We Didn't Expect to be in Bluff, Utah this Soon...

The first leg of our northward trek didn't work at all like we had planned.  We were to depart Buckeye, AZ and make our first stop in Cameron, AZ a mere 216 mile pull.  Well, we arrived in Cameron and found the park to be quite run down and situated right on the highway, which we knew.  What we didn't know was that it was going to blow 50 mph for the next two days.  We have been in wind like that before and will try our best to avoid it in the future when the opportunity permits.  We reviewed the weather at our next destinations and found it was only going to blow 40 mph for one day at Lake Powell, so we decided we would drive on the extra 75 miles to Page, AZ.  That is until we called the only two RV parks there and found out they were full up for RVs our size.  They suggested we try again around April 18th.  That's a no thank you.  So we buckled up and pressed on all the way to Bluff, Utah for what ended up being a 400+ mile pull.  That is a long day for us.

We arrived safely and set up no problems, and enjoyed a quiet restful night.  The first day we thought there was zero cell signal and figured no TV either and couldn't get the campground WiFi to connect or work so we thought it would be a no communications stay.  A good nights sleep and we got the WiFi up and running the next day for good Internet access.  We turned on the phone in the morning and it rang!  We discovered that our Verizon phone could make and receive calls although the signal is marginal.  We also turned on the TV and there are 40+ channels here!  All four major networks come in loud and clear.  To top things off there are more sights in this area than we will have time to see on this visit.  Another example of RV adventures working out just how they are supposed to, but not necessarily how we plan.

We rode up to nearby Blanding, UT about 30 miles north and checked out Recapture Reservoir and saw a nice ruin sight.  The ruin site below is named Five Kiva Pueblo.  It was across the small canyon of Westwater Creek.

Westwater Creek canyon looking south.

Canyon looking north.

We rode down to the reservoir at the north end of town and had a look around.  It was pretty.

On the way back to the RV we stopped at a group of petroglyphs at Sand Island Park.  The pictures below were taken from the truck on the way back into Bluff, UT.

 BIG Rocks.

 The Twin Rocks in Bluff.

At the large desert varnished wall in Sand Island Park.

On the way up the trail we saw a winking Spotted Skink I think

A few of the petroglyphs left by those who came before.

This big guy was 15 ft tall and about 20 ft up the wall.  This was also one of those petroglyphs that was chiseled very deep into the rock.

Dreaming once again about the open road....

It soon will be that time to lift jacks, pull chocks and head for cooler more temperate climes.  The last week in Yuma has seen the low and mid 90s, but it's a dry heat!  Next week we are expecting cooler temperatures in the 70s and 80s... we will see.  That would be great because next week we begin moving preparations.  Our general process includes: clean and lubricate jack and slide hydraulic rams, clean and lightly oil slide racks and gears, torque all wheel lugs on truck and trailer, clean and lubricate slide gaskets, grease trailer and truck suspension and grease the trailer pin and hitch while we have the grease out, and connect the tire monitor system and check tire pressures.  Then comes the careful packing of bicycles, grills, chairs and outdoor tables.  Check the truck fluids and fill her with fuel and we are ready to once again restart our wandering ways.

We have a rough draft of an itinerary for our wanderings northward to escape the summer heat and chase the sometimes elusive 72.5° F  below is an excerpt of the draft in graphical form.

Some of our destination goals for this traveling season include the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell and the Rainbow Arch (largest arch in the world?) accessible only by a boat trip; up the road Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah's first, for ancient ruins and more arches, then Moab's Arches National Park; up the road again in central Utah a stop and a drive up 9-Mile Canyon near Wellington, UT which is promoted as "the world’s longest art gallery", the canyon is known for its extensive rock art, shelters, and granaries left behind by the Fremont culture and the Ute people.

Rainbow Arch one of the objects of our destination... photo courtesy of Google.

From there we will pretty much head to Cody, Wyoming for a month long stay west of town on the North Fork of the Shoshone River 30 miles outside of the eastern entrance of Yellowstone National Park.  After Cody we believe we will wander farther north into Montana west of Glacier National Park.  We have found an RV park on a nice looking lake up there about 30 miles west of Kalispell, Montana and Flathead Lake, and think we will try that spot for a month.

After Yellowstone we believe that we will continue north through Idaho and into Washington State.  We want to stay near the Coulee Dam for a week then onto Yakima, our third or fourth home.  We may wander farther north in Washington to the North Cascades National Park.  We learned that over 300 glaciers are found in this little traveled park which is about 1/3 of all glaciers found in the lower 48 states!  Glacier National Park by comparison has only 25 glaciers!  Crowds are another thing, Glacier National entertains 2 million visitors annually, while North Cascades has only 25 thousand visitors each year.  Big difference, really big.

If any of this works out it should by now be about time to turn south again to rinse and repeat the process.  This year will be the first that we have not returned to South Dakota's Black Hills.  We shall miss that wonderful spot, but look forward to new adventures and all its' surprises along the way.  We will be getting back to you as we make progress or not on the results on this years plan...

