Ogden, UT and Helena, MT

We apparently like to travel on Sundays and Mondays we left Hurricane on Sunday and drove to Ogden, Utah. That was a lot of traveling. Almost 340 miles. We stayed 2 nights, leaving a day to explore. Monday in Ogden, what should we do? Look for Donny & Marie? Find a Mormon Tabernacle? Well the old Southern Pacific Union Station is now a museum of Railroad and Automobile memorabilia. So off we went for an adventure. They have actual Southern Pacific and Union Pacific train engines and old autos. The old train station is restored to its old world charm beautifully. What a great museum. 

Gold Spike from Promontory Point
in a sealed chamber

Remember when the railroads joined together in Utah at Promontory Point? The actual gold spike is in this museum where the two railroads met.

White Pine timbers to build many
tressle bridges are from Michigan

Tuesday had us on the road again. This time a really tough, hard drive, some 340 miles in some really heavy cross-winds of up to 45 mph, to Helena, Montana. The mountain expressway roads are something else, too. Once we found a park to stay in it was smooth sailing. Fortunately, the 6000 acre brush/forest fire SW of our campsite was just far enough South of us that we didn't have a smoke issue. Wednesday morning ….. what should we do??? Yup, it's the state capitol so we tour another State Capital Building.

Montana State Capitol Building
Helena, Montana

This one was just o.k. Not as good as any of the others we have visited. But we must remember that Montana is still a great state. Never saw their State Seal. Guess they don't have one. Their Legislature, House and Senate only meet for 90 days every other year. Wouldn't that be a great plan for our Federal Government in Washington, DC?? Montana has a cash surplus to boot!!

Senate Chamber

House Chamber

Panoramic view of Helena, Montana

Tomorrow, we're off to Glacier National Park, possibly Bamff National Park in Canada, too and probably won't post anything new 'til late next week.

Hurricane, UT and Zion NP

Brigham Young's Winter Home
St George, Utah

Still in Hurricane, Utah on Thursday. Since this is not a day for us visit a National Park we thought it might be interesting to go into St. George, Utah. This is where Brigham Young had a winter home. So off we went for this adventure. The home is very well preserved museum and not at all like I thought it might be. When Brigham Young was in St. George he only brought one wife with him. So it is much like any home that one might have lived in during that time.

On the way out to Zion National Park from Hurricane, Utah, this is what we drove thru !!!

Looking out the Passenger side window

View out the drivers window

Friday, ah, our day to head into Zion National Park. As I mentioned before we had driven through part of the Park on Wednesday coming home from Bryce Canyon. This time, Charley stayed at home in A/C comfort. 

We packed a lunch and drove into the visitor's center. From there we boarded a bus into the park where they only allow buses to travel. We went to the end of the line called “Temple of Sinawave”. From there it is at least a mile hike back into the canyon to a spot called “The Narrows”.

Nancy on the "hike"
note her cane!

Tom made it ¾ of the way in and Nancy went all the way to the Narrows. If you want to go all the way farther in, to where the Virgin River starts it is 15 miles over rock riverbed. The 1 mile walk in and back is up and down hills and around lots of bends. Really trying. We made it back and on the bus we took a couple of other stops to see the sights. Zion National Park is absolutely beautiful. The scenery is spectacular and around every curve in the road another beautiful site awaits you.

Massive, rugged Zion NP

Max heat for our stay in Hurricane was 109, not including the day of the brush fire at the top of the mountain right behind our RV. Tom sat and watched many, many helicopter deliveries of water dumped on the flames at the top of the hill. They dipped it from the lake in 1000 gal lifts. Quite impressive!!

Lake by our campsite

That cloud is really smoke from a
too nearby brush fire.

Bryce Canyon - June 20th

Another beautiful, sunny Utah morning and we are off to another National Park destination. This time it's going to be Bryce Canyon National Park. Today it's only supposed to be about 60 miles one way. WRONG! We drive North on I-15 to Cedar City and take State Route 14 to Bryce. 5 miles of spectacular scenery on a twisting, mountainous state route and ….... road repairs! A rock slide had the road closed , probably for the next month. Back out to I-15 and North another 35 miles and a different route into Bryce. Eventually a total of 115 miles instead of the originally expected 60, we are entering Bryce Canyon National Park. It turned out to be well worth the extra miles though.

Roadway arch on way into Bryce

While on the way we went thru a stone archway over the road. Yup, Nancy just had to take photos.

Highest walking elevation in Bryce.
Breathless to say the least!!

