Saturday, May 17, we are still in Torrey (Capitol Reef NP) thanks to a screw up at LaMesa RV in Tucson. Since we were in Salem in March we have been trying to get our Oregon registration for the coach. Just when we think everything is in order something else rears it's ugly head. It boiled down to LaMesa not sending the proper paperwork. In the meantime our temporary registration was expiring very soon. The first part of the week they had assured us that the fax was sent to ODMV, then they were going to overnight the 30 day extension to us. Hmm, did not arrive. After another call we found out the person who was supposed to send the fax was called away from work due to an emergency. Long story short it was finally sent Friday to arrive at the RV park on Monday by 4:30. We had to change our itinerary, cutting our time in Moab to 2 days, with the Memorial holiday coming up the RV park in Moab couldn't extend our visit. Enough whining. We spent the day geo cacheing around Torrey, we picked up 28. The area around the town is pretty on it's own with many red rock formations.
Monday, May 19, We'd run out of "touristy" things to do so we spent the day cleaning the coach, there was a fine layer of dust everywhere plus the endless job of laundry. The "overnight" letter arrived by 4:00. We treated ourselves to dinner out since we'd worked so hard. There are several restaurants in the area, we decided on a Mexican restaurant at the edge of the park. We walked in, no one was in there (it was almost 6) the waitress poked her head out and told us to sit anywhere. When she finally arrived at our table Gary asked for a beer, he had to go to the gas station adjacent to the restaurant to buy it. We're starting to feel like we'd made a poor choice, maybe we should finish the beer and leave, but we didn't want to be rude. We had some questions about the menu, she didn't know and had to go back to the kitchen and ask. We finally ordered, at that point more people were coming in we weren't feeling so much like Maytag repairmen. The food arrived, it was hot and delish, glad we'd stayed.
Tuesday, May 20, We left for Moab about 9:30, a relatively short drive only 31/2 hours. Moab, about 4,000 feet elevation, is quite a tourist town. It is quite the outdoor recreation area, lots of hiking, canyoneering, rafting, mountain biking and of course the two national parks, Arches and Canyonlands. Spanish Trail RV park was a sight for sore eyes, they even had green grass at each site with a lovely "tiled" patio running the length of the space. After all the dirt and dust in the last several areas it seemed like the Garden of Eden. We went to the visitor center first thing for advice on what to see during our short visit. I bought a cool t-shirt and some post cards. We checked out a doggie day care for Luci (who else?) so we wouldn't have to worry about her while we spent the day in the canyon. We looked around town while we were doing some geo cacheing, then headed back to the RV park for the night.
Wednesday, May 21, We left the park about 8:00, dropped Luci at day care then headed out to Canyonlands. We skipped Arches since we'd been there 6 years ago, I don't imagine it has changed much since then. Our first stop was outside the park to see the 600 ft tall Entrada sandstone rock formations they call the Merrimac and Monitor, Civil War ships that had somewhat the same shapes. (so Gary told me) Canyonlands NP has three sections, Island in the Sky, The Maze and the Needles. Since time was short we chose the Island section. Once we entered the park our first stop was at the Shafer Trail Overlook where the sides drop off 1400 feet to the canyon floor. Originally a native trail, then in the 1900's ranchers used it then in the 1950's uranium miners used the road, closing in the 60's when it became a national park. The miners changed the face of the canyon as you'll see from the pictures. The first hike we took was a half mile loop to see the Mesa Arch. I think Canyonlands miles are similar to a "hairdressers" inch. It seemed much farther, a lovely walk to the arch where you could see as far as the La Salle Mtns and all the canyon land . It was only 100 ft in elevation change but what they don't tell you, it is just the average, there are a lot of ups and downs along the way. Unfortunately it was pretty hazy that day so our pictures don't do it justice. There were several overlooks along the way to the end, Grandview Point, elevation 6080 ft. The hike was 2 mile RT (sure) with an elevation change of only 50 ft. (Ha) It was a lovely walk, lovely in the sense of mother nature's beauty, you could almost see forever. There were several sets of stone steps along the route, we were wondering who was the poor guy that had to drag these rocks up there. We couldn't find an unoccupied picnic table so we ate lunch in the car, just as well, the wind was howling. We headed back to the other section of Island to the Green River Overlook (you could see how the river carved through the canyon) and Upheaval Dome. We could see why it is called Island in the Sky, you feel like you're on top of the world with the rock formations jutting up from the canyon floor like islands. I skipped the hike to Upheaval Dome, (learned my lesson in Bryce) I sat in the car while Gary took the mile hike. It was rated moderate which for me means very strenuous. It was about an hour drive back to Moab, we had to pick up Luci by 4:45 so we had to scurry back. Canyonlands is beautiful in it's own way but we wish we'd seen it first because the other canyons were much prettier, atleast in our opinion. For dinner we went to Moab Brewing, of course, their special that night was meatloaf, we chose it so we could have leftovers. The inside of the brew pub was decorated with an "outdoor" recreation theme. Over our head was a river rafting boat complete with oars and life jackets. The wind was really howling by the time we got back to the park, a real dust bowl. There goes the clean coach!
