Minnie Updates

My Minnie took an adventure without me in June!

A few months ago, Heather announced their family was planning to rent an RV and take a summer vacation to a couple national parks. I immediately asked if they would be interested in taking my Minnie and Fit, if the calendar worked out. It just sits in my side yard for many months each year, and there was no reason they couldn’t take it. In the next few weeks, we worked out the timing for a short overnight trial run, for both training purposes and also for them to make sure it would suit their needs (size-wise mainly since they would be camping with 4 people.) We drove up to Usery Pass campground just north of Mesa, and I took them through setup, hookup, and dumping processes, and then I drove the Fit back home, leaving them for the overnight experience. They agreed it was a valuable trial and training run, and they eagerly began planning their trip. 

They left home on June 10, and visited the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then Bryce National Park and Zion National Park, all locations I have been to and love. They returned home on the 16th and declared they think they want to get an RV in their empty nest or retirement years. So I think that means they enjoyed it!

While they were gone, they had to deal with the inconvenience of a couple broken items that I hadn’t gotten around to fixing this year. When they got home, I figured it was time to get them done. The Balches had given me some money to put toward a new awning, so I got that ordered first thing. It was installed on July 5, the day before I was planning to leave for the White Mountains, so perfect timing! 

My pantry latch had broken last fall on my last trip to the Mogollon Rim, and it would fly open and slide out when driving if it was not tied closed.  I came up with the idea of a cupboard latch, and Daryl installed it for me.  It works great to keep the door closed and hold the pantry sliding shelf in place. The last thing was the water hookup valve, which sprang a leak while H&M were on their trip. I ordered a new valve that happened to come while Dale was in town for an appt, and he installed it for me. 

June/July is always when my licenses and insurance come due, and now those are also taken care of for another year. So that’s the current maintenance and repairs that were on my list. As Richard loves to frequently remind me, it’s always something, and owning an RV is not free.

Now it is time to head off on my next adventure. I really wanted to take an RV trip across the country to see Barb Heimel this year, but medical appointments and the high price of gas complicated those plans. So I decided to stick closer to home, and camp in the high country of Arizona this year and hope a longer trip will be more affordable next year. 

See you down the road. 

Home!

I left Boise on Thursday morning, and drove about 200 miles a day, stopping overnight in various camping areas along the way, and arrived home on Monday just before 11:00. (I gained an hour coming back into Arizona.) It feels great to be home, but it is hot as the blazes here. I just about melted emptying my belongings from Minnie and carting them into the house.

The first night out of Boise, I drove 13 miles east of I-84 into the Sawtooth Forest to Sublett Campground near Sublett Reservoir. This was a free forest service campground, and only had a vault toilet and rough spaces, and NO cell signal. It was totally empty when I arrived. I picked a spot and set up camp. I heard one other group of campers drive in and around the loops, but they exited and set up a dispersed camp about 1/4 mile up the road. Hanna and I walked by their spot as we did our evening miles.

The second night I pulled into Maple Bench southeast of Payson, UT and found my favorite space available. I've camped here two other times, and like the location, plus there is cell signal. A couple hours later, a group of Boy Scouts pulled in and occupied two spaces nearby, but they were well behaved and quieted for the night well before 9:00.

I went back to Dave's Hollow near Bryce Canyon National Park for the next night, and set up in the exact same dispersed spot I had stayed in on my way north in June. Hanna and I again saw a couple of beautiful pronghorn grazing in the meadow as we walked that evening.

Hello Beautiful. I've missed you!

The last night I had planned to go back to A-1 Mountain Road outside Flagstaff where I disperse camped last year with Dale. But when I got there, I discovered a new sign stating that road was now closed to camping. I drove around some of the nearby forest roads, but every decent space that I could have gotten my rig into was taken.

I had to stop and unhitch my car twice, because I got into areas where I couldn't turn around. I was sorely tempted at that point to just get back on I-17 and head for home. But then Richard suggested I drive to Blue Ridge Ranger station and park in the compound right next to them. It was closer than Mesa, and I could also dump the next morning before going home. It sounded like a good idea.

It would have been a beautiful drive along Lake Mary Road, except about 20 miles in -- and after I lost cell reception -- I came to a construction zone, where the road was so torn up I had to slow to 6mph in some spots, and rarely got over 12mph for about 8 miles. Apparently, Richard had texted me to warn me about the construction, but it was after I went out of range. It was sure a miserable drive. To top it off, it started raining on the way!

Hard to see the ridges, but the road was terrible!

I finally made it to the compound -- after the gate had been locked. I was able to use my Verizon hotspot to get one quick text through to R, and he drove up and opened the gate for me. I pulled in, set up, and joined him and Dianna for dinner in their trailer. That hit the spot after a long tiring day.

