#12 Dead Horse Point & Canyonlands 7-26-08

This day we spent a lot of time in the car. First we drove up to Dead Horse Point State Park and then on to Canyonlands. On the overlook at Dead Horse Point we looked down on the horseshoe bend of the Colorado River that we had been on the day before. We did see a jet boat on the river while we were looking, but it was too far away for my little camera to get a decent shot of it.

Horseshoe bend on the Colorado River. Most of the river at this time of the year is very shallow. Our guide the day before told us that most places you could wade across. They are really funny when they tell us about the life vests. They show us where they are kept. Tell us if anything happens to take one and hold it over you head and walk out of the river!

If you look at the "white" rock formation it looks like a horse. The story about Dead Horse Point was very interesting. The point is separated from the rest of the mesa by a narrow neck of land and the in the old days the cowboys used to round up the wild mustangs and head them onto the point, then fence the neck so the horses couldn't get out. Then they will cull out the bad ones and keep the good ones to ride. Evidently, so the story goes, some of the horses went over the edge and died. Thus the outline of the "dead" horse.

This is the Green River cutting its way through the canyons. We are on a big Mesa overlooking the canyons. The difference between a Mesa and A butte is--a Mesa is wider then it is tall, and a butte is taller than it is wide. Just a little tidbit of information we learned on this trip.

This is a very, very steep four wheel trail down the mesa to the canyon below. It was originally a wild animal path and was widened by the ranchers, then improved again by the miners for uranium. Now it is used for four wheelers and very ambitious hikers!

We were out on a point overlooking the canyons. That is as close as I got to the edge. There wasn't any guard rails and it was very, very deep.

These two rocks look like ships. They were named the Merimack and the Monitor after the real ships.

Even in the Canyonlands National park there was a beautiful arch that we could climb right up to and sit under. The view beyond the arch was spectacular. The rock you see in front of the arch is called "slick" rock. I guess when it get wet, it is slick. We didn't have any rain while we were hiking, so I can't be sure!

Now Moab (and other parts of Utah) have done it right. The parking places at the grocery store that are close to the door are reserved for us old folks. No wonder we ended up staying over a week. They even gave discounts at the gas station if you bought your groceries at their market. Very cool! The gasoline prices were 4.09.9 without the discount, or 4.06.9 with the discount. Better then CA.

#11 Arches National Park 7-25-08

We got up early because we knew it was going to be very hot today. We also planned on doing some hiking. We knew to see some of the arches we would have to hike to the sites. So off we go, finally we are seeing the National Parks we came to see.

This is the first trail we went on. We walked this trail of 1.3 miles to see our biggest arch.

Landscape Arch. The longest arch in the park. It is really spectacular.

What a view! The arch is just perfect. We only had to hike a few hundred feet to see this arch. It was behind the ampitheater that the rangers give their talks. It's in the campground in the park. We were the only people here, which is amazing because we seem to be with the entire population of Europe who are touring the USA!

Sandy Dunes Arch. We met a very nice American family from the state of Washington. They took our picture and we took theirs. You walk through deep sand and right between some of the rock formations that are called fins. It was only .3 of a mile into the arch and it was really pretty.

This is broken arch. It was a long, hot hike into this arch. We walked across a "desert" and then to the rock formation and the arch. Under the arch we sat and cooled off a little along with the family from Washington. It was a nice stop for us. Then we had to walk back! Good thing we brought lots of water for Frank and iced tea for Dixie.

Now how long is that rock going to stay balanced on top? That is quite a sight to behold as you are driving on the road. If you look hard in the background on the other rocks there is another rock balanced there. Amazing formations!

As we drove around a corner--there was a big horn sheep. This was Frank's first sighting of a big horn. We stopped in the middle of the road and I tried to get some pictures before she ran away. This is after she crossed the road.

She is running away, but just outside of the picture is a second big horn sheep that ran faster than I could snap pictures. This was the perfect "end" for our trip to Arches National Park.

After hiking what felt like miles and miles and the temperature hoovering around 100 degrees, we were ready to go home and hit the showers. We were a couple of tired tourists!

