We raised jacks in Summerdale and gently headed north, constant worrying about the cracked surge tank. We pulled over after the first 40 miles to check my epoxy job and found a small leak still found it’s way through the repair. We decided to stop for a couple nights at the Montgomery KOA. There, I slathered on another round of epoxy over the leak and hoped for the best. I ended up calling a couple of “nearby” Freightliner shops, hoping for good news on the needed part. To shorten the frustrating story, Freightliner required I show up in person and pay for the part ahead of being allowed to be placed on a wait list (they would not take credit card payment over the phone). We decided to try for the Beaumont (TX) Freightliner shop since we were headed for Livingston anyway. They had no ETA on the part, claiming their parts manufacturer was having “tooling issues” precluding them from mass production of that part.
Our home at Montgomery KOASome of the vacant sites at the KOAThe laundry/bath-showers. Needs work. A lot!More typical sites
So from Montgomery, we made it to Red Bay. Another look and I STILL had a tiny leak in the coolant tank. And, another round of slathering epoxy. This was a 6-day stopover and MS Solutions took care of our fixes on the coach lickety-split. After the 6 days, it was an overnighter at the River Walk Casino in Vicksburg, MS, then in to Beaumont, TX to order/pay for the Freightliner part. We continued and arrived at our final destination in Livingston, TX, Rainbow’s End Escapee Park (and HQ). It was there that we settled in for at least a one month’s stay while waiting for the part to fix Rosie.
I probably described this many years ago upon our first visit to Livingston, but just in case you missed it… Livingston is a town of 5,000+/-. Real restaurants are limited, but fast food abounds. There is a Walmart (oh boy!), real grocery stores are limited to a Berkshire’s and an H.E.B. If you want to go to semi-civilization it is about an hour’s drive anywhere, Conroe & The Woodlands being the nearest. There is very little outdoor activity in Livingston; no nature trails, bicycle lanes/trails are basically non-existent, and very little area for public use around Lake Livingston other than the small Lake Livingston State Park. Needless to say, our Livingston stay was not noteworthy.
Home at Rainbow’s EndThe Sun also rises…We got a bit of a funky lightning show one very early morning.It was pretty quiet considering there were a couple of these guys still around…Escapees version of an Oktoberfest parade.What, no polka!?When there’s nothing to do…paint rocks!We had to check out the No Label Brewing Co. near Katy, TX……and the Baa Baa Brewhouse as wellOur first excursion to a “cowboy church”…
After a month with our thumbs firmly inserted into our posterior regions, we decided to limp back to Beaumont and set up at the Beaumont Elk’s Lodge to wait on Freightliner. A quick check-in with Freightliner and we were told the “expected shipping date” was November 1. So here we sit…
Our home at Beaumont Elk’s LodgeWelcome, fellow Elk’s!These guys were ALL OVER the place! Yowwwwwww! (fire ants)
From Box Cañon we continued our trek eastbound which included some very short stays along the way, like a Walmart in Trinidad, CO; the Elk’s Lodge in Amarillo, TX; the Grand Casino in Shawnee, OK; a return visit to the Lazy L RV Park in Sherman, TX; and some stops at Elk’s Lodges in Shreveport, LA, Slidell, LA, and Biloxi, MS. The casinos in Shawnee and Biloxi were pretty good to us, Jeanne was having her way with the slots (yeah, so was I…)
Our overnight home at Walmart in Trinidad, CO. It can be quite the “intoxicating” experience to be camped out across the street from the Devil Weed Distributor…Welcome to the Amarillo Elk’s LodgeHome at the Grand CasinoOur view of the casinoNo stop in Sherman can be complete without a visit to 903 BrewersWhile CA is paying $6+ for gas, gotta love ‘dem Texas gas prices!Our home at Slidell Elk’s LodgeSmall section of the Liberty Bayou behind the Slidell Elk’s LodgeCool mirror shot off the little pond at the Slidell Elk’s LodgeThe Shreveport Elk’s LodgeThis was the driveway to get into the Biloxi Elk’s Lodge. Be quiet, don’t disturb these neighbors…Home at the Biloxi Elk’s LodgeViews of the Gulf ShoreJonathan Livingston Seagull sure has a lot of relatives!Some beach art in BiloxiLooking down the beach behind the Elk’s Lodge in BiloxiThe Biloxi LighthouseThis is the Captain of our Neighborhood Watch group here in Biloxi…
We managed to catch our breath with a longer stay at the Rainbow Plantation Escapees park in Summerdale, AL. However, it was not without a modicum of stress. Upon our arrival I found engine coolant spewed all over the rear cap and grill of the MH. Close inspection showed a horizontal crack just above the seam of the engine coolant surge tank. Our immediate task was to arrange for that particular repair. Wouldn’t you know it, Murphy was still riding with us. After numerous frantic phone calls, we discovered not one Freightliner shop in all of the United States of America had that part in stock. And what further inflamed the issue…nobody had any clue as to when Freightliner would be shipping out any more of that part, the blame falling squarely on the Joe F*ng Biden supply chain issues. I managed to get my name onto several waiting lists for the repair service at various Freightliner shops, so all I could do is roll with it. After some short debates with myself on temporary “fixes”, we made a run to an Auto Zone store and picked up some good ol’ KB Weld rated for high temps and pressures and I smeared it up good over the cracks. I’ll be sure to let you know how it turns out…
Home, at Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, ALNow, why, exactly, do they call this place “Rainbow Plantation?”Craaaaaaaaaack!!!It’s amazing, the critters you attract after you wash the Jeep……and the motorhome!