When we entered the park we decided to go to Bryce Point first. It was lunchtime and we thought we would find a picnic table to eat at ....no luck, so we ate in the car. Then about one mile down the road, yup a picnic area. Nancy, then read the park literature and discovered the Canyon was only 18 miles long. So we drove to the far end and headed back stopping at most points of interest.

A natural Arch

Used to be another arch here, too.

These are "Hoodoo

So are these
I can't begin to tell you how magnificent the “hoodoos” are. Hoodoos are the pinnacles of rock that rise 100's of feet but are only a few feet in diameter. They are everywhere and are just, soooo cool. The canyon is lots of red and multicolored sandstone and when the walls and formations go from shade to sunshine are just so different. Someone told me this was a must see National Park and I now believe they were correct. The scenes are so different and varied it just takes your breath away.

More Hoodoos

Hoodoos, Hoodoos everywhere!

On our way home we thought we would drive thru Zion National Park as it was the closest way home. When we entered Zion at the east end we were surprised at the different scenery. We didn't have a chance to stop due to the narrow roadway and terrain. We planned Zion for a trip on Friday anyways. On our way through the park we drove through two different tunnels. The second one was over a mile long, and was 11' 9” high on the side but in the very center was 13'4” high. If a trailer or motorhome needed to go thru they had to have an escort which stopped traffic through the tunnel. The switchbacks and elevation changes down into the canyon were totally unexpected and almost unbelievable. It was so warm down there that we didn't stop even when we had the chance.

Once again you can guess by all our other statements the temperatures once again were triple digits. Most days reaching at least 105, we were really glad to get back home and sit around and be a vegetable for the remainder of the day.

North Rim Grand Canyon - June 18th

We are going to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon today. Our campsite is outside of Hurricane, Utah, about 145 miles away. We got an early start. The weather was perfect. Our drive was uneventful but certainly beautiful and different scenery.

2 more Franklins at the North Rim

At a rest area we pulled off the road because there was a 1929 Franklin automobile parked. Talking with a woman there, we learned that the National Franklin Auto Club was having a rendezvous at the north rim. Imagine our surprise that we would get to see autos from the time frame that the Grand Canyon was opening up commerce to the public.

.

1929 Franklin - Stranded with fuel pump issue

Waiting for the entrance to open

The entrance to the South Rim you travel through miles of desert-like terrain with open spaces and tumbleweed....much what you might expect from watching old cowboy and indian movies. The North Rim is not like that at all. You enter through a mountainous forest with minimal, but lush undergrowth and a lot of wide open grazing lands. The road signs warn to beware of Buffalo, Cow, Deer, Elk and smaller animals. The North Rim is much more to my liking than the entrance to the South Rim.  

The North Rim Lodge

The canyon scenery here is not as spectacular as the south rim but I still loved it. The actual park trails on the North are not as “commercialized” as the South. The access is really off the beaten path, so to speak. We found a lovely setting overlooking the Grand Canyon where we sat down for our picnic lunch. Perfect. The lodge, nearby, was built in the early 1900's as are most of the cabins on the North Rim.

View from the Lodge

Down one of the trails

As with all our days lately the temperatures had started to climb before we headed home. The triple digit heat in Nevada and Utah is terrible. Don't ever believe that “but it's a Dry Heat!” junk. I will probably say that too often!!!!, Sorry.

Williams, AZ. & Las Vegas, NV.

We arrived in Williams early in the day, Monday. We were able to check into our campsite and set up camp. The site looked out over the mountains but that was the only thing good about it. The sites were gravel, the roads were gravel and the park had no grass. But we did manage to enjoy our visit. After settling in we put Charley in the car were off to visit Sedona, about 40 miles away.

 From our last visit to this area six years ago Nancy wanted to re-drive Oak Creek Canyon. It is back roads through the mountains and it has a babbling brook running alongside the road. Well, this area is in need of rain really bad and the babbling brook was dry in places. The road thru the canyon is full of switchbacks and ups and downs ….... it's just a magnificent drive. In Sedona we parked and walked the main street. Yes, Charley got to walk with us and every few feet she found a new friend who wanted to pet her. She had a great time. We returned to Williams the same way we came, through the canyon.

Just one of the "Gunslingers"

That evening the town of Williams had a knockdown dragout old wild west gun fight show in the middle of Main Street. Yes, we had to go see it. Corny, but a lot of fun. Had dinner at a nice little Greek restaurant in downtown Williams, too.

