Las Vegas

Tuesday October 13 2015

We left our storage lot campsite and St George Utah today for a relatively short ride of 125+/- miles. Our destination is a Thousand Trails RV Park in Las Vegas, Nevada. What a surprise we had on I-15 as it passes from Utah to Arizona and then Nevada. The road snakes its way through a spectacular mountain pass, it's a scenic wonder to rival any National Park. 

We arrived at Thousand Trails early in the day, check in went smoothly and we set up on our assigned site. The sites are narrow, our RV pretty much goes from one side to the other with our slides out. If someone parks next to us there's no way we could put our awning out. The whole park is gravel with the exception of the paved roads and a few little patches of grass at the end of the rows.

Thousands Trails is like a RV timeshare, they have about 80 parks scattered around the country. They are all old and vary greatly in quality. You can't give this TT demerits for the gravel and lack of grass, this is the desert southwest and the other RV parks we've visited here in Vegas have the same ground surface and shortage of grass. 

The biggest detrimental feature is the narrow sites, that and the barbed wire topped block wall that surrounds the park. The security wire varies from straight barbed wire to razor wire to Concertina (coiled) wire. The neighborhood outside the wire doesn't look threatening to me, but they didn't install it without reason. On the other hand, this park has one of the nicest adult lounges we've seen in any park.

We went to the lounge to watch the Democratic presidential debate on CNN as there is no cable TV supplied at the sites. We got to see the first hour before the nights scheduled entertainment started. The performer Dick Woolbridge is unique in that he is deaf. He had a 40 year career as a professional musician before losing his hearing. He now performs opposite of the standard form of singing to the music. He sings from memory and plays guitar to the music. He has a portfolio of almost 400 songs that he has learned to perform this way. The neat thing about it is he hands out his list to the audience and performs any request from it.

Wednesday October 14 2015

Today we drove across town to find the Orleans Hotel which is the location of the reunion we are going to attend next week. We drove through part of the lower strip before eating lunch at a Jason's Deli. I was surprised to learn the Jason's franchise is not headquartered in California, but is from Beaumont Texas. I mean a Texas sandwich shop should have things like “Big chunk of cow on Texas toast with slab of mesquite smoked bacon and smothered with BBQ sauce”, Right? Jason's has sandwiches with all those strange contents nobody ever heard of, or ever imagined they would see on a sandwich. My sandwich had antibiotic free chicken smothered in fresh Basil Pesto and I think spinich leaves! Can somebody please tell me, what exactly is pesto? It sure sounds to me like something invented in California! Do you think I'm exaggerating, below is the listing for Millie's lunch.

After lunch we ran some errands at the post office and Walmart before driving through several of the RV Parks on this side of town. There are four or five of them along this section of Boulder highway. They are all about the same, straight rows of gravel RV sites with asphalt roads.

In the evening we watched Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson in Last Chance Harvey on DVD.

Thursday October 15 2015

We went to a big casino/hotel complex called Boulder Station which is just up the street from the RV Park. Money wagered in slot machine= $1, winnings= $0, we didn't come to gamble, there is a movie theater in the complex. We got it right this time and saw the movie, “A walk in the woods” starring Robert Redford, Nick Nolte and Emma Thompson. This is the movie we intended to see in St George when we mistakenly saw “The Walk”. It was OK, Millie gave it an 8, my rating was 6.5. Scenery was excellent, as was the acting, I just thought the plot was kind of weak.

St George, Utah

Sunday October 11 2015

We departed Salt Lake City and drove south 300 miles on I-15. The trip was uneventful except for the grand scenery as we followed a wide valley between two mountain ranges. We passed the time listening to an audio book, a murder mystery called Critical Conditions by Stephen White.

Temple View RV Resort, our destination for a two day layover was highly recommended by rv'ers we met in Salt Lake City. Because of the current situation with all the RV Parks being full, I made a reservation. Our Water/electric/cable TV site turned out to be in their RV storage lot with an extension cord/water hose/tv run in temporary fashion to us.

I was a little disappointed that this Mormon family run RV Park didn't disclose the storage lot parking when I made the reservation. This was after three days of being in the midst of all the kind gentle people at the Salt Lake City Temple, but as we mere mortal's like to say, Oh well, what the h@!! If we were planning on staying longer I would have refused it and left, but it's OK for our short stay, besides we have 100 cable TV channels and the neighbors are really quiet!

St George is the fastest growing city in Utah, fueled mostly by Boomers retiring to the sunshine states. This whole region is dotted with communities that have embraced retires and their money. I have a theory on why so many people and especially retirees are moving to the southwest. I'll elaborate on it someday, it'll be sure to offend some as it will hit on everything from the current Kingdom of Washington, to the inevitable fall of our once great country into the quagmire of socialism.

Monday October 12 2015

After proof reading what I have written so far I decided I should try to end on a happy note, so I won't go into detail about the stomach distress Millie and I contracted after eating at the Black Bear Dinner. ( A California chain so it was obviously a communist plot! Just kidding)

After a driving tour of the town, which by the way, is a neat and clean vibrant community, we decided to skip the nearby national park and go to the movies. We have been driving through rock mountains and valleys for weeks now and have seen enough boulders for a while.

An internet check of the local theaters informed us a movie we have wanted to see was starting in 20 minutes and the theater was just a few blocks away. Hurriedly we took Mag's out for a quick pee and you know how that goes, when you're in a hurry the dogs got to sniff everything looking for just the right spot. The fact that there is no green grass anywhere may have had something to do with that. Anyhow peeing done, off we rushed off to the show.

We picked our seats at the ticket counter, something new to us, assigned seating, and went in to see Nick Nolte and Robert Redford in “A walk in the woods”. After 45 minutes (honest) of commercials and coming attractions the movie begins. After a few minutes of watching this french guy talk about walking a high wire they flashed the title, “The Walk”.

In our haste I had mistakenly confused movie titles so instead of watching two old guys walk the Appalachian Trail, we watched a young Frenchman walk a high wire between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Ironically, both of these tales are based on true stories.

All in all, we liked our brief visit in St. George, We settled in for the night and started clicking through those 100 Cable TV channels, we watched Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips. We both thought it was a good movie.

Tomorrow we leave for Sin City, Viva Las Vegas!!!

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