Traveling the West, Part Four: Utah and Back to Oregon

Welcome to Utah!  It's a beautiful state with so much to see.  We've been to its National Parks and Monuments a few times and that's what I imagined we'd be doing this trip.  Not so.  We skirted the edges, staying one night just outside of Zion, and a few more nights outside of Bryce.  Have mercy, if you get a chance, do visit those parks.

By the time we got to Utah we were ready for cool water and green shade.  Pictured below is a quick roadside stop on the edge of Lake Powell.  It's not a good view and we couldn't get to the water without going into a park.  You can Google Lake Powell.  It's phenomenal.  We did one busy tourist destination this trip (Grand Canyon), and that was enough for Wally and LuLu.  After all, they are why we travel in a motorhome.

Just because you see water doesn't mean you can get to it.  It flows through a farmer's field or the occasional crowded park or it's at the bottom of a canyon.  It's not for passers by.  An accessible skiff of water is an oasis.

Ahhhh... it feels so good to get wet.

Oh, happy day, we found a small park with cool water and green shade!

And a place where the dogs could actually swim.

After a three day rest stop we had to think about heading toward home (insert sad face), but we made the most of it and drove Utah's scenic Hwy 14.

After all that glorious scenery we crossed the Nevada desert again.  Here's LuLu.  She was the prettiest sight on that leg of the trip.

We re-entered Oregon by way of Doherty Slide, which is considered one of the scariest stretches of highway in the US.  Really?  We didn't learn that fact until afterward.  We were awestruck when we reached this point, but you really must be there to grasp the stunning vastness of the landscape.  There's a hang glider launch up here.

We camped one night in southern Oregon.  Every time Rich did the auto-leveling of the motorhome Wally went to his safe place in the front seat.

Oregon's Hwy 140 has become one of my favorite routes.

Hopped onto the interstate for a quick route back to the coast.

All wrapped up with quite a few photos left out.  I've been so busy working on the photo book and blog posts I haven't taken any new photos since we've been home.  However, I will stop in for a visit here next Saturday.  Take care and see you then!

Traveling the West, Part Three: Arizona

Well, here we are in northwest Arizona, friends.  We looped onto Route 66 hoping to see a lot of cheesy roadside attractions, but this was the only stop along the whole loop.  It's mostly antique memorabilia, but fun to look at.

photo

I took the next picture just for the cactus and Joshua tree.  Don't see those on the Oregon coast!

It was fun to look around inside the store, too.  We each bought a Route 66 sweatshirt.

After a long drive with not much to see, we put down roots for three days at a park in Williams, AZ.  It was the last place we stayed before heading into Grand Canyon National Park.

Wally and LuLu had room to run free, but it was so dang hot except in the early morning and late evening.

I thought of my blogging friend, Connie, when I took the following cool tree bark photo.  She likes this stuff.  So do I.

The remainder of today's photos were taken along the Grand Canyon's south rim.  They don't come close to showing the awesomeness of the place, but you've seen plenty of Grand Canyon photos, I'm sure.  We arrived mid-day when the sun was high, the distance hazy, and the shadow play minimal.  Nevertheless, these are my photos which will look fantastic in large print in our yearly Shutterfly photo book.

I was taking pictures when a nice lady came along and asked if we'd like her to take our picture.  Well, sure!  So here we are.  I'm squinty-eyed and wild-haired, but this was pretty much my look the whole trip.

I spotted this condor from across the canyon.  I didn't know there were condors in the Grand Canyon, but I thought if I could see a buzzard on a rock from that far away, I either have very good eyesight or it's a very BIG buzzard.  So we drove to another view point so I could get a closer shot.

I loved the stacked rocks in the next photo.  See the tiny people on the rim?

Rich parked alongside the road and stayed with the dogs and the air conditioning while I plowed through the brush and came out at a flat where I walked a fair distance.  I kept careful watch for rattlesnakes and mountain lions as this is their country, but I wanted to experience the views and the countryside without the crowds.  It would be so easy to fall off the rim...  I knew Rich would be getting worried by the time I turned around and, sure enough, before I got all the way back to the RV he started honking intermittently, just in case I was lost.  Sheesh.

As the day wore on the shadows grew deeper.

After this we headed into Utah, and that's another whole experience.  I'll see you again next Saturday.  Have an awesome day!

Traveling the West, Part Two: Nevada

It takes a long time to drive across Nevada, and we did it twice on this trip -- endless stretches of highway through huge valleys surrounded by mountains you never quite seem to reach.  Rich took full advantage of that 70 mph speed limit.  I've always thought of motorhomes as large lumbering, slow-moving beasts, holding up traffic and annoying other motorists.  Not necessarily so!

Miles and miles of sagebrush and sand... there are virtually no developed rest stops, but that's what you get on the road less traveled.  We avoid crowds and highly regulated areas, anyway, so it's no matter to us.  A gravel pile is one of the best places to stop with a motorhome and two big dogs who need to run.  We spent quite a little while here.

Lots of open space to explore.  You really have to get out there and walk through it, sit a spell, look around.

Back on the road again... after driving a good deal more, we finally reached those elusive mountains and the little town of Austin.  Interesting.  Mining was its bread and butter, but it appears times have changed.  We gassed up the RV here and wandered around.  I took quite a few pictures of different areas, but have chosen only a few to share here.

The view is amazing!

There were lots of stone walls like this... perhaps retaining walls or old mines closed up.  I'm just guessing.

Desert wildflowers in August.  You know I had to photograph them.

It was a short trip through the mountains, then back to the valley.

We drove the Extraterrestrial Highway (near Area 51).  You'd think there would be more roadside attractions and businesses capitalizing on the theme, but this is the only thing we came across.

There were Joshua Trees at this elevation.

You can see quite a few of them in the background.

A little further down the road we found our rest stop for the night.  I took a photo and documented each place we stayed and it became a quest to try to get the one photo that made the place look good no matter what the real story was.  The photo below doesn't look too bad for the middle of the desert.  In fact it was just a big gravel lot behind a combo store/grill/gas station, but we felt lucky to find it.  We were the only ones there, so Wally and LuLu had the run of the place.  Full hook ups.  The owners were very friendly and we got a darn good hamburger for dinner that night.

One of the last places we stopped before we left Nevada was the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge.  There were actually quite a few of these managed marshes in the Nevada desert.  Who knew?  They're a sight for sore eyes, especially if you're a thirsty antelope or migrating bird.

I'm going to stop here because after this we headed into Arizona down Route 66 and then into Grand Canyon National Park.  That's a whole other bunch of pictures and quite a change of scenery.  Some of the most awesome stuff is ahead.  Thanks for coming along so far!