To Stockton and the Wedding

9/25/2008 To Stockton
We are headed to Stockton, CA today, a day earlier then planned because of the amount of time it will take us to drive there. We are suppose to be at the rehearsal diner around 6:00PM and Carmen does not want to drive all day then go to the diner. So today we are on the road to Stockton.
On the way we are using routes 18, 395, 85 and 99. Route 395 is fairly straight with many "whoopee" hills along the way. Many of these hills are one after the other. When we turn west on 85 we are driving by another very large solar panel farm. The site we drive by is about three-quarters of a mile wide. Like I said huge. Not sure how many megawatts this facility generates but it must be considerable.

As we drive along 85, the scenery is very impressive. On the left after the solar panel farm, is Edwards Air Force base. I kept looking for UFOs but never see any. As a mater of fact, we see nothing flying at all. Ah well, I guess I'll have to go back to the Area 51 area or Roswell.

As we drive along 85 near the town of Mojave as we start up the mountain pass we go by a very large wind farm. They have windmills on both sides of the road moving up and along the tops of the hills and then back down on the other side. A number of them are rotating as we go by. As with the earlier solar panels not sure how much energy these generate, but they certainly help to reduce the use of oil.

The road to the top of the pass is about 8 miles long and tops at over 4000 feet and goes by Techachapi. The hills around here are very pretty and Carmen is taking pictures.

We come to an area where it appears they are mining some sort of mineral that is rather white. Not until we see a sign indicating that "Twenty Mule Team Road" was coming up. Sure enough this must be borax and a sign later confirms this. Wow I use to watch the borax westerns on TV. Can you believe it?

As we near Bakersfield we begin to see grape vines and other crops. In Bakersfield we picked up route 99 and head north.

All along 99 north to Stockton, both sides of the road become flat and you can see for miles and more miles. There are farms which have hundreds of cows. We cannot tell if the cows are for milking or beef. Also, there are many miles of grape vines. We also see corn, orange trees, nut trees, peach trees, strawberries, tomatoes, and more which we can not tell what the crop is.

We get to Stockton and check in and after driving for about 6+ hours we decide to stay in and rest.


9/26/2008 Stockton and Lodi Wine
We meet with my sister and her husband (Helen and Charlie) early in the morning and although we are invited to a barbecue at the bride's family's house, we decide to go with Helen and Charlie to Lodi. Lodi is a wine producing area. Mmmmm, hic!

We head out to Lodi and when we get there we stop at the visitor center. They have wine tasting there, but we get a map of the wineries and the gentleman behind the tasting counter mark a number of wineries that has tastings on the map. Off we go.

We stopped at four wineries during the day. One has a restaurant and also sells fruits and some baked goods. We stopped and had lunch. I needed it after the first couple of tastings. Five to eight shots of wine at each winery. Each of course tasting costs $5.00, but if you buy any wine the tasting cost is waved. We buy bottles at each of the wineries.

A couple of the wineries had ongoing wine making at the time we visited and were allowed to go and see what was going on. At the first winery, they have just pressed some grapes. We ask the guy working there how it is processed and he says he'll show us. He gets the forklift, picks up a large square container full of grapes and dumps it into the presser which spits out the stems and squeezes the grapes. Afterwards, he gets a step ladder so we can see into the machines and see how the process works and what really happens in the de-stemer. It was very interesting. Then after all that he takes a plastic glass and pours out some of the freshly squeezed juice and we all get to taste it, man was that great stuff.

At another winery, after tasting a couple of the wines, we are invited to go back and see the process some of the men are doing at the moment. When we get there, they are filling a number of wine barrels. One of the men is putting some juice into the barrels. We talk about the process and the man indicates the stuff he has in the pitcher is from the first fermentation and offers us a taste. So we taste it. Wow, good stuff. He talks about the first fermentation and benefits of the acids and all. After about a half hour we head back to the tasting room to finish our tastings. Again we buy (Helen and Charlie mostly) more wine, I think I get a bottle of port.

While we are driving past several of the grape orchards they are in the process of harvesting the grapes. Some are hand cut from the vines, others have these elaborate machines that shake the grapes (and leaves) off of the vines into hoppers, with several persons that remove unwanted items. It is neat to see.

After stopping at four of the wineries, we make it back to the visitor's center. The man behind the tasting bar had indicated that if we bought a couple of wines from him, then he'll throw in the box and Helen and Charlie could ship the wines back to Maine. So we taste the wines he has to offer and after Charlie mentions their preferred wines, comes up with a wine that is to their liking. They get two bottles and set up fixing the boxes and shipping information.

It is a little after 5:00PM by the time we leave Lodi and head back to Stockton. All in all it has been a very enjoyable day. Good company, good wine, and good food. What more can you ask for? We arrive at the hotel around 5:30 and decide to be ready to leave by 6:15PM to go to the rehearsal diner. In the mean time we rest some.

We meet everyone (my brother Paul and his wife Sue, their daughter Stephanie and husband Jeff and daughter Stacia, and others from Maine) at the rehearsal diner and the bride-to-be, Angelina also for the first time. Angelina is very nice as is her family. They make us feel very welcomed. I think my nephew Philip has made a good choice. We are at a Mexican-American restaurant and we pick something from the banquet menu. The food is good and we meet the bride's family and friends and can not wait for the wedding in the morning.


9/27/2008 Wedding day
The wedding is beautiful and the bride has on a very lovely gown with a long train and a veil that covers her face. She is very beautiful. The service is very nice and since Philip is in the Marines, he is in his dress uniform.

