Day 3

We moved to mile 42. This will be our turn around point. The wind has returned. Believe me when I say it causes problems. There is a multi million dollar house boat just around the corner from us that got blown up on the rocks on Saturday. It is half submerged. We are hoping we have enough fuel to get back to Wahweap. We have to run the generator for at least 10 hours a day to keep the batteries charged. Nothing like a little stress to add to the vacation. We have two more nights on the lake and I'm pretty sure everyone still likes everyone. Amazing!

Day 2

Today was interesting. We found out last night that the owners of this boat rental establishment let us leave the marina with an empty propane bottle for the grill. We got on the radio and were assured that they would drive a boat out here (25 miles) and replace the empty bottle. The only problem with that is they won't drive out 26 miles. We were stuck at the 25 mile marker. We found a place to hang out that was close to some cliffs for the kids to jump off of. We did that for awhile and roamed around the 25 mile marker for what seemed like a long time. Actually, it was a long time. Eventually the boat showed up with the propane and we motored up lake until we found a nice spot at around mile 31. There was the issue of the forgotten shovels at the last campsite but I prefer not to address that at this time. Everyone seems to be having fun. The grandkids enjoy the water. Scenery is spectacular, as always. The winds have dropped dramatically. All is well, as it should be, except maybe my liver. 

Day 1

We kinda lucked out yesterday because we got our orientation when we boarded instead of the morning of our departure. Because of that we were able to get up and go. That we did. Sleep deprived and hungover we left at 6. We did around 25 miles and I'm not exactly sure where we are. The chart I have is probably 20 years old and this Lake Powell is not the same lake depicted on my chart. We've had a few hiccups today but nothing major. It's a learning curve that we have to repeat every time we do this. The wind has been a problem but it's supposed to drop off tomorrow. We have no Internet and I'm seeing only 1 bar on my phone so I might have to post this at some later date. Let's see what happens.

On the Lake (sort of)

Today was, has been, is, very hectic. The mob arrived, we got the houseboat at 5. We picked up the wave runner in Page, launched it and parked it near the house boat, the kids went to Walmart for groceries. We used 4 carts to get them down the hill. I hope you get the idea. Transition days are always a mess. Once we get on the lake and establish a routine hopefully things will settle down. I'm not sure about posting anything for the next few days. We are on the lake until Thursday.

Lake Powell day 2

Everyone made it to Phoenix and they are spending the night in Flagstaff. It was 106° in Phoenix and 76° in Flagstaff. Staying there was probably a good idea. We had some rain yesterday which produced a bright Rainbow. I rode my bike around the park this afternoon and took those pictures. Those houseboats are privately owned. That's a lot of houseboats. I am somewhat concerned about the wind. The wind has been so strong it is difficult to stand. Securing a 60 foot houseboat to the shore in a strong wind might prove difficult. We are on the boat, in the marina, tomorrow so I should be able to post something. While we're on the boat out in the lake probably not.

Lake Powell

We are camped in the Wahweap campground. This is, I think, the 4th or 5th time we have camped here. The kids land in Phoenix tomorrow and will spend the night in Flagstaff. Seth is in Idaho on business and will land in Charlotte late tonight. He will immediately have to turn around and go back to the airport. That's only if his flights are operating and on schedule. Cross your fingers. There has been some significant weather around us all afternoon. There was a flash flood warning on our phones with a list of slot canyons that needed to be evacuated. Kinda exciting. We will all spend the night on the boat in the marina on Saturday and head out on Sunday. More tomorrow.

Kanab (Best Friends Animal Sanctuary)

We have had our first hik-up on this trip. We drove in here to retrieve the MP from temporary storage. I did quite a bit of searching, trying to find a place with a 15 amp electric hookup that we could use. The plug in question was ground fault protected. When we first went out to that storage unit 10 days ago, that plugs breaker was tripped. No one was using that circuit as far as I knew so that was a red flag. I reset the plugs breaker and everything worked fine. Well, when we got here this afternoon the breaker had popped and the MP was without power for who knows how long. Everything in the fridge was warm. We had to throw it all out and there was an unpleasant smell. The coach batteries were dead and we had to jump through some hoops to get everything working again but I believe we are back up and running. God, I love RVing. That pic was taken moments before that Chipmunk crawled up my arm. We are in Page Az tomorrow.

