Sat, Oct 24 – Day 44 – Nov 15, 2020 -

We left our parking spot at 6:45am and drove.  No cell service on the REZ despite periodic cell towers. Errands in Holbrook, AZ (free dump @ maverick).  Laundry Sudzy’s in Snowflake, Taylor Walmart,  Water @ Maverick in Show Low….and done!  To Son’s house near Concho, AZ for two weeks or more to help him assemble a BIG commercial garage on his property.

One Friday we were heading to Walmart to do a grocery pick up and as soon as we got on the paved road (from 6 miles of gravel), ALARM for tire monitor went off.  Show low is about 13 miles away?  So I am reading off the tire pressure and its going down fast but we roll into discount tire with 16psi still in the passenger side outer tire of duelies.  They discover it is the valve stem and we were rolling in short time with complimentary new stem.  I mentioned at the time, should we not do the other one?  Nope says the expert.

Friday, Oct 23 – Day 43: Valley of the Gods, Utah

Today we took a walk from our boondocking spot.  Mali was in rare form thinking that EVERY bush had a lizard in it…she went from bush to bush while on the leash.  Another relaxing day with incredible 360 views in VOG.  At 3pm we left separately and headed for the 261 junction to hook jeep to rv and head down the road to junction of 261 and 163.  Tomorrow we will arrive at son Grahams property in Show Low/Concho area

Thurs, Oct 22 – Day 42:  Valley of the Gods, Utah

We are positioning ourselves for returning to sons house near Show Low/Concho Arizona on Saturday.  But today was exploration into VOG.  First thing I drove around and found a spot…surprisingly for a Thursday, there were a lot of rv’s in there.  I knew where to look and found a nice one with 360 degree views and on one else in sight…perfect! David and rv eventually found me! 

Weds, Oct 21 – Day 41: Valley of the Gods, Utah

Today we departed Lake Powell.  Aiming for Comb Wash BLM campground enjoying the scenic drive to and then from Hite.  We arrived after lunch at the campground (free dispersed so nothing offered.  Found a spot that we could get into in the far part of the small campground.  It was very nice and under cottonwood trees that were in full yellows.  Out here in the desert that is something to appreciate!  I went for a nap and David took Mali and Jeep on a dirt road 24 mile drive.  He arrived back as I woke up.   We both decided that the “dirt/sand” of this camping spot was just far too messy.  Picture this:  light terra cotta colored pastry flour/very dry and about 3” thick so that if you walk on it it poofs up making dust clouds.  Now picture a dog on a long line running and playing in this stuff with her ball.  NOPE as much as I wanted trees had to give them up…WAY messy for the few hours we were there.  When a jeep ride revealed that some other areas were not for us, we opted to hit Blanding for some food supplies and then head to Sand Creek BLM Campground or Valley of the Gods.  By the way the ride that cuts through the lower part of Comb Wash colorwise is really very striking (north also has its merits but the south particularly colorful…route 163 going from east to west as you go through the cut).Sand Creek turned out to be settled in with a cloud of dust so we arrived at VOG as it was almost dark.  A long day of travel to find someplace to stay.  We drove in to VOG and found a barely suitable  pull through that would take us to morning when we could find something better in the light.

Tues, Oct 20 – Day 40: Stanton creek Campground Glen Canyon

Decided to stay another day and we explored the other part of the park/marina area.  We are in the $6 (old guy pass) dispersed camping area which offers pit toilets and trash (on the way out).  WELL the marina area had a free dump station so we put that on our list for tomorrow and potable water as well.  We found convenience store for ice cream and chips…a complete junk food extravaganza.  Hagen Daz 14.5 oz times 2 and a 2 person bag of chips (NO more) = $23.82….I nearly fainted!  But I wanted and got that ice cream and chips!