There is also a Marine detachment in dress blues along with white gloves and swords. They stand in the isle and as the service is ended and Philip and Angelina walk towards the back of the church, the Marines hold their swords high to create an arch, well except for the last two who block the path and demand payment, a kiss (to the husband), then lets them continue. And as tradition commands, as the bride and groom continue the Marine in command of the detachment swats the new bride with the flat of the sword, softly of course. (I think Angelina was surprised.)

The wedding reception was also very nice. The food fabulous. Later a video is shown providing pictures of Angelina, then Philip, and then both of them. All of it was very nice.

Angelina's family have treated us as part of the family and we appreciate it very much and look forward to meeting both Angelina and her family again.


9/28/2008 Back to Apple Valley
This morning everyone is leaving. Helen and Charlie have a flight in Sacramento that leaves around 11:30AM so must leave by 8:00AM. We do not see them this morning as to not delay them. They must get there, bring the car back, get to the airport, and everything else and no one needs more interference. Besides them, Paul, Sue, Stephanie, Jeff, Stacia, and the newly weds all are leaving around the same time. It would be good if they are all on the same flight together.

The weather in Maine is not so good today as hurricane Kyle is hitting the coast as it heads to Nova Scotia. Hopefully, their flights will be late enough to not be delayed by any rain and wind.

We leave Stockton around 9:30AM and follow the same roads we came here on. The trip back shows the same pretty scenery. This time however, we are also treated with seeing various crops being harvested. Many use machinery to collect the fruits some are hand picked. One field is using a machine that looks like it is pulling something from the ground but we can not tell what it is as we go sailing by the fields.

We do pass a number of double trucks that are carrying tomatoes. Not sure what they will be used for, but I would think the tomatoes on the bottom of the pile would be crushed and if not, definitely not table worthy. Maybe they are going to make sauce or juice.

The rest of the trip back to Apple Valley is as pretty as the trip to Stockton. The country side is gorgeous, changing each mile.

We get back and find that the windshield has been replaced in the motor home and it looks good. The technician that installed the windshield has also indicated that the glass company that put in the previous windshield put it in wrong. The glass was not prepared properly, nor installed properly. Since we paid for part of the last installation we will be looking for some sort of remediation.


9/29/2008 Apple Valley
Today we are just being lazy and will probably leave for Florida tomorrow. We will be getting ready to leave repacking some of the stuff we took out for the trip to Stockton.

Las Vegas To Apple Valley

I have a lot of catching up to do, so I'm going to put several days worth in this post.

9/20/2008 Las Vegas To Apple Valley
Argh, me maties, today we be head'n to Apple Valley where Carmen's brother lives (sorry missed yesterday's "Talk like a Pirate day" and couldn't help myself).

Our trip takes us through the Mojave desert. This place is not so flat as much as a very shallow bowl with the sides going up towards the mountains. We have passed several sand dune areas and you can see several dust devils in the distance. Although it is dry and sparsely vegetated, it is really very nice. The lines of the mountains in the background and foreground are very sharp with water channels running down the mountains. The contrasts are vivid. Several of the mountains look to be sand stone from ancient hardened sand dunes with light tan and red and creams.

The winds are strong today and of course there are many mountain passes with valleys in between. So we go uphill for several miles, then come downhill. The uphills are so long that by the time we get to the top, the motor home is only doing about 45 mph and cranking about 4000rpms. Compared to this Maine is flat land!

We did not make any stops today except for the State agriculture inspection station. They asked where we came from, I said Las Vegas. That wasn't the answer he wanted so asked where we originally started and I said Maine. Well he says "Ah, gypsy moth! You know gypsy moth?" Yes I do, I said.

He then has me pull up to inspect the motor home. He has rolled all around under the motor home looking for gypsy moth infestation. Then finally states the we are clear. Then in the classic Colombo style, starts to leave then turns back and asks "Do you have firewood?" Yes I do, I said.

Where did you get it? He asked. From the basement of my house. I said.

In Maine? He asks again. Yes, I said. I need to inspect it, he says.

So I get out and open the cabinet that the wood is in and he inspects the firewood. Everything is good and clean. He finally gives me a carbon copy of a form he filled out to indicate that he inspected for gypsy moth and that the motor home is clean and clear of gypsy moth and that presenting the inspection copy to the next inspection station should eliminate the same gypsy moth inspection. Good Grief, Charlie Brown!

During this inspection, several of the other inspectors ask what he was looking for, and what he was doing. Either they thought it was frivolous or had no clue. In either case, we have a clean bill of health.

We continued our way still in passing through the Mojave desert. We pass a couple of piles of rock, one on each side of the highway that look like huge piles of petrified dinosaur droppings. Perverted thinking I know but that is what they looked like to me.

We arrived save and sound at Carmen's brother's house.


9/21/2008 Apple Valley, CA
Today we did some shopping and went to the glass place that will install the windshield in the motor home. The gentleman was very nice and provided us with information on the installation. They should receive the new windshield between Wednesday and Friday and will install it as soon as they get it in.

The rest of the day we do not do very much. Played some dominoes and not much else. Just resting. We have a set that goes to 15 and by the time we finished, the high score was over 1000. Shirley, This game took over 4 hours. One of the rounds no one could finish and all we did was to collect dominoes. Just about everyone had over 100 for a count on that round. Carmen won, of course and I will not say who had over 1000. One of the rounds I could not start until I had a full tray and more of tiles. Everyone was down to about 3 tiles before I could start to play. That round was not fun at all. Oh well, that is how the tile lays I guess.

