Moab Utah

This area is very popular and very busy.  There are so many activities – jeeps,atv’s  mountain biking, climbing, hiking, rafting, plus the National Parks.  It seems a little like Sisters but larger.

We parked in a RV park as we didn’t know the availability of BLM camps.  Normal park although we were able to do a pull through so didn’t have to unhook the trailer. The best part of this was the couple next us.  He is a professional photographer living in Flagstaff and was in Moab on a photo trip.  Well need I say more that he and Gary hit is off.  Gary actually has a lens that he would like and he helped Gary with photo programs.  They were very easy to be with and both of us had a good time visiting.

Checked out 2 BLM camps that would have worked for us, but we decided to stay put as you have to travel for atv riding and had thunder showers causing the trails to be pretty muddy.

Did both National parks, Arches and Canyon lands with many side roads.  The area excels in dramatic red cliffs and deep ravines.  Every turn in the road brings another vista that is breath taking.  Weather was a little wet, but goes thru so quickly you don’t really mind.

After 3 nights we decided to head South.  We went straight South on 191 and played tagged all day with thunder showers.  Had one strike of lightening right off my door.  I am sure it was far off, but didn’t feel like it.   We were fortunate that we stayed on the edge of them.  Rain drops are HUGE like saucers hitting the windshield.

The terrain was never without character during the 500 mile trip.  Yes I said 500 miles.  We had planned on staying in Show Low, but the Wal Mart wasn’t conducive to parking so we decided to make for Globe. It was quite a trip down  steep canyons and then of course back up.  Back in forests of junipers and pines.  Made it just before dark and turned into a Wal Mart.  We were pretty tired needless to say and after getting all settled a knock on the door from the manager stating no overnight parking.  aghhhhhhhhhhh.  by that time there were 2 other rigs parked next to us.  No signs posted so after much discussion, she made an exception and allowed us to stay.  We need to be more proactive in our search of places to stay.  After looking on the net, there are many Wal Marts in AZ that have no overnight parking.  Up to the individual managers.

Next day was an easy trip 150 miles to Benson which is 40 miles East of Tucson just off I 10.  We are in an Escapee’s park.  Have a nice roomy lot  as the owners rent their lots out when they aren’t here.  On the front row so a great view of the desert and mountains.  Desert birds are back, quail, doves, hummingbirds and finches.  Put my plants out they have been riding in the back of the pickup so a little beat up but not bad.

Plan on staying here for a week then on to Quartzsite or the mining camp of Stanton.

End of a Week in Marysvale

 

It is Saturday night, we are packed up and ready to pull out in the morning.

Has been a great week with weather to match although a little on the cool side in the higher elevations.  We rode everyday except Tuesday, when we enjoyed a trip to Bryce Canyon.

Took a side road there that went thru cattle ranches and alfalfa fields.  Did get to see a herd of antelope also.  The houses are mostly brick or stone and are quite nice.  Bryce was awe inspiring not enough adjectives to describe it.  A hikers dream – trails all thru the bottom of the canyon.  We did not partake need to be in a lot better shape than we are for sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Gary really got some great pics, these are my feeble attempts.

The ATV riding is so free here.  On one ride we were on the highway for several miles.  Go into the gas stations and fill up.  It is more friendly than Arizona for sure.

Yesterday Gary wanted to ride separate so I drove the RZ.  We were are 11,100 feet and above the tree line. Here is what it looked like with me following.

I kept my eyes off the canyon and straight ahead as it is a longggggggggg way down.

Here he is coming down a side trail that led up to a small miners cabin.  Glad I didn’t follow him on that one.  Lots of history with many mining camps dotted thru the mountain.  It is hard to imagine the hardships they went thru in the late 1800 and early 1900.  Gives you an appreciation of all you have. 

We have met so many nice and helpful people.  Most of them from Utah, so they are a wealth of information.  We will be on the road to Moab tomorrow.  The weather is taking a turn with rain and thunder storms in this area and to the South.  Looks like just one rainy day there so hopefully they are right.  We plan to stay in the BLM camping, but will have to see how it looks.

Marysvale, Utah

 

Arrived yesterday afternoon.  Two RV parks in this small town (store, gas station, Baptist and LDS church), we chose the newer of the two as has tons of room for the trailer.  Owners are very friendly and accommodating.  Surrounded with mountains and riding out of the park in any direction.

We were invited to ride with 3 other couples today.  That is the great thing about RVers no one is a stranger.  They live in Utah in the Provo area so are very familiar with the area.  Was to be a short ride as one of the ladies is not as experienced.  So 60 miles and 4 hours later we made the loop.