Mon, Oct 19 – Day 39: Stanton Campground in Glen Canyon National Recreation area/Lake Powel

Today we decided to move to somewhere else.  Lake Powell was our destination and we found a cheap campground in this national park (Glen Canyon)…$6 with the old guy pass.  First Stop (but north) was Hanksville to stock up on a few things.  The market there provided us with expensive lettuce and tomatoes and a few other things.  Due to the busier than ever last weekend, they had not gallon jugs of water…hot on our list.  Trash was dispersed at the gas station and the market.  Water was procured from one of the gas stations.  All set, we headed south on route 95 and then 276 to the end.  Stanton Campground is a cheap dispersed campground/not free.  We could have camped on the water but everyone else had the same idea and I didn’t want David to have to drag our class C all the way down there….S L O W L Y.  We found a large spot not as close to the water which was perfect.  AND people by the water could hear each other talk even if not that close.  We have cell service also.  This ride down here was pretty scenic and almost as much as the grand canyond (according to David)…lots of ups and downs.  84 degrees today!  Still hot in mid/late October…a warm year here with little rain this season.  Walk in the evening.

Sunday, Oct 18 – Day 38: BLM lands just south of the Magic Bus

Relaxed in a.m. while everyone who was out this weekend was packing up to go home and then left.  In the afternoon we took a jeep ride and hike a canyon….it was rather warm.  Saw one other vehicle.

Saturday, Oct 17 – Day 37: BLM lands just south of the Magic Bus on route 95 south of Hanksville.

David is off to hike Mt. Ellen with Mali.  I don’t do well at elevations like that just existing…let alone walking AND Elevation (11,000 feet) so I am wisely staying at 5,000 ft.  I walked the quiet area around our boondocking site and got some things done around rv (like vacuuming washing floor when 6 feet/paws are gone).  David enjoyed his hike but not the 2 hour jeep ride to get there/longer than he expected.   David also found out that the reason everywhere is crazy with people is that Today is the first day of Deer season and people were out sooner scoping out WHERE to find the deer.  The area around Little Egypt is known for bucks with big racks…a man thing for sure.

Fri, Oct 16 – Day 36:  BLM lands just south of the Magic Bus on route 95 south of Hanksville.

A quiet night was had by all and it was nice and cool. We left early for a stop in Hanksville to get gas in both vehicles. A short drive to Little Egypt confirmed what we thought….that this is Utah School holiday and people are out in droves.  The parking lot had lots of day use side by side visitors and rv’s parked for the long weekend. We could see off in the distance that the spot we were aiming for was taken.  Again, we recouped and ended up using a BLM road to park just south of the Magic Bus (an old Winnebago decorated by the roadside).  With no one else on this road (you could see) it was a quick sale!  We settled on a spot after a quick cruise with jeep.  By 3pm I was a bit bored and asked David if he wanted to drive the jeep up that steep hill to the Benches.  He said, yes.  As always, when we got to the top, he said, “Let’s keep going”. Me: okay.  After awhile I was saying, I sure hope this goes through and doesn’t just abruptly stop (no maps with us).  David had no trouble driving the jeep up or down anything.  There were a few dicey spots (like steep downs) that I needed to get out and walk.  David said, “to me, it looks more dangerous for you to walk down in crocs than to remain as passenger and drive down.”  We drove for about 1.5 hours on that road.  I began saying somewhere in the middle…”I sure hope we don’t have to turn around to go back and that this comes out on the paved road.”  It did with my navigating and selecting roads that were better used and going in the right direction. Although I did think we were further south than we were.  So we are here all by ourselves…yes!

 

Thurs, Oct 15 – Day 35: BLM Lands outside Goblin Valley SP

Today was Dinosaur day…I was so excited to see this but have to say it was a little underwhelming.  I had days to build it up in my head. One dinosaur model/life size…just one. Only one building was open…smaller building than I envisioned and no open quarry.   We returned to boondocking site and decided to move on to a boondocking site just north of route 70 to check out some areas of interest north of there.  We could have done it from where we were at the time but decided that since the weekend was coming we should “claim our turf” before they arrived.  WELL, with almost an rv in every driveway in Utah, I should not have been surprised but I was.  The area we scoped out was like an rv city with MANY OHV’s/side by sides/dirt bikes/4 wheelers.  We found one spot that boasted a blast of dust if anyone went by (highly likely and often).  The road (off exit 131 route 70 utah) was gravel and VERY washboard.  Intead we opted to head to the BLM lands outside Goblin Valley to replan for one night as it was getting dark fast.  Found the ONLY spot left on the rim (lucky at this time of day 7pm) and planted ourselves.