Zion day 3

There is quite a lot to cover today. We got the before 9 AM lottery award for the  Angels Landing hike. So, of course we started at 6. The approach trail to the chain climb is only 2 miles but it is very steep. There is supposed to be a ranger checking for permits at the beginning of the Angels Landing portion but we got up there before the ranger did, so we pressed on. If you are standing there looking up at the climb it seems improbable. Very steep, very exposed. We pressed on one step at a time and eventually made it to the top. There were many Chipmunks at the top. I unwrapped a granola bar as I sat down and was immediately attacked by several wanting a handout. They climbed up my arm and onto my shoulder. I, of course, didn't give them a crumb. The climb down was a little more congested with up climbers competing with down climbers for the chain. That's my second time on that hike and I'm pretty sure that will be my last. Tomorrow John and Jeanne head home and Jenny and I head to Kanab to get the MP out of storage. So far our plan has been aligning with reality. Really weird. More tomorrow from Kanab.

Zion day 2

We did a couple of hikes today. Our most significant hike was the approach trail to the Narrows of the Virgin River. The Virgin River Narrows hike is the most hiked route in the park. At the end of the one mile trail that we hiked the trail ends and in order to continue you have to walk upstream in the river. The river was clogged with people. We were not going to hike in the river anyway but seeing the mob wading upstream convinced us that we didn't want to be part of that group. I threw our names into a lottery for a chance to hike to Angels Landing tomorrow and bizarrely we won. The Angels Landing hike is one of the most iconic hikes in the country. John and I will get an early start tomorrow. I should have a few pics taken from the top in tomorrow's post. Tomorrow is the last full day of this 10 day adventure with John & Jeanne. It's been an action packed trip with good fellowship. More tomorrow.

Zion National Park

The drive was embarrassingly short to get here. We arrived something like 4 hours before check in. I've never stayed in the lodge here. There is a gate with a code that lets us into a part of the park where riff raff urchins aren't allowed. I had last years code. That was a source of some excitement. A shuttle bus driver, with a full passenger load behind us, was not impressed. We eventually got through the gate and had a good lunch in the lodge. To kill some time we booked a narrated 1 hour trolley tour up the canyon road. We eventually both got checked into our cozy cabins and are now waiting for our dinner reservation time to arrive. It was hot in the valley this afternoon but the cabins are air conditioned. Whoppee! More tomorrow.

Bryce day 3

Today we had a small dilemma. We have accumulated a weeks with of laundry but we  wanted to do some more exploring. Our solution was to split up. John and I did a 6 mile hike on the fairyland trail. (Jenny drove us to the trailhead and we hiked to the lodge) Jenny and Jeanne did a shorter hike to Mossy Cave and were able to find a laundromat outside the park. That plan was executed perfectly and we all met back here at 2:00. We are thinking pizza and beer this afternoon. It's Zion for 3 days starting tomorrow. Not sure what we'll do there. We tried and failed to get a slot for the Angels Landing hike and we absolutely won't do The Virgin River Narrows again. Twice is plenty. More tomorrow.

Bryce day 2

This is becoming a habit. It 10:30 and our day has just ended. Jenny, John & I did one of the classic Bryce Canyon hikes this morning. Jeanne is not comfortable with the 9000 foot elevation so she bowed out of the morning hike. We did a few things outside the park in the early afternoon and then drove 18 miles to the upper end of the park to see the small grove of Bristle Cone Pine trees that the park has. There was a nice hike to see those trees. We had just enough time to stop at the favorite place for viewing the sunset. Of course we are approaching the longest day of the year so sunset was close to 9:00. Socializing ensued and here we are 10:30. We are here one more day. More tomorrow.

