Don and Kathy On The Road Again .......

This is the final post for our July 2010 trip.

All of the July 2010 postings on this blog are related to this trip.

Over the winter Kathy and I talked about the vacation we wanted to take this summer. Over the last several years we have always made at least one trip out to the western states so that was our choice this time also. We wanted to take a little more time in some of the places we had visited already and to also spend some time in some states where we have previously visited but had to pass due to time. But this trip was going to be a little different, we wanted to take an extended vacation of 3 to 5 weeks and not have to rush from place to place.

Starting Out

To begin this trip on a somewhat somber note was this. Kathy and I had packed the RV and trailer the week prior to leaving so we would not have any last minute details to be concerned about. On Sunday before leaving we went to get the RV out of the barn and I planned to get the trailer hooked up so we could leave early the next day. The RV decided not to cooperate with this trip and both starting batteries were completely dead. All of the years owning this coach, the batteries have always worked so we decided to leave on schedule and get them replaced on the road. We later had these replaced in Amarillo Texas.

The first 100 miles of this 6000 mile trip did not go as planned either. As we were pulling Black Mountain this side of Asheville, the RV had a slight overheating problem which was again a minor inconvenience. I learned later that the radiators in a diesel pusher needed to be removed every 4 to 5 years and cleaned. Needless to say I was unaware of this (neither was my local diesel mechanic) so in the 8 years of owning this coach it had never been cleaned. We had a temporary fix performed by a mechanic when we reached Utah. So this is how this story started, a little on shaky ground but nothing we couldn't deal with as it occurred.

Our first stop was in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was a private campsite that was very nice and had acres for the dogs to run around in and sniff. We met some of the locals there and found out that most of them lived there full time and they were in the process of holding official elections for the campground. We wished them all good luck with their campaigning for the upcoming races.

The second night we stayed in Checotah Oklahoma. This is the home town of Carrie Underwood (we didn't see her by the way). The site was real nice and it bordered Lake Eufaula. This is the largest lake in Oklahoma and the 11th largest in the country. We didn't get a lot of time to check this lake out but may be another trip and another story.

Our third day out we arrived in Amarillo Texas.

Amarillo Texas

The first place we wanted to visit was Amarillo Texas. We have visited here before but this time we would stay a little longer and take some additional relaxing time. While we were there, we experienced 7 inches of rain (which was a record rainfall) and an all day rain the next day which we just relaxed and enjoyed. During this day of relaxation we contacted George Sr. and George Jr's Mobile RV Service and they came out and replaced the starting batteries so that fixed that problem. The Big Texan Steakhouse is right down the road and they will pick you up in a limo for a free ride to the restaurant. We could not pass this up so we called and they picked us up for our dinner. While we were there we witnessed a young man's attempt to eat the 72 oz steak. He was not successful in his attempt and when his time was up they fixed 4 large doggies plate for him to carry home. He didn't look like he would be able to eat the leftovers for a few days. Amarillo also boasts it's own State Park called Palo Duro Canyon. The record rainfall closed some of the access roads and stranded a few campers but we visited the park anyway. The scenery was as magnificent as usual and it was interesting watching some of the park visitors letting their children play in the 2 feet deep mud that had washed across the road in places. We also met a local author that has written several books about life in and around the canyon. I bought his first edition and look forward to reading the remainder ones. Later in our campsite we met a country western singer and his family that gave us some CD's of his music and also a lady who lived there with her husband that worked in a government nuclear facility a few miles out of town.

Williams / Flagstaff Arizona

Our next stop was going to be Williams, Arizona where we were meeting our friends TJ and Phyllis who had just moved to Phoenix from Kernersville. Williams is a small western town about 20 miles west of Flagstaff. When we arrived in Williams the temperature was in the 70's which made it real nice since we left the 90's on the east coast. TJ and Phyllis were waiting for us at the campsite already and it was good to see them again.

The next day we loaded up and drove to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon about 4o mile to the north. The Grand Canyon is something to behold as you drive up on rolling hills and all of a sudden you see this magnificent canyon through the trees. Your first instinct is to just park beside the road and just gawk at it. We drove around the rim, hiked a little ways down Kanab trail so we could say we hiked. TJ and Phyllis are big hikers so they led the way but we didn't hike much because it was very hot and we had so much to do that time was precious. We also hiked around the rim on a trail under construction which was cool because we had it all to ourselves. We spent almost all day there and seen a lot of scenery and just awed at the canyon. Later that evening we went to downtown Williams and witnessed a real live play acting gun fight in the middle of the street as we had dinner at Cruisers Route 66 Cafe.

