September 14, 2015 Rocky Mountain National Park / Trail Ridge Road

We slept pretty well last night, until we realized it was really cold in our house!   We had elected not to set the heat to come on and about 4AM, we were regretting that decision.  So I elected Gary to get up and turn it on (hee hee)!   It was about 45 degrees in the ole MoHo - way too cold for this thin blooded California girl.  My feet were freezing - so tonight I'm wearing socks for sure.   

We headed for the RMNP and the Trail Ridge Road.   The highest, paved road in the US.   We were at one point over 11,000' elevation.  Guess what folks it's really hard to breathe that high up.
This road is amazing and should be on everyone's bucket list.   Not a road to take a motorhome over for sure.

We were so lucky to see lots of animals today!  We saw a buck Elk and his female and baby!   They caused quite a traffic jam on the road and we were only able to catch a quick pic as there was chaos everywhere.    Then we stumbled on a group of what we believe to be Bighorn sheep.  They looked to be mostly females and their young, but then what do we know!  We had a beautiful gray and blue bird pose for us and the cutest little ground squirrels.   Unfortunately no sightings yet of our moose mama and babies here in the campground.  Darn - that would be the cherry on top!

Oh and we stopped at the Continental Divide.  Gary had to have his pic taken there.   

Continental Divide - fascinating!

 

Bighorn sheep

Big Daddy Elk

Found these beauties at a Visitor's Center

Took this out my car's moon roof!

Beautiful fall colors

September 13, 2015 I-70 East between Green River Utah and Grand Lake Colorado

We had a very quiet night in Green River, Utah - took a nice walk and found a really nice campground right across the street!  Green River State Park, although it looked like all back-in sites which would be a no bueno for a one nighter (we don't want to have to unhook the CRV if we don't have to).  Our little spot only cost us $10.00 too, so that was a bonus.

So we were on the road by 7:30 and everything was going quite well.   We were enjoying the beautiful scenery of Colorado and then we decided we needed to get gas!   Oh Lord - how I hate having to get gas.  We found a "Kum n Go" (yes that is correct) gas station and it looked to be accessible for us so in we went.   We were sorta at a bad angle and after gassing up the guzzler, it looked to us like the CRV was not going to make the corner of the island!
The only solution was to unhook the CRV and then I would drive the rest of the way to Grand Lake.    Then because of the angle of the MoHo and the car,  Gary had to get tough with the hitch to get it loose.   Ugh.........

Got situated and back on the road but that cost us about an hour.   As it turned out the Vail Summit, which is over 10,0000', was a bit tough for MoHo, so it was probably for the best that we weren't towing.   Gary's sure MoHo could have done it with the CRV hooked up but what the heck, it all worked out in the end.

We arrived at our campground, Elk Creek Campground, and when registering we were cautioned that there is a mama moose and her two babies in the campground.  Wow!   Just don't feed them and steer clear of them, etc. etc.   How exciting is that?   So we love this place and we love our spot.    After hooking up all our lifelines, Gary was relaxing outside and suddenly noticed a big pile of what has to be moose scat right here near our site!   Wow - so exciting.  

We are going to do the Trail Ridge Road tomorrow.  I just read it is the highest paved road in the US.   We will drive it over to Estes Park and check things out there.   

Also saw a herd of bison (maybe buffalo - I don't know the difference) but of course I was driving so no pics - but pretty darn exciting.  

I found fall today!    We were near Aspen and the trees are changing. They are a beautiful shade of yellow and very light green.  The temp here in Grand Lake a beautiful 67 degrees!  Woo Hoo - I'm happy, happy, happy.

 

Colorado River

September 12, 2015 Travel on I-70 east between Hurricane Utah and Green River Utah / We aren't in Kansas Toto!

So here we are in Green River, Utah, after traveling about 290 miles from Hurricane, Utah.   This is a "middle of nowhere" place and when asked why we chose it, it's because we have a rule that we don't drive over 300 miles in one day.  

We got up at 5:30 and prepared for departure.   Now it doesn't take very long to prepare the MoHo but sometimes it takes a while to prepare our bodies!  Anyway - TMI I'm sure - we hit the road, after gassing up the guzzler.   Hey California - gas is cheaper here in Utah and we are hoping to keep seeing that price drop as we work our way east.   

All of today's pictures were taken from the MoHo while motating down the road, so please excuse any blur, bugs, etc.   I do what I can.    All I can say is we definitely are not in Kansas Toto!!!