Being the great makers of lemonade that we are, we marched on. Using Summerdale as our base, we made a few runs into places like the Gulf Shores and Pensacola, FL. The major drawback to Summerdale is it is far away from EVERYWHERE! Pensacola, only 40 miles away was always over an hour’s drive with the thick local traffic. Gulf Shores was only 30 +/- miles away and again, about a 45 minute drive with traffic. Two other little issues we had were the absolute horrendous wifi service we had, and we just happened to be here at the right time to endure the constant onslaught of Love Bugs!
We were supposed to be here for 2 weeks, but with the variable of my temporary fix hanging over us, we decided to cut out a little early (in the middle of the work week) just in case we had issues. We did not want to get stuck somewhere on a Sunday, when everything closes down back here, with no remedies in sight. So it was off toward Red Bay for now, not knowing when Freightliner will come through but with a set appointment for the other MH fixes at Daniel Humphries’ MS Solutions. Until next post…
From Glenwood Springs we made it to Montrose for a short respite from driving. We did a couple of nights at the Montrose Elk’s Lodge, then hit the KOA for another week. Our focus was on re-experiencing the area of Montrose for a possible landing site for us, but we did get to squeeze in some sights for fun.
Home, at Montrose KOAPool and a hot tub, hot damn!Strange looking BBQ area at the KOAOne of our neighbors. This thing will go anywhere…
We have toured the Black Canyon of the Gunnison Nat’l Park, it’s been about 7 years ago, but we wanted to do a re-visit. Since the KOA is only a few miles from the N.P., we left Woodrow Wilson to guard Rosie and drove on up the mountain. Most of the views were familiar to us, but it was still awe-inspiring to see the majestic mountains, canyons, and rock faces contrasted with the Gunnison River. It is not a large N.P., but the South rim (the side we were on) access was the closest for us. The North rim required another hour+ driving (one-way) to get there and we would have been looking at the same features, only from the opposite side.
After my previous bicycling run-in with the deadly chain link fence, it has become obvious that Murphy has sure been keeping a close eye on me here lately. During this stay I developed some severe tooth pain in my back molar. With the weekend approaching quickly, I made the command decision to try to get in to see a local dentist. I lucked out with the Montrose Family Dental office. A quick in-n-out and I was good to go, abscessed gum diagnosed and scrip in hand for the anti-biotics. (While I had to wait a day or two for the drugs to kick in, it was pretty convenient that I still had an ample supply of Vicodin & Percocet for the pain…)
Before lift-off we really wanted to go hike the Box Cañon Falls trail in Ouray. We had been waiting for a break in the rainy weather, and by-golly we got it the last weekend of our stay. It was a short half-hour drive to Ouray and the “trail head”, so we left Woody at home again. They charge a $5 per head fee to “hike” up and see the falls, but we quickly found out it was not really a hike. A very short trail took us to the bottom of the falls with a steel structure stairway. The falls are kind of obstructed from a full frontal view, mostly encased in rock face with just a portion visible from the viewing areas. And the whole area is pretty much a very large slot canyon. But it was still spectacular to see and very loud in that “echo”-friendly canyon. A steep side trail takes you up to a bridge above, crossing the canyon but unable to see the actual falls. It does give a view of Cañon Creek, the source for the falls. There are also some great overviews of the town of Ouray and surrounding mountains.
Welcome to Box CañonDowntown OurayLooking up at the bridge across the canyonYou can see the tiny sliver of waterfall as it drops, encased in the rock faceJeanne had “the Heebie-Jeebies”…About as much of a close-up as I could get.Kinda looks like prison stairs, eh?Some of the old mining equipment is still there.I feel a headache a-comin’!Looking down on top of the mining equipment.