9/22/2008 Laughlin, NV
Today we head to Laughlin. We have never been there and got room comps for $18.00. So we are heading there with Carmen's brother and sister-in-law. (Names are not given to protect the inisent.)

The trip to Laughlin is very much like the trip here from Vegas since we travel much of the same road. I get a chance to see the countryside without driving this time and it really is nice to look at. The mountains change with each new angle and the contrasts are very dramatic.

The portion of the road that is new has one section where the ground is black from what looks like volcanic rock. I do not ever remember an active volcano in this area so this must have been thousands of years old. Also, we pass a mirror power station where the mirrors are pointed to a central tower to generate electricity. Beside the mirror station, there is a hugh solar panel farm. Each side must have been at least a half mile wide. The output from this farm must be enormous.

We arrive in Laughlin, which is on the Colorado river. There is a tour (6 hours round trip) on a jet boat that goes all the way to Lake Havasu and the London Bridge. The trip takes about two hours, you stay around the bridge for a couple of hours and then come back. Unfortunately we do not have the time to take the trip, this time. But next time we are here I think it will definitly be a thing to do.

We of course gamble a little, loose a little - of course, and head to the room around midnight.


9/23/2008 Leaving Laughlin
We are heading back today, actually early afternoon. It is a three hour trip back. We of course back track to the house and both Carmen and I again appreciate the country side and gratefull neither is driving. It is difficult to enjoy the scenery when you are concentrating on driving. (The winds across the desert are very strong.)

Not much else has happened today, gambled some, get caught up with the family and talk quite a bit. We are glad that we have made the decision to visit Carmen's brother for a time before the wedding.


9/24/2008 Apple Valley
Carmen's brother and sister-in-law had plans to go to a senior citizens expo in San Bernadino and they called to get our names on the list. We were going to stay at the house to get ready to leave for Stockton, CA, but after arrangements were made for us to also attend we are going to go. Argh, Just 26 days after retirement and I'm attending senior citizens expos. What next shuffle board?

It wasn't so bad, they had a number of vendors at the expo that provided information. Some had giveaways that we can actually use. You know, paper, pens, flashlights, pill boxes (there I go again), and other stuff like that. We would have to wait a half hour for the lunch that is provided so instead of attending the lunch we head for Morongo, an Indian casino in California not to far away.

We have lunch at the buffet in Morongo and it was very good. Carmen and I were both surprised. While we are there, there is a film crew that is filming a segment of the new Night Rider show that will air in about 8 weeks. Can't wait to see how that comes out. After talking with one of the crew, we find out that the "Night Rider" show premiers tonight.

Anyway we head back to Apple Valley after a couple of hours. Carmen and I play some slots, but of course someone has to pay for the staff and buildings so we leave our donations. Ha, Ha.

Back at the house and get our stuff ready to leave tomorrow for Stockton and the wedding.

Las Vegas Day 2

9/19/2008 Las Vegas Day 2
We spent the morning talking to the insurance company talking about the windshield. We have finally made arrangement to have the windshield replaced in Victerville near Apple Valley where we are headed. Carmen's brother lives in Apple Valley and we will be there a couple of days before heading off to a wedding.

We have decided to go to Red Rock Canyon. We have always wanted to go, but all of the times we have been in Las Vegas we did not have a car. Now we do not have any excuses. So off we go. As many of the canyons we have seen out west here, the rock is red. The rocks and mountains here in Red Rock Canyon are no exception. As you can see from the pictures, the rock is both red and white and in seemingly unbelievable angles.

The Canyon has a loop road that goes around the park and if you do not want to get out, you do not have to. That doesn't work so well for us and we get out of the car to see everything. However, it is pretty hot out and we did not bring anything to do hiking with. No hiking boots, water, pack, or anything else, so no hiking today. Next time we;ll have to remember to bring all of our stuff to hike because the hiking around here looks very interesting.

Apparently, this is a good place to climb cliffs and one of the first turnouts has hiking trails to the locations that people climb. Since we are not hiking and it is a little after noon, very few people would be climbing so again next time. However, at the next turnout, someone is climbing at a rock just off of the road by the turnout. We get out checkout the rocks and mountains at the turnout and take pictures, including the climber. Check out the picture.


After the drive through Red Rock Canyon we head for the Vegas strip. We park in the parking lot for MGM Casino and head to a number of different casinos. We ate lunch at New York, New York, and just checked things out at many of the casinos on that end of the strip.

The old Boardwalk casino and hotel are gone as well as the shops along the road just north of it. In it's place, as well as all of the shops and parking lots from the Monte Carlo up to the Belagio (and the Jockey Club), there are seven high rise hotel/condo buildings going up on the site along with what looks like shopping areas along with the casino space. High complexes. It looks as though one of the high rise buildings will be the new highest hotel on the strip (not counting the stratosphere tower).

We gambled some, I was doing very well until the dealer beat me three hands in a row on the river, after betting at each bet. I of course have two-pair, high pair and straight and the dealer gets a flush, trips, and a higher straight. Well at the $10.00 table that's $55.00 in the till each time. So much for the winnings the other night. Karen and Diana, I like the Hold'em game, but I find the chances of winning improve with more people at the table. Next time.

We are leaving tomorrow so we leave by 11:00PM because we have an early morning.

