April 6, 2021 Across Navajo Nation

Home Depot Parking Lot Gallup, New Mexico

I got a nice morning walk.  I got to talk to my sister, my dear friend, Lois, and my mom.  All that chatting really helped the miles go by!  The area outside the RV park had some nice red rock and a hiking trail.

We traveled east of Page on a scenic route through Navajo Nation.  There were a lot of signs reminding people to mask up and to avoid gatherings and ceremonies.  It also looked like there was a curfew in place from 10pm to 5am. 

We passed, but did not stop, many open-air markets selling horse hair pottery, kachina dolls, Navajo jewelry, and cedar berries.

Breakfast spot.

The valley beyond.

Most of the day we traveled at 5,000- 6,000 feet.  There were isolated villages and long miles of sparsely populated mesas.  There were small ranches and lots of abandoned buildings and shacks mixed with well kept yards and houses.  There were also lots of roaming dogs.

The mesas, buttes, canyons, washes, and hoodoos were gorgeous.  There were miles and miles of sagebrush, desert grasses, and tumbleweed. 

The scenery was gorgeous but the driving was tough.  The road was winding and steep.  The winds were blowing and the road surface was poorly patched asphalt.  At 3pm, the driver needed a nap! 

We arrived at 7,000 feet and there were big stands of ponderosa pine and even some vestiges of snow. 

At last, we were in New Mexico.

We were looking for a camping spot.  The county park outside of Gallup was closed because of COVID.  Our other options were Cracker Barrel, Walmart, backtracking on 40W or driving another hour to Grants, New Mexico.

The Cracker Barrel RV lanes were very small and couldn’t accommodate us.  We looked at Walmart but decided on Home Depot next door.  We did some shopping at Home Depot, got our dinner at Applebee’s, and got supplies at Walmart.

We are at 6,500 feet of elevation. It is supposed to be 21 degrees here tonight so we might get a little chilly…but we have lots of blankets, a propane furnace, and each other!

April 5, 2021 Lake Powell

Page Lake Powell Campground Page, Arizona

As I walked this morning, I passed the trailhead for the Secret Sauce Trail.  Saint George has a complex system of extreme mountain biking trails.  I would like to do more hiking.  I would like to do more kayaking and canoeing.  Mountain biking though, is NOT on my list.  I have no aspirations to do any mountain biking.  It looks too perilous…rutted, bumpy trails strewn with obstacles.  I prefer to ride on a smooth surface!  I do admire the agility, quickness, and balance of those that ride.

This morning we had a choice.  We could take the scenic road to the south along Vermillion Cliffs or we could take the scenic route to the north along the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.   Today we chose the shorter route.  We left Utah.

A short while later we entered Arizona.

Back into Utah.

Lunch at Paria Canyon Contact Station.

We entered Arizona again and stopped at the Waheap Overlook.  Here we could see Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam and Bridge.

Enjoy the video.

Before we crossed the bridge, we saw this tractor trailer moving this huge boat.  It was on the way to the Waheap Marina.  Traffic was stopped in all directions to allow the wide load to pass.

The view of the canyon from the bridge in the moving RV.

We camped tonight at the Page Lake Powell Campground. 

I went out this afternoon to get groceries while Tim rested.  I also found Big John’s Texas BBQ.  I got some brisket and fixings for a picnic dinner.

We drove the Jeep to Antelope Point Marina at the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.  We enjoyed our dinner and then we went climbing.  We hiked along the sandstone ledges, working our way down to the beach.  It was really fun clambering on the rockface. 

We would have loved to go to Antelope Canyon.  This is a Navajo Tribal guided hike.  Because of COVID, the tours are cancelled…another place to add to the growing list of places we want to see next time!

April 4, 2021 Home Away From Home Again

Desert Canyons RV Park Saint George, Utah Day 4

Our campsite was quiet. We were very tired. There was no wind. We slept well. We were ready to go back to the RV and so, this RTT adventure had come to an end.

We only had about 20 miles to drive to get back.

On the way we stopped to talk to Kyle and Allison who got engaged this weekend! We are so thrilled!

Today we did lots of laundry and rested and cleaned stuff and wrote the blog and made lots of phone calls to family.

Tomorrow we move on.

Sending lots of healing thoughts, love, and hugs to Debbie, Aunt Kathy, and Aunt Jeanne. May you all get well soon!

April 3, 2021 Wolf Hole

Desert Canyons RV Park Saint George, Utah Day 3 AND RTT at Wolf Hole

The night sky last night, was the most incredible I have ever seen.   The stars were brilliant and there were soooo many!  There is very little humidity and moisture in the air, we were at a higher altitude where the atmosphere is thinner, the moon didn’t rise until after 3am and we are very far away from any city lights; these factors make stargazing here an amazing experience. 

Good morning Grand Canyon!