Sedona Arizona

The next day we left for Sedona which was about 30 miles south of Flagstaff. We stopped at Grand Canyon Harley Davidson for my one T-shirt of this trip which was located on Old Route 66. Right down the road on 66 was the Pine Breeze Inn. This was the motel in the opening scene of the movie Easy Rider. W we had to stop there for a photo moment. Later as we approached Sedona from the north we were amazed about the landscape being rolling hills and pine forests. It had the appearance of being in North Carolina. But as we approached the outskirts of Sedona, the rolling hills stopped and we just fell into this deep canyon with mountains all around. The scenery was spectacular as we went through Sedona Valley surrounded by all of these rock mountains. We went through town and picked out a hiking trail and decided to hike a little ways. There were some hikers that were finishing up one of the 3 mile trails as we got there and we stopped to talk to them. It was about lunchtime and they had been on this 3 mile trail since 7 that morning. Needless to say we did not hike that short trail. The elevation here was about 3000 feet below Flagstaff and it was hot, very hot. It made hiking a little unpleasant so we cut the trail a little short and headed back to Williams. Our last night there we just hung out at the campsite and told war stories.

Ride to Bryce Canyon

The next day they headed back south to Phoenix and we turned north up US 89 through the Painted Desert to southern Utah. This desert leaving Flagstaff started like any other desert, just flat with the road snaking through the painted hills. These hills have many different colors and with the sun rising up over the hills, it gave them a shade of many colors that change as the sun gets higher, thus the name Painted Desert. Once we left the desert, we proceeded to cross mountains that were very steep and the RV struggled to climb. I kept thinking maybe the next mountain would be our last but it seemed that you would pull one hill slow and then fly down the other side just to climb another one. As we topped one of the mountains there was a scenic pull-off we stopped at and Kathy made a trade with one of the many local Indian woman flea markets tables. They would set their tables beside the road and sell their wares and things that they made. No made in China items were for sale here, only hand made by the person at the table. What a neat and uncomplicated way for these people to make a living.

Bryce Canyon

We arrived in Bryce Canyon, Utah that day and spent the remainder of the day just resetting up camp and unloading the trailer. There was a large service center located there so I made an appointment to have the RV serviced. This is where I learned that the heating / radiator problem was just a preventive maintenance issue I had neglected for several years. They cleaned it to the best of their ability but informed me when I arrived back home to have it removed and serviced completely. Their work allowed us to complete our trip and get the RV back home safely.

We would have 5 days here so we decided to start the next day with a bike ride around the surrounding country just to get a feel for the area. The day started with a quick ride into Panguitch to pick up a few needed supplies and then we headed north to the town of Circleville. This was the boyhood home of the notorious outlaw Butch Cassidy. We learned this was not his real name, his name being Leroy Parker, but an alias he took from his outlaw mentor named Mike Cassidy. His first name was one he picked up from working in a butcher shop when he was younger. He took this alias name to protect his family from all of the notoriety that he bestowed on them from his robbing ways. After passing through this part of Utah it was not hard to understand why Butch may want to leave and take up this trade. It is a very secluded country even today and I can't imagine what it was like 100 years ago. After visiting there we turned back east and went through a range of mountains and canyons called the Black Canyons. These canyons were called this because they were black or darkest in color. It was not a hard name to come up with when you see them. We knew this road would eventually take us back towards Bryce and it dumped us out right at our campsite. We stopped in to check on the dogs, and have lunch with a short break.

Later that day we rode east to Tropic and Cannonville through the Red Canyon and stopped at a waterfall and took a short hike to reach the falls. Our hiking was very short because the heat by this time had reached about 110 degrees. This hike was not too bad though due to the fact a lot of the trail was in the shade. When the temperatures are this hot, shade has a whole new meaning. We left there with the town of Escalante as a destination. On the way there we stumbled upon a small State Park named Kodachrome which was named because it was like looking at a picture of landscapes. Some geologists named it back in the late 40's on a government expedition. We stopped at the entrance ranger station and the ranger who worked there invited us in for some much needed shade and offered us a cool glass of lemonade which we accepted with grace. We talked to him a long time and we were glad to meet a government official that actually was very nice and was doing a good job. He told us we needed to at least visit the remainder of the park while we were there so we made the short tour and decided to head back home. On the way home we stopped in a little town named Henrieville. At one of those scenic markers we read where a man lived in this town and were suppose to be a good friend of Butch Cassidy's. Rumor has it that years after Butch and the Sundance Kid was killed in Bolivia that Butch was spotted having dinner at his house by the local residents. Just goes to show that all of these famous outlaws never seemed to die.