Later.

Las Vegas

9/18/2008 Las Vegas
Today we are waiting for the Insurance company and Glass Repair company to decide what to do with the window. While we wait, we are reading and doing some laundry.

The glass guy came around 2:00PM and after trying to repair the crack, has decided it is unrepairable. We have contacted the Insurance company and are waiting for a reply. In the mean time we are headed to Fremont Street. See you later.

We are back! Great place, the band that was playing in the center was really good. We played a little and toured each casino a little and got back around 1:00AM. Oh yeah, Karen and Diana, I like the Hold'em game. At least I'm up.

No pictures from today so I'll show you a couple from earlier. The first one is me in the motor home on a narrow road on the side of a mountain, the other two are of Zion on the spur road.

Bryce to Zion to Vegas

9/17/2008 Bryce to Zion to Las Vegas

Our travels today took us back the way we got here the night before. North on 63 and then west on 12 (through Red Canyon). We then headed south on 89 then west on 9 and finally south on I-15.

Today we saw Horses and Cattle again as we have since entering SD. We also saw deer, elk, llama (or ipaca or both), antelope, bison (or buffalo if you prefer), and turkey.

This morning, while still in Bryce Canyon, I decided to get up at 5:45 to see the sunrise. Of course we have been getting into the park using Carmen's Golden Park Pass we bought last year. Well we are staying outside of the park and I had to use one of the overlooks just outside the park entrance. That overlook is called "Fairyland" and has hiking trails to other parts of the park (beginning at about 3.6 miles one-way). So I decided to be at this overlook for the sunrise.

It is not cloudy overhead, but it is cloudy where the sun is suppose to come up, oh well. I did take a couple of pictures of the sunrise, mostly before getting over the clouds. Carmen says there is some color, but not in the pictures I would have liked.

Anyway, I stay a little while, though a windy and very chilly, take some pictures and get back to the motor home by around 8:30AM. On the way back I see several deer and have to take pictures, for Carmen of course. By the time I shower and unhook everything, we are on the road by 9:45AM. We drive through Red Canyon again, not stopping like we did on the way in, and are on 89 south by 10:05AM.

After several miles down the road, we come to a stretch of the road (10 miles worth) where the road is being ground up and relaid. The process to lay new asphalt is different here. They bring the ground asphalt in large earth haulers, which dumps the contents down under the vehicle onto the road, not like a dump truck which lifts the bed. The truck also has another container which it is towing. The truck and trailer full of the asphalt is released onto the road bed in a long line that is about 2 1/2 feet high. The paver has two other pieces it is pushing, the first collects the asphalt from the road and maybe grind it further before sending it along a conveyor belt, shooting it into a hopper for the next apparatus. I assume this is to heat the stuff and then sends it into the hopper for the machine that lays the asphalt. Nifty to see.

Anyway like I said, 10 miles. About 7 miles of the construction site is one way. Which means we have to wait our turn to go. During the wait, while vehicles are coming from the opposite direction, several stones get kicked up into the windshield and not until much later do we discover a crack.

The rest of the drive to Zion goes fairly smooth. Then we get to Zion. Well we missed, or my understanding of the sign was not fully understood, we have to pay an additional fee to have traffic coming the other way in one of the tunnels. There are two tunnels, one is file and sized appropriately, the other is a little to narrow for vehicles over 7 1/2 feet wide and 10 1/2 feet high. We are 9 feet wide and 11 1/2 feet high. So we pay an extra $15.00 to have Park Rangers stop traffic coming the other direction so we can use the whole tunnel and drive down the middle. Oh, by the way the tunnel is about a mile long.

Besides the height and width of the motor home, we have to disconnect the car and drive it separately, we are too long. So we do not have very many pictures of the trip through Zion, from west to east, on route 9. I'm driving the motor home and Carmen is driving the car, ahead of me by the way. She did take a couple of pictures of the motor home and hopefully those pictures include some of the surrounding mountains. The road is narrow, speed is 25 mph and has a number of switchbacks that almost complete a circle.

Speaking of the mountains along route 9 in Zion, they are unbelievable! If you ever go to Zion from the west entrance and do not follow route 9 to the east entrance, you are doing yourself a disservice. There are very few turnouts along this section of the road and they are all filled with stopped cars. Unfortunately, it was getting late and we did not backtrack along that section of the road to view again and take pictures, so I guess we;ll just have to come back again another time.

We went on the shuttle trams they use in the park to carry people along the section of the park that goes to the Zion Lodge and beyond. Cars are not allowed. I have to admit it was difficult to see anything from inside the trams since the roof is hard with only a few skylights. And with the temperature today around 85, the enclosed trams are not very comfortable, and the windows only open six inches, sideways.

We make our way up the the end, where a stream/river meanders from some source miles in through the mountains. There is a hiking path, about two miles round trip, but when you get to the end you can go into the river (today is did not get deeper then just below my knees) and up stream. Here the walls of the mountain come straight down to the river bed. Carmen did not come up river with me and stayed to watch my shoes and camera, but I brought the small camera, so I have pictures.

We left Zion around 5:30PM and head for I-15. We are hoping to find a rest stop on I-15 for the night. We stopped for gas just before getting to St. George, Utah and that is where I find the crack in the windshield.

While in Arizona, the trip through the mountains is another long drive up hill and another 5 miles of 6-8% grade down hill with 40 mph "S" curves. By the time we get to the bottom of the pass, the sun is beginning to set. Gorgeous! The colors are pinks and yellows and oranges. (Carmen says so.)

