Salt Lake City

Wednesday October 7 2015

We've had a last minute change of plan and will skip Craters of the Moon National Park. These missed attractions don't bother us, we look at it as a reason to someday come back this way. We will drive straight to Salt Lake City today and stay at the KOA campground in the city. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir practice session on Thursday evening is open to the public and we want to attend. After setting up in the RV Park we drove the jeep to Costco and Kolhs, a combined shopping trip and familiarization tour of the area.

Thursday October 8 2015

There is a light rail commuter train stop right across the street from the campground that goes uptown with a stop at Temple Square. We will use the train for all our trips to Temple Square. The thirty five acre complex is beautifully landscaped and houses all things Mormon; library, museum, visitors center, The domed Tabernacle which is the home of the choir and the Salt Lake Temple, a six spired granite edifice which took the Mormon pioneers 40 years to build.

 We went first to the visitors center where we met our young missionary tour guides, one from Argentina and the other from Sweden. Note: the guided tours are not mandatory, but I recommend it.

Our enthusiastic hosts walked us around the Temple Square and into a few of the buildings while presenting us with the basic philosophy of the Mormon religion. 

Our guides didn't go into the history of Mormonism unless in reference to a question. After the tour, which lasts about ½ hour you can visit the museum and learn the history of the religion. After satisfying our curiosity in the museum we went next door to the Family Search Center.

The Mormon's maintain the worlds largest repository of genealogical records, they do it for religious reasons but share the knowledge with anyone. Millie has been researching her ancestry for some time and she wanted to utilize the Mormon database. In my family my fathers side has been researched and shared by another family member. My mothers side is somewhat of a mystery to me. My mothers parents both died when she was very young so I knew very little about them and nothing at all about older generations.

After researching for several hours we reluctantly called it quits for the day. We had to return to the RV Park to take care of our dog Maggie and to rest a while before returning for the choir recital.

Once again we took the short train ride uptown to the Temple Square. At exactly 7:30 the doors were opened and the large crowd was allowed to enter. For no particular reason we decided to go to the upper level and selected probably the best seats in the house, 1^st row, center stage. The rehearsal is a semi formal affair, the choir was in robes but the orchestra was in street clothes, the conductor in shirt sleeves.

The choir sounded top notch to me, but the conductor would give direction after each hymn and sometimes stop them mid song. That meant we heard each song 2 or 3 times, but that was OK, the nearly 300 voices made each performance extraordinary.

Friday October 9 2015

We returned to the Family Search Center and researched for hours again today, both of us learning something new about our ancestors. Afterwards we enjoyed a fine dinner before once again riding the train back to the RV Park.

Saturday October 10 2015

Family Search Center again today, We learned how to transfer images from Ancestory.com to Family Search today and finished up our research here in Salt Lake City. After lunch we drove out to the great Salt Lake, it's not very impressive but we can mark off another bucket list item. 

Just the facts:
4 nights @ KOA RV Park= $227.43
Fuel at Willard Utah Flying J= $$2.78 per gallon, 50 gallons, $139.41 total
Dinner in town= $36.
Lunch at Mexican resturant=$22.
Total miles drive=211
end of day odometer=67621

Grand Tetons-Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Tuesday October 6 2015

We have a system for departure, with each having our duties we can be ready to go in about 20 minutes. Things were going well preparing for our departure this morning until the rear slide out refused to retract. They are hydraulic slides, so I started going through a systematic troubleshooting procedure. In the process of doing this it started working correctly. I can't say I did anything to correct whatever was wrong, it just fixed itself. Anyhow, its working so we departed Grizzly RV Park, stopped for fuel and left West Yellowstone Montana about 10am.

We reentered the park via the west entrance and drove through exiting at the south entrance. I'm glad we saw so much wild life on Sunday because the only animal we saw this morning was one buffalo.

Immediately upon leaving Yellowstone through the south entrance you enter Grand Tetons Nation Park. For 99% of the visitors it is a drive by tour, stopping from time to time at one of the scenic overlooks. That's what we did, along with our Chinese friends, they're everywhere! The Tetons are probably the most spectacular mountains we have in the USA. I don't know if they retain snow caps all year, but they are snow topped right now. 