#10 Canyons at Night 7-24-08

We were asked not to take pictures on this trip, so all the pictures you see here are pictures that I was able to download from the web site for Canyons at Night.
This was a dinner and boat trip. The dinner was cooked by way of dutch oven. We had five different meat choices as well as salad, cole slaw, pasta salad, potatoes, beans, bread, corn and desert. The meat was delicious, and all the side dishes were fresh and tasted wonderful. This was the start of a very nice evening.


Heading up the river towards the canyon walls.

Lighting up the walls, all this was done along with a pre recorded talk about the history of the area and done with music.

The canyons are lit up using a truck across driving along the River Road, and is coordinated with the narative and music being played to us in the boat.

Back to the landing around 10:30 at night. A beautiful, wonderful, relaxing night on the Colorado River in Moab, UT.

#9 Jet Boat trip on the Colorado, Moab, UT

The jet boat trip started at 1:00 in the afternoon, so we didn't have to get up quite so early. This trip was on a lower part of the Colorado. No rapids, just quiet water.


This is our jet boat driver, Rory. He actually lives and works here in Moab. He showed us many of the places that movies and commercials are filmed. He would stop and tell us about the movies that were filmed. He showed us where Thelma and Louise drove off the cliff at the end of the movie. Actually it was two manikins that were sent over the cliff. Not once, but twice so the camera could have a good shot. Then that shot was cut from the movie! He also showed us where the Grand Vitara commercial was filmed. The one with the house with the white picket fence and the guy leaves for work and free jumps off the cliff to his car. Amazing just how many movies and commercials are filmed here. Over 100.
This is a big area for John Wayne fans. Many of his movies were made here. Director John Ford really liked this area.

The river was so smooth and quiet it showed the reflection of the red cliffs along the shore.

Our first arch, This was along the river and is called jug handle arch. It isn't in the national park, but it is quite fun to see.

Can you see the pictograph? We took this picture from the boat. They are hard to see but as soon as you find them they really stand out.

This was a nice relaxing trip with lots of great scenery and information about the area from Rory.

#8 Moab and Colorado River, UT

We arrived in Moab around noon on Sunday July, 20. We stayed at Moab Rim Campark just south of the city of Moab. We parked right uner the rim of red rocks. Beautiful. We picked up some brochures about the area at the office and called and signed up for a day of rafting on the Colorado for Monday.

Dixie had to get up early because we met the group at 8:00 a.m.



This is our bus unloading the kayaks, the paddle boats and the rafts into the Colorado River. Most of the river was pretty smooth. We had an overcast day, so it wasn't so hot sitting in the rafts.




We could go swimming in the river anytime we wanted. It was a little too cold for me. Mostly we just waded getting in and out of the raft.




In the afternoon we only had four of us in the boat. The other couple was from Belgium. In the morning we had a family of four on the raft and they were from France. Lots of Europeans are touring and visiting our country.




Here we go!! Through the rapids. That's us right in the front. Hang on and duck as we are pulled through the rapids.

This is Raphael, our river guide. He was a really good guide. He speaks fluid German, his parents are from Germany. He also speaks French, which he did during the morning run with the French family. So he guided us in English and in French. He is a college student at Standford University. He comes from San Francisco. It was amazing how knowledgeable he was about the geology and some of the history of the area.

The entire day was wonderful. We had lunch in right on the river. The rafts carried all the food and equipment to feed us lunch. We had sandwiches, cole slaw, chips and cookies. All very fresh and welcome by the time we stopped for lunch.

We were a couple of tired travelers when we got home. Gidget was happy to see us.

#7 Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

We arrived at Ruby's RV Park and Resort and had to dry camp the first night. So we didn't head into the Park until afternoon after we had our RV hooked up and the A/C on for Gidget. There is a free tram that takes you right into the Park with the first stop being the Visitor's Center. There we watched a short movie about the park. Then we hopped back on the tram and headed to our first stop. It is called the ampitheater.


Frank standing on the lookout overlooking the ampitheatre. Words cannot describe the beauty and size of this canyon. The colors and the shapes are amazing.