We do not find any rest stops in Utah or Arizona. About 60 miles out of Las Vegas (it is about 8:30PM) I pull over into a truck rest area, really only an extra wide section of the roadway. And just as I stop, a State Police pulls up behind me with his lights on. What did I do now? Well, nothing actually, he was looking for a motor home that was broken down about 5 miles further back. That is when we find out that this rest area is the best we can hope for on the highway. So we opt to try for Las Vegas and break out our camp ground book and found a place in Las Vegas to stay.

So we are in Las Vegas for a couple of days until we can have our windshield looked at. Not to had to take.

Bryce Canyon

9/16/2008 Bryce Canyon, Utah
Last night we stopped at a rest area, about 30 miles north of Beaver. I had to run the generator for about an hour to recharge a set of the batteries. We used all three sets from both camera yesterday. Can you say lots of pictures?

Today we complete our trip to Bryce Canyon. Our trip from the rest stop will continue on I-15, then east on 20, south on 89, east on 12, then 63 and Bryce Canyon.

Carmen:
We are on Rt. 15 and there is a sign to Chain Up for the upcoming 3 mile incline and following 3 miles of decline at 6% grade. We have seen quite a few of these Chain Up signs along our travels because there are a lot of real long inclines and declines.

Before the town of Beaver is farm country with cattle, corn, hay, cutting for hay, beautiful country with plains, and mountains. You can see for miles and miles. Just outside of the town of Beaver we just did another 3 1/2 mile incline to 6,500 feet and coming down is beautiful, mountains, sage brush, and juniper, you really have to see it because pictures do not justify the beauty.

Getting onto Rt. 20E on our way to Bryce Canyon, you can see the sagebrush for miles with a backdrop of mountains. Along the road are yellow flowers similar to our daises and also another yellow flower that grown in a clump that are gorgeous. We have gone up a long incline reaching 7,920 feet and then an 8% decline with "S" turns with a speed limit of 25 miles per hour. But, it is absolutely beautiful: mountains, valley below and some of the trees have turned for fall foliage. This is just a beautiful drive and to think this is not even a scenic byway.

10 AM onto Rt. 89S lots and lots of beautiful farm land and old corrals. We are in Panquitch at 10:15 AM nice little town fixed up with a western theme. Population 1,623, elevation 6,560 feet. (23 miles to Bryce Canyon). Outside of town there are lots of crop fields, we are following the Servier River with the Aspen trees turning to yellow, it is just breathtaking.

10:30 AM taking Rt. 12E our last leg to Bryce Canyon and we are going through Red Canyon, we are going up another incline onto a plateau with sage, yellow flowers. The evergreens growing in the red dirt on the mountains are a striking contrast.The elevation is 7,777 ft.

11:00 AM We are now parked at Ruby's Inn and RV park. We dropped the levelers, hooked up the electricity and plugged in the batter charger to charge camera batteries. We are now on our way to visit the canyon and hike the Navajo trail about 1.3 miles. We walked through the canyons and saw the hoodoos, it really is hard to explain how different it is and the colors are beautiful, from cream, tan, orange, red, so many colors.

We drove along the Bryce Canyon road and saw the planned burn, it was actually burning at this time and it included 200,000 plus acres. It would take about 4-7 days to complete the burn. You could see the smoke for miles and some of the trees on fire along the road. There were a few fire fighters and rangers patrolling along the road.

At one of the overlooks we saw Ravens looking for hand outs. These Ravens are pretty big birds and are a shiny jet black. Oh, by the way we saw a group of antelopes on the way to view the parks from the overlooks. On the way out we saw 5 doe and 4 baby deer. One of them was laying down and all you could see was it's head and big ears. He was really cute.

Per usual it is around 7 p.m. by the time we get back so we op to eat at Ruby's Restaurant.

Bob:
What else can I say that Carmen hasn't already said. The driving out west here has been fairly easy. There is such beautiful scenery that the time and miles seem to pass by quickly. Anyway, as Carmen said, the views from the road have been extraordinary. Just after we get onto RT 12 we enter Red Canyon. The sights here are a precursor to what we will see in Bryce and it is great. The rock is red and white and tan all in layers.

We get to Bryce and was just going to hike see the sights then leave heading for Zion. We had parked the motor home and was heading out to see Bryce Canyon when we were passing the RV park. Our plans changed after asking the price for camping at Ruby's Inn RV Park. The price was quite reasonable and all of our rechargeable batteries are dead so it gives us a chance to recharge them.

We traveled along the park road, stopping at the turnouts. As Carmen said, at Sunset Point, we hiked the Navajo trail which loops with part of the Queens trail. This trail, and probably all of the trails in the park, had so many views of the hoodoos and cliffs, and on and on. As Carmen said earlier, it is just a fantastic place to be. The colors, Carmen told me what they were, are bright and layered through the tall columns of rock. They truly look like candy and upside down ice cream cones. That's the best way I can describe them.
After the hike, which by the way goes down then back up about 600 feet using switchbacks, we head along the remainder of the road only stopping at turnouts. Well unless the hike is short as we had to do on at least two occasions. We must see it all.

Tonight, while Carmen was writing her part of the blog, I was outside. Picture this: I'm outside in the Wyoming night, the sky is clear and not a cloud to be seen, the full moon is just coming up, and I have started a fire that I am sitting by. How great is that?? It reminds me of the cowboy movies I used to watch. I have seen three satellites go by in the night sky as well as several high flying jets. You can see a lot when the sky is clear. I would probably see more stars if the moon wasn't full or up yet, but I can still see many.

