Utah 2016

June 2, 2016

We got a leisurely start from home today at about 10AM heading for Pendleton, OR the first leg on our journey to Southern Utah. We stayed at the Wildhorse RV Park which has a casino adjacent to the property where we went for a little gambling and dinner. Gail came out ahead enough to pay my loss and buy dinner. Then back to the park for the evening where we met our camping neighbors Rob and Kathy Peterson from Graham, WA. They are heading to Colorado but have reservations in Mountain Home, ID in the same park we do.

June 3, 2016

We arrived at Mountain Home RV in the early afternoon and got set up. This is a beautiful park with all the amenities we love and lovely grounds. A couple hours later Rob and Kathy arrived and settled in two sites away from us. This is a large park and the chance of them being so close was pretty weird. They invited us to dinner but Gail wasn’t up to it as she was still taking antibiotics and wasn’t into full meals and company. After dinner they came over and we chatted about our trips. WOW! Again we are staying in the same RV park in Brigham City, UT tomorrow.

June 4, 2016

We were up and on the road by 9:30 for about a 250 mile drive. The park in Brigham City was small and crowded but fine for a one night stay. Rob and Kathy arrived a couple hours after we did. They told us about Maddox’s Fine Dining, a restaurant they usually go to when in town. We weren’t into a big meal so I called the place and ordered take out. This place is amazing. There is a full service restaurant that holds probably 200 people, a drive through that was packed with about 30 cars and a take-out window with a line of 8-10 cars waiting. I picked up some skinless fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and homemade chocolate ice cream for us. It was all delicious. After dinner I went to Rob and Kathy’s site to visit for a bit. They have a 36 foot fifth wheel that is like a home. They are on a four month trip across the US. I said our good byes and went back to our site for the evening.

June 5, 2016

Gail is done with her antibiotics and is feeling a little better today. We have a 335+ mile drive today to our park near Bryce Canyon National Park. We arrived at about 3:30 and got settled in at Kodachrome Basin State Park. It is so named because National Geographic did a documentary here and the colors are sharp like pictures using Kodachrome film from the 40’s and 50’s.

There is no ambient light here so when it got dark the sky was magnificent. There are so many stars and planets it’s hard to even find familiar constellations.

June 6, 2016

The temperature is unseasonably hot for our stay, in the upper 90’s. Kodachrome Basin State Park is a beautiful park. The only issue, which I view as a non-issue, is we are completely off the grid. No phone, radio, Wi-Fi, TV, nothing. The closest communication is about 10 miles away. We have all we need as far as electric, water and sewer hook-ups. The hiking trail system is great. There are geologic wonders throughout the park.

 I took the Angel’s Palace Trail hike, 1.5 miles, which was awesome. I was able to see our camp site, many monoliths and the rim of Bryce Canyon.

Entrance to trail

Narrow path

View from the path

Tomorrow we are going to Bryce Canyon NP to see and explore more wonders.

June 7, 2016

After breakfast we went to Bryce Canyon NP. This place is spectacular. You start out at about 7000 ft. elevation and go to over 9100 ft. at Rainbow View Point. 

We drove to all the viewpoints along the rim of the canyon. The Natural Bridge viewpoint was interesting in the fact that is not really a bridge but an arch. The difference being bridges are formed by water erosion. This was formed by wind and time. AMAZING.

Natural Bridge

 I need to figure out how to make a link so I can show all the photos we have taken on this trip.

A great Monolith\\

Chimney Rock

After we got home I took another hike to see Shakespeare’s Arch, the only arch in our park. 

This was about a 1.7 mile hike with a lot of ups and downs. 

Shakespeare's Arch

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June 8, 2016

Today we drove about 110 miles to Zion NP. It took us about 3.5 hours. There are two tunnels you have to go through when you travel from the East, which we did. There is a $15 charge for one of the tunnels, the 1.1 miles long one, which we had to pay because we were pulling our trailer. When we got to the tunnel the rangers close it each way so oversize vehicles can drive down the middle of the road. The ranger was concerned that we were too long, about 50 feet and would have difficulty going around some of the tight corners. It was a spectacular drive with no problems. Once we got through the tunnels the traffic was very slow. The scenery is beautiful. Our RV park was about 20 miles west of the park near the town of Virgin.
We got set up in the park which is real nice. Our site was a back-in behind which was a dry creek bed. It was too short for us to have the truck backed in so we had to park it across the front of our site. No problem really. There were no trees in our site and it was really hot (90+). The sites across the road were nice with grass and trees, but still very warm. We talked about visiting Zion and decided that it is so busy we'll pass and explore areas around the park.

