Alamo, Nevada to Kanarraville, Utah and it was a hilly drive.

 

We didn’t have far to go today only 160 miles so we didn’t have make an early start.  Eric and I had a quick chat with Dale Pickett about our route and places we could ride when we got to Utah.  We were on the road about 9:30 am under sunny skys.

 

This was our route with the only difference being a cutoff from just east of Iron Mtn to Kanarraville.  Dale Pickett told us there was a new paved road 5700 St. that we could take which went off Hwy 56 and right under the freeway and into Kanarraville on the old highway US 91.  This will save us from going into Cedar City and then heading south.  Good to know.

Hwy 318 north of Alamo.  This highway continues up to Ely but it goes through higher passes than the more western route that we take.  Okay when the weather is good but more snow later in the year.

                                                                                                                             

As we start to climb toward the first pass the Joshua trees appear.  They seem to thrive at a higher elevation.

We’re thinking we’ll be going over those mountains.

Higher up and trees start to appear.  Probably Juniper.

Amazing rocks as we travel through the pass which would be over 6000 ft.

We soon arrive after driving downhill all the way to Caliente and it is a very  pretty little town.  This huge railroad station would suggest a much larger population in the earlier days. 

Pretty, pristine little town with hot springs and a nice RV park.  Worth another visit at some other time. 

North of Caliente we head east on Hwy 318 at Panaca and it’s not long before we start up again and through another mountain pass.

That is really high considering we started at somewhere around 3000ft.  This is going to use a lot of fuel even though we aren’t travelling very fast or going very far.  

Down we go.

Welcome to Utah.

Irrigated land provides hay and this looks really nice.  Growing in a huge flat plain.  Lots of silage corn as well.

Getting closer to Cedar City.

We’ll be heading up again before we go down toward Cedar City.   We are now down to 1/4 of a tank and have used a lot of fuel on this short drive.

After the pass we headed down and  found the paved road that Dale told us about and turned off Hwy 56 toward Kanarraville.  We arrived in time for lunch and were soon parked at the side of the very small park on the grass.  There is only one glitch with this and that’s that we are too tall to pull forward under the tree to exit the park and Eric will have to back us out.  Not a problem except there is a 40ft 5th wheel pulling in behind us so it will be tight. 

Red Ledge RV park and just our style.  Across the street there are horses, Llamas and a sheep grazing.  Just like home.

It’s sunny and about 20C but there is a really cold north wind.  We probably won’t unload the bike here but will wait until we get to Kanab and we have an 8 day stay. 

Eric froze his ears off in the cold wind setting up the satellite dish as it’s always a struggle in a completely new place.  At least we got to watch the Jays beat New York….go Jays!  Tomorrow will likely be an R & R day except for laundry.  We’ve been on the road for many days and need a rest. 

Sunday Sept. 25th

Today was a day to rest, do laundry and watch the Blue Jays beat New York in the bottom of the ninth.  In the last inning Eric had to dash out and help the lady pulling in behind us.  She was driving a mini freightliner tractor pulling a 40ft 5th wheel with a motorcycle on the back of the freightliner.    She is on her own so that’s pretty gutsy considering she’s 70.  Not that 70 is very old!!!  She got too close to the tree and would have ripped off her awning if Eric hadn’t dashed out to help.  She is parked way back and we won’t have trouble backing out. 

That’s the RV park in the distance across the field.

After the game I went for a short walk around town to take pictures.  There is no actual downtown although there used to be a few stores etc. when the old highway was the main road.  Now that there is a freeway everyone shops in Cedar City. 

Still warm enough to keep the corn growing.

Some nice old houses that were built in the 30’s.  I talked to a lady on the street who has lived here her whole life.  Everyone smiled and waved as I walked along.  Very refreshing.

Lots of young women and kids walking dogs.

This beautiful old house is just across the street.  A fine example of Craftsman architecture. 

Eric went for a bicycle ride and the wind blew him uphill but it was a grind riding back against the wind. 

So….a nice day, sunny and warm. 

Tomorrow we’ll take the truck drive to see Bryce Canyon. 

Jackpot, Nevada to Alamo, Nevada and it was a cold, windy, rainy trip

Today we awoke to 4C, wind and rain.  We were up and on the road by 7:20 am as we knew we had a hard trip ahead of us.  It stayed cold and rainy and at points dropped to 2C and tried to snow!  What the hell…it’s September, not November.  Our first stop was in Wells for fuel and I have that marked as a terrible place to get diesel.  We tried the Sinclair but no diesel at the main pumps even though they showed they did.  Moved down to the flying J where they have created a very tight RV lane that you wouldn’t be able to pull forward out of if there were cars parked along the front of the building.  Next time we’ll try the west side of the highway.  For a place that is basically a fuel stop it is crummy!

