Month: May 2014

UTAH, WHERE WE’VE MET NATURE

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imageHome at last!  We made it to Moab, Utah in southern Utah and spent our first day exploring Arches National Park.  This fantastic place has 2000 natural arches which have fascinated people for decades.  I call my favorites Elephant Arches and you can see why.  image

Next, we took a jet boat ride on the Colorado River, which, by the way, is approaching flood stage, and saw what the cliffs, spires, mesas, arches and walls look like from the water.  It was so amazing and was followed by an excellent “Cowboy dinner.”image

Today we discovered Canyonlands National Park.  This is another incredible place which is best viewed from above.  It is the largest park in Utah and hasn’t really all been explored.  It features three sections defined by the Colorado River, the Green River and their confluence.  We visited Island in the Sky and were amazed by the vast beauty of the place.  The scale is so huge and my paltry pictures do the magnificent place no justice.

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Tomorrow we will relocate so that we can see Capital Reef National Park.  The last time I was there I was opening the car door and caught my brother, Jeff’s finger in the hinged part of the door so instead of seeing the park we rushed the many miles back to Cedar City to the hospital.  It was an accident, Jeff!  Really!!

MOTORHOME MAINTENENCE

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imageOur trip so far has been fun and uneventful but there have been a few bumps along the way.  As you can imagine, our house requires constant tinkering.  So does Bill’s.  So does everyone’s. For example, before we leave Mark checks the tires, oil, batteries, hooks up the brake on the car and checks that it is properly attached to the hitch.  He unhooks sewer, water, and electricity, and makes sure the “basement”doors are secure.  Inside, I clean the floors so the slides don’t damage the tile, I stow everything so it won’t fall or break or rattle(hopeless).  I put bars in the fridge so when I next open the doors everything won’t fall out.  I turn on the inverter, start the rig and after the air comes up, I pull in the slides.  Then we are ready to roll.  BUT.  Here’s what has gone awry.  When we left Branson we were out of town 5 minutes when all the engine red lights came on.  When you burn diesel you make soot and the heat of the engine burns it up, UNLESS the cat has walked on the buttons and turned the regeneration one off.  (Not good.). Took 30 minutes after a panicked stop and frantic reading of the engine OEM to determine what we had to do.  Sat on I-70 while the engine ran at top speed to burn the soot.  Later on that day, a car drove up beside Bill with a sign telling him his headlight was broken.  This was after we had gone through another rain storm and Bill’s windshield wiper fell off.  The coupe de gras was when we stopped at a rest stop for lunch and another rig which had stopped beside us took off and with a terrible wrenching sound, his car and hitch came loose from his motorhome, bounced along from side to side behind him, ran into the back bumper of the motorhome and gouged a great hole in it.  We ran to stop him and he casually got out, said he had just had a new hitch installed and they must not have locked it on right, fixed it and left.  Stay cool, my friend!  Yeesh!!!

WHO KNEW?

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imageSo who knew Kansas was an oil well Mecca?  Not me!  We’ve passed hundreds of these rigs and camped last night next to The Oil Patch Museum which is seldom open but has a great display of oil well equipment and derricks around its building.  We’ve also seen cows, lots of horses, donkeys, and goats.  Driving through here is like driving through North Dakota:some rolling hills and a lot of flat land, straight roads except where it looks like I70 coming from the wast didn’t link up with I 70 coming from the east so they had to make a jog.  Next at stop, Golden, Colorado and the Rockies,

BIGGEST BALL OF TWINE IN THE WORLD

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imageimageYes, really!  It’s found in Cawker City, Kansas.  First of all, city is a major misnomer but largest ball of twine isn’t.  This ball is about 10 feet tall and weighs 19,906lbs which includes what we added today.  It was started in 1953 by a farmer who had odds and ends of twine left over from baling and started twisting it into a ball.  During the Kansas centennial in 1961 the then 5000 lb ball was loaded onto a tractor and paraded through town and then donated to the populace who have made a habit of adding twine annually at a festival and encouraging stupid tourists who drive three hours out of their way to see it to wind twine on it, too.  So why did we go here?  Bill did it as a surprise for Eileen who thought it was a dumb idea.   But we pulled over in a “no truck parking”zone and ran across the street to see it.  Even the cats eyed this potential toy with interest.  Al’s Bar and Grill wasn’t open for lunch because his 100 year old auntie had just died so we hopped on the buses and headed for Russell, Kansas.