June 9, 2016
We hung around the RV park until late morning and then went on a drive on the Kolob Terrace Road to the Kolob reservoir. There were some great views of the edges of Zion Park and the surrounding area. When we got back I visited two couples that are from Vancouver, WA. They are Paul and Peggy and Ken and Georgia. Paul and Ken worked together at Bonneville Power for over 30 years and now travel together several times a year.   Gail and I decided to leave the park a day early so we can get home and talk to Gail's Dr about her issues with IBS. We told the park office we wanted to do that and they said they can't give us a refund but we could have $50 credit in their store. That was a surprise that we took advantage of.

June 10, 2016
We left Zion River RV in mid morning heading for Ely, NV for a one night stay. We   got to the Ely KOA and set up camp. The park was like a very large gravel parking lot with hookups and a few trees. After getting set up we went to the All Aboard Cafe and Inn at the recommendation of the RV host. He suggested their specialty, Lobster rolls. We went there and got an order to go. It's amazing that a little cafe in Ely, NV would have actual tasty lobster nicely flavored on a hoagie roll. It was good and big. We sat up for a bit in the evening and then to bed to rest up for a 400+ mile drive next day.

June 11, 2016
After about 7.5 hours on the road we arrived in Caldwell, ID at the Ambassador RV Park. This is part of the G7 RV park franchise which is very nice. We are here to visit Sheryl Sherry, one of Gail's best friends she worked with at QFC, and her husband Tony who is in the final stages of a long battle with ALS. After getting set up I went to the pool for a swim, Jacuzzi time and sauna. I sat out until 9:30 enjoying the late sunset in Mountain time.

June 12, 2016
We went to visit Sheryl and Tony at their home in Nampa. We had a great visit. Tony is actually in hospice care at their home and is doing much better than what the hospital thought he would. Then it was back to the park for the evening. I had another swim and sat out until after 9. Then in to watch the last of the Tony Awards and get ready for bed.

June 13, 2016
We drove about 275 miles to Prosser to spend the night at Wine Country RV Park. It was a windy drive that was tiring. After getting set up we went to Subway to get dinner. Then it was back to the park. I sat out in the shelter of our trailer to avoid the high wind. Later in the evening  a HUGE rig pulled in. It is 68 ft over all and carries a Smart Car on the tractor behind the cab. 

The owner is going to Caldwell, ID, where we just left, for a rally with other large rigs. Tomorrow we head home.

Bellingham All Asses 2016

May 20, 2016

We started this trip with our annual All Asses Weekend trip to Bellingham. We stayed at Bellingham RV Park as usual and our girls came up to stay at Gail’s sister Joannie’s house. The weather wasn’t real nice but nice enough for us to sit out and enjoy the afternoon and evening. Joannie’s daughter, Angie and her husband Scot and son Henry came over with pizza for dinner. We had a grand time.

May 21, 2016

Cousin Chris came up on the train this morning  so Tracy went and got him. Then it was off to lunch at Jalapeño’s in Fairhaven, some shopping and a visit to A Stone’s Throw, a new brew pub. Later in the afternoon Tracy’s husband Erik and daughter Sydney arrived for the festivities.

May 22, 2016

At noon we met most of the gang at the bowling alley for the third annual All Asses Bowling Tourney. We always have a great time at this event. The trophy went to the Sims family this year. Afterwards Tracy and Steph and families did a little shopping in town and headed for home. We went back to Joanie’s house for a while and then out to a nice dinner at the Bellweather on Bellingham’s waterfront.

Tomorrow we are off to Chalan and Prosser.

Chelan and Prosser May 2016

May 23, 2016

We got up and left Bellingham for Lake Chelan for our annual May trip. Gail has developed a cough that we aren’t sure is the beginning of a cold. The drive was cloudy and wet until we reached Leavenworth. By the time we got to Chelan it was quite sunny. Later in the day my sister Terry arrived. We had dinner and sat around the fire through the evening.

We spent four nights here with the weather getting worse as the week went on. The days weren’t bad but the wind came up every afternoon until by Friday it was forecast to blow 30+ mph.

We had a great time in Chelan visiting friends we made at the park and various wineries. On Friday when we left we stopped in Quincy to visit our nephew, Kaleb who is working at the Grant County Fire Dept. He is having a great time studying to become a fire fighter. Then it was off to Prosser for the Memorial Day weekend.

We got checked into Wine Country RV Park at about 1 and watched as the park filled for the weekend. It seems there are more families and dogs here than ever before. We talked to Lou Ann, the manager and she agreed.

We did the usual things during our four night visit here. We found a new winery that just opened on May 7, Wit Cellars. The wine maker and his crew from another winery started Wit about 9 months ago and released their first wines at their opening. They have done a terrific job making high quality wines.

On Monday, May 30 I was relaxing at the pool when Gail came over and said she was having trouble breathing so we went to the ER at Prosser Hospital. After lots of tests and an x-ray they told us she had a little pneumonia in her left lung. They gave her five days of a very strong antibiotic to fight it off. The antibiotic is so strong it makes her nauseous. 

We went home Tuesday, May 31 for what we hoped was just to repack and head out to Utah.