Tomorrow, I plan on getting up early to view the sunrise. Hope it is great.

We leave Bryce Canyon for Zion NP tomorrow morning after I get back from the sunrise. We will visit the park then start to head down I-15 towards Las Vegas. We'll probably stop at a rest stop along the way since we'll more then likely be kind of tired. See you later.

Heading to Bryce Canyon

9/15/2008 Leaving Jackson, WY for Bryce Canyon, Utah
Today we leave Jackson, Wyoming and head to Bryce Canyon and then Zion National Parks, both in Utah. After that we are on our way to Apple Valley, California to visit Carmen's brother and sister-in-law. Of course the trip to Apple Valley just happens to take us through "Sin City". Yeah Baby! I'm talking Las Vegas. Not sure if we will have time to stop and put in a few quarters or not. Yeah Right. Like that would happen. If we're here we might as well stop, don't ya think?


We set out of Jackson taking route 189 south. This is suppose to be a Wyoming scenic byway. Well we find our right away that it is and the views do not disappoint. We have clear blue sky, with not a cloud in sight. We have rivers running through the passes, horses, cattle, and of course the mountains. As I have said for most of this trip the views are fantastic. (I know it is hard to believe and any picture we take will not justify the comments, but believe us the views are really spectacular.)

Along the way through Wyoming, we come across more and more pronghorn antelope. At a couple of locations the herd numbers over 50. I'm sure these are on ranches that specialize in hunting them, but they were still great to see.


We travel through the high plains and many are covered with sage brush and you can see for miles and miles. We stopped for lunch at a small turnoff at the top of a hill and you can see for miles, including the mountains east of us about 35 miles away. Also while on route 189 we see at different locations men filling large bags with, what look like cuttings from the sage brush. There must have been about 30 bags all total, but not all in one place.

There are snow and wind fence along he highway that are about 10 feet or more high. These are quite impressive.

The south west corner of Wyoming has rolling hills, but the rolls are about five to 8 miles apart. with a couple of small hills in between. At one point I measured the distance from one hill to another and the distance was eight miles. Then after I crested that hill, of course there was another five plus miles for another distance. The traveling sure seems long when you don't get to what your looking at for some time. I can imagine the pioneers having to travel the distance (oh, by the way we are paralleling and crossing the California trail) while looking at the mountains day after day to cover the 50-60 miles between the mountain ranges.

We drive by Elkol, which appears to be a mining town. It looks like they are either mining (underground) or strip mining coal. Either way there was a lot of it by the processing plant. And, nearby there was a railroad loading area with a number of tracks just waiting for the coal to be loaded.

We leave route 189 and head west on I-80. We are following the Pony Express and the Overland trails. I can feel Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill following us, or maybe that is the semi on my tail coming down the hill. Either case, its exciting.


Coming into the Salt Lake City area we cross the mountains east of the city. There is a very long upgrade, but the side for the down grade indicated a 10 mile 3% to 6% grade. Now I don't know about you, but Fred Flinstone's feet would surely have been hot.


We switch from I-80 to I-215 for a short few miles to circumvent the major traffic from the I-80 and I-15 interchange. Well that goes smoothly, and we switch from I-215 to I-15 heading south just in time for the 5:00PM traffic jam. For the next 20 miles or so we are mostly in bumper to bumper traffic. A well, can't plan everything perfectly. So far this traffic jam and the one on I-90 in Mass. have been the only traffic tie ups, unless you count the buffalo walking down the middle of the road.



I must say, it has been strange that we had to come all the way out west to experience summer. The temperature here today is in the 89's. Go figure, the middle of September is hotter then the middle of summer. Anyway, the aspens have started to turn color here. I know this because they are a golden-yellow and because Carmen told me so.



We continued for a number of more miles traveling through cattle and horse country. It seems that western South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and so far a good part of Utah has many horse and cattle ranches. But the country sure is pretty.



We are now stopped in a rest area, while I am typing this we have the generator on so we can make dinner and recharge some of the batteries. Carmen has taken a number of pictures today and has gone through several sets of batteries. Hope I can get at least one set for each camera recharged.



We should be able to reach Bryce Canyon by tomorrow morning and there may not be any wifi access for awhile. So when we get a wifi connection I'll update the blog, until then see you later. And of course the last picture is me driving down the road with the co-pilot seat empty (Carmen's taking pictures out the back window), but Cody is in the front window watching to make sure I am driving okay.



Per usual it was a great day with great scenery and Bob did good on that long down hill of 10 miles with 6% and 3 % grade of course with my assistance on when to slow down. We have had trouble with our Brake Buddy for the car and are driving with know brakes to assist the stopping of the SUV which we are towing. But we are being very careful on those long declines and there are quite a few.

Teton National Park

9/14/2008 Teton National Park
Today we head for Teton National Park and start by heading to Teton Village. While in town yesterday, we bought tickets to ride the gondola at the Jackson Hole Mountain Sky Resort. So that is the first thing we plan on doing this morning when we get going.

We ride the gondola up the mountain. Wow, what a view. The whole Jackson Hole valley is opened before you, miles of valley. At the top of the mountain, there are a number of people that are parasailing. And with the gondola pass, they can sail down and then take the gondola back up and do it all day long, or until they get tired. There are also a couple of hawks flying around. Neat to watch, but we do not have all day so we go back down the mountain to continue our trip.