At the bottom of the Tetons we continued south to the town of Jackson or more commonly known as Jackson Hole, Wyoming. A rustic but trendy little place, there were many other tourists wandering around the town with us. There are many restaurants, art galleries, clothing stores from chic boutique to Tacky T Shirt. We enjoyed lunch at a place called Eleven, I bought a hat and a selfy stick (for phone camera). We don't have time to wait for winter and when all the rich and famous come to town for the ski scene, but we liked Jackson just the same. Been there, done that and we were on the road again.

We took highway 22 west out of Jackson and headed towards Idaho Falls. The road almost immediately starts climbing into the mountains, signs warned of weight limits and 10% inclines. Just as we reached a steep incline we had to stop for road construction, I was afraid we would be going all the way up the hill in first gear after having to begin from a standstill but the old bus surprised me. We maintained 4000 rpm's and 27 mile per hour all the way to the top. Cylinder head water temperature never exceeded 198 degrees and Transmission fluid temperature maxed out at 181 degrees. I was happy with all that as it was a long pull of at least ten miles over the mountain range.

Going through the majestic mountain passage was just the beginning of some of the most spectacular scenery we've experienced anywhere. All the way to highway 26 the views were just awesome.

We arrived at Idaho Falls with no RV Park reservations because that's the way we like to roll. I had a park picked out as my first choice and they had a spot for us. We set up, walked Maggie, cleaned the windshield, ate dinner and relaxed. It was another really great day!

Snake River RV Park=$37.63 for one night.

Fuel in West Yellowstone $2.89 per gallon, 32.16 gallons, $93.24 total (mileage 67197)

end of day mileage 67410

Miles traveled today=213

Lunch at Eleven=$20.15

States today= Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho

Yellowstone National Park

Saturday October 3 2015

We departed McCammon RV Park and continued our trek north. We traveled about 70 miles on I-15 and then veered northeast for another 100 miles on St 20. Terrain was mostly flat farm land with the occasional small town. It did get hilly and wooded with spruce, fir and pine as we neared Montana and West Yellowstone. 

We are staying at Grizzly RV Resort in the town of West Yellowstone. It is about the nicest RV Park we've ever stayed at and reasonably priced because it is the end of the season. They will close for the winter next week.

I've been reluctant to let go of summer and have been wearing shorts and T shirts this whole trip. A bone chilling combination of rain and cold hit me when I stepped out of the motorhome and I thought, “Oh boy”, I might have made a mistake coming here this late in the season. This was reinforced by the registration clerk who told me to disconnect our water line overnight as freezing weather was expected.

Fuel=Flying J @ McCammon Idaho, 12.4 gallons, $2.74 per gallon, $34.21 Total (67021miles)

Grizzly RV Park, three nights, $120.28

All meals eaten onboard=$0

Sunday October 4 2015

We survived our first night and woke up to a beautiful crisp but dry morning. After breakfast and walking and feeding Maggie we set out on our tour of the National Park. We had main two goals, one to see an eruption of the geyser Old Faithful and to find Millie a buffalo. Old Faithful is a bucket list item and Millie has never seen a buffalo in the wild. 

Right at the edge of town you cross the Wyoming border and at the same time enter Yellowstone National Park. We hadn't driven but about eight miles into the park when we met our first objective. Coming down the road on Millie's side of the car were two giant bison. We stopped the car in the road as they sauntered by, they were about 3 feet from the jeep and seemingly oblivious to our presence. 

A short distance down the road we passed two more buffalo, on the left side of the road this time. They passed us with the same disinterest as the first two. The giant beasts then crossed the road with total disregard for the oncoming traffic. I guess this happens so often in their lives that they know the cars will stop. We saw many more buffalo as we circled the park but none as close as these first two encounters.

We were driving the 100 mile loop of connecting roads that would take us to most of the scenic spots in the park. We stopped at several of the geyser and mud pot fields before arriving at our next objective, old faithful.