Weds, Oct 14 – Day 34: BLM Lands outside Jurassic National Monutment.

Today was a relaxing day in morning as Mali woke me twice last night to go out/diarehia and I was very tired. In the afternoon we went to take a look and walk around by the “humbug Overlook” sign by Jurassic National Monument.  An easy drive on well maintained gravel road; there was one short steep and slightly rocky part that even the family suv could go on.  This led into a valley but at the end of the road there was a surprise.  Map said “steep dropoff” at the roads end and what it really should have said was, “canyon”.  Do not drive further because it won’t be pretty.  The only thing there telling someone to not go further was a skinny BLM sign 4 feet tall x  3” (max) saying “no Vehicles”.  I’ve seen better signage for WAY less.  This should have been a fence. Nice looking canyon with some great colors.  There was a walk down path but we did not do it.

Tuesday, Oct 13 – Day 33:  BLM lands outside of Jurassic National Monument.

Left early and shopped at Walmart..spent like $200 which included an outside mat that was about 5 x 7 feet as it is very dusty here with so little rain.  We headed to Jurassic National Monument and found that when were a few miles short of it (on a good gravel road but slow for rv/not so for me in jeep) that it was open Thursday or Sunday.  We decided to leave the rv temporarily parked and head out on jeep to find something suitable for a few days of waiting and exploring.  We did and it is pretty barren where we are parked so Mali has her 100 foot long line to use….and that she did!  From our spot we can see the road but there MAY be 4 cars a day on it so…not bad.  We took a ride to see if there was a gate at monument and yup there was…darn.

Mon, Oct 12 – Day 32: Horse Canyon Road enroute to Price, UT

Today was move day and errand day and that was accomplished in Green River, Utah: dump, water refill, trash, propane, food shopping, laundry ($2 load) and then a short drive to horseshoe canyon to park overnight.  We left our boondocking spot near Goblin Valley and arrived tonight around 2:30pm.  We did not score the best site and there are not really many good ones but we did get a pull through off the road about 200 feet so we can still hear road noise but it is kind of scenic.  Took a couple of short walks.

Sun, Oct 11 – Day 31: BLM lands outside of Goblin Valley, UT

Hike today at Farnsworth Canyon/about 2.4 miles from our campsite along the swell.  

Prepping for tomorrow departure.

Sat, Oct 10 – Day 30: BLM lands outside of Goblin Valley

Jeep ride up back behind temple mountain and up to route 70/ice cream in green river/back to rv via route 24.  Still around 82- 85 degrees during the day but tomorrow the temps will be a more seasonable 70’s…whoopie!  85 degrees with or without high humidity is still hot…add a breeze and its better but I will still hide in the shade.

Fri, Oct 9 – Day 29: BLM lands outside of Goblin Valley

With 3 day weekend/Columbus day coming on Monday, we are sticking with our spot.  We decided to take a road trip on Wild Horse Canyon road and to take it if we could (conditions wise) to route 24/paved for ice cream at the market there.  It was roughly 30 miles to the paved route 24.  The drive was no problem for our stock tired jeep; when they age out we will change that up to a more aggressive tire.  We were also not sure if we would be able to cross the Muddy Creek with said tires but we were going to try…wanted that ice cream AND did not want to have to turn around!  We looked at a couple of spots and they were NOPE.  I took off on foot to investigate and found a potential spot that David agreed with and off we went.  Of note is the fact that it has been DRY, DRY, DRY here.  We went past Factory Butte on our drive…a big imposing bute of mostly grey.  Sent David into the store and I got two delicious hagen daaz vanilla ice cream cups!  Perfect! Back to rv to play with dog.  Note to self: next time camp below one of the buttes on Wild Horse Canyon road.  We also scooped up some water from muddy creek to use for our toilet flushing.

Thurs, Oct 8 – Day 28: BLM lands outside of Goblin Valley

BLM lands outside of Goblin Valley state park in Utah…hike up the san Raphael swell…I diy hike if you will.  A somewhat cloudy day so good for hiking in 85 degree weather and early to beat the heat…perfect on both accounts.  We did not go all the way to the top.  MORE relaxing.