Since the real main attraction to Williams is it's the gateway to the Grand Canyon. Our visit included going into Grand Canyon National Park on Tuesday. It is a great place to visit. The canyon is so deep and wide. The colors changing by the minute is truly something to see. Grand Canyon, truly, is one of the seven wonders of the World. 

Hermits Rest, one of our favorite sites

 We remembered the west end of the park is what we wanted to see, so after parking the car we went into the visitor's center and then boarded the bus system to take us out there. Nice visit and lots of fun.   

Grand Canyon vista

Grand Canyon Overlook

Wednesday, was a day of driving. Nancy started out driving so she could drive the interstate. We were headed towards Las Vegas. Again this was an easy day of driving so we arrived fairly early. But the temperature is darn hot ….... it was in the 100's!!!! After setting things up in the Oasis RV Park, we stayed inside and tried to figure out what we wanted to see and do in the city. We had dinner at Caesars Palace.

Lady Liberty at New York, New York

 After taking a trip up the “strip” Nancy saw that “Menopause, The Musical” was playing at the Luxor, and that is what she wanted to see. We bought our tickets and watched the musical on Thursday night.

Sphinx inside the Luxor

Friday was the day to head out into the mountains. Our drive took us out to Death Valley. We were actually able to be 282 feet below sea level at Badwater Basin. 

Nancy & Charlie in 105+ HEAT!!

us at Badwater Basin

 Charley went with us....the day was hot the temperature in the car read 105 when we were at -282 but did reach 109 on the car temperature gauge a little later. What a landscape, barren and white spots all around. We learned the white spots were salt deposits from when this area of earth was below sea level. There actually is a small basin of salty water in Death Valley. Glad to see and experience the valley, but also, happy to leave. The temperature was still hot, hot, hot even in Vegas.   

West to Albuquerque

Tuesday morning, we headed Westward again, traveling thru Amarillo, Texas and finally stopping in Tucumcari, New Mexico. Close your eyes, picture this, a town set in the 1950's. This is what Tucumcari is. A place which grew because of Route 66. This town never grew past 1950 so what you see is motel after decrepit motel and little boarded up roadside restaurants. Like what you see on old postcards from that time frame. The town that never advanced. When I-40 was built it went in south of town but the old motels and such are not needed at all. So this town remained set back in time. The dis-repair of buildings and boarded up parts of town are just something else to see. 

We stayed for 2 night enjoying a little old RV park in town. We found a couple of areas like the old train station that someone has tried to refurbish and make something in the old town. Very interesting, but they still have a long way to go.

 Thursday morning we left little back woods Tucumcari and headed for the metropolitan area known as Albuquerque, ABQ as the locals call it. Wow back to modern. Nancy awoke this morning and thought she had low blood sugar so she tried to eat some. Not to happen by 11:00 she was ill. Not sure if it was flu, food poisoning or what. But we found the campground and was it ever nice. Long cement pads with water, electric and sewer. The campground is really nice. The campground hosts escorted us to our campsite and then Tom had to do all the setting up of camp. Nancy was terribly ill!!!!

Friday was the day to find a Costco. Yup this is the first time since leaving Estero that we did find a Costco. Then it was back to the RV to put groceries away. By this time Nancy still did not feel good so she rested. Then we thought maybe we should head to Old Town and see what's still there from our last visit. We drove Route 66 all the way into town and found our way right to Old Town. Still looked just the same and we even managed to find a parking spot right around the old town square. In the courtyard there was a concert with a folk band playing and singing. 

We sat and listened awhile then decided we should go eat. Nancy remembered the restaurant we ate at the last time we were here so she led the way to Church Street Cafe. It is an old home which historians can trace back 300 years all the time belonging to the same family, the Ruis family. About 1991 the last member to live in the family home passed away and sometime after that it was turned into a restaurant. Delightful meal then we returned home. Big day.

Saturday found us going once again, this time to Santa Fe. Last time we were here Nancy got all the way to the Georgia O'Keefe museum to find out it was closed. This time she had made phone calls and knew it was opened. We drove to Santa Fe and parked then toured the museum. Absolutely no photos allowed in the museum. Georgia was certainly a different woman. She was married for 22 years and lived in NYC. She painted much more than the large flowers she was well known for. Interesting and we learned a lot. Then there was an art fair across the street and so we had to go look. Then lunch before heading back to ABQ.

We took a side trip to a Corp of Engineers park, Cochiti Lake, on our way back home.

 Glad we decided not to stay there. Out in the sticks and not very appealing to Nancy. That evening we both felt ill....now I think it must be a flu bug.