Day 5 - Utah to Idaho

We headed north out of Utah and traveled across the southern part of Idaho, crossing the beautiful Snake River several times. Our drive was just four hours today, one hour shorter than yesterday. We are seeing more farmland and cows now. Maybe even some Idaho potatoes? Not sure.  

Apparently people like to put stickers on the welcome sign.

The days are still warm but at least the nights are cooling off.  

Jack threw up in the RV but thankfully it wasn’t while we were on the road. It’s always something.

When I let Jack out last night for his final potty break, I marveled at the stars in the sky. Usually Chris lets Jack out; now I see what I am missing, but don’t get any ideas, Chris, you can still have that job.

We got a request for pictures of the inside of Thor. Great idea. I took some while we were all cinched up on the road and then some to show when we are parked with all the slides out. Jack seems to star in almost every picture.

With slides out:

On to Oregon tomorrow where we’ll spend our final night on the road camped near the Columbia River.

Day 4 - Ahh... Lush Green Grass

We have progressed from dry, rugged Wyoming to greener, beautiful Utah.   

Jack is happy once again to be in soft grass, as are we:

It was just a 5-hour-drive day so we got settled into our campsite in Tremonton, Utah by 3 pm. Fun fact: Tremonton is near the site of Promontory Point where the transcontinental railroad met up in 1869. I had visited the site with my parents in 1980.

I put a load of laundry in our stackable washer/dryer and we headed out with Jack for a walk to a nearby neighborhood park. There was an inviting splash pad at the park but sorry, Jack, your kind is not allowed to partake of it. The city library is located in the park. I would’ve loved taking my kids to this place when they were young. The old Town Bell that tolled curfew for children for 25 years sits in the park too. The bell was replaced by an electric siren in 1936 to signal special occasions and emergencies.

Back at camp, we enjoyed a pleasant dinner outside for the first time on this trip. It’s been either too hot, too windy, or too cramped. Then Chris scrubbed bug carcasses off our giant windshield.

Even as we’re driving along and I go in the back to make myself a cup of tea, I find myself doing some dusting while waiting for the tea to steep. I guess after living in our vehicle for four days, the housekeeping bug sets in. 

Day 3 - Rolling Along

On Day 3 of our journey northwest we said goodbye to Kansas, did a quick cut through Colorado, and ended up in Rawlins, Wyoming. Drive time was about 7 hours. No mishaps with the slide covering today and only one broken kitchen saucer.   

Chris planned our trip to be front-end heavy on the driving to expedite our voyage out of the Texas heat. Each day we drive a little less and the weather has finally started to be a little cooler and definitely less humid. My glasses have stopped fogging up when we step outside. Our air-conditioning vents no longer have condensation on them.   

Less humidity may mean cooler weather but it can also result in a lack of grass. The RV park in Wyoming was all gravel. It made me long for the lush grass at the Oklahoma RV park that our dog Jack positively relished rolling in. 

Oh yeah, about that broken saucer... as we were turning out of the Kansas RV Park, one of our giant tires hit a dip in the road just so, and the sudden jolt caused a kitchen cabinet door to fly open and dishes to come crashing out. I learned that Corelle dishes do break. Luckily it was only one saucer that broke. Ironically, I had forgotten to bungee-cord shut the refrigerator and drawers that normally fly open but this time it was a different door that popped open. I might have to start duct-taping the cabinets shut. 🤣

We’ve seen a variety of scenery already: hills, plains, bluffs, snow-covered Rocky Mountains, not to mention flying cows in Kansas!

Here is our view driving through Wyoming:

We look forward to seeing what the road ahead brings.

Day 2 - Thor in the Wind

We’re taking a more direct route this year to get up to Washington state. So this is Thor’s first time through Oklahoma and Kansas. 

The Oklahoma sticker got added to our map of places where Thor has spent the night. 

Whereas Oklahoma was “okay” (see what I did there?), Kansas was windy as all get out.

“One of the worst crosswinds we’ve had.” So stated Chris as we drove through central Kansas heading west from Salina on I70. The wind was blowing from south to north, so right into Chris’s side of Thor. You could literally feel the wind blowing through the windows on his side and hear it howling. We pulled into a rest area but the truck/RV area was full, so we continued along the highway, battling through the gusts.

Strange banging sounds started coming from the roof and outside of Thor. We found a truck stop to pull into and Chris hopped out into the 30 mile an hour wind to check it out. The cover that rolls up over one of the slide-outs had torn loose. Actually it was the duct tape from a previous patch job that had torn. (You’re smiling aren’t you?) Not to worry, we carry the almighty all-purpose duct tape with us so Chris climbed on the roof and patched it up again.

It was no wonder we saw so many wind turbines. They were getting a workout.

Kansas must be the home of “amber waves of grain” because that’s the phrase that came to mind when I saw the wind rippling through the fields.

At the risk of carrying it too far, how appropriate that the song “Dust in the Wind” was written of course by the band “Kansas”.

We passed a sign for the “World’s Largest Czech Egg” tourist attraction in Wilson, Kansas. But Chris was not in the mood to see it. He wouldn’t let us pull over in “Russell”, Kansas either (home of Bob Dole) for a photo op.

On top of all this, the Astros were losing big time as we were listening to the game on the radio. 

Interesting way to spend our 32nd wedding anniversary. Through good times and bad, we’re still truckin’ along.... Happy Anniversary Honey.

Day 1 - Repaired, Recovered, Ready to Roll

Just a few weeks ago Thor, our RV, was being towed into the shop and Chris was recovering from jaw surgery. But I’m happy to report all is well now and we are back on the road for our annual summer trip up north. 