Well, I’m trying to keep my posts a little more up-to-date and short, so that catches us up for now. Our next stop is going to be Colorado City, near Pueblo, as we wind our way towards Texas. Until next post…
Just to prove my total technological incompetence, you will be getting notifications (I presume) on quite a few back dated blog posts. When I switched from Blogger to Bluehost for my hosting, I was unable to bring my earlier posts over due to incompatibility between the two hosts. I am now starting the arduous process of copying those posts back into Bluehost. I figured out how to get them inserted in chronological order, but realized you all will be getting e-mails about posts from our earlier years on the road. Sorry for the confusion. My intent is to try to capture our entire full-time lifestyle on one medium. We’ll see how long I can hold out…
The Elk’s Lodge in Grand Junction was our next landing spot. The lodge itself is an old historical type building with a very cool lodge meeting room. They had electrical hookups in the parking lot for a few RV’s, but otherwise it was a dry RV spot.
Welcome to the Colorado Springs Elk’s LodgeOur home at the Elk’s LodgeA cool meeting room at the Lodge.
We found the Grand Mesa National Scenic Byway just outside of town, so the roadtrip was on. We got some scenic views of the valley floor as well as a curious Bambi who stared us down while I took pictures. The loop was about 63 miles in length.
God’s countryCool rock formationsViews from the topBambi watching usMore views from the topI think this lake was named Island Lake. I wonder why…
A walk down Main St. (just around the corner from the Elk’s Lodge) showed off some of the local art work scattered along the street. We also noted this area of Grand Junction, besides being near the police station, was home to numerous homeless folks. Not a great selling point for any possibility of landing here when we retire the full-time life.
A couple of days and it was onward and upward, more like eastbound and down, to the town of Glenwood Springs and our stay at Glenwood Canyon Resort. This was a very nice RV resort right on the Colorado River in a tight little canyon with great mountain views and a whitewater rafting business run right out the back of the resort.
Our home at Glenwood Canyon ResortRafters behind the resortLooking over some of the cabinsThis is a view from some of the tent sites at the resort. Willy Wonka’s chocolate river is actually the Colorado River after heavy rains.Some of the cabins are right on the riverDefiance Rafting Co.The clubhouse on the riverThe bicycle path along the riverMore of the cabins
Jeanne found the Hanging Lake Trail in her list of things to do. The trail requires a $12 permit per person to hike to the lake and they regulate how many hikers are on the trail at any time, a preservation effort by local government. We hit the trail bright and early one day with very little hiker congestion. The trail, a little over a mile to the lake, gains a lung-busting 1,100 feet in elevation, going straight up the mountain. Once we got to the top, we found the beautiful lake and a side trail further up the mountain to another waterfall with a feature called the Spouting Rock. Spouting Rock was directly below the waterfall and is a large volume of water spurting out of the rock creating a secondary waterfall. We relaxed in the serenity, had some snacks and recharged our batteries (so to speak), then enjoyed the all-down-hill return hike to the Jeep.
On another day we fired up the bicycles and headed out on the bike trail that runs next to the RV park. It follows the river east to the Hanging Lake Trail area and west into Glenwood Springs. Again, we enjoyed some scenic views in both directions, then I had a little “run-in” with a local chain link fence. It bit me pretty good and unbeknownst to me I lost my cell phone in the confrontation. But the good people of Colorado, at least one good samaritan, saved me by turning it in to the front desk of the Spa of the Rockies, a large mineral springs resort for which the aforementioned chain link fence was providing security.
We found another short adventure in downtown Glenwood Springs, the trail to Doc Holliday’s grave. It was a very short walk up the hill to the old Linwood Cemetery and the adjacent Potter’s Field (a cemetery for indigent and unknown folks commonly known as a pauper’s graveyard.) Besides Doc Holliday’s “gravesite”, Kid Curry was also buried, in the Potter’s Field. Kid Curry was associated with Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid & their Wild Bunch. And I say Doc Holliday’s “gravesite” because they are not all that sure where, exactly, he IS buried within the cemetery.
A few days in Glenwood Springs and it was off we went. Our next stop…(?)
Well, it was time to do a roundabout aim towards Max’s rendezvous with Gus in Lost Wages, NV. We chose to complete a type of lazy circle which would take us into Idaho to dump some stuff off at our storage. First stop was a couple of nights at the Arco KOA. We tried to take Max to The Craters of the Moon Nat’l Monument, but he quickly showed LESS than no interest in viewing that unique piece of real estate and exploring some of the caves, so we aborted that mission just after we got there.
The Arco KOA play areaMore of Arco KOAThey even had a cabin at the Arco KOAOur home at Arco KOA
Mountain Home RV Resort in Mountain Home was good for a couple of nights during the 4th of July, we lucked into a spot. We used this as our base to do a day trip into Star, ID so we could load more stuff into our storage unit. No sightseeing in Mountain Home, but I did take the time to give Rosie a bath and shine her up.
What a shiny beast!