Bryce Canyon National Park

On the following day we visited Bryce Canyon National Park. Most people have probably read or seen pictures of this national park at some time. Words and pictures could not describe the beauty of these mountains and canyons. The park is about 18 miles in with one way out so you end up driving about 40 miles with stops every 1/2 mile or so. As you come into the park there are numerous pull offs to park and take the short walk to the edge of these canyons. There is also a 5 mile rim walking trail where you can do some easy hiking and pick up a bus and come back to your car. This is one of the most accessible and easiest parks to view without a lot of work. The canyons are completely full of rocks that seem to be growing out of the ground. The colors of these rocks are many different shades that seem to change as the sun climbs higher in the sky. We spent almost the whole day stopping at every overlook and then came back to the park after dinner to view the sunset. We stopped at Sunset Point and just found a bench and sat there for a few hours watching the sun go down in the canyon. As the sun set the rocks and colors all changed every few minutes so it made it hard to leave. Once it became dark we did saddle up for the cool and refreshing ride back home.

Zion National Park

The next day we planned to visit Zion National Park to the south. We met a real nice couple in the campground that had retired from Harley Davidson in Milwaukee that now lived in central Arizona. He asked us which way we were going to the park and I told him the shortest since it was going to be so hot and we were taking the bike. He informed us that they had been working on the road at and around the park so we might have to change our route there. Since there were only 2 ways to go, we checked the Utah DOT and found the majority of road work was not on the weekend and consisted mainly in the park itself. We figured either way we went, we would then come back the other way so it did not make much difference. So we took off the short way hoping for the best. As we arrived in the park, the park ranger told us to be careful since we were on a bike. She said the main park road was alright but be real careful on the switchbacks. As we entered the park, the mountains seem to rise up out of the ground with vertical sides everywhere. You could almost reach out and touch them as we rode by. This park was a lot different from the last few we had visited because we were at the bottom looking up. You felt like you were a part of the surroundings. To complicate matters a little bit, the DOT was working on the roads almost the entire park. There were even a few stoplights you had to navigate in order to allow traffic to merge. This was the first park I have seen that actually had stoplights in it. There is also a tunnel that it at least a mile long to cross and cut through one of the mountains. After passing through the tunnel we had to navigate down a series of switchbacks that started at the top and worked it's way down to the bottom. It was a very interesting ride on the bike when you started at the top you could actually see your destination at the bottom several thousand feet below. The bike made it a lot easier than most of the long trailers or fifth wheels did as they had a somewhat difficult time. As we finished up this 12 mile road through the park we figured we may as well take the longer way back to Bryce Canyon. We stopped at a local store and asked a few people about what they believed to be the best way back. Our 2 choices would be going north through the mountains or heading south into the desert of Arizona and then heading north. Since the temperature was at 115 degrees we decided we did not want to go into the desert so the mountains were our choice. We did not know at that time that this was a great choice.

So we headed north to Cedar City and into Cedar Mountains. This day was one of the hottest we experienced out west with the thermometer reaching well into 115. As we approached the mountains we turned east to cross Cedar Mountain back to Bryce. Within 30 minutes of pulling this huge mountain we were experiencing temps in the lower 70's. It felt great and we almost stopped to put on jackets. We resisted this urge just because it felt so good. As we topped the mountain we ran across an artist that was painting a landscape picture of the forest. Upon talking to him, he told us he was from this area but had lived in Amarillo Texas for the last 30 years. He said he found a reason to come home as often as possible just to see Cedar Mountain again. I thought it was ironic he now lived in Amarillo a place we really enjoyed stopping. A little further cross the mountain we stopped at Navajo Lake. This lake was formed by an active volcano 1000 years ago and there were evidence of lava fields everywhere. We left there and rode in a little rain back to our campsite in Bryce.

The Ride to Moab

We left Bryce Canyon the next morning and headed north and then east to Moab so we could skirt the mountains for our next stay in Utah. We connected with I-70 for a little easier riding and the scenery on this road was like one of the parks we had visited. I told Kathy the state of Utah should charge admission when you cross the state line for all of the scenery you see. I have mentioned that to a few locals out here and they were not receptive of this idea. Even though the scenery just riding down one of these roads is amazing. It took several hours to reach Moab and we reached there early afternoon.