Thor needed a new water pump and it’s actually a good thing that we discovered it before we hit the road. He was on his way for his annual physical, also know as State Inspection. Instead, a 3-hour ordeal ensued.

First a tow truck that could handle Thor’s girth had to be located. Then Chris waited an hour and a half on the side of the road for the tow truck to arrive all the way from Conroe. Thirty minutes to hook it up to the tow truck and finally the tow to the RV repair shop, which seems to be Thor’s second home. I think Chris secretly enjoyed getting to ride in the cabin of the tow truck and chat it up with the driver. 

We left for our journey on the day that Chris’s one-month no-chew diet ended. But he’s still on a soft-food diet so this time our blender is accompanying us instead of our toaster. Smoothies are replacing waffles.

Amazingly Thor was repaired in just under two weeks; our RV mechanic is usually ridiculously slow. Thor stopped off for his physical on the way home from the shop and passed inspection. So both Chris and Thor now have a clean bill of health. Let the summer vacation begin!

Our first stop is Oklahoma City. I love the Twin Fountains RV Park WiFi password:  happycamper 

Two Happy Campers

End of the Road Trip

Texas plains

The end of the road is fast approaching for our summer trip.

  

Over the last nine days we’ve made our way from Utah through Colorado; spent four nights in New Mexico and now we are back in Texas. Our 3-month RV trip to Washington State and back is nearly over.  

Northern New Mexico 

We have been on the road since July 2 staying at a total of 23 different RV parks in ten different states. We visited three national parks: Arches, Lassen Volcanic, and Mesa Verde. We did take a few breaks from sleeping in Thor: one night in Bend, Oregon; four nights in Seattle; and three in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Since Utah, it’s been so windy at times that it felt like the wind was trying to blow us home. Except, unfortunately, it wasn’t a tail wind. It was more of a cross-wind which is not much fun to drive in, or so I hear.

Sundance RV Park in Cortez, Colorado

We spent three nights here with a day trip into Durango where we visited the cool train museum.

Mesa Verde National Park was right up the road so we took advantage of that. What a treat! We got to see 800-year-old cliff dwelling remains. You can only walk through them on ranger-led tours in order to preserve them and you aren’t allowed to touch any of the structures.

Cliff Palace

We toured “Cliff Palace” and “Balcony House” which are only accessible by climbing down uneven steps and climbing up wooden ladders. The rangers had us speculate on what it would be like to live on the side of a cliff. There’s so much we don’t know for sure about their life on the cliffs in the 1200’s so it really gets your imagination going.

Climbing ladder from Balcony House

Riana COE campground, Abiquiu NM

This campground in northern New Mexico was an Army Corps of Engineers project located on a bluff overlooking the Abiquiu reservoir. Our site had such a nice view that I figured we had the best site in the park. Then I took a walk and noticed that every site had a great view.

There were signs warning of rattlesnakes but a whole area for tent camping. I think I’ll pass on sleeping on the ground with rattlesnakes around! I didn’t see any though and in fact the only snake I’ve seen on this trip was in Kent, Washington of all places.

Santa Fe, New Mexico 

We were treated to three nights here at Buffalo Thunder Casino and Resort for a celebration of top fundraisers with the MS Society. Thor stayed up the road at an RV park where he could be plugged in so the refrigerator could run. It was a great group of people to hang out with. Chris did a scenic 36-mile bike ride with the group one morning and we hiked through Bandelier National Monument the next day and saw more cool cliff dwellings.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Canyon, Texas 

We stayed two nights here in America’s second largest canyon near Amarillo in the Texas panhandle.

One evening we heard coyotes howling. The next day a roadrunner ran right over to our picnic table. This must be the home of those old cartoon characters: Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote!

We hiked to the Lighthouse rock formation which was a 2.7-mile hike one-way. Had to scramble up steep rocks at the end to make it to the top but it was worth it for the awesome view. Jack proved to be a pretty good rock-climbing dog. But as we made our way back in the midday heat for the 2.7-mile return hike, Jack was pausing in whatever patch of shade he could find. I could imagine him thinking “What are we doing back in this Texas heat? What happened to that cool lake house we were hanging out at?” Good questions Jack!

Luckily, it cools off at night here in the canyon so I could sit outside and enjoy the full moon and listen to the crickets chirping.

Windy Fillmore, Utah

Yesterday was the first day we went off course from our scheduled RV Park plan. Chris always researches our route and reserves spots at parks along the way with good reviews. We were planning on stopping at Huntington State Park in Utah but the wildfires had other plans for us. Instead we ended up in Fillmore, Utah which was originally the capital of the Utah territory, designated by Brigham Young himself in 1851.

Located in the center of the territory, it seemed like a good spot for the capital and the town Fillmore, named after President Millard Fillmore, was laid out. Construction began on the capitol but funding ran out after only one wing of the building was complete. Being out in the middle of nowhere, the town never prospered and Salt Lake City became the capital instead. The one wing of the capitol building still stands and is now a museum. Sadly, the museum was closed before I had a chance to drag Chris there with me to see it.

All I know is central Utah can get mighty windy.

The KOA campground we stayed at had good reviews and was very clean with lots of grassy areas. There’s just not much to do in the small town so it’s good for short stays, just like the short-lived capital. 

The ferocious winds finally died down last night. We got to see a colorful sunset and a bright half moon. This morning was very pleasant at 75 degrees and sunny.

Look at all that grass:

Jack enjoyed stretching out with his Downward Facing Dog yoga pose:

We ate our cereal outside and then had to load up for another day on the road. Got to get back on plan.