It was straight south to our next stop in Elko, NV. I gave everyone on board of Rosie an in-depth 4-letter word vocabulary lesson while on the drive to Elko. We just happened to run into the biggest swarm of Mormon Crickets I had ever seen. Mormon Crickets are not God’s smartest creatures, they tend to stay on the ground and go airborn very little. The swarm was so thick that all the vehicular traffic squished a nice thick layer of cricket guts all over the highway, creating a very slick surface. And just like water, when you drive over the “cricket slush” you spray behind the wheels. Just what I needed after giving Rosie the painstaking hand washing that I did in Mountain Home. “@&$%#@&*!” We stayed at a previous stop for us, the Double Dice RV Park. I’ve been on the lookout for somewhere to go out and do some shooting and sight in my new AR-15 and I was going to introduce Max to some handgun shooting with my little .38 S&W. However, Max again showed no interest in shooting a real gun, but we found the next best thing…an airsoft pistol at the local farm equipment & westernwear shop. Then, while picking up another box of 5.56 ammo, the guy at the counter pointed me to the local public shooting range just outside of town. We loaded up (OK, pun intended, I can’t help myself sometimes) and drove to the range where Max got to blast away with his airsoft and I got to sight in my rifle. He also got some airsoft time at the back of our RV park, he sure enjoyed it.
The road was VERY slick!I shoulda used this guy for a target…Shoot ’em up!A very nice range. This is just one very small section.Sighting your rifle in is a lot more effective if you are not as blind as a bat!“Go ahead. Make my day!”Dead Eye MaxI hate Mormons (crickets, that is…)
Elko in our rearview mirrors, we continued south to our next rest stop, a couple days at the Ely Valley View RV Park (kinda a dump). Ely is just a speck in the desert with nothing to do but go for ice cream.
Our home at Ely Valley View RV ParkKinda dumpy…Some of the permanent residents.
After sufficient rest it was off to the Sam’s Town KOA in Lost Wages to await Gus’s flight into Vegas in a few days. Being Vegas, in mid July, we were treated to lovely triple digit temps 24-hours a day, WHEWWWW! When we weren’t in the pool, we spent our days walking through the air-conditioned casino compounds and letting Max play in the arcades. The one sightseeing outing we did do was to take Max to Hoover Dam & Lake Mead. That poor lake is diminishing quickly!
Well, again, all good things must come to an end. We picked Gus up at the airport and delivered he & Max to their motel next to the Raiders stadium where they were to attend a soccer game the next day. Max seemed happy to be back with his dad. We said our tearful goodbyes and headed back to our own reality.
The following 2 nights we stayed at the No. Las Vegas Cummins center getting my yearly maintenance service on Rosie. Then it was westbound back to the viper’s nest—Kalifornia. We did get a pleasant opportunity to spend a day with Hailey & Ellie, swimming at the Vines RV Resort. Then it was date night at Cane Tiki Room in Paso Robles where we relaxed with a couple of tropical adult beverages that I have to say were WAY WAY WAY WAY overpriced! $20 for one drink is highway robbery! But we still had fun…
Swimmin’!“I can’t see!”“These goggles really help!”Inside the Cane Tiki Bar
Our final loop through Kalifornia took us to the Flag City RV Resort in Lodi for a few days, then back into Sonoma County and our stay at the Petaluma Elk’s Lodge for our medical appointments. I had a follow-up upper endoscopy so the GI Doc could see if the damage remained. We were more than a little disappointed in that neither of our children ever called us and asked how everything went and in fact, that was the second time in a row we were in Petaluma and not even the smallest of effort was made by our only daughter to try to see us. But I can say my scope went well, no damage, onward and upward, saddened but hey, life goes on.
Winnemucca, NV was our next stop off, at the “lovely” Model-T Casino and RV Park. I say that facetiously, Winnemucca is another speck in the desert and the Model-T is a dump. Continuing eastbound, W. Wendover Nugget Casino/Hotel/RV Park was good for a couple of days. We hit most of the big casinos in the area, pretty much breaking even, then took a walk down to the historic Wendover Army Air Base. You can look out into the desert and see some of the buildings & bunkers that were instrumental in the development of the nukes used on Japan in WWII.
The Provo (UT) Elk’s Lodge was our next stop. This time we spent 2 weeks in their lot, FHU’s for (5) total sites. Provo Elk’s has a very nice building and lounge compared to many we have been to. We settled in for a relaxing stay, checking out Provo, Orem, Springville, and Spanish Fork. We took full advantage of Costco, Trader Joe’s, the many Walmarts, and several malls. We even got the opportunity to hit a movie theater, something we have not done in numerous years. We saw “Top Gun Maverick” and it was actually a very good film.
Welcome to the Provo Elk’s Lodge
BYU has a large white “Y” on the side of the mountain above the school, with a pretty steep trail that covers a little over a mile to the top of the “Y”. Again, we loaded up (sans Woodrow Wilson) and headed up the trail bright and EARLY one morning. We were sucking wind pretty good, my pulse soared to around 150 BPM at one point, but we made it! The views were well worth the effort.