September 11, 2015 Kolob Canyons / Zion's northernmost point

I just can't wrap my head around the fact that THE 9/11 we will all remember was 14 years ago!  I went to work that morning just like it was any other day.   When I arrived I learned of the horrible tragedy unfolding on the East Coast and all I wanted to do was reach out and touch or talk to all my loved ones.   Definitely one of those "privotal" times of our lives and a day I'll never forget.

But on this 9/11 Gary and I are blessed to be in a part of the country that was touched by God and blessed with beauty.  We traveled north a bit today and visited the Kolob Canyons, which is the northernmost point of Zion National Park.   It was a lot more forested than the others parts we've seen.  Beautiful, amazing and jaw dropping are the only way to describe it.   We also visited one of our favorite places to eat:  CRACKER BARREL!   Yes they have them in Utah - who knew? 

Tonight we will hitch up the CRV and get the inside ready to roll tomorrow.  We are headed for Green River, Utah and Interstate 70/East.    We finalized some plans for the rest of the trip through to Indiana.   We will arrive at Spring Mill in Mitchell on 9-25.  

September 10, 2015 Zion National Park, Utah

Wow!

This is Zion NP - We drove through Zion on our way to Bryce yesterday.  When you drive through you must pass through a tunnel that is over one mile long.  The tunnel was built in 1930.  The tunnel is so narrow that high profile vehicles, such as RV's, require that a park employee man the entrance and exits and control the flow of traffic in one direction.  That way the high profile vehicles can drive right now the middle of the tunnel which is the highest point.    We did not drive the RV through and I would not vote to do that, personally.  The road is a lot of switchback curves and narrow and climbs from the bottom of the canyon up to the top.   Beautiful drive and I would highly recommend it to anyone, just not in an RV.   Along the way we came across this beauty who was just grazing on the side of the road. 

So yesterday we formulated a plan.  Get up at 5AM, be on the road at 6AM and be at the park by 7AM.  We decided to use the Zion Shuttle System today.    We arrived before 7 and the gate to the park was open but no one was working it.   That means if you arrive to the park early enough you don't pay to get in and it is expensive to get in, $30.00 a vehicle.  That is good for 7 days but woozers, that's pricey.   Fortunately Gary had purchased his Senior National Park Pass for $10.00 and we just flash our card and drive on through.   Best money we've spent in a long time!

We got a super close parking spot at the Visitor's Center and jumped on the shuttle that was waiting.  The shuttle makes 8 stops through the park and it is not a route that you can drive through, so it was all new to us.    We stayed on the shuttle to the very last stop, then planned to work our way back to the Visitor's Center.   It was cool and breezy on the canyon floor, just a very few people and what an awesome experience.  We were in the middle of this incredible canyon and felt like we were the only people there.   We walked along the river and just started taking pics.    We would then hop on the shuttle and make the next stop. The shuttle runs between every 7 and 15 minutes.      One of the shuttle stops was at the Zion Lodge and we decided to have breakfast.   It is a beautiful old lodge and we had a yummy breakfast.

We were back at the Visitor's Center and headed back to the RV by noon.  Just perfect because it was starting to get very warm and very busy.   One of our shuttle drivers told us that last weekend, Labor Day, they estimated they had 42,000 visitors.   Glad we missed that.

Our ride for the day

 

Our home here in Hurricane Utah

September 9, 2015 / Bryce Canyon National Park

There is no camera and there are no words to truly share the stunning landscape that is Bryce Canyon.  We got a little bit of later start than we should have, but it all worked out in the end.  We didn't get back to MoHo until almost 6:30pm.  Weather was predicted to be 100 here in Hurricane where we are camped. It was gorgeous at Bryce because we were at a higher elevation, more than 9000' to be exact. I think it was maybe 76/78 tops.   Not too terribly crowded either but still a fair amount of people.   We choose to drive through Bryce, there is a shuttle system, but we drove up to the highest point and then on the return down made all the stops at the various scenic turnouts.   We took over 200 pictures so it was very hard to cull through and pick just a few for the blog.  I'm going to try to upload them to Shutterfly and then send you all an invite.     We Yelped a great little restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner at Bryce Canyon Pines.   Nothing fancy and we had the lunch menu so it was mostly sandwiches and burgers but food was very good.

The fire is growing at Dixie National Forest and the air smells of smoke but it is pretty far away from where we are camped.

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