Between Wells and Ely the snow was right down.

And it rained.

Mileage was poor as we had a head wind the whole way and it was not a relaxing drive.  Lots of people think the drive through the Great Basin is ugly but we think it is beautiful. 

The motorhome lean shows the slanted streets of McGill just before Ely.

At Ely the temp was still 4C and there was snow low down on the mountains.  Down the big long hill and the temperature started to rise, the skys parted and the sun came out.  Yahoo!

I see bright skys ahead.

The clouds are parting.

We stopped just before Lund and had lunch but the RV was so cold we had to turn on the furnace just to eat. 

The canyon south of Lund.  I can never resist taking a couple of pictures of the amazing geology. 

The temp is now 24C and the skys are clear.  

We arrived at the Pickett’s RV park in Alamo about 3:30 pm and the temperature was 24C….now that’s more like it. 

We were the first arrival and had our pick of the sites.  The owner Dale Pickett lives in Cedar City just north of Kanarraville, Utah where we are headed.  Eric will get some info about our route from him and any other helpful information.   Dale’s Dad built the park about 40 years ago and although it was sold Dale had to take it back for non payment.  He now commutes from Cedar City but also has a little travel trailer in the park.  

We had a lovely evening and only one other small camper van pulled in for the night.  Soon it will be busy when all the regular travellers hit the road. 

Tomorrow Kanarraville, Utah and the Red Ledge RV park.   

It’s rainy in Jackpot, Nevada

Yesterday was a showery day in Boise but this morning we awoke to cloudy skys and no wind.  We didn’t have far to go to Jackpot so we didn’t leave until about 8:30am (our time PDT.)   I always find the interstate around Boise nerve wracking as the traffic is heavy and aggressive.  Since we were there two years ago the interstate has been redone and so has the overpass at exit 44 where we get off for the Boise/Meridian RV park.  There has been huge construction over the last few years and it is finally done and there are now about 6 lanes so the traffic is quite thinned out.  Much better. 

The interstate was fairly quiet, no wind and just a bit of rain at the Twin Falls end.  We left I-84 at Bliss and travelled the old hwy 30 to Twin Falls.  It is very scenic and the views of the waterfalls, large rocks, Snake River and small towns are quite lovely.  We stopped in Buhl for fuel and I even picked up some farm fresh corn and a Mexican squash at a roadside stand next to the gas station.  They are like a zucchini but have a yellow flesh and we like them much better.  I asked the young lady if she knew what variety they were and she said they were called Limelight and the seed came from Burpee’s so I’ll have to check that out. 

Just north of Jackpot the rain picked up and when we arrived around noon it was raining pretty good.  It’s supposed to ease up tomorrow so it should be an okay day of travel. 

We spent the afternoon on the internet searching RV parks in the areas that we want to see in Utah and I even got on the phone to reserve some spots.  Turns out it’s hard to get a spot without a reservation in the parks near Zion and Bryce Canyon.  We’ve never booked an RV spot ever so this is all new to us.  I managed 4 nights in Kanarraville, Utah and 8 nights in Kanab, Utah so we at least have somewhere to stay.  The weather looks good so that is a bonus. 

Tomorrow night in Alamo, Nevada and then onward to Kanarraville and the Red Ledge RV park.   

Kelowa to Boise in good weather

Monday morning we left Kelowna about 8:20am.  It was a bit cloudy but warm and generally nice.  We arrived at the USA border and got the usual fridge check.  I couldn’t remember what I couldn’t bring which way over which border so I lost my tomatoes and oranges.  The border guard asked if I’d familiarized myself with the regulations and I said “ Well it’s pretty hard to figure out…” and he said “ Yeah, it’s all quite vague.”  He didn’t ask about any meat, eggs etc. so I didn’t have to leave my frozen chicken with my sister-in-law and hard boil my eggs.  Oh well.  Nice guy though. He didn’t even look in the garage. 

There was a bit of a head wind and the roads were quite bumpy on the drive through northern Washington and this slowed us down a bit.  The other thing that was odd was the traffic….everyone was doing the speed limit or less.  Very strange.

We arrived in the Wal Mart parking lot in Othello, Washington around 4pm.   I bought beer and…..tomatoes and a few other things.  The prices were outrageous but I remembered that from previous stops and didn’t buy much.  When we got back to the rig we were visited by the guy who drives the handi dart to the Wal Mart.  He wanted to know all about us and also shared his views on the USA and he was obviously a Democrat!  I’m going to call him Bob because we have an old friend who used to live in Terrace and now lives Vernon who does the same thing and his name is Bob.  Funny thing….he’s nice and personable just like this Bob.

We left Othello on Tuesday morning about 8am and it wasn’t cold, windy, frosty or foggy like it always is in November.  A real treat.  The drive was uneventful and we had a tail wind just about the whole way to Meridian, Idaho.  Our speedometer has quit, although it starts working occasionally so we are using our TomTom GPS instead.  Works fine.