One fine day we broke out the bicycles and wanted to head out on the Provo River Trail that wanders through downtown and out to Utah Lake in one direction, into town and finding its way out to Bridal Veil Falls & Vivian Park. We quickly found the path out to the lake was closed with construction in some parts, so we headed out to Bridal Veil Falls & Vivian Park to the tune of about 15 miles of biking.
Mt. Timpanogos off the Alpine Loop up by Robert Redford’s Sundance Resort contains a large system of trails leading to the top, about 17 miles worth. That being a little bit too aggressive for us, we chose a couple of the lesser hikes. One day we set out on the Stewart’s Cascade Trail, about 2 miles one way, which culminated at Stewart’s Falls. It was a steady moderate ascent and again we got some pretty spectacular views. I was also reminded why I should have worn long pants while hiking the hills…stinging nettles! I got out with minimal damage. The second day we took the other fork of the Timpanogos Trail to Timpanogos Falls (both upper and lower). Beautiful views everywhere and we managed to run into a family of moose right on the trail. In fact, momma moose and daddy moose kinda pinned us down on the trail (baby moose was in the brush nearby) for about a 5 minute period, both of them about 30 feet from us, one up trail and one down trail. But they eventually disappeared into the brush so we could get by. This one was almost 3 miles round trip.
Our stay in Provo was certainly a step up more enjoyable, weather-wise, than the triple digits of Las Vegas. We got some sporadic rain but temps did not reach 3 digit. Our 2-week stay finished, it was off toward Colorado where decisions on locations are on a day to day basis. So, our first stop was…Until next post.
Out of Provo it was northbound for a couple of nights stopover at the Idaho Falls Elk’s Lodge. I had some toilet repairs to complete and they had a Camping World (yuk!) store with my parts in stock. We spent one day showing Max the town’s namesake Idaho Falls which are smack dab in the middle of downtown. Coincidentally, the Snow Eagle Brewing & Grill was right across the street from the falls. We gave Max another shot at a brew pub meal, of which he availed himself another of his newfound favorites, bacon cheeseburger (plain). We tried to talk Max into a walk along the falls path/trail, but he was having none of that. Oh well…
Mr. Pool Shark demonstrates his world-famous “no-look” shot at the Elk’s Lodge…Max schooling Oma on the grueling sport of ping-pongMax mugs in front of Idaho FallsIdaho Falls
Ryder Park Lake is a small fishing “lake” (more like pond) in town and Max wanted to try his hand once again. We spent about 3 hours at the lake fighting some healthy winds, but alas, it was not to be. It settled our disappointment to later find out from locals that catching fish in that particular lake is about as productive as sighting a Sasquatch.
Max, the fisherman…“Yeah, I got this!”He started out on 2 feet……then moved to a seated position……then, “Hey Max, wake up!”Fishin’ off the boardwalkLots of these guys around……a whole lot when there’s food involved!
From Idaho Falls it was onward to our base camp stay for Yellowstone N.P. We lucked out, sorta. Originally we were to stay at the Livingston KOA north of the north entrance to YNP. But severe storms and snow melt at the beginning of June caused catastrophic damage to Hwy. 89 into Gardiner and the north entrance, as well as cutting off Gardiner from the world. Initial thoughts were that the north entrance into YNP, as well as the entire northern “loop” (Mammoth Springs, Lamarr Valley, Tower Falls et al.) would not be able to be repaired for opening to the public for the rest of the season. However, word being spread is they may be able to save some of the season with timely repairs, it is always best to call them or check the nps.gov website for current conditions and closures. In the meantime, the west, south, and east entrances are open to the public and the entire lower loop is available for use. Due to the severe partial closure, the park has initiated an even/odd system by license plate numbers for even/odd day access to YNP.
Needless to say, we cancelled Livingston and found space at the W. Yellowstone KOA. Outrageously expensive, but a good base for the park and surrounding sights. This was a great family campground with lots of things for the kiddies to stay occupied and had a very nice indoor swimming pool. It also sports a good sized office/camp store with a fudge shop, a small restaurant with outdoor tables, a coffee & snacks shack, clean laundry, and propane for sale. The knock I have to say is the pull through sites are skinny and between thick pine trees with tight turns to get into them. And with all the kids at the park, the bathrooms absolutely need more regular visitation by janitorial staff.