That night, I did not sleep well, and was awake at 2:30 a.m. and could not get back to sleep. I finally got up at 5:30 and got some coffee. I piddled around getting things put away, took Hanna for a walk, and dumped my tanks. I was on the road home by 8:45 a.m.

I pulled up in front of my house just before 11:00. It was 109°. I unloaded as much as I could stand to before jumping into a cool shower and collapsing on the couch for the rest of the day. I didn't even take Hanna for a walk. But she found her basket of toys, and made sure they all got a good workout all evening.

So that's another summer trip in the books. I have some stats that I am putting together and will post a final recap in the next few days. It was a great trip, but it's good to be home.

Maple Bench Campground

I left the dispersed camp site near Bryce about 9:00 a.m. and drove north to Payson, UT where I turned southeast. My destination was Maple Bench Campground, a pretty, little Forest Service campground with 2 bars of AT&T signal. I had stayed there last year on my way home, so I knew right where it was. There were 3 of the 9 campsites already filled, but the nicest spot (which was the one I took last year) was vacant again, so I unhitched and backed in. Hanna and I walked about a mile up the s-t-e-e-e-e-e-p road above the campground until we were both winded, then turned around and made our way back to our camp, where we tucked in for the night.

Visiting Bryce Canyon National Park

I slept in until about 7:00 this morning, after the best night's sleep I have had so far. Checking the indoor/outdoor thermometer, I saw it was only 54 degrees. Heaven! I took Hanna for a one mile walk, and then locked her into the Minnie, jumped into my Fit and headed up the road to Bryce.

I stopped at the Visitor's Center first to peruse the exhibits and see what I could see. It was jam packed with people. After studying the history of the park, I decided to drive to some of the lookout points instead of taking the shuttle. I wanted to be on my own time table. It worked out perfectly as I found parking at each stop.

Last year when Dale and I were here, we rode to shuttle to Sunrise, Sunset and Inspiration Points, so this time I went farther up the road to Bryce Point. I took a magnificent panorama photo from there, but I don't have enough cell signal to upload it tonight. Here are a couple regular shots I took.

From there I drove back down to Fairytale Point, which is a much smaller canyon. The sign called it "intimate" and that's what it felt like after the magnificence of Bryce Point. The sign also said eventually this canyon will be as large as Bryce Amphitheater because of the rapid erosion. Within 60 years, the trail will have to be moved. I got one pretty good shot.

I was gone from Minnie about three hours and when I got back, it was still cool inside. Hanna was glad to see me. 

I got out my stovetop pressure cooker and made a Swiss steak for dinner. I have enough for at least 2-3 more meals.  

After dinner, Hanna and I walked about two miles and saw four pronghorn in the woods and meadow. They were spooked and ran before we could get very close. 

I sat up reading and texting with family in the evening and hit the sack about 9:30. Back on the road north tomorrow morning. 

A Very Long Day

My dead battery was on my mind a good part of the night and I was awake at 4:00 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep so I got up about quarter to five. I turned Minnie around and jumped the Fit. Once that was running, I moved it to the back of the motor home and hitched it back up. Shortly after, I was on my way north to the Walmart auto department in Page.

The service guy said he had a battery, but it would be at least an hour before he could put it in. I took Hanna for a short walk and we climbed back in Minnie to have an early lunch and wait. It was 103 degrees out, so I had to turn my generator on and run the AC. Finally, the guy came out with the battery. Only after removing the old one did he notice it was the wrong size and he didn't have the correct one after all. He put my old one back in and sent me across the street to O'Reilly Auto Parts. Thank the Lord, they had one AND the nice clerk even installed it for me. I told him I would love him forever. It set me back almost $150.

I filled up with gas, swung through a free dump, and finally got on the road toward Bryce Canyon at 2:00. It was another steep haul from Page to Kanab and up and down from there to the turnoff toward Bryce. I'm not looking forward to calculating my gas mileage. It's definitely being affected by the extra weight I'm towing.

I found a nice boondock spot in the Dixie Forest just a few miles from the entrance to Bryce. It was 5:30 Utah time. I never drive that late! I was bushed, but took Hanna for a walk. The best moment of the day was when we  saw a doe with two fawns gambol across a meadow. (Of course, I didn't have my camera again!)

After that hard day, I treated myself to pancakes for supper. Doesn't maple syrup cure everything?

This is what happens when you drive 

a motorhome over a washboard road. 

Final Push Toward Home

After leaving Grand Teton National Park, my sights were set on home, and I began my journey south. After studying the maps and my Allstays app looking for the best route, I decided to go back to Sunrise Campground, where I had spent four nights on my way up. I knew it was a good location and had a cell signal, and I wanted to stay two nights. I had done a lot of driving, and needed a "Zero Day" of rest. In fact, it was on that day of rest that I took a nap and Hanna got herself stuck under the seat again! Little stinker!