We arrived at the Boise/Meridian KOA around 4:30 pm mountain daylight time which is one hour later than we are at home.  Surprizingly to us the park was almost jammed full and we almost didn’t get a spot.  We’ve never reserved before and it’s never been full in November even with all the winter travellers.  We got the last spot which was a small back in with trees and booked for two nights. 

As we were setting up the guy next door came over to chat and it turned out that he was from Parker, Arizona and has an RV park right next to the park that our friend Andy Avison and wife Carol stayed in.  Andy passed away early this summer and we will miss him.  He and Eric along with Mel and Fraser used to drink beer together on Thursday nites.  Now Fraser has moved and Andy is gone so ….no more Thursday nite beer.  Times change.  The other thing is that the guy chatting to us has a house up near Duck Creek Village in Utah.  This is in the area where we are going to see Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon.  He gave Eric lots of info about the roads and suggested we could stay at the Pine Woods Inn near Duck Creek.  However the day time temps are around 50F and lows at 24F…not for us, way too cold as it is very high there.  We will stay somewhere around Hurricane or Cedar City where daytime temps are in the 70’s.  We hope to unload the motorcycle and tour the area.

It was a nice warm sunny evening and a good day. 

Today is Wednesday and it has clouded over and is showery.  This weather is supposed to hang around for a couple of days and then the sun will return. 

I shopped at my usual favorite store….WinCo and picked up most of what we’ll need for the next couple of weeks.  Tomorrow we are off to Jackpot, Nevada for the night and then on to Alamo, Nevada before we head off to Utah. 

All is well.

We made it Kelowna

We left Cache Creek on Thursday morning around 9:30 a.m.  Beautiful, sunny and warm…..bueno! 

No issues along the way except for the occasional raging pick up truck with big tires.  It was nice to see one nabbed by the RCMP in Savona.  He’d blown by us and a few more cars and was tailgating and raging.

We decided to stop and look up old friends from Terrace who had moved to Vernon a couple of years ago.  They have purchased five acres on the north end of Swan Lake and are doing some small scale farming and market gardening.  We didn’t tell them we were coming but luckily they were home. 

Fraser and Geniene have a daughter and grand daughter in Vernon and were living with her but now have their own place.  They are venturing into what we did back in the 70’s and 80’s and have their work cut out for them.  They are also restoring an old house on the property.  Good Luck!

Fraser and Eric. 

We set up in Ian and Linda’s driveway as usual and spent a nice evening drinking beer and catching up. 

Friday was another nice day and was spent shopping for all the things we’d forgotten at home. 

Today is Saturday and it is raining.  Makes us feel right at home!

In Cache Creek

We had a good travel day.  Didn't get up too early, ate breakfast and on the road by 8ish out of Prince George.  Plus 10c and not-6c. Warm and sunny, no fog , no snow, no frost on the windshield....what a joy.   When we usually leave home at the end of October it is always a crapshoot with the weather and it is always stressful. Yesterday and today were a pleasant change.    We are parked in the Brookside RV Park in Cache Creek and it is full of senior travellers.  Kids are back in school so it is less crowded in the parks. Tomorrow on to Kelowna where we will park in Ian and Linda's driveway.  Always good to visit with family ( Eric's brother and wife.).    So far, so good.

On the road again….finally!

 

Just a short post to let you all know we are back.  It’s been a crummy year but we hope to leave all that behind us.  We are presently in Prince George and will continue on to Cache Creek and then on to Kelowna (all in B.C.)

We are trying a different way of travel this year and hope that it makes it more enjoyable.  We are heading south early and plan to do some holidaying in good weather.  We usually head south in October and hit snow and cold in many places in B.C. and the USA. 

So…here’s what we are doing.  We will stay in Kelowna until Monday morning and then head south into to the USA.  We’ll travel south through, Washington, Idaho and Nevada until we arrive in Alamo, Nevada.   At that point we will head east into Utah where we plan to have a look at Zion National Park, possibly Bryce Canyon and then on to the Grand Canyon.  It should be warm at this time of the year and we will ride the bike where we can.  As these areas are at very high elevations it is always too cold when we travel south in November.    We will end up in Phoenix where we will store the rig in a friend’s RVpark and then fly home on the 11th of October for three weeks.   I’ll clean up my gardens, Eric will service machinery and then we’ll shut down the house (drain water lines etc.) before we fly back to Phoenix on the 3rd of November.  From there we will journey south to Mazatlan where we will spend the winter, sure hope it all works out! 

This way we’ll get a chance to see areas of the USA that we usually can’t because it’s too cold. 

Stay posted…..

P.S.  we are thrilled to be on the road again.