22 TONS OF FUN (OR TERROR)

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imageAfter three nights in Branson, Missouri, we hit the road again on our way to Golden, Colorado.  This will involve two boogie nights in Lawrence and Russell, Kansas.  But , I did want to talk some about Mossouri.  First, it is NOTHING like I imagined.  It is very hilly and the hills and valleys are covered with trees, mostly hardwoods.  There are rivers and lakes and incredible rock outcroppings which tell of ancient seas ebbing and flowing, laying down hundreds of feet of silt, fossils, and other things which were then eroded into the hills we spent two terrifying days traversing.  When you are pushing 22 tons up a hill, okay.  When 22 tons is pushing you downhill, hold on!  The picture above does not do Missouri justice.  All the roads are hewn out of this rock and in some places it resembles the desert southwest rock formations.  I wasn’t quick enough to get a really good picture.  Anyway, this was this morning as we left Branson.  The hill is about an 800 foot climb after going down a similar hill.  Wow!!

BOOGIE NIGHTS

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imageSo on nights when we just spend that night in a campground and move on the next day, Bill calls Boogie Nights.  This is what we did in Kentucky in Paducah.  Today we are traversing Missouri to get to Branson.  It has been the longest 300 miles I’ve ever traveled!  We crossed the mighty Mississippi on the border between Kentucky and Missouri on one of the narrowest two lane bridges I’ve ever been on.  Honestly, my insides turned over and I had to close my eyes.  Good thing I wasn’t driving.  Spent lunchtime in a Walmart parking lot along with a pepto pink pick-up, an old Chevy whose front end was stylishly held together with duck tape, and two toothless women who followed us around Dollar General.  I’ll leave you to add your own comments!imageSo, Missouri roads are interesting.  We are apparently in The Ozarks which are  up hill and down dale and around careening curves.  The junctions are lettered,as in Junction DD, the view is of hardwoods and lumber mills, a few long horned steers and goats.  Again, add your own comments.  Those who know me well, know the soundtrack going on on my head!  Finally, here are a couple pictures as we crossed Old Man River.  Next stop, Branson.image imagePS.  Missouri must be one of the places Verizon doesn’t cover because I’ve had no cell service since we crossed the river.

Anthony Winston: Good Guy

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Need your motorhome or RV detailed? How about your car, truck or boat? I would like to strongly recommend Anthony Winston of Winston’s Unlimited Mobile Detailing.  Anthony also does power washing in general, windows or gutters and mobile auto detailing. Although located in the Raleigh NC area, Anthony is willing to travel if the job’s right. He loves to do big events, travelramas, horse shows etc. Anthony started by doing big horse shows. Lots of power washing needed when horse trailers are involved, if you know what I mean!  He  began traveling around the country to other horse shows and then RV  events to help folks keep their rigs bright and shiny.  He has five children, four of whom are in high school.  He and his helper, Ned, came and got our rig and Jeep in ship shape the day before we left.  Thanks, Anthony!  You and Ned are great guys!!

THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF OUR LIVES

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imageToday was a very unsettling day.  We untethered ourselves from everything we have known for 26 years and set off on a great new adventure.  Three hours driving in  blinding rain we made the 137 miles to Statesville, NC.  Our neighbors, Bill and Eileen Graham from Emerald Isle met us later in the afternoon.  Bill has been our motorhome mentor and these next 4 months will be a great learning experience.    The KOA we stayed in was  nice but the flies were tremendous.  The cats had a great time stalking them!  Tomorrow on to Sevierville, TN.