Arches National Park

The first day in Moab we unloaded the jeep and headed towards Arches National Park. We decided to take the jeep out for these parks in Moab because they are well known for all of the 4 wheeling trails to ride on. As we entered the park you immediately start climbing this very steep road with switchbacks. Kathy had noticed this road when we came into town yesterday and commented about how fun it would be to ride on this road. This road seemed to just climb straight up and run on the ridge of these mountains. As we topped this ridge we were completely surrounded by Arches National Park. Of all the parks we had visited this one seemed to be unique. You were completely in the scenery all of the time and if you did not wish to, you never had to get out of your car to view the rock mountains. This park is about 18 miles in and out with numerous pull-offs with some hiking if you are interested in that sport. The temps were still high so we passed on any long hikes but did take a few shorter ones. We also took some 4 wheeling trails and the jeep was grateful for that.
We spent the majority of the day in this park before going home.

Later that evening we hopped on the bike and went back to view the sunset from inside the park. It was a lot cooler then so the bike ride was nice. As we got about three quarters of the way in the sun was rapidly setting. We just stopped in the middle of the road and dropped the kickstand to snap some pictures. The sun colors on the mountains and canyons started out yellow, then red and then purple. All of this happened within about 5 minutes. These sunsets are so fast as they go behind the mountains you are fortunate to be able to catch one much less see these many different colors. The one thing about Arches National Park I found different than all of the parks we visited on this trip was always no matter where you were, you had a great view.

East Colorado Riverway Canyon Road

A couple we meet in the campsite from Wisconsin told us about a road that ran with the Colorado River north of Moab. It was described as being at the bottom of the Grand Canyon only you are in a car versus river rafting. We could not pass this up so we took this road that ran beside the river. The Colorado River runs just north of town and is a very scenic road to travel with very little traffic. This road starts our winding with the river and there are numerous pull-offs for pictures of the canyon and also a lot of hiking trails. You could spend a lifetime in this part of the world and never hike the many trails that are here. Riding along the bottom of this canyon very much resembled the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It wasn't long before we came across Castle Creek Winery, we stopped to buy a couple of gifts for friends.

We left this road and turned southeast for a little town called Castle Valley. This is a small town at the bottom of the La Sal Mountains which we were beginning to climb. The La Sal Mountains are the mountains we have been viewing from out front yard at our campsite in Moab. The elevation here was about 4,5oo feet and to cross the La Sal's was going to over 12,000 feet so we knew we had a long climb to cross these mountains back to Moab. The road started out a 2 lane blacktop in fairly good shape so we felt like it was going to be alright to drive. As the road started climbing it turned into 1 1/2 lanes and then to 1 lane. The sign said 35 miles to Moab so how difficult could it be. A little later on the road started a steep ascent with a ton of switchbacks but it was still navigatable so we kept on. About 30 to 45 minutes later the road was so steep that I had to put the jeep in low range 4 wheeel drive just to climb and our next sign said 30 miles to Moab. We looked at each other and considered turning around, we knew how far it would be to go back and we didn't have a clue what was ahead. But if we turned around, this would be the end of the story so we proceeded on. After about another hour, we realized we had not seen another soul or house since we started climbing these mountains so worry set in again. Just as we were beginning to panic a little we topped the 12,000 foot peak and there was a turnout with 2 elderly people from Maryland reading books in lounge chairs. We felt a lot better then and as we went down the other side, the sign said Moab 20 miles and we started to get back in civilization. It was a well worth trip and this was scenery we hadn't seen since we arrived here. These mountains were like tropical rain forests. We finally got back to the campsite and then witnessed a big storm pass over these mountains from out front yard with a giant rainbow. I think if we had went back over the La Sal's at this moment we would have found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Dead Horse State Park and Canyonlands National Park

Our next journey was to go to Dead Horse State Park and Canyonlands National Park. They were on the same road and very easy to get to. The sign said 35 miles to Canyonlands, it seems like the last few days everywhere we go is 35 miles. It would be nice if home was only 35 miles away instead of 2400. Our first stop was at Dead horse and as far as state parks go this was probably one of the best. We didn't realize at the time but this park is just a taste of what you see at Canyonlands. It was just like a mini Grand Canyon with cliffs and peaks, all shapes and sizes of rock formations and deep canyons. Dead Horse got it's name from back in the wild west, a group of cowboys had penned or corralled up a bunch of wild mustangs on a point overlooking the Colorado River below. The cowboys picked the horses they wanted and just left the remainder penned up to fend for theirselves. All of the horses died of thirst while looking at the Colorado River 2,000 feet below, therefore the name Dead Horse. As we left there,Canyonlands was just down the road a short distance. On the way there we stopped at a few 4 wheeling trails just because they were there. There is one plus to 4 wheeling on these roads in and around Moab, you basically have the road and scenery to yourself. We very seldom seen anyone else on any of the 4 wheeling trails, but this would not be a good thing if you had mechanical problems. At first arriving into Canyonlands Park, I felt was a little disappointing. There were a few pulloffs but they were a long ways apart. The thoughts going through my mind then was, we've seen so much beautiful scenery over the past few weeks maybe we had seen enough and I was disappointing myself. All of this went away as we ventured further into the park. This park was as near like the Grand Canyon as anything we had seen since the actual Grand Canyon, the only difference was I believe at Grand View Point that it was even wider. We spent a long time there and watched 2 storms brewing out into the canyon that looked like it was heading our way. Below in the bottom of the canyon there were several jeep trails and occasionally you could make out a jeep traveling on them. We decided maybe we need to try some of them tomorrow. Another interesting note was as we stopped at Grand View, there was a 1968 Shelby Mustang taking up a couple of parking places. I found this odd but later on we learned that the car was trailered there just for a photo shoot. The background scenery was perfect for this type of picture but I'm not sure how he reacted to the storms approaching. We headed back the 35 miles to the campsite, never did see any rain this time.