We walked straight to the viewing area because we had no idea when the next eruption would be. We struck up a conversation with two men talking mostly about travel and before we knew it was showtime. 

I think old faithful has reached a point in life that it could use a little help, hopefully there is a blue pill for geysers because it obviously had a problem getting it up! The shaft of water that shot up from the ground couldn't have been more than 8 to 10 feet tall. If it wasn't for the column of steam that rose skyward it wouldn't have been much to get excited about. I felt sorry for the hundreds of Chinese tourists who came halfway around the world to see it. Oh, I haven't mentioned the Chinese, they were in the majority on the day we were in the park. Every tour bus we saw held Chinese, as did many smaller van tours, rental cars and RV's. I told Millie they must be coming over to inspect their new possessions. 

We continued our loop tour, stopping at the major points of interest along the way. In addition to the Buffalo on the road we also saw buffalo herds, some elk, a bighorn sheep, and lots of waterfowl. We arrived back at the motorhome at 5pm, took Maggie for a long walk and settled in for the night. It's funny how sitting on your butt in a car all day makes you tired, but whatever, we're done for the day.

Park entry fee= $0 with America the Beautiful pass

Lunch at Old Faithful Lodge=$19.50

Monday October 5 2015

Today we have a simple plan, walk around the town of West Yellowstone, buy the obligatory T Shirt and enjoy a meal at one of the restaurants. But first I had a small repair to do.

I noticed yesterday that water was leaking in one of the storage bins. In addition to some stuff stored in the compartment the water heater, water pump and associated plumbing are also in it. I soon discovered the source of the water, it was coming from the pump. I had to remove the pump to inspect it and saw no obvious problem. I tightened all the screws on the pump body, re installed and tested. The leak was gone. It is 15 years old and I imagine it just loosed up over the years. 

West Yellowstone is a small rustic tourist town just outside the west entrance to the National Park. Along with the park, the town is retreating into winter mode. About half the businesses are closed for the season but we still enjoyed our walk and also our dinner at the Slippery Otter Bar. Back in Grizzly RV Park, which by the way we have decided is the finest RV park we've ever stayed at, we relaxed in the afternoon sun and let Maggie outside off leach for a while. It was a really nice relaxed day.

Lunch at Slippery Otter Bar= $32.00
Sweat Shirts= $50.00

The road to Yellowstone

Thursday October 1 2015

Despite several of the blog readers telling us to take the train from Durango to Silverton we have decided to leave today. We are frequent visitors to northern New Mexico and will surely come back to Durango someday and will do the train then. 

We departed westward and stopped by the four corners monument. It's on Navajo land and costs $5.00 per adult to enter. The bronze disk has become or maybe always has been a backdrop for pictures. Everyone visiting taking turns standing on the only spot where four states meet. Ironically, the fact that the marker is about 1 ½ miles east of the actual point doesn't deter anyone from taking the photo-op.

The Navajo's have surrounded the false four state corner with a bazaar structure from which native Indians market their hand crafted jewelry, arrows, food, etc. Some people may wonder what this has to do with the survey marker, but they're not doing anything that entrepreneurs don't do at tourist destinations everywhere. It's free enterprise, good for them for working for a living.

We continued west on state road 160 until we got to SR 191, which we took up through Utah to I-70 and the Green River State Park where we spent the night. On the way north on 191 we passed though MOAB. Located in the middle of nowhere but surrounded by accessible desert, hills, and mountains, MOAB has become a mecca of sorts for riders of trail bikes, off road motorcycles, ATV's, and UTV's.

UTV's or Side by Side Utilities vehicles as they are called are the most interesting of the off road toys, imagine something halfway between dune buggy and a jeep. They are everywhere out here, we've seen more of them than ATV's aka quads or quad runners.

We refueled before going to the campground at a truck stop in Green River. While at the checkout counter I heard the following conversation. Truck Driver asks for lottery tickets, the counterman reply's “Utah doesn't have lottery tickets”. Truck Driver says “No I mean powerball or mega million”. Counter man, “This is a Mormon state, I can sell you some watered down beer and you can have as many wives as you want, but Utah has no lottery tickets”.