We head north from Teton Village and part of the road is dirt, but we are in Teton National Park, so the road is not very bad. We continue and pick up rt 89/191 and head north to complete the loop around the park. There are fantastic views of the Teton mountains, they are truly majestic. It is hard to not stop at each turnout for viewing. We do stop at a couple to get some good pictures and to see the Snake River in the valley. (And no, if you're asking, this time I did not go rafting, I did that the last time we were here.) We continue to Moran and stop at the Oxbox turn out. It is reputed to have sightings of bear and moose, but neither are there. We stop and wait for about 15 minutes then leave to continue the loop.


We begin to retrace the road that we drove to Jackson in the motor home. This is the Teton Park road and inner loop. All along the loop road the views of the mountain range are unbelievable. The mountains stand so tall, majestic. We head down towards Jenny Lake along a one-way road. We stop at another overlook and it is unbelievable. How can you say over and over that the mountains are unbelievable? After going down to the lake and spending a number of minutes there and hiking along the shore, we leave.

We complete the loop and are back at the motor home at a reasonable time for a change. We complete some preparations for tomorrows departure, have dinner and will get some rest soon. Jackson has been a very good stop over. This place would be great in the winter is you ski, which we do not. The mountains in the snow would be something to see.

Tomorrow we head to the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area in Wyoming, then onto Apple Valley, California. It will take us a couple of days to reach our destination and there may not be any wifi access for awhile. Later.

On Way to Jackson Hole

9/13/2008 On way to Jackson, WY
Today, we leave Yellowstone and head to Jackson, Wyoming and the Tetons National Park. We are on the road by 8:30 trying to get to Jackson by 11:00AM. Fat chance that will ever happen. Not the way we stop every so often for animals, waterfalls, and everything else.

We head south from the Fishing Bridge heading clockwise along the lower loop stopping at Lewis Falls and Crawfish Creek waterfalls. At each one we we stop for at least 15 minutes. Imagine trying to park a 31 foot motor home with a car towed behind it and parking it in a space that just fits. Anyway between the waterfalls and seeing more bison and elk, we finally make it out of Yellowstone National Park.

Between Yellowstone and Jackson we come across a number of cars parked on both sides of the street, so we have to stop also. We just can't drive by without seeing what we might be missing. As we are even with the group of people, Carmen asks someone what everyone is looking at. It is a Moose doe and calf. So we stop and see the moose, it is nestled in tall alders next to a small body of water. From the location everyone is looking, you can hardly see the moose. So, we start to leave and I notice a path at the other end of the water and follow it down to the water and I can see both the moose and the calf. I take a couple of pictures, one of which is included.

We leave the moose behind and continue for Jackson through Teton National Park. We take the loop road inside the park and the views of the Tetons are spectacular. The mountains behind the lake are quite beautiful. There is nothing quite like the Tetons!

We finally get to the campground it is around 1:30PM. We are staying at the Virginian Lodge and RV Resort. As usual it takes us about five hours to go about 120 miles. Anyway we set up and have something for lunch before setting out for Jackson. (The RV resort is, as they have been out west here, nice, but the individual sites are pretty narrow. Not much space between you and either of your neighbors.)

We head into Jackson to walk around the historic town square. The corners of the square has these arches made from elk antlers. They are quite large and impressive. We spend several hours in town around the square, stopping at several of the galleries. There are a couple of artists creating clay sculptures that will be bronzed afterwards. Very nice work. We even find a bronze eagle Carmen loves, it stands about 7 feet tall wing tip to floor and is on a rotating pedestal so it can be turned. We would have gotten it, but the problem is it costs $20,000. Maybe next year.

We go into several stores and even go into the Silver Dollar Bar, where the stools at the bar are saddles. Ride'em cowboy. If after several drinks you fall out of the saddle, you can't ride or drive home. We spend the afternoon in town, and eat a prime rib dinner at the Teton Steak House. Very Good! After dinner, we headed back to the motor home and call it an early night.

3rd Day in Yellowstone

9/12/2008 Yellowstone Day 3
Today we pack up and leave Yellowstone RV park in Gardiner, Montana and head to the Fishing Bridge RV Park inside Yellowstone and Wyoming. The Fishing Bridge RV Park only allows hard sided campers. No tents, no canvas pop-ups, only hard sided campers. I think it is because of bears in the area. We will stay only one night then head to Jackson.

It is sunny with very few clouds in the sky. The trip to the new camp site is only about 44 miles, yet it takes us about 5 hours. Since we left at 8:30 that means we arrive around 1:30PM. The reason for the delay? Well, the bison herds. We drive by a valley and along the river, there are at least 5 different herd of bison. So we stopped, take pictures, and just watch for a while. In the picture you can see one of the bulls rolling in the dirt.

Later, we get to the mud volcano site and walk around taking in the sights of boiling and splattering mud. It is difficult to imagine that the mud is because of microbes which have broken down the ground surrounding the geyser. In all, they are interesting and hypnotic. You have to watch, it can not be helped.

Anyway, we are reaching the end of the boardwalk around the mud geysers and see a group of bison, with people close by watching. Well, we have to go and watch also. There is one big bull that is grunting. Also, a little later, two other bison begin to start head butting and locking horns. We got pictures of that, it is easier to see then grunting, so that is what you you'll see here.
We continue on our way and get to Fishing Bridge RV Park and set up. We have something for lunch and then set off for the Old Faithful geyser site. This area has many geysers that are all active. Several go up while we are there and get some pictures. Old Faithful ejects at least twice that we see while we are walking around. I'll try to include a couple of these for the post.