Thursday, May 22, We headed off to Salt Lake City, a 250 plus drive on secondary roads through Price and into Spanish Fork at I-15, a pretty drive but no more red rock. The trip through Salt Lake City to Hill AFB was pretty stressful with all the traffic, Gary said it reminded him of driving through Phoenix. Our GPS "Miss Sally" and the Military RV campground book had different ideas how to get there, we followed the directions in the book except I didn't read the complete instructions, turn R at the exit. Well we turned left. Bad idea, we ran into road construction and it took us a while to find a place to go around the block. We went over a "dip" in the road that wasn't visible and tore off the clamp that keeps the generator from falling out. Oh Crud! My fault, I'm a lousy "nagavator" (as my sister Judy calls herself). We made it to the base without the generator falling out, got our spot for one night, and settled in. Our neighbor gave Gary wire to hold the door shut, he didn't need duct tape for this job. Several years ago in the old coach on our way to the coast, the front wheel well skirt broke loose and was making a terrible racket. So while Gary was out there duct taping it together, a big, fancy, expensive coach drove by. I told him I bet it wasn't held together with duct tape. Our neighbor Steve, from Kentucky, is a Gulf War veteran, at the age of 45 is medically retired from the Navy with a strange disease that causes tumors all through his body. The doctors have determined they are caused by the vaccines he had to take to go to the Gulf. He and his wife Michelle have been full-timing for a couple of years. She was a teacher and now goes all across the country giving seminars on developing curriculum for teachers. We ate our left-overs and called it a night.
Friday, May 23, our plans for the day were changed, Gary had some issues with the left-overs we weren't straying too far from the coach. (If you catch my drift) I went off to the Commissary to stock up with groceries. We needed to change spaces so we could get 50 amp electricity. About noon he was feeling better so we "scrunched" everything together and moved. We told Steve and Michelle it was nothing personal. After we got settled they came by to visit, they'd purchased a 2014 Thor last September so we were comparing experiences. Steve said he wanted to buy a Discovery just like ours but made the mistake of going to an RV show where Michelle fell in love with the Thor, it is also over 40 feet. You know if Mama ain't happy nobody is happy so they purchased that coach. It has a lot of windows which make it seem so much bigger. After their first night out the slide wouldn't go back, things have gone downhill since then. How do you spell lemon? They have had so many problems they have to take it back to the factory in Indiana for numerous repairs. Our "issues" pale in comparison to theirs. Later we went to Costco just as the forecast thunder and lightning storm started, good thing I had an umbrella, we weren't dressed for rain. As we crossed over a railroad yard I saw a bolt streak down and hit the ground. I hate lightening! We came back and had nice warm homemade turkey chili for dinner.
Enjoy the pictures, TTFN
Gary and Pam
The Merrimac and Monitor in distance
Shafer Trail Overlook
Tree at Shafer Overlook
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