We made (3) every-other-day trips into YNP, one of which we drove through to Grand Tetons National Park, all in a quest for Max to see the wild critters. We did manage to stop off at some of the scenic features; Old Faithful Geyser, Grand Prismatic Springs, Fountain Paint Pot Trail, Dragon’s Breath Spring, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Lewis Falls, Gibbon Falls, the Grand Tetons viewing, just to name a few. Spectacular viewing they all may be, but Max’s highlight was seeing a couple of bull elk, a mama bear with her (2) cubs, a couple of coyotes, a boatload of bison, a bighorn sheep, and the one non-highlight where Max slept through seeing a golden eagle while on a road trip. Max did get to make good use of the pool on our non-YNP days, and got to meander through the many shops in W. Yellowstone.
We finished our visit to YNP and decided to meander over to…well, you’ll just have to stay tuned, until next post…
Inching closer toward Yellowstone, we did a week’s stop at the Springville/Provo KOA, a prior stop of ours. Even though it is excruciatingly overpriced, it is in a good location for sights of the area and has a nice set up to keep the young’uns entertained. The temperatures for the whole stay were quite moderate compared to where we just left. The RV park itself was not busy at all, so the pool was very available without having to fight the crowds, and we all know how much Max LOVES those swimming pools… We never checked out the clubhouse before, but this time we did and found they have a very nice setup. There is a large full kitchen area, presumably for guests to host family meals; the (2) billiard tables are in good shape; there is (1) shuffleboard table also in good shape; TV’s throughout the large space and at least one had access to Amazon Prime; and a few arcade quality games including (2) mini-bowling lanes. The big bummer was the absolute terrible wifi at our site. (Inside the clubhouse seemed to be OK, I’ll know if I succeed in importing my photos to this blog post in a timely manner.)
Billiards or shuffleboard?OK, billiards it is…The arcadeInside the clubhouseMax the bowler, in the arcade.
Since Max got his first taste for fishing at the last stop without catching a fish, Jeanne found the Spring Lake Trout Farm in Payson just south of Springville. We took Max to the farm and holy moly he caught his first fish! And his second fish! And his third fish! And his fourth fish! We had to pull the plug on that fun in a hurry, they charge $8.50 per pound for the experience and at Max’s rate he was going to put us in the poor house quickly! The fish were all Rainbow’s and just under a pound each. The farm actually cleans/fillets your catch for you, so Max got some nice fillets to freeze and take home to enjoy a fish feed with his dad.
Spring Lake Trout FarmAnother view, looking at the second pond up above.Max reeling in his first whopper!“Yeah, baby. It’s a Rainbow!”
We took Max to check out the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo. That campus is HUGE! We walked a small area, checking out the Wilkinson Student’s Center, the BYU Duck Pond, the Bean Life Science Museum, and finished it off with a run on the BYU Creamery for some ice cream fun. The Bean Museum was an interesting collection of stuffed critters from around the world.
They take their ice cream seriously here at BYU!Max checking out the critters“Bear” with us, Max…(hardee har har!)Kinda wierd having a display for the evolution of man at a seriously religious institution like this.Max at the BYU Duck PondMax & Oma practicing some stair climbi
We decided to take Max out for his usual – cheeseburger – and chose the Strap Tank Brewery & Restaurant. It is part of a unique compound of shops owned/ran by Legends Motorcycle Co. Many of the businesses are inside stacked shipping containers converted to inhabitable businesses. We walked around the compound checking out the unique shops and I was surprised it held Max’s attention, he actually seemed to enjoy it.
Welcome to Legends MotorcyclesWelcome to Strap Tank Brewery & RestaurantInside Strap TankMax and Opa having a couple of cold ones. OK all you libtards out there, don’t get your panties in a twist. Max was having a “beer” of the root variety!Max’s first taste of onion rings!Shops made out of shipping containersThe shops at LegendsKnick-knacks galore!All kinds of antique “stuff”They tout 120 classic bikes throughout the museumHe wants your money!Max enjoyed it!Inside the Legends museum
Max got a viewing of the Bridal Veil Falls outside of Provo. It was his kind of waterfalls; not a lot of walking involved (you park right at the falls) and he got to wade in the small pool at the base. The Provo River runs right along the mountain and has an asphalt bike/hike trail that takes you to Vivian Park, about a 2 mile trail, one-way. We tried to get Max to finish it, but he ran out of gas about a mile into it. Oh well…
Jeanne found another hike in the area, a mile and a half shorty, that took us to Battle Creek Falls. We loaded up with Max and headed out to the trail on Father’s Day. The hike was moderately easy and Max had ample opportunity to go off trail and play in the creek and tree stands along the way. We got to the falls and were able to enjoy the views from the bottom as well as the top. Max enjoyed himself on this one…
