We're Home--

It was an easy day today since we stayed in Boomtown last night. Right next to the fenced in dog area there were the most beautiful Russian Thistle plants blooming. They are so prickly it is awful, but the blossoms are very pretty. They grew in our pasture when I was growing up and I didn't appreciate them then. When I was in college I saw them for sale for $15 a stem (about 3-4 blooms on a stem) in Frederick and Nelson's (a nice dept. store in Seattle way back when). I was shocked that anyone would pay for a "weed". I was tempted to pick some of these, but I knew the border crossing would have a fit if I was caught bringing weeds in to California, so I will make do with the photos.



The people who stayed right behind us last night also had a Southwind (2008) and had lots of questions for us. We each toured the other RV to see the differences. This was their first trip so we were able to show them adjustment we've made. Ours worked well this trip--except for leaks under the sinks caused by all the bumpy roads we traveled. It was very nice to have a trip with a working motorhome.

We got home early afternoon to find a lizard in our pool, hanging on for dear life to the leaf basket. Gary let him go in a flower bed, then we kept the dogs inside.

Staying inside was fine with the dogs--they tested out their crates (kennels) we left behind --Elsie stayed in her crate most of the afternoon. Then they moved to the beds by the fireplace. It is so cute to see them embracing their "real" home and acting so happy to see their "stuff".

We got the RV mostly emptied and started on the huge basket of mail. Tomorrow I'll catch up on bills.

It is good to be home. Thanks for joining us in our travels--

Almost home

Today was a long driving day on the "loneliest road" (Hwy 50) again. We took the same route last year on our way home from North Dakota. But last year it was brown and this time it was green, which made the trip much prettier.


We noticed all the small towns we drove thru had American flags flying on every corner.


Another thing we noticed was the "cattle" warning sign. Nevada's cow is less placid and more angry looking than Arizona's cow in the photo from July 4.








We saw beautiful wildflowers on prickly stems with prickly seed pods in several patches along the way.




We arrived in Boomtown after 6 hours on the road in time for Gary to shop at Cabela's. This was one of the top three parts of our trip for him (fishing with his cousin, Mike, the Grand Canyon and shopping at Cabela's).



Tomorrow will be a short trip home. Phew!

Getting closer to home . . .

As we drove today we saw a lot of nothing--dry land with brush and a very few trees. Lots of it was straight road, only the ups and downs created a break in the monotony. Then we came upon an accident where someone must have fallen asleep at the wheel. And a short time later we came upon a cow in the middle of the road. As we approached and some of the first cars we'd seen approaching all day showed up, the cow meandered slowly back to her calf who had decided to stay behind the fence. That was the big entertainment of the drive. Oh--plus the GPS got confused several times on the way and would have liked us to drive into a cliff a couple of times.



Elsie really doesn't like it when Gary drives over the bumps that keep you in your lane. She has pushed and squeezed and now rides completely under my legs and feet. It gets a bit crowded for me, but at least she hasn't pushed me out totally until the last half hour of each day's ride.


As Gary tried to pick out our camping spot for tonight (I know, luxury camping) he spotted this cat tied to a stake and realized we could not park next door to a cat. We moved on down next to a very nice couple with a new puppy. The dogs have been having a ball and haven't spotted the cat yet.

Okay, I admit it . . .

Gary is in better shape than I am. At an altitude of 8800 plus feet, I had a bit of trouble breathing. Gary was able to hike at his usual speed and I had to stop and rest now and then.

We drove to the Grand Canyon past some amazing scenery. In the Kaibab National Forest, there were miles and miles of beautiful trees, then miles and miles of burned trees from a fire in 2006. Gary clocked over 7 miles of dead trees. We stopped to read some of the informtion along the way. One point they made was that the Aspens need fire to reproduce. If there were no fires, Aspens would die out. After all the wildlife signs we've seen, we had to laugh at this one of the cow. Unfortunately you can also see some of the burned out trees behind the sign.




