but to hear the pieces played by this excellent organist was the real treat.

The rest of the day was mostly driving with only a quick stop for lunch and gas. Some of the landscape in Utah and Wyoming was very impressive but not as breathtaking as that in south-western Utah last year. The drive was a lot easier as the highway is straighter and the climbs and descents are less challenging than they are further south.

We stopped at the A.B. Camping RV Park in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The internet connection here is great which makes updating the blog much easier.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

August 11, 2014
Truckee, CA to Salt Lake City, UT

After a lovely breakfast and a bit more conversation we set out towards Salt Lake City. It was a driving day and we were lucky that the speed limit allowed for up to 130km/h in places.

We had a brief stop in half-forgotten Lovelock, NV for gas and lunch at a little pizzeria.

Before leaving Nevada completely we stopped in West Wendover where a large sign above the casino suggested we try their penny slot machines. A quick check of our pockets revealed we had 4 pennies so we decided to take them up on their suggestion. Unfortunately, the penny slot machines only accepted bills so we had to insert the smallest one we had handy – a $5 bill. The two of us ganged up on the machine and alternately played our best but ultimately the machine won. So much for the hoped for early retirement.

As consolation we had a nice Mexican dinner at the casino restaurant.

On approach to Salt Lake City we saw the Super Moon.

Note: No track data today either – also lost in the GPS hard reset.

August 10, 2014
Zion, UT to Edwards, CO

After a nice farewell breakfast at Zion we left to start our fast track home. We covered 851km and had a breathtaking drive through beautiful rock formations in Utah and Colorado. A few quick stops were allowed to take a few pictures which really don’t do the landscape justice at all.

We slept with the big boys at a truck rest area with a “no overnight camping sign” but nobody accused us of camping at the rest area. We were just “resting overnight”.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

June 18, 2013
Death Valley, CA to Zion, UT

The alarm clock rang at 4:45am without any mercy. We got up, dog Pepsi was at first confused and then mad! We left right away for our sunrise shoot at Zabriskie Point. It was worth the loss of beauty rest for sure.

Then we rushed to Badwater area, the lowest point in Death Valley, 282 feet below sea level. It is a huge area of salt crusts. Water dissolves old mineral and salt deposits from the sandy soil, then the water evaporates and a beautiful field of salt crusts is the result. The salt is a sure sign that this area was covered by ocean water at one time.

Artist Palette was still on our wish list but the morning light was simply not good for this area.

Back at Furnace Creek Ranch, Restaurants, Hotel and RV Park we had a great breakfast and another swim. Despite the fact that we would miss out on an evening shoot again we left to make it further east to Zion National Park and escape the heat which didn’t even let up during the night.

We made it to beautiful Utah and the Zion National Park. We took a shuttle bus through beautiful sections of the Zion section of the park and decided, New Mexico and Utah are our favourite states so far which we will visit again, hopefully soon.

We were able to get a spot at a public RV Park for the night, the RV Parks within the park were all booked up.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

June 17, 2013