Bryce Canyon

During the drive here we took a detour on a 30 mile dirt road to visit "Hells Backbone". It's kinda hard to explain so I won't do it but I have included some pictures. We are here for 3 nights and will begin our exploration tomorrow. We are at close to 9000 feet. There is no AC in any of the buildings but the typical high is in the 80s and the average low is in the 50s. More tomorrow.

Torrey day 4

Today's adventure was a long hike on the frying pan trail. The scenery was spectacular but the trail was brutal. We did it one way leaving one car at the take out and driving the other to the trailhead. We were on the trail for nearly 6 hours and saw no one else. Either everyone else knew something we didn't or we didn't know something we should of. Even though the hike was difficult, and we were happy when it ended, the experience will not be forgotten any time soon. It was an A+.

Torrey day 3

We did a long scenic drive today after a visit to the visitor center and some fruit harvesting from the extensive orchards in the park. We decided that we should probably take a day off from hiking. We hit the trails again tomorrow. 

Torrey Utah day 2

I probably should have mentioned yesterday that we are in Torrey to visit Capital Reef NP. We did a long hike today down Sulfur Creek. It was supposed to be 5 miles but Apple, and Garmin begged to disagree. There were 4 waterfalls that required some scrambling to get around. It was an adventure that shall not be forgotten very soon. We are here until Thursday.

Torrey Utah

John and Jeanne arrived a few hours after we did after 2 long days of driving. We did a couple of short hikes to get their legs working. We will do some serious exploring starting tomorrow. Yesterday's ORV tour was a 90 minute rollercoaster ride. It was called a Sunset Tour and that it was. We didn't get back to the MP until 9:30. The weather has been cooperating for the most part. Highs in the 80s and lows in the 50s. More tomorrow.

Kanab day 3

We have booked a 2 and a half hour sunset tour through parts of Coral Pink Sand dunes SP on ORVs. We are riding, not driving. We most likely won't get back to the MP until pretty late so I probably won't post anything about that until tomorrow. We put the Old Girl in storage tomorrow and drive to Torrey Utah to meet up with John and Jeanne. I did a pleasant bike ride this morning around a lake that is not far from here. See pic.

Kanab day 2

Today we did "The belly of the dragon". Apparently, years ago, a tunnel was dug through a hillside to facilitate the efficient movement of flood waters under a highway. Through the years, after many floods, that tunnel has grown and been reshaped. It's now a tourist attraction. We walked through the tunnel and continued up the canyon for about a mile before turning around. The next part of this trip will be visits, with John & Jeanne Begnaud, to Capital Reef, Bryce and Zion. 10 days total. We have booked a storage facility for the RV here in Kanab. We visited that place this morning and we think there's a good chance it will work out. There was some confusion about the site we had been assigned and the availability of electricity at the site. Please cross your fingers. Not sure what we will do tomorrow. We will need to give some thought to what we will need to take with us on our National Park tour. More tomorrow.

Dark Sky RV campground

We are in Kanab Utah. On the way here we drove through Page Az and drove around lake Powell just to have a look. It's still a lake, just very much diminished. This campground serves a free meal for all the campers every Thursday. That's today. Lasagna and complementary beer and wine. There is also a star gazing deal with telescopes at 9:45. Hopefully we can stay up after eating lasagna and drinking wine.

Flagstaff day 2

I've been thinking pretty deeply today about Flagstaff. A flagstaff is a stick with a flag on it. I'm just wondering. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight without thinking about it. Anyway, Flagstaff's elevation is 7200 feet. There is effectively 23% less O2 at this altitude. I mention that because I rode a few of the Forest Service trails behind the KOA this morning. During the short ride to the trailhead my heart rate was above 150. This is not a good sign. During the ride I encountered a young lady who was out for a hike. She passed me. Kinda embarrassing. Anyway, I exhausted myself but recovered enough to take Jenny on a hike on some of the trails that I rode. So, we both got some much needed exercise. We move tomorrow to Kanab Utah.