Last Day in Moab - 4 Wheeling Trails

We planned to spend our last day in Moab driving some of the jeep trails we had noticed the day before while visiting Dead Horse and Canyonlands Parks. We loaded up the jeep with a picnic lunch and plenty of water, just in case. The first road we wanted to take was the West Colorado River Scenic Byway just a few miles north of town. As we traveled down this road we ran across a bunch of Indian Petroglyphs on the canyon walls. These writings were probably 30 feet off the ground which made them a little difficult to see. We figured the reason they were so high was because they had to cut the highway flat as it was being built. As we continued on down the road we were headed to a town called Potash. As we got to town, we realized that Potash was not a town but a huge potash factory and also the road ended and turned to gravel and dirt. There was a huge boat landing on the river where all of the rental rafts and river tubing was unloaded. There wasn't any one there as we drove by so we stopped and had our picnic. We left there and rode on the backroad trails for a few hours. It was interesting and fun to be one of those lone jeeps on a trail at the bottom of the canyon we were looking down at yesterday. As usual this road was secluded but we did see one vehicle called a "Tag-a-Long". This was a vehicle that rode some of these trails in case some of their rental jeeps broke. Even though we had our own ride, we figured that if we broke down they may stop and help.

We left this trail and went back to Moab to ride the trail on the other side of the river called Kane Creek Canyon Road. This road was rated as the best off-road trail in Moab to take. As we ventured down it we quickly realized why, this road was in real good shape and it went up and down the mountains and through one canyon after the next. This was some of the best scenery we had seen in the backcountry and it was easy to navigate. Along this road you could spot some of the houses that were built into the sides of the cliffs. It appeared that these were just squatters that had temporarily threw up a place to live. I think the "Homestead Act" is still in effect in some places out here. We finished up our trail riding, headed back home and started loading everything up for the long ride home tomorrow.

The Double LL Ranch Heading Home

We had planned to take several days to get home from here and not try to drive so much each day. I don't know what we were thinking but when the Double LL Ranch started heading towards North Carolina it was like a horse heading to the barn. To start this trip we had a few choices, either go back north and go through Colorado or head south and go through the mountains of New Mexico. We choose the southern route with a destination of Gallup or Albuquerque in mind. We cut into the corner of New Mexico and picked up US 491 (formerly US 666). This road was changed from 666 for obvious reasons. We were told on one of our last trips that the state could not keep road signs up for people stealing them, sounded good to us but anyway the road now is 491. The day went well and we ended up stopping for the night in Albuquerque.

The next day was uneventful and we made it to Oklahoma City. When we checked into the campsite all of the locals were inside watching the radar screens because it appeared that bad weather was heading there. Just what we were looking for since we were camping, a bad storm or tornado like in the Wizard of Oz. But luckily the storms did not come and we had a good evening. Our little dogs were very happy since we had finally got back to a place that had grass for them to sniff. They haven't seen grass for over 2 weeks now.

Our last nights stay ended up in Lebanon Tennessee which ironically was our 1st night out's campsite. since this was Sunday evening we wanted to get through Nashville so we would not have to go through there 1st thing in the morning. As we arrived we meet some of the locals again that (if you remember) had held the elections since we were last here. The Mayor and the Chief of Police welcomed us and wanted to know how our trip turned out. After socializing a little and hobnobbing we called it a day and was looking forward to being home tomorrow.

The next day we made it home by late afternoon. It was a great trip, we had a really good time. In all, we visited 5 National Parks and 4 State Parks. I have been asked which one was our favorite and the answer was all of them.

Thanks to all of you that have followed our blog during this trip, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we did during this vacation. Kathy and I are already talking about where we are going next. Who knows, we will just have to wait and see what direction the "Double LL Ranch" heads out to.