These pillars of sandstone that look like ancient people standing around are called Hoodoos. The three in the background look to me like urns for flowers. The one in front looks like it has eyes and a mouth.

We hiked about a mile and a half along the rim trail. I'm resting, again. It was up and down and every corner had another beautiful sight. We had our walking sticks and a little back pack with water for Frank and Iced Tea for Dixie. We drank it all before we finished this day.

This is only supposed to be 1.3 mile long loop, but it goes right down to the bottom where the river runs during the spring thaw. I said I was up for it if Frank was. So down we went.

That doesn't look too bad, does it? This is the beginning of the trail down.

We are still going down. This is about the half way point. Many, Many switchbacks. Lots of people also. Most of them are Europeans.

This is Wall Street. We are at the bottom of the switchbacks going through the Hoodoos and walls of the canyon. There was a major rock slide just two years ago and they rebuilt the trail right over the top of it, using switch backs. We are looking up to the top of the rim. Even the trees aren't as tall as the rock formations. I can't describe what it was like to walk on the floor of the canyon between these large formations, every corner we turned was more breathtaking than the next. It was well worth the trip down and the climb back up.

We are on the rim looking down on one of the many trails that decend into the canyons. There are hikers going one way and horse and riders going the other way. And we are up above watching. Very cool.
The second day we took a narrated tram ride to the north end of the canyon. Our tram driver stopped at this lookout point and took our picture with the window rock. Great views.

This was Fairyland point. Our tram driver told us his daughter was married at this point 13 years ago. Awesome.
This was a view point on the way to Green River, Ut. The rock formations are amazing. I don't have enough adjectives to tell you how pretty everything is.

This is what it looks like driving from Bryce Canyon to Green River. Not much traffic and views that don't stop.

We only drove 53 miles from Green River to Moab Rim Campark. It is located on the south end of Moab. We were amazed at all the stuff to do here. We paid for three days and then have decided to stay a week. Love being retired! The next post will be about our stay here in Moab.

We had to buy gasoline here in Moab. At the City Market, which is a Croger store like Ralph's, you can buy gasoline and you get a discount if you spend money at the grocery store. So we purchased gasoline for $4.16.9 a gallon. A lot cheaper than in CA!!

#6 Zion National Park

We parked the RV at Springdale, UT, which is just south of Zion National Park. We spent a couple of days in Zion. The first day we took the free tram to the different view points and starting points for the trails. When we found a place we thought we'd like to hike we would get off the tram and hike the trail. Usually it was a trail that would lead us to another stop where we could catch the tram and on to the next area.

This is the trail we took past the water fall at lower Emerald Pool and then on to The Grotto picnic area. It was a couple of miles from beginning to end. It was up and down, and the trail was in good shape, with lots of stopping places.

This was the weeping wall trail. Uphill all the way, but well worth the trip. The wall was wet with water seeping out and dripping all the time. It was cool and refreshing, a good place for resting!

I think this is Angels Landing formation, it is a beautiful multi colored rock rising out of the canyon.

The wildlife along the trail were very friendly. I guess this little chipmunk thought there might be some food tucked away in Frank's shoe laces. Or maybe he was checking out the shoes to see if they were OK for hiking? He was really cute. (I'm not the only one who stopped to rest on these hikes!)

At the end of "The River Walk Trail" if you wanted to go further on the trail you had to walk through the river. This is where the walls of the canyon get so narrow that they are only 20' apart. We didn't have our water shoes with us, so we stopped at this point and took a nice refreshing rest. (We had to hike back to the road the same mile we hiked in to the river.)

Ahhh! Soak those hot tooties in the cool river. Dixie took advantage of that before we hiked back to catch the tram. This was at the end of a long, vigorous day of hiking and sight seeing.

The next day we drove through the park on our way to Bryce Canyon's National Park. The road through the canyon was built in the 1930's and it has one mile long tunnel. We had to buy a pass to go through it with our RV and we had to unhook the tow car because the roads have a lot of switch backs. Poor Frank, while I was driving the car he was trying to navigate the road and misjudged his distance going around a bridge. The right hand side of the coach tried to make the bridge a little wider. It didn't work. The bridge made the RV a little narrower. So three of the bay (basement) doors are a little smashed in. (Our insurance payments are up to date!) I know he was sick about it, but things happen and we'll just have to get it fixed--somewhere.