Some of that ugly scenery along the trail at Battle Creek FallsIndiana MaxMax playing in the creekOma & Max tromping up the trailThe top of Battle Creek FallsMax doing his best Randy Orton (for you WWE fans)…Max & Oma crossing bridges together.“Max, don’t you be falling, Opa don’t do rescues any more!”A look at Battle Creek Falls from up highMax at the top of the fallsLooking up at the fallsMax at the bottom of the fallsYou never know who you will meet on the trail…
The Alpine Scenic Loop is just north of Provo, in the mountains where you will find the Sundance Mountain Resort, an enterprise established by THE Robert Redford. We wanted to drive the loop so we did. We were certainly treated to some spectacular views, and actually got a dusting of snow on us as we drove (imagine that, near the end of June of all times!). We also happened upon a couple of turnouts where mountain climbing aficionados practice their art over the American Fork River (not a real wide river, but still had some turbulence to the flow). At the first turnout we stopped and found a large tree trunk fallen across the river with a rope stretched between trees to use as a hand-hold to cross the river on the downed tree. We played on the “tree bridge” for a short while, then continued down the road until the second turnout. There we found another similarly setup “tree bridge” with accompanying hand-hold rope. I promptly got up and crossed that tree. However, I had noticed the rope was not stretched as taut as the last one but decided to continue across anyway. Bonehead move. As I neared the other side, I turned to take a photo downriver and found myself starting to keel over the side. Death grip on the rope, it sagged down with me but still allowed me to “go swimming” (unintentionally of course) and tear some skin off my knee and shin in the waste-high water and rocks. That will be on Max’s highlight reel for years to come I’m afraid. He’s still giggling about it…
Timpanogos Cave National Monument is also located along the Alpine Scenic Loop. It boasts a “short” mile and a half hike to the caves where you can enjoy guided tours that you purchase on-line. We again loaded Max up and headed out on another day of mild temperatures. The trail is asphalt/paved all the way up, and I DO MEAN “UP”! It is over 1,000’ elevation gain for the 1 1/2 mile hike! We made it, a huffin’ and a puffin’, then enjoyed a nice, cool tour inside the mountain (temperatures inside can get into the 40’s). The saving grace for us was that the return trip down the mountain was actually DOWN the mountain! Talk about screaming quads & hams!
That about catches us up for now. Until next post…
Well, OK, that is Hurricane, Utah. We based ourselves at the Hurricane/St. George KOA for a week. It just so happened the area was experiencing an unusual heat wave, many days well into triple digits, oh boy! But that did not stop us, first order of business was a morning run into Zion National Park. Max led us on a hike to the Lower Emerald Pool and a part way hike to the Middle Emerald Pool, but trooper that he was he ran out of gas near the top. It was only about 2 miles of hiking, mostly a concrete path, but there was some uphill effort and, hey, 10 year olds tend to easily run out of gas. On our shuttle ride back down to the visitor’s center we did stop off at the Court of the Patriarchs for a scenic view of that mountain formation.
Our home at the KOAThe Hurricane/St. George KOA has nice views of the Red CliffsLooking at the mountains across from the KOAThe ruins of an historical home at the KOAAnd dawn begins a new day of adventure at Zion NPMax ready to do battle with the trails…Max & Oma checking out a hole in the treeThe Virgin River at Zion NPOma takes a break…Max wanting to do a little rock scrambling…One of the few critters at the park…A little “stinker”taking aim…Max at the Virgin RiverThe Lower Emerald Pool waterfall was pretty much non-existentThe Court of the PatriarchsMax & Oma hiking the short trail to the viewing point
The KOA happens to be a mere “stones throw” from Quail Creek State Park and the small lake there. Jeanne has been wanting to try SUP (stand up paddleboarding) for a while, and they just happen to rent such toys at the park. We conned, er, talked Max into trying it as well and we had a fun day on a busy, somewhat choppy lake.
Max also wanted to try his hand at fishing. After an outfitting run to the local Walmart, Max hit the same lake for a couple of days in search of the big one that didn’t get away. Unfortunately, he got a couple of bites only, and that big one did in fact get away.
We really wanted to do a road trip to Bryce Canyon National Park for Max, but it would have been a 2 hour drive one-way and we decided that was too long to be able to maintain Max’s interest. We opted instead for a shorter road trip back into Zion NP for a run through the Zion/Mt. Carmel tunnel and some more scenery viewing. The tunnel is 1.1 miles cut into the mountain with several “windows” cut into the side for the only light provided (not considering the vehicle headlights). Max’s interest in checking out scenery, being dubious at best, I think his highlight from this outing was our raid on Taco Bell on our way back to the KOA.
