MAY 30-JUNE
7, 2017: ON THE ROAD AGAIN (MAYBE),
ALASKA OR BUST
A NOTE ABOUT THE BLOG: The blog will be updated as I find time to work on it. Each post takes many hours to compose the narrative, choose and "photoshop" the photos to post (I will likely have several thousand photos before the trip ends), upload the text and photos, then proof it before sending the notification to everyone that an update is online. In between time, I will be sightseeing and collecting information for the next update! I hope you enjoy your virtual journey with me. Please feel free to send any comments or suggestions to me via my email. I may not have phone service for a few days at a time during the trip, but I will definitely read your emails. Also, if at any time you do not want to continue to receive notifications of new posts, please let me know. Now on to the next adventure!
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May 30: Everything was finally loaded into the motorhome (but
definitely NOT organized), the house in Cave Creek was ready for the key to
be turned in the lock—AND, I was definitely ready to be off on another
adventure! I had finally determined a
route to take to Canada—it took some time for me to make a decision; i.e. what
friends would I be seeing along the way, etc., and of three routes I was
considering, some would require going a different direction out of the Phoenix
valley initially. I finally decided on a
route up through western Idaho which would position me to see some new (to me)
country in British Columbia. I headed
straight north to Flagstaff, then Highway 89 to Page and Lake Powell where I
planned to spend the first night—an easy
260 mile drive through some very pretty country. It had been 10 years since I was up that way
and I had forgotten just how beautiful that part of AZ is to drive
through.
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| LOTS OF OPEN COUNTRY NORTH OF FLAGSTAFF |
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BEGINNING TO SEE SOME "COLOR"
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GETTING CLOSER TO LAKE POWELL
When I got to the campground, I
learned there weren’t any sites with hookups available, so I crossed over into
Utah and dry-camped on the beach of Lake Powell. The first day on the road ended with a
beautiful sunset—a fitting ending, I thought.
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| LONE ROCK CAMPGROUND |
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| DAY'S END |
Day two found me continuing on Highway 89 in UT up through
the central part of the state. I had
driven portions of the highway, but not the whole thing, and not always in the
same direction. This was a beautiful
drive beginning with the stark, but beautiful colors of the soil and rocks
around Lake Powell, followed by the bright red rock cliffs as I drove along the
southern border of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
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| DRIVING NORTH FROM LAKE POWELL-MORE COLOR! |
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| GRAND STAIRCASE-ESCALANTE NAT'L MONUMENT |
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| SOUTHWEST CORNER OF GRAND STAIRCASE-ESCALANTE NAT'L MONUMENT (EAST OF KANAB, UT) |
Then, I climbed up to the higher mountain
valleys where there were large mountain meadows interspersed with fields of
sage brush. The Sevier River was flowing
high and fast from the snow melt and there was quite a lot of snow on the
higher mountains. At one point, I could
see the higher peaks of Zion National Park off to the west and a little further
up the road I could see outlier portions of rock formations similar to those
found in Bryce Canyon National Park. All
in all, it was a spectacular drive up central UT for 230 miles to Salina.
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| A PEAK AT COLORFUL FORMATIONS FOUND IN BRYCE CANYON NAT'L PARK |
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| ALONG THE SEVIER RIVER IN CENTRAL UTAH |
I checked into Butch Cassidy Campground and
found that when I plugged in to shore power, there was not any power going into
the coach. I tried everything I could
think of to trouble shoot it—all to no avail.
My guess was the transfer switch wasn’t working, which was the same
thought a technician that I talked with in Iowa had. At least the generator was working and the
temperature was cool, so I was okay for the night. I saw the first wildlife (other than birds) on
the trip—a few antelope around Kanab and a deer in the Sevier River Valley.
Day 3 found me getting an early start and thinking I would go as
far as northern UT. However, other than
the first 100 miles, I was on interstate highways for the most part which are
easier when I want to make time and still feel decent at the end of the day. I felt good, so I just kept on driving—505 miles
total, which people reading this who drive motorhomes will recognize that as a
long day. (I have found that most people
drive 250-300 miles maximum per day in their motorhomes.) With only a 10 minute stretch-break during the trip, I had to work to get my legs working again after peeling myself out of the seat!