While Frank was driving the RV and I was following in the car I was fortunate to see a wild big horn sheep standing on an outcropping of rock right along side of the road. That was really thrilling. Frank missed it, and I couldn't take a picture with my hands on the wheel. So you'll just have to believe me!

We left early (for us) around 10:00 a.m. and made one stop for diesel at Richfield, UT. The Flying J there had diesel for $4.56.9 a gallon. That is the cheapest we've seen it since we left Arizona in March. So we filled up.

We drove almost 200 miles to Green River, UT and spent the night at the Green River State Park. Our GPS on the computer (Microsoft's Streets and Trips) sent us out into the middle of the desert. We had to unhook the tow car, turn around the RV (we were on dirt roads by then) and I asked the driver of the lone car on these deserted roads, where the park was located. She told me "right in the middle of town." So off we go and finally found it. It was all paved roads to get to the park. We are really losing trust in old Microsoft!

On to Bryce Canyon, UT.

#5 St. George, UT

After we were finished at the Monaco Service Center in Las Vegas, we drove to St. George, UT. It took us about 3 hours, so we arrived around 6:00 p.m. We stayed at a Western Horizons Campground outside of Harrisburg, just north of St. George. This is a membership campground and we did listen to the presentation for our four free nights. We didn't buy into it.

Charlie, my brother, had told us about a school that performs plays in outdoor theater at their school for performing arts. The name is Tuachan, and it is right in the red rocks outside of St. George.

We went to the indoor matinee of High School Musical. All the actors are school age youngsters and they were amazing. We went indoors because it was over 90 degrees this time of the year. We did look at the outdoor theater and it was great--set right amoung the red rocks.

This is the entrance to the school campus. Very impressive.

The auditorium and ticket booth are set right up against and into the red rocks. The outside theatre is right behind the steps.

St. George was a very interesting town. We stayed long enough to do a little grocery shopping and to get my nails done and go to church in the town of Hurricane (pronounced Hurrikin). Then we drove on to Zion National Park.

#4 Las Vegas, NV

We left Oceanside, CA and headed to Las Vegas. We contacted the Monaco dealer there and set an appointment to have our rear camera system diagnosed. We couldn't see anything but vertical lines in our monitor. We had a number of other issues we wanted to have fixed while we were there. The service rep is from Oregon and has been trained by Monaco. He was very professional and helpful. We had the problems diagnosed on the Monday before the 4th of July weekend and parts ordered on Tuesday. Some of them came in before the holiday, but we had to wait on the camera and the inspector for the Warrenty company. So it was the 8th of July before we could have the repairs finished.
We didn't sit around and twiddle our thumbs. We were parked at Sam's Town near Henderson, NV, where my brother, Charlie, lives. So we got together with him. We also were able to see his daughter, Monette, granddaughter Sam and granddaughter Brianna.
When we weren't visiting with Charlie, we went to a show featuring "The Coasters," "The Platters," and "The Marvellettes." It was fun to see the oldies performed live. It was non stop music for the 90 minute show.

This is a picture of "The Coasters" as they were performing. They seemed to have a good time and got the audience clapping and singing along.

The Marvelettes were a fun group. They really got into their singing and their act. With the portable mikes, they got down into the audience and sang to individuals.

This is a participant from the audience that really got into the song and the act. The girls were singing "My Man Bill." He was a really good sport and had a lot of fun.

We went to this show the first night we were in Las Vegas.

We stayed a week at Sam's Town, five days at the Las Vegas Outdoor Resorts, and the last couple of days we spent back at Sam's Town waiting for the parts to arrive and to be installed.

The last afternoon we were in Las Vegas we went to the matinee performance of "Menopause, The Musical." We both laughed until we cried. This is a must see for any of us that have been through it, or that are going to go through it. (Husbands, too!) Puts a funny spin on "the change."