Jeanne the 4-wheeling Queen learned of a local waterfall, Toquerville Falls, that is accessed via a relatively short (5.2 miles) ATV trail. Woodrow Wilson having been cooped up in his dog pen most days, we decided to load him & Max up for a little off-road adventure. The sign at the start of Spring Dr. just outside of Toquerville advises 4WD is recommended and by golly, THEY MEAN IT! The “road” was what I would call a medium level Jeep trail and Max definitely got an E-ticket ride for his first Jeep trail experience! Jeanne read somewhere that airing down was advised and, in hindsight, although I do agree with that advice, airing down is such a pain in the neck that I chose not to. There were a couple of pretty dicey spots in the road, one of which Jeanne actually ceded her pilot duties to me! The pay-off was well worth it, Toquerville Falls was a very nice set of waterfalls along La Verkin Creek. (Editor’s note: Unfortunately, this WordPress/Bluehost blog collaborative system continues to show it’s user-unfriendly qualities in that inserting media does not mix well with the Apple iCloud storage system for photos. I am unable to insert some of the more spectacular pix, yet again. This would be the main reason I am retiring from this blog world at the conclusion of this roadtrip with Max. I will continue to post photos on my Instagram account for as long as the censor czars will allow me to have that account – @two4trippin .)
Well, we’re getting ready for jacks-up. Our plans changed yet once more now that Yellowstone National Park is being pummeled by torrential rains/floods/rockslides/road cave-ins. Our original plans were to attack from the northern entrance, but that is the hardest hit area and may not reopen this summer. We have to play things by ear and plan on-the-fly, so stay tuned for more road-trip-fun with Max. Until next post…
Just before we made our exit from Prescott, AZ, Jeanne & I ventured back out for a hike on the Constellation Trails. On our previous hike of the trails we kept to the interior trails. This time we chose to do the outer loop which is a little more than 2 miles and includes the Ranch Road Shortcut, the Rock Wall Trail, the Lost Wall Trail, and the North 40 Trail. The hike was moderate, only about a 200’ elevation change, minimal rock scrambling (you can add all the scrambling you want, in and amongst all the granite rock piles and formations), and very scenic but the only critters we encountered were the lizards.
Once we went jacks-up, it was “westward ho!” We did a couple of one-nighters at the Needles Elk’s Lodge and the Pilot truck stop in Tehachapi, then a two-nighter at the Merced Elk’s Lodge, and hit our destination of the Petaluma Elk’s Lodge as our base for doing our medical chores. Several days later, those chores done, we snagged Max for his summer adventure. We had him for a couple of days in Petaluma, then raced on out of Kalifornia, eastbound & down, to the Boomtown KOA on the NV-CA border. We did a 3-night stay for the weekend, Max & I making good use of the pool & hot tub. That hot tub turned out to be a real perk at the end of one particular day. Jeanne found a waterfall hike for Max to take us on, after a pre-requisite visit to the Cabela’s store for some hiking gear, of course. The Hunter Creek Trail leads to Hunter Creek Falls and is a very popular hiking trail for the locals. It turned out to be a 7 mile, round trip hike (out and back, not circular), with a 1,300’ elevation gain, no rock scrambling for the most part, with just a couple of short sections of very loose shale. To get to the best viewing area you must navigate some downed trees/limbs in the creek, and that could be problematic for those with balance issues or limited tread shoes. But if all else fails, the creek is only about knee deep at the deepest, there are plenty of spots where it looks ankle high. The views along the hike, as well as the waterfall, made it well worth the effort. While at the KOA we just HAD to walk on over to the Boomtown Casino where they have an arcade room for the kids. Max got his fill of arcade fun and we topped it off with his favorite meal (“cheeseburger, plain”) at the Mel’s diner.
This mama was our neighbor at the Merced Elk’s LodgeMax at Shollenberger Park, Petaluma, CAYeah, low tide STINKS!The adventure beginsYay! We made it to the Boomtown KOA!Max heading over to the casino for a little arcade time…Max & Oma prepare for the Hunter Creek Trail hike…Off we go…Max was always on the lookout for caves…Rest break with Oma!Max liked the waterfallGood thing max brought his good hiking shoes for thisThere were lots of mini waterfalls along the creek.Are we there yet!?
Boomtown in our rear-view, it was southbound toward Pahrump, NV. We wanted to show Max the “boondocking life”, so we did a one-nighter along Walker Lake at the Sportsman’s Beach Campground. We have stayed here a couple of times before and it is a popular stop over for many in the full-time RV lifestyle but we have never found it crowded (OK, usually there is nobody anywhere in our line of sight). We spent the day walking down to the water’s edge, chasing lizards. And too bad for Max that he does not wake up for Woody’s 2:30 a.m. toilet run, at that time I got a pretty spectacular night sky view including the Milky Way! After all, we were in an area of Dark Sky Parks (getting awful close to Death Valley).
Our campsite guard lizard at Walker LakeNow that is what I call a tough view…The water was like a mirror…
Moving along it was off to a couple nights stay at the Pair-a-Dice SKP RV park in the happening hamlet of Pahrump, NV. This was basically a rest stop along our route, with time enough to get laundry chores done and enjoy the triple digit heat. That is a wrap for now, consider yourself up-to-date. Until next post…