Fuel, Ute Mountain Indian reservation $2.27 gal, 48 gallons, $111.73 total

Green River State Park campground=$28.00 for one night W,E good OA TV, 3bar 4G Verizon

End of day millage=66705, miles driven today=346

all meals eaten onboard, cost=$0

Friday October 2 2015

Today is another travel day as we work our way north to our destination of Yellowstone National Park. The reason I decided to drive straight through from Durango to Yellowstone is cold weather comes early up there. All the campgrounds in the park are already closed for the season and the commercial RV parks in the town of West Yellowstone close by the middle of the month. 

We drove Utah highway 6 to I-15 at Spanish Fork, which is just south of Salt Lake City. There is a Costco there and we stopped for provisions and lunch. After lunch we continued north on I-15, the highway was typical urban congestion as we passed through Salt Lake City and it's outlying communities. We will return to Salt Lake on our return from Yellowstone to visit the Mormon Temple Complex.

The terrain flattened out some north of the city, but we always had mountains in sight on the horizon. Crossing the state border we traveled 43 miles into Idaho before stopping for the night at McCammon RV Park. It is one of those overnight stopping spots, not fancy but serves our needs for the night.

The terrain changed many times as we traveled the 700+/- miles through Utah, varing from wild prairie to arid desert or wooded mountain, there was a spectacular sight over every rise of the road and around every corner.

Fuel, Green River Utah Pilot, 29.2 gallons, $2.99 per gallon, $86.25 total

Lunch at Costco $5.50

Fuel, Ogden Utah, Flying J 32.2 gallons, $2.60 per gallon, $84.00 total

McCammon RV Park, $29.15 for one night. FHU, good over air TV, good Verizon signal 4 bars 4G

end of day mileage 67021, total miles driven today=318

Durango Colorado

Monday September 28 2015

We departed Kamp Kolman (Dave and Rae Anne's driveway) this morning at around 10 am. We drove down the long winding cliff side road, coming into town we always come up the truck route around the back side of “the lab” as the nuclear research facility is known by the locals. Millie drove the jeep to the bottom of the hill where we hooked to the motorhome and purchased fuel.

Our original intended destination for the day was a Corp of Engineers campground at the 5200 acre lake known as the Abiquiu Reservoir. It is only about 55 road miles from Los Alamos and before I got there I changed the plan. We did drive through the campground for future reference but continued on to our next Destination. Our next stop is Durango Colorado and we easily made the run of less than 200 miles arriving at Alpen Rose RV Park by 4:30 pm.

Tuesday September 29 2015 – Wednesday September 30 2015

Besides being an outdoor enthusiasts destination, Durango is probably most associated with the Narrow Gauge Train that runs from there to the town of Silverton. Our original intent was to visit the historic section of Durango one day and take the train on our second day in the area. We decided not to take the train ride even though several people recommended it. Eight hours just seemed like a long time to be on a trip, we rarely drive more than 4-5 hours in a day. 

We did take in the town on Tuesday and enjoyed a meal at the historic Diamond Belle Bar. Wednesday morning was spent doing some motorhome housekeeping. We returned to town in the afternoon for an early dinner at one of those gourmet pizza places, and ice cream after a walk in the old town. My definition of Gourmet Pizza is; overpriced, undersized, and with strange toppings, but ours today wasn't bad. Besides, I could probably eat rocks and enjoy them as long as I'm with my lovely wife

After dinner we drove through some of the back streets just to see what kind of houses the residents lived in. There was not one style that was prevalent, architectural types ran the gamut from cottage to English Tudor, most had some age to them and were generally small. One interesting house had a narrow facade with most of the house built into the mountainside. We also passed several new construction houses that had rusted tin sheeting as siding.

Tomorrow we are heading to Yellowstone National Park, winter comes early up there and all the campgrounds will close soon.