We left first thing in the morning, traveling back over the 7 miles of lava flow and through the changing light and shifting perspectives. 

Up and out!

We arrived at the crossroads at the schoolhouse and took a break to eat breakfast and explore a little.

We passed an active ranch, the Bundy Ranch,  with imposing No Trespassing warnings.  They had a sign posted:  We have firearms and we have a backhoe!  YIKES!!

A young guy that camped with us on the Rim told us that Twin Point was another great place to camp.  We thought we would try and go there.  We had brought with us an extra 4 gallons of fuel, so we had just about a full tank.  It was about 80 miles to Twin Point and then we needed fuel to get out on Sunday…another 96 miles.  We decided to go west and measure our fuel use and then make a decision about whether or not a trip to Twin Point was feasible.

More pinyon forest to the next crossroad…NOPE not risking it.  We had what we thought might be a 13-mile fuel cushion.  We were too far out to risk making a foolish choice.  ABORT MISSION!  Twin Point is now on our list for the next trip!  The road was rough but the air smelled like juniper and we saw a beautiful flock blue stellar jays.  We even saw a small patch of snow in an area deeply shaded by a canyon wall. 

We took the road to the north, confident that we would find a pretty place to camp. 

The cows wander as they please, through the prickly sagebrush.

We traveled through Hidden Canyon.  We were earnestly looking for a place to camp.  Our criteria:  nice view, flat spot, place for fire…we searched and searched as one hour turned to two.

Meanwhile the scenery was lovely.  We crossed desert, descended into valleys, traversed canyons, climbed mountains all the while looking for the perfect camping spot…or any camping spot!

We finally made it out to the main road.  We took a short spur up a hill at Wolf Hole.  Here we found a pretty little site.  It was peaceful and we were grateful, after eight hours of travel, to find it!

We had wine, which always helps, and a nice fire.  We listened to music and spent the evening counting our many blessings! 

Sunset at Wolf Hole.

April 2, 2021 Camping On The North Rim

Desert Canyons RV Park Saint George, Utah Day 2 AND RTT in Whitmore Canyon

We were planning a two-night overland camping experience in the Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument.  This is an area accessible only by high clearance 4-wheel drive vehicles.  The entire monument is one million acres and has 6,000 miles of rough road.  There are no services here…no gas, no water, no shelter, few bathrooms, no cell service.  There are strict warnings on the National Park Service website.  They advise all terrain tires with at least one spare, extra fuel, extra water, extra food.  In some places in the park, visitors rarely go…you might not see another person for weeks.  All of this being said…it is a wonderful, rare opportunity to be able to visit here.  We knew it was important to respect the information and be well-prepared…or it could hurt us.

The beginning was a hardpacked gravel road in very good condition. 

We began to see the mountains ahead and the landscape began to change.  In fact, all day, as we climbed mountains and then descended into canyons and valleys, we drove through continuously changing habitat and environment. 

We traveled up to Quail Hill Pass at 5,082 feet, through a juniper and pinyon tree forest. 

We drove through almost 70 miles of wilderness.  The hawks were soaring.  The weather was perfect. 

We traveled along Hurricane Cliffs.  The area was dotted with free range cattle and a few small ranches nestled in the valley. 

It is hard to wrap your head around the vastness, the scope and scale of the wide-open land.  The extraoridnary beauty, the isolation, the wildness, without being in it.

There were some derelict, neglected buildings.

The road was extremely dusty.  Though we saw few other vehicles, they definitely left us in plumes of dirt!

We passed the Trumbull Schoolhouse, built in the early 1900’s for the children of ranchers trying to dry farm in this place.

We passed through the Bar 10 Ranch.  This is a dude ranch where you can sleep in a covered wagon and ride horses in the canyons.

Now, we were in the National Park.  We drove on a rough winding road that follows a lava flow.  The sharp black rocks are embedded in the earth.  They are the result of a volcano, Mount Logan, that was active 3.6 million years ago.  Additionally, lava fountains spewed hot lava and rocks into the melting snow, leaving behind jagged dramatic black rock formations.  The overlapping flows were created 72,000 to 850,000 years ago.  These lava flows were so extensive that they blocked the Grand Canyon. The river was blocked and the water backed up 90 miles. Below the level of the blockage, the river dried up and the fish and animals perished. At one time, it was possible to walk across the flow from one side to the other…then, the Colorado River broke the dam and moved it 75 miles to the end of the canyon.

This cinder cone is 87,000 years old.

At last, we arrived at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  We set up our campsite right along the rim.  We chocked the Jeep wheels! We were 900 feet above the Colorado River and 1,500 feet below the South Rim.  We could hear the water rapids below. 

Tim’s video.

We took a hike to appreciate the views.

This was a spectacular spot…the most stunning place we have ever camped. 

We watched ravens flying through the canyon and up to a roost on a rock ledge.

This lizard was our neighbor.