After viewing the Castle geyser erupt (sun is back lite on this one), we head back to the car. While heading back to the car we spot a wolf or coyote. Not sure which and I do not have a good picture of it, but since we have already seen a coyote, it must have been a wolf. Or at least that is the story I'm sticking to.

We are in the Old Faithful area for about 4-5 hours and then head back to the motor home. Needless to say we are tired. Today we have seen elk and bison as we have every day in Yellowstone so far, and we also see a couple of deer.

Tomorrow we will leave early in the morning and head to Jackson, Wyoming. All in all we have thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Yellowstone National Park. There have been many sightings of animals and each one has been exciting, no mater how many times we have seen bison it has always excited us. Tonight, with a little sadness, we stay for the last night in Yellowstone. There are many hiking trails we have not hiked and we have not seen an grizzly bear nor a confirmed wolf siting. But, that will just have to wait until the next time.

2nd day in Yellowstone

9/11/2008 Yellowstone Day 2

We continue our stay at Yellowstone RV in Gardiner, MT. But, after getting a reservation at another site, we have decided to leave this campsite for one inside of Yellowstone at the Fishing Bridge, about half way through Yellowstone. We will leave tomorrow morning for the other site canceling the next days stay here.

It is a sunny day with only a few clouds in the sky and today we head around the upper loop, this time going clockwise. We want to make sure we see the sights we missed in the dark yesterday. (Carmen: Oh, Bob forgot to mention the speed limit is 35 miles per hour or 25 miles per hour for the many "S" curves.) We start again at Mammoth Hot Springs and before we begin our clockwise trek, we come across the same elk from yesterday. The bull elk is there and we get a good picture of it. Closer then yesterdays picture. I'm including him in this post. Check out the grass on his horns, he has been gouging the ground with his antlers.

Oh, have I mentioned the waterfalls? There are many waterfalls, some you have to hike a little way to, but they are all worth it. I am including one of the several waterfalls we see today. This one is named Wraith Falls. I liked the name so I'm including this one. (Notice I have been playing with the exposure of the pictures for the falls. Taking longer exposures to create the velvety look of the water. Hope it works.) We have also seen Tower Falls and also Upper Falls and Lower Falls (which includes the area that is known as the grand canyon of Yellowstone).

We continue around the loop road and see a person with a spotting scope and decide to turn into the turnout to see what he is looking at. After parking, we see that he has radio equipment and and an antenna. He is actually tracking a wolf pack. Exciting, since he says that the pack is in the hills before us. Not exactly sure where but according to the radio colors he is tracking, they are there. We wait about 10 minutes, but do not see any wolves, to bad, we did want to see some wolves.

While traveling around, we go by some people looking into a field and a small woods area. So we stop (some distance away) and I get out and go back to see what they are looking at and find out that there is a bear in the woods. A black bear, but bear in any case. The patch of woods is small with clearing all around. I am on the road and can not see the bear so I go around the woods up a trail where other people are to see if I can see it to get a picture. Nope, not from here either. Carmen is not with me, she is in the car about 300 yards down the road, so I start back. She drives back and meets me part of the way and after I tell her it is a bear, goes and parks in the parking lot for the hiking trail. She comes out in the road and we watch for maybe another 15 minutes but still no bear. Carmen goes back to get the car and while she is gone the bear makes a very brief appearance and disappears again. I get the briefest of pictures of it from the side and back, but we are tired of the shy bear and leave. The picture is not very good, but you can just see the bear, it is the black area (in the center of the picture) in the shadows of the trees.

We see a small herd of bison and they are quite some distance away. So of course I have to hike in, about 500 yards up a little hill to get a better view. I get some pictures, but they are still some distance away. But, the chance to see the herd up close is still fantastic.

It is getting late around 6:15 PM and come across two ladies watching the woods. We stopped and ask what they were watching and they tell us of some elk and they (and we also) can hear an elk bugle. They are moving to the right and there is a field along that way so we drive to a turn-off along the road.

Sure enough the elk comes out. We watched a massive bull elk with about 12 doe and four calves come out of the woods and proceed along a field paralleling the road. He was quite a site has about 10 points on about a four foot wide rack. They were quite far away from the road, so I had to go into the field to get a better shot. Several times the bull elk turned to watch me. He was being very protective of his "harem". He was also herding them in the direction he wanted them to go. It looked as though the head doe was leading and the bull elk was keeping the stragglers on the move. In the same field are two bison. I'm trying to take pictures of both while making sure neither them or I get any closer then we need to be.

The bull elk would bugle every so often and on one occasion he received an answer from another male elk. That one comes out of the woods in about the same place the big bull elk had come out 15 or so minutes earlier. They called back and forth and then the big bull started to back track to protect his turf. I though we were going to have a throw down, but not so. The other male elk was not as big, with only about eight points. He and his two doe leave the area heading in another direction without incident. To bad, those would have been good pictures. Instead, a little later two doe we have been watching, start to fight. Both are up on their hind legs flaying at each other. This is great! Got that picture, so I have to show it to you.

Did I mention there are bison around here. We have seen a number of bison and there are two where we are watching the elk herd. I get a real close picture of one of them, as he continues to walk in my direction. Here he is.

See you in the next post.