The Grand Canyon's North Rim was fantastic! It was a clear day and you could see forever. My only problem is that I have never been thrilled with heights. The only things holding my rubber knees up were the butterflies in my stomach. It was wonderful to see the sights, but once is plenty, thank you.




As we left the Grand Canyon we noticed that tent caterpillars are killing the Aspens in great numbers. Funny that we didn't notice that on our way up. Sad to see.

We noticed several hoses being set up at the lodge at the Grand Canyon. We were told that since fireworks aren't allowed in the National Parks, the park workers have a water fight for everyone's entertainmenet on the 4th of July.

As we drove home we could the Grand Staircase (look in the distance). The clouds were getting pretty thick and shortly after we walked the dogs a huge rainstorm hit with lots of thunder and lightning. I love the sound of rain on the roof of the RV.


When it was over we drove to the local park to see the festivities, then back to a restaurant for dinner. It was a cute place--note the photo of Gary in the huge chair. He said he felt like Edith Ann on Laugh In (And that's the truth!) They had lots of fun decorations and Gary's dinner was good.


We played some cribbage (Gary won again!), then sat outside to see Kanab's local fireworks, which were pretty spectacular for such a small town.

Dogs have good memories

Last night we stayed at the same KOA in Salt Lake City as we did last September. Tule and Elsie led me straight to the dog walk area, then tried to find each cat they'd found last fall. They were only there one night last September! Amazing.

As we left Salt Lake City we drove past the Great Salt Lake.







As we drove on we went past a sea of purple that was a beautiful field of lavender.





We were heading south, at first down a freeway, then on a narrow old highway. It was amazing to see that all the land to the right (west)of the road was desolate and dry. Everything to the left (east) side was green and lush, even the mountains were green on that side. This went on for many miles.







Eventually we came upon amazing geological formations near Bryce Canyon Park. It was quite a trip. We are now in Kanab and tomorrow will head for the North side of the Grand Canyon. Can't wait!

Wyoming Has Warts!

There were some interesting land formations that look like warts on our route today.

It was a mostly dry looking day, both no rain and no greenery.

Then we came upon some beautiful green landscapes and off in the distance was a thunderstorm. It was fascinating to watch the lightning as long as it stayed so far away. Gary kept saying, "I hope we aren't going to be driving into that storm."




We did drive into rain, but no thunder or lightning yet. You can tell Gary grew up in rain country. After we arrived at Salt Lake City, he decided it was time to wash the RV and CR-V. It was pretty dirty from last night's rain on top of all the dust of Gillette, but washing it in the rain? You have to be from Astoria to do that!

We came upon more telephone poles and I realized how much I'll miss them when they are all gone. They bring back memories of childhood as Dad drove us thru endless miles of farmland in Montana and North Dakota where the only thing to see was telephone poles and Burma Shave signs. I already miss the Burma Shave signs.


After noticing Rest Areas on our trip, we have decided Idaho has the most beautiful designs. Their buildings are gorgeous. Wyoming has only a few rest areas, but lots of these signs where you can pull over to take a break. Nice for the dogs, but we were sure happy we had the Motorhome for that purpose on today's ride!

Antelope Watch

Gary spent the day today hollering "There are two antelope over there, look to your right!" or "There are three (four, five, etc) antelope out your side window." I finally figured out how to spot them myself. It was great entertainment for him--he didn't get tired of driving at all today. Of course, as we got on the freeway in Gillette, the family of mama duck and six ducklings that crossed the freeway right in front of us woke him right up. They did get across successfully, thank goodness.



We drove past the continental divide and are at a KOA up very high. The mountains are gorgeous.


We got to Rawlins, WY and headed for the laundry room. I met a nice lady from Wisconsin and we had a great time chatting as we waited for our laundry. She finished first and got home just in time. I didn't. Gary showed up with hangers to let me know it was not only pouring down rain, but it was raining sideways. We ran thru the raindrops with clean towels wrapped over our clean laundry.


Gary wants you to know he is bringing a horse home from Wyoming.


Someone left it near out RV as we were packing up to leave.