We are in a valley with alfalfa fields, sage brush and small juniper trees.  Started into the mountain with rock walls on each side and a winding stream.  The fall foliage is at different stages according to elevation.  Lower has oak, maple, cottonwood which were beautiful.  By the time we were at 10,000 feet, yes, I didn’t add too many 0’s, we were in aspen and fir.  It was a great road actually for jeeps and pickups.  Nothing too steep or rutted.  We had snow at the summit and pretty muddy going.

I was so impressed with the aspen.  They are great white sentinels along the road and meadows.

Gives you a feel of the terrain.  We would have taken many more pictures, but didn’t want to hold the group up.  Plenty of time to do that this week, when we are riding by ourselves.  Have a feeling it will take a long time to make a ride as every corner there is a picture.

The group left to go to Bryce and ride for a few days, they kindly invited us to go, but as we had just gotten here, didn’t want to break camp so soon.

They may hook up with us at Moab as they are wanting to ride there and of course know the area well.

The weather is sunny and cool.  Had to dig out the winter gear for riding - the higher the elevation the cooler the temp.  Forgot sun screen today and both our faces are pretty red.  Looks good for sun this week and then showers for the weekend.  They tell us Moab is 10 degrees warmer.

The LDS steeples are prominent in all the little towns in the valley.  Friday night we were hunting a place to stay and thought about pulling into their parking lot, then again NOT.  Had planned on a Wal Mart in Tooele, but that was not to be.  Very busy and no easy in and out so continued on down the path.  The Garmin failed us told us to turn right and should have been left.  Doesn’t sound like much, but when you are 66 feet long, you don’t turn around on a dime.

All in all and great trip with no mishaps.  Thanks to all who have been praying for a safe trip.  Prayers answered!

On Our Way- Burns First Stop

 

We spent 3 nights in Eugene.  First at Valley River which was very nice.  If we had arrived earlier, we could have walked the path along the river.  Scooted out of there early and headed for the alignment place.  Out of there by 11 and then over to the RV lot for the work on the motor home.  They got started on the solar panels and we goofed around Eugene.  Stayed in their lot that night.  A little different than the range.  Lots of light and noise (trains near by).

We were all ready this morning and went to put the hitch on the motor home and alas it was too long.  Luckily Gary’s brother works at a welding shop just down the road so we zip over there and had it cut. Left Eugene at noon.

Beautiful drive up the McKenzie pass.  It certainly is the easiest of the passes.  I followed so can see if there are any problems.  Leaves are getting to the end of their brilliance.  As we were coming into Sisters I told Gary say good by to Douglas Fir, blackberries, maples and brush in general.  He stated we were trading blackberries thorns for another type of sticker.

We are in a nice rest area 20 miles West of Burns.  Got here just at sunset, so Gary was out shooting pics.  Nice path up the hill so got in a little walk too.

 

As I traveled along behind, it seems so bizarre to think that this is it our home going down the road. 

Certainly a new chapter in our lives.

Leaving the Range

 

Today is the day we left our Home on the Range.  We are excited for the new adventure, but sad to leave family and friends.

We have had a great time watching Kyler play football and Gary has been involved with picture taking.  The boys are a joy as they are so appreciative of us showing up to their events.  Wish we could see the end of the season, but the road calls

Everyone looks happy – first game and we Won!!!

We are so thankful for our time on the range.  What a great place to stay.  Our mantle of oak trees have started loosing their leaves and the acorns thunk regularly on the roof.  Walking thru the leaves trying to pop the little puff balls on the ground brought back many memories of childhood in our oak grove on the farm.

The silver greys are scampering up and down collecting  their winter food.  We started feeding the blue jays our hen scratch from the house to get rid of it and found the turkeys love it.

We have 10 of them every morning having breakfast with us.

Walking the archery trail yesterday were bunnies and a doe with her twin fawns.  The grass is green with many leaves along the way.  Will have a whole different look next Spring when we arrive back.

This being Sunday we went to our last church service here and had lunch with friends, came back packed it all up and headed out to Valley River in Eugene.  I pulled the trailer with the pickup as we are taking the motor home in for some work tomorrow and Tuesday.  Will be staying in the RV lot tomorrow night.

Hopefully we will be done and able to head out on Wednesday – hope to get to Burns the first night on our way to Utah.  Gary will pull the trailer behind the motor home then and I will follow in the pickup.  We will be quite the caravan.  I am glad he is used to the length of the tractor trailer as he is stretching out to 65 feet or so. 

Thank you in advance to those of you who will be praying for our safety.  We do so appreciate this.  Next post from Burns Lord willing.