A guy who was camped at the Whitmore Canyon Overlook took our pictures.

We watched rafters floating the river.

We were there all by ourselves for most of the day.  In late afternoon, a few others also came to camp. 

We spent the evening drinking wine and watching the changing light.

April 1, 2021 Pretty Ride To Utah

Desert Canyons RV Park, Saint George, Utah

There are these great-tailed grackles in the campground.  They make the coolest bird noises!

Goodbye Las Vegas!

Today we traveled along 15 North, another scenic highway.  The scenery was interesting in Nevada.

It wasn’t until we got to Arizona that the scenery was spectacular!

The road looked like it was going to dead-end into this mountain.  There was a great crease cut away and the road descended steeply with gorgeous views.  We were in the Virgin River Gorge.  The road zigzagged along with the river.

We entered Utah and then it was just a couple of miles to our campground, again in a beautiful setting.

We went to the Public Lands Office in Saint George.  There we were able to get good maps for our overnight adventure.  We are going tomorrow to explore the Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument.  We hope to stay out two nights in the rooftop tent.  We will see how our day goes and what we find.  No blog posts until Sunday!

March 31, 2021 Got Baby Back

Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort Las, Vegas Nevada Day 4

Since we knew that we had all day and nowhere to go we took our time with our morning exercise. I was able to get more than 4 miles done.

Later in the morning, we took a great bike ride around the campground and through the neighborhood.

We spent the afternoon quietly, doing some more laundry and fixing things. We got a call at around 2. The Jeep was ready! We called for an Uber and went to 4 Wheel Parts. We got a new steering stabilizer, the stock arm was not sufficient for our setup. We also had the shocks replaced. The rear shocks had been leaking oil. The new rear shocks are gas and beefier. Now we are ready to try things out! If you go to the places we have been and you challenge your Jeep in the way we have, you have to expect to make repairs…but it is oh so worth it to us!

Tomorrow we are leaving and plan to go to Saint George, Utah. There is a Public Lands Office there where we hope to get good information so that we can go explore Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument.

March 30, 2021 Jeep SNAFU

Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort Las Vegas, Nevada

We were hoping to get the Jeep worked on yesterday but because parts were not in, we had to change our appointment to today. Tim drove to the 4 Wheel Parts store and then biked back to the campground. We spent the day reading, relaxing, riding bikes, walking, doing chores and working on a project. At 4, Tim called and we learned that they have to order another part. Work on the Jeep should be complete tomorrow. So, we wait! Nothing can be done to change things…so we extended our stay another day. Very good thing we have a flexible schedule!

March 29, 2021 Wash Day

Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort Las Vegas, Nevada Day 2

The best part of my day today was my morning walk.  I spoke to my mom for awhile and then to a good friend.  I was able to walk more than 4 miles and the time passed sooo quickly!

The rest of this day was devoted to laundry and cleaning and grocery shopping.  Sometimes we get so busy having a lot of fun that we don’t keep up like we should! 

Tim got to watch the NASCAR race and we had a mobile RV wash service clean the exterior.  The RV is clean inside and out and the towels and sheets are fresh and clean.  It was great to be productive!

March 28, 2021 Las Vegas

Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort Las Vegas, Nevada

Our campsite last night was very quiet.  The sky was bright with moonlight, the stars faded into the blackness beyond.  I know that I could have gone for a walk down the lane without a flashlight!

A memorial along the lane.

We took our time driving back out to the main road, traveling at about 5mph.  This truck and trailer was loaded with cowboys replete with chaps and horses saddled and ready to ride.  Several men and horses got out a long distance behind us and then they passed us again and let out this last guy.  This is a free-range area for cattle.  The cowboys had lasso ropes on their saddles.  It might have been fun to watch them work!

The approach to Vegas from Route 93 is a spectacular ride.  The mountains are steep and gorgeous with deep canyons.  You can see Lake Mead off to the east and then the Colorado River snaking along to the west. 

We drove over the Pat Tilman Bridge at Hoover Dam.  The dam wasn’t visible from our vantage point but we could see the river below it.

The Vegas skyline from the highway.

We spent the afternoon resting and then we took a bike ride through the campground and in the surrounding area. After being submerged in the southwestern desert for the past three months, the aura of Las Vegas is almost a culture shock for us. The traffic, the congestion, the landscaping bright with flowers, the emerald green grass, the highrises, the fountains; all the things that make Vegas…Vegas! We won’t walk the strip with the throngs of people. We won’t gamble in the casinos. We won’t go see the shows. We are in Vegas to have the Jeep serviced…then we will move on.

We did go for a nighttime ride down the strip to look at all the lights. Lots of glitz, glamor, opulence, money, and shiny stuff!

Tonight is a full moon, a super moon, the worm moon. The Native Americans called it the worm moon because it is at this time of year that the earth begins to soften.