Fuel=$2.33 per gallon, 40.6 gallons, $95.00 total

meals while traveling, eaten aboard cost $0

meals in Durango; Diamond Belle Bar= $26.00, Fired Up Pizzaria= $20.00, Top That Frozen Yogurt= $5.85

Three nights at Alpen Rose RV Park=$127.45

T Shirts and Sweat Shirts=$42.56

Our week in Los Alamos

Monday September 21 2015

The family is back to their normal routine of work for the parents and Nursery School for Marcus and Evan. Millie and I tinkered around the house a little bit, Millie inside, I used a pressure cleaner to clean spider webs from around the exterior of the house.

Everyday we are here we walk Maggie either on the tails or in the neighborhood, in the afternoon we visit with the grand kids.

Tuesday Sept 22 2015

We drove down the mountain to Santa Fe for some supplies from Walmart and Home Depot. We had lunch at the Horseman's Haven, a locals favorite that has some really good Mexican dishes.

Wednesday Sept 23 2015

We took Rae Anne's car for an oil change, while in town we went to a Verizon store where I changed my phone plan to one of the new no contract plans. It should save us lots of money. In the afternoon I washed the motorhome.

 

Thursday Sept 24 2015

Once upon a time a beautiful princess inherited her fathers 57 Dodge truck, but alas she now lived thousands of miles from where the truck was. The princess had many cherished memories of her family driving to their summer estate (run down farm) in the Dodge. Her father had restored it to pristine condition and she was unwilling to part with it, so it was stored in a barn for many many years. At times over the years someone would discover the red truck and offer to buy it, but the answer was always no. 

There was a dream of shipping it to the princesses mountain palace but over time it became less and less likely that the truck would make the trip. And you know it's true, you can't go home again, it just wouldn't be the same after all the years and tear's. The princess had a family of her own and the memories of the farm had faded to the back of her busy life.

Eventually a decision had to be made about the truck and although it was a difficult step to take, the one thing the princess was adamant about was that no one ever drive the truck again. So one day in May Millie and I met the man from the junk yard at the barn. The old truck was carefully pulled from it's shelter. 

Under the thick covering of dust the old truck was in remarkable condition and I'm sure it could have been driven with a few minor repairs. It did make one last road trip, on a roll back wrecker to the salvage yard where it was crushed. As the princess wished, no one will ever drive the truck again.

Wanting to save some small mementos I removed a few items before the tow truck arrived. Millie and I crafted them into a piece of Contemporary art? Garage art? We're not really sure what to call it but we brought it with us on this trip and presented it to the princess. She wanted in her exersize room so today we hung it, high because of the two rambunctious 5 year olds and secure because it has a bit of weight to it.

The truck is gone, never to be driven again, the princess has her memories. Everyone lived happily ever after. The end.

Friday Sept 25 2015

Millie and Rae Anne went to Santa Fe for a mother daughter shopping day. I changed the oil in the motorhome and cleaned the drive of pine needles that a stiff breeze had shook from the trees last night. After lunch I drove up town to AutoZone for some materials for a motorhome project.

Saturday Sept 26 2015

Everyone went to Santa Fe for brunch at Wecks, a western chain restaurant which is a favorite of Millie's family. The children are now 4 ½ and 5 and I could definitely see a big change in them. Well behaved in the restaurant, everyone enjoyed our time together. 

Afterwards Dave took the kids to a park to run off some energy and Millie, Rae Anne and I went to a Mexican Pottery store which we had seen on the way to the restaurant. Interesting stuff but we didn't buy anything. First, I don't think southwestern décor would go well with our beach casual condo furnishings and second we have reached the tipping point when it comes to stuff, if we bring anything home, somethings got to go to make room for it.

We drove to old town Santa Fe but the town was so full of tourists there was absolutely no parking anywhere so we didn't stop to walk around. But like I said we don't need or have room for anything anyway.

In the afternoon I completed a motorhome project. I installed a 12 volt vacuum pump and connected the Air conditioner/heater controls to it. The controls now work consistently regardless of fluctuations in engine vacuum.

Sunday Sept 27 2015

I did another upgrade to the motorhome today. I installed a surround sound speaker system to the front driving seat area. We can now hear the radio clearly while driving. It works especially well when listening to audio books.

In the evening we had a fair well cookout with the family, tomorrow Millie and I depart for Colorado and new adventures!