It was interesting driving through all the old towns and seeing buildings that dated back as far as the 1860’s in them. The towns were neat and buildings were generally kept up well. The scenery was wonderful as I drove through mountain valleys punctuated with open meadows and sagebrush filled fields and canyons almost to Provo. The area from about Spanish Fork, UT north to Ogden is almost completely built up now along I-15, with very little open space. Most of the businesses that I knew when I lived in Salt Lake City were gone from along the freeway with newer buildings taking their place. Traffic was heavy from Provo to north of Ogden. Turning northwest towards Boise, I enjoyed driving over hills and through valleys green with abundant grass while watching cattle grazing along the way. I also saw quite a few sheep and some “old-fashioned” sheepherder’s wagon-style living quarters.
I was met at the county campground in Emmett, ID by Bob and Judy Bales who are friends I had met in Yuma, AZ several years ago—and fellow geocachers. Weather was good for the drive with the exception of some heavy rain southeast of Boise, ID.
It was interesting driving through all the old towns and seeing buildings that dated back as far as the 1860’s in them. The towns were neat and buildings were generally kept up well. The scenery was wonderful as I drove through mountain valleys punctuated with open meadows and sagebrush filled fields and canyons almost to Provo. The area from about Spanish Fork, UT north to Ogden is almost completely built up now along I-15, with very little open space. Most of the businesses that I knew when I lived in Salt Lake City were gone from along the freeway with newer buildings taking their place. Traffic was heavy from Provo to north of Ogden. Turning northwest towards Boise, I enjoyed driving over hills and through valleys green with abundant grass while watching cattle grazing along the way. I also saw quite a few sheep and some “old-fashioned” sheepherder’s wagon-style living quarters.
I was met at the county campground in Emmett, ID by Bob and Judy Bales who are friends I had met in Yuma, AZ several years ago—and fellow geocachers. Weather was good for the drive with the exception of some heavy rain southeast of Boise, ID.
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DRIVING INTO IDAHO
IT LOOKS LIKE WE ARE GOING TO GET WET!
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Day 4: I worked around the coach all morning,
including touching base with service advisors concerning my power problem. I could not get an appointment before Monday
afternoon to have the problem diagnosed, so it promised to be a hot weekend in
the coach. The Bales came by at midday
to see if I would like to go find some geocaches which sounded like a good idea
considering it was already starting to really warm up. I finished up some loose ends, then joined
them for lunch and a fun few hours of caching.
We drove through some nice country southeast of Emmett and picked up 19
geocaches on a trail (as in a “geocache trail”) out there. We also scared up a young buck deer with his
antlers still in the velvet stage; he was bedded down under a tree where the
geocache was located. I ran a 20 amp extension
cord into the coach through a window so that I could charge up lights,
computers, the phone, phone chargers, etc.
As I told someone, this was like tent camping in a tin can. At least the generator was working so I could
make coffee in the morning.
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| WE INTERRUPTED HIS AFTERNOON SIESTA!
Days 5 & 6: I met the Bales on Saturday morning and we
geocached north of the Eagle, ID area for a few hours before lunch. I still had a lot to do getting the coach
ready to travel so worked on that in the afternoon. I went to Bob and Judy’s for dinner and their
son Grant joined us--it was good to see
him again. I am loving these long
evenings up here with daylight savings time, plus being so far north.
Sunday, I worked around the coach all day, cleaning and
organizing. The Bales, Grant, and Mandy
came in the afternoon and Mandy helped me with some issues I am having with one
of my computers. She was a real trooper
working on it for as long as she did!
Computers=GRRRR! A heavy
thunderstorm with strong winds came through in the evening and dropped marble
to quarter-size hail. Ugh! The cold front sure cooled the temps down!
Day 7: I drove the coach to Meridian to have the electrical
power problem checked out and, fortunately, the technician was able to resolve
the problem that afternoon. There wasn’t
any place at the dealer’s to work on the computer, or even to sit and read, so
it was a very long afternoon! It was
really nice to have the power working that night! The evening was spent visiting and having
dinner with special friends Bob and Gene Nora Jessen. It was so nice to see them again!
Days 8 and 9: I drove back to Emmett early in the morning
and spent the rest of the day doing errands at the coach, except for a short
visit with the Bales’ to pick up my mail package. I also planned the next few legs of my trip
and made a reservation at Radium Hot Springs, BC, which will be my first stop
in Canada. The next day was more of the
same since there was still a lot to be done prior to going over the border into
Canada. I enjoyed dinner with Bob and
Judy and watched some commentary on the day’s Senate Intelligence Committee
hearing with them. It was a hot day in
Emmett today with the temperature reaching 95 degrees. I believe I am just about ready to get back
on the road again, although there are still some loose ends to be tied up
during the next couple of days.
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