One month to go in Yuma

You can say that we have settled into our routine here after two months.  The weather has been a little cooler and wetter this year compared to normal or what we would expect.  That said we still have a lot of days with sunshine and that makes it good to get outside.  We are riding bikes a lot this year and we have also accomplished a few things on the trailer; like caulking, washing, waxing, replaced the water heater anode, and still have plenty more to do.  We have been playing card and board games many evenings; we play Rummy 500, Progressive Rummy, Bug, 5 Crowns, No Peek, Sequence, Deer in the Headlights, Farkle, Chicken Foot, but have not played Mexican Train this year.  We also have the Wii set up and have had a few evenings of fun and rip roaring laughter with that!

Jerry and Gari downtown Yuma 2017.

An evening view out the back of the lot where we are parked.

A view of the morning sun on the mountains out the front of our lot.

A view across the street from our lot.

Prickly cactus

Do not sit here!

We visited Ed & Lynn in Quartzite, they set their rig up on a boondock site just north of town off Plomosa Road.  The pyramid below is a tomb and time capsule of the locally famous Hi Jolly.  He was a Syrian camel breeder and driver hired by the US Army in the early 1800's to lead an experiment of using camels to haul cargo across the desert southwest.  The experiment lasted about 8 years and the camels were set free in the area.  They were last seen almost 100 years ago.

Gari, Lynn and Ed, being the good sports that they are, pose for the obligatory monument shot. This is the most visited spot in Quartzite supposedly.

Later the four of us walked around the famous Quartzite Flea market.  While we were chatting with a vendor lady that was from China a nice butterfly landed on the beads she was selling.  She spends six months in Quartzite and 6 months in China and has been doing so for nearly 30 years!.... The lady not the butterfly!

Even closer.  After the picture it flew away...

Gari pauses at a Hit and Miss Engine turning an ice cream freezer. POP whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh POP...

Lynn gets a deal on a turquoise ring from the lady with fake hair.

We met again at the Date Festival on the city center walk of Yuma. 

The art below is the entrance to the open mall from the parking area.

We rode downtown with Quirt and Marilyn.  Below Marilyn and Gari are already having fun and we are just coming through the door!

Steve stops for ice cream of course!

Marilyn and Steve at the fountain on the mall below.  Steve loves that fountain.

Marilyn, Quirt and Steve learn from the Date Palm lady about the different products that come from the Date Palm trees.

Gari wanted her picture by the hats. She loves having her picture taken...NOT!

Quirt found an old Microbus in front of the Prison Hill Brewery.  I'm not sure he could fit into that!

The hand painting booth.

Lynn and Ed meet Jerry and Yvonne at the fountain.

We got to meet up with Ed and Sandi at the local pizza joint for a nice visit and a good meal.  Those two are doing great.  They just set up with a new Class A that hauls their new custom made Harley trike!

We haven't danced as much this year, but we have made it out several times.  Steve loves to Waltz, Gari humors Steve.  The shot below is at The Patio in Fortuna De Oro.

We swapped out our water pump because the check valve was leaking back into the fresh water tank.  That job went pretty well.  Things were a little hard to get to as you can see.

We repaired a small tear in the wiper gasket atop the dining room slide.  We cut a patch from a bicycle inner tube and glued it with 3M weather stripping adhesive.

We cleaned and caulked above the bubble gasket above all three slides.  We use ProFlex silicon for the first time.  That stuff is great and is all we will use from now on for silicon caulking jobs.

Jerry and Yvonne threw a giant patio party and the shade we installed several weeks ago worked out great!  It kept every one cool and in the shade.

Gari and Quirt in an evening of games;  this looks like a Chicken Foot domino game.

We had a bonfire one night at Jerry's house.  There is Gari warming up to the fire.

It was a windless night and we had that fire roaring in that old clothes washer tub.  Look at those flames leap in front of Quirt!

Quirt and Marilyn prepare a their famous Pulled Pork meal for our hungry and grateful crowd.

 We were at the 99 Cent store for this magnificent sunset.

There is always something to do in Yuma!

Yuma 2017

We are all settled on a lot in the Fortuna Foothills that we are renting from a couple that live in Montana during the summer.  They have another house here in Yuma about a mile away from the lot we are on.  This lot is large for lots here and is pie shaped; wide at the road and narrow at the back.  It is very quiet on this lot and there is a pretty good view of the Gila Mountains.  The weather has been cooler and wetter so far this year.  We have been running the propane furnace pretty regularly at night and early morning.  We are keeping busy and goofing off on a rotating basis.

A view near the lot we are on with Marilyn and Quirt.

 The weather and mountains make for nice sunsets.

 Hanging out at the lot with Marilyn and Quirt.  Looks like Quirt is cooking up some snacks!

Yvonne had a birthday party at the local Pizza Hut

Making noise at Yvonne's birthday party!

Checking out our neighbor's 1929 Ford Pickup

Steve finds a giant sweet potato at Hank's Market. Steve is very easily entertained.

We rode downtown and went to lunch at famous Lute's Casino.

Gari prepares her drink.

Steve gets a sample of Quirt's Quesadilla

Quirt measures the ice cream sample that Marilyn shared.

There are lots of interesting displays inside Lute's.  Steve discovers PeeWee Herman, and ignores the sign that says Don't Lift PeeWee's Napkin!!

Quirt, Gari & Steve tackled a sun shade project on Jerry's patio.  Quirt and Steve evaluate the shade roller mechanism below.

Gari and Quirt below the initial raising of the shade.

Steve and Quirt stand under the completed project.

Yvonne inspects her progress on repainting the yard sculpture

 The view out our back window in Yuma