Weds, Oct 7 – Day 27: BLM lands outside of Goblin Valley

Today we drove about 38 miles of slow dirt road to Colonnade Arch which  hovered over the green river.  A long drive and we did not stop at THE Gallery/ghost panel in horseshoe canyon (NO DOGS, BOOO!).  The actual hike to the arches was about 1.25 miles one way.  NO one else back there…we did see one truck coming in on the way out.

Tues, Oct 6, Day 26: BLM lands outside of Goblin Valley

A day of just loafing as it was hot enough that I didn’t want to hike because I did’t get going early enough.  We made gluten free chocolate chip cookies instead.  Visited with our neighbors.

Mon, Oct 5 – Day 25: Valley of the Gods to : BLM lands outside of Goblin Valley

We would have stayed one more day at Valley of the Gods but I want cooler weather so we are heading north.  Let’s see where we end up tonight!  

BLM Lands outside Goblin Valley State Park it is!  We easily secured a spot…maybe one left.

Sun, Oct 4 – Day 24: Hovenweep to Valley of the Gods, UT

Move Day…from Hovenweep National Monument to Valley of the Gods. It took us a bit to find a spot. In the end we took a Jeep run to find a better-than-the-first spot place. Someone had left a camp spot so we swooped in. Only to discover ITS HOT here. We are here about 3 – 4 weeks earlier than we would normally be here. A decision has been made to head to a higher elevation in UTAH and more northerly to possibly get some cooler weather. Like weather that you want to be outside for more than 10 minutes. Could never do summer here…never. I would live in a chair in the shade waiting for sunset.

Meanwhile, today we decided to take a ride up Moki Dugway (have done it before) route 261 and scope out possible overnight camping opportunities at the top of the road. Another time we will camp there. The fires in California (etc) have made visibility not very good and there are views down to Monument Valley and Goosenecks State Park. We did see one class c about our size (nope!) making their way down the dugway along with two travel trailers that were about 24 feet long. All made it but we are NOT doing it with our C as per me. David would probably do it if I said yes… Signs that you cannot miss saying nothing more than 10,000lbs, no rv’s, towed things, etc. It is a long way around.

Sat, Oct 3 – Day 23: Hovenweep National Monument

Today we walked the 4 mile Rim trail loop within the park with Mali as she is allowed on the trails here…a bark park! In the cool of the morning it was a nice walk but in the heat it would not be. Mali had to be kept back in her exuberance to forge ahead and sniff out possible rodents. The campground here boasts trash, recycles, a bathroom/no showers…and water to fill jugs/5 gallon max. It was full last night with folks coming in as late as 7pm. 36 foot maximum length but there are just 6 rv only sites so you better be early and not on weekend. It is a ways off any “main” road. We had a plan B in case there were no sites for our 25 feet (plus jeep).

Relaxed in the afternoon as it was hot.

Friday, Oct 2 – Day 22: Silverton, CO to Hovenweep National Monument

With the weekend coming and even more UTV’s, we decided to hit the road and aim for Hovenweep National Monument. From mountains to desert in one day.

With the park being no reservations and first come first served and with only a handful or so rv sites, we decided to give it an experimental whirl. First stop after the climbs up and mostly down from Silverton, was Durango Walmart grocery shopping and phone calls. Gas came next at Cortez along with dump at the Cortez Industrial Park. Water was a whopping 25 cents a go and filled our needs @ 50 cents….also at the industrial park. Recycleables could also have been disposed of there. It was a winding 40 miles or so into Hovenweep and close to the entrance we saw a few rv’s (small ones in this park) coming out. Wondering if we would be able to get a site at 3:30 in the afternoon? As luck would have it there were two possible rv sites (and they were marked rv only) and we nabbed the second one we saw. $7 per night (with the senior/old guy pass for national parks) and we booked in for two nights. Walked around campground and roads.

Thursday, Oct 1 – Day 21: BLM Lands outside Silverton, CO

Yesterday and today just one other camper and us…nice! Today David drove to a drive/hike near Ouray, CO. Mali and I walked up one of the 4 wheel drive roads across from our camping spot. At this high elevation the sun’s rays are not filtered nearly as well and I got RED yesterday during the warmth of the day. The sun was pretty intense.