Trip up the North Coast

 

We decided to head North Saturday as we haven’t been to Astoria in ages .  Got a late start but onward we went.

Nehalem Bay was our first stop as there were many boats out crabbing.  Got the scoop on boat launching etc.  They had big tubs full of live crab for $8.00 so really probably cheaper to buy them than haul the boat up and go out, but of course it is the experience of catching them. Also stopped at a winery just up the river a mile.  Very nice and free tasting.  A lot of fruity wines that reflected the fruit they came from.

Drove thru Cannon Beach, which is a lovely community.  Full of art and also people – was like driving thru Sisters in the summer.  All the condo and cabins were full.

Seeing the Columbia at its mouth is awesome.  There were quite a few small boats out, I assume salmon fishing.  We stop at a drive thru coffee shop to ask about a good chowder or fish and chips place.  She recommended a place farther up on 101 stating it was a “boat”  Hmmmm  I thought will maybe a restaurant inside a ship.  No she really meant a BOAT.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was quite a line so we jump in.  All they serve is fish and chips whole order or half.  This boat was used on the Columbia in the 30’s for fishing and the owner decided to put it in the service of selling the fish.  Very tight kitchen, but they were the best we have ever had . Halibut and it was so dense it was almost like a chicken strip.  Certainly our recommendations if anyone is in Astoria.

This was right off the wharf so a great view of the river.  Walked up the hill from there to take some pics of the historic home in that area.  You need several days to see all the sights. Will definitely need to come back with the motor home and stay .

We thought we would be here another week, but Tuesday they cut back on trucks and Gary was one of those cut.  So brought the truck back on Wednesday and motor home on Thursday.  Before we left the rv park a couple was camping from Vancouver BC on their way to Argentina on motorcycles!!   We had a good visit with them – probably in their late 40’s both riding and planning a 5 month trip.  They have a spot with them so said they would invite us into the site so we could follow their journey.

The RV park we stayed at was Camper Cove in Beaver, which is 11 mile south of Tillamook.  It is a lovely park and the owners went over and above board to accommodate everyone.  They are heading south this winter, so we hope to connect with them in Arizona

We are back at the archery range.  I wish we could have stayed a little longer in Tillamook, but nice  to have all the room and quiet of the range.

Right now our plans are to leave for Utah the end of September.

On The Move

 

We left our little spot (key word little) at Leone’s the end of July.  It lacked shade which made the motor home a pretty hot box during those high temp days. 

We moved out to the archery range in Lacomb, which is 8 miles North of Lebanon.  It is a glorious area all shaded with oak trees and completely private with tons of room for the trailer and quads.  We were range hosts which consisted of checking people to make sure they were members when they came out to shoot.

 

Gary had sold most of his archery equipment in all of our garage sales, so got a used bow from one of the guys.  There is no way we could stay here without being able to shoot.  The trails are groomed so it made it great for walking.

He is working for Knife River but hard to get 5 days in a row.  It is hard to believe the summer is going by so quickly.  We are hoping to head South the middle of September.  We want to go thru Utah to ride on our way.

Last week Oregon Mainline called with work in Tillamook for at least 2 weeks.  We decided it would be a good push to end the season as the job is 12 hours a day.  Brutal for Gary, but for a short period of time he was game to go.

One advantage of living full time in the motor home is there is no packing and unpacking when you need to move, however we had a lot of outside STUFF.  I indulged in several large flower pots and a hanger.  Sharon was kind enough to keep the large ones and we packed up the rest.  Had to load everything else in the trailer which we left at the range.

We took the truck over first to check out RV parks.  Gary really wanted to make one trip with me driving the motor home, but never having driven this one I balked.  Parked the truck at the site for the plant which is in the middle of a dairy field.  See cows in the field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took the motor home and pickup over the next day and I did drive for several miles to get the feel of this one.  Much harder to steer than the Dutch Star so I heard a lot of “Get off the fog line” which is usually what I hear when I drive.  The traffic was horrible so Gary took over for which I was grateful.

We found a great Rv spot 5 miles from the job.  Tucked in the trees just off 101.  A creek, lots of flowers – I am happy.  There is lots of opportunity to do yard work as quite a few weeds in the flower beds.  The owners are happy to let you dive in so worked on it yesterday.

We drove in so the front window is facing trees and the creek rather than the road.  It is very private.  We drove over to the coast on Sunday, a beautiful day and did some picture taking.  Has been very hot in the valley so we are enjoying the cool of the coast.

So the plan is to be here for 2 weeks, or until the job is done.  We never know what will happen with construction but that is what  makes it the adventure.