My next stop was Maple Bench Campground southeast of Payson, UT. It was a very steep one lane road up to the campground, and before I drove it, I pulled off and parked, and Hanna and I walked it. I didn't want to get into a predicament and have to back down that narrow mountain road. It turned out to be a great location with only one other couple (tenters) in the entire campground. Hanna and I walked the steep road up and down three times and got a really good workout.

The next morning, I headed south again with no particular place in mind, but with my cell phone handy, looking for a signal. I tried three areas on my way, but none of them had a signal. With the campgrounds getting more and more deserted, I wanted to be able to be in touch with someone if necessary. This point was driven home when I drove to Piute State Park south of Richfield. I passed a few fishermen along the road, but when I turned into the campground, it was empty, and I had the dreaded "No Signal" on my iPhone. I drove through anyway just to check it out. I noticed some of the roads were kind of sandy, so I drove around the patches. I could see the road condition was getting worse with no place to turn around, so I put it in reverse and tried to back up the same path I had come in. Suddenly, I couldn't go any farther, and as I gave it a little more gas, I could hear my tires spin... sluggishly. Oh rats! I knew I was in the sand. I hopped out and surveyed the situation, then got out my shovel. After digging around each tire and scraping the sand away, I was finally able to pull forward about five feet. I carefully turned into the weeds, then backed up a bit, then forward again into a non-sandy area. This went on for several minutes, hopping out many times to survey and calculate where I could move to, and finally, Minnie found solid ground and beat a track back to the main road.

I decided to keep driving south to the area where Dale and I had camped outside Bryce Canyon, as I knew we had a weak cell signal there. My Allstays app showed dispersed camping area along a different forest road, and as I drove farther up the hill, my signal got stronger. I found a nice spot on a secluded spur road and set up for two nights.

Hanna and I took a walk up the spur road that evening and found an abandoned child's ATV with a note on it saying anyone was welcome to take it, as the owners were done with it and were buying their daughter a new one. If I'd had any way to bring it home, I might have considered it.

Friday morning, Hanna and I packed up and drove south to Flagstaff and into the Coconino Forest where Dale and I had camped in July. I drove up the same road, and found an empty space just beyond the one he and I had shared, and set up an overnight camp.

Home was just 150 miles south!

Four Nights at Sunrise

On Monday, I drove from Logan, UT toward Bear Lake on Rd 89, passing a few forest campgrounds on the way. As I neared Sunrise Campground, I suddenly had full bars of LTE cell service. I decided a drive through the campground couldn't hurt anything. There were a few open spaces, but I drove a half mile on up the road to the scenic overview before making a decision.

After catching up on text messages and blog posts, I went back to the campground and found a shady space. Depending on how my phone was positioned, I had 2-3 bars. Good enough! I paid for 2 nights and settled in.

It took me about 45 minutes to get Minnie [sort of] level.  The space sloped downhill and also had a pothole where the rear tire wanted to sit. Additionally, I had to watch for trees in the way of my slide, and a curb where my steps need to sit.

On Tuesday, I made up my mind to stay here until Friday morning. I have everything I need; food, water, propane, 1/4 tank of gas, cell signal, and a quiet campground! It's only 150 miles to Jackson where I'm meeting K&R that afternoon. I spent another 30 minutes trying to get Minnie more level that morning. She was still a bit off kilter when I gave up.

This morning after paying for my two final days, I gave it one more college try, and hallelujah! success!

Hanna and I have worked hard, getting our 10,000 steps a day on by walking the camp loops three times a day. I cleaned the inside of Minnie front to back. The dusty roads had collected on every surface, and I dumped gray wash water when I was done. Now, if only I had R's pressure washer, I could go at the outside. But that will have to wait for Boise, as well as a Rug Doctor for my small patch of carpet. It used to be green, but now is gray.

I'm not sure I will ever get Hanna clean and white again. Walking the asphalt campground roads make her feet black. At our space, she likes to snoop through the woods and lie in the dirt. She's one grimy little dog. I will try to bathe her in a small plastic tub tomorrow night, before our meet-up with the family. But it may be a futile effort.

Utah Campgrounds

Dale and I said our goodbyes on Friday morning and I got on the road "Solo" about 8:00. My intention was to get to a Forest campground just south of Provo early enough in the day to beat the weekend campers. I had no reservations, and knew I was taking a chance on ending up in a Wal-Mart parking lot for two nights.

But luck was with me and I tucked into one of only a handful of open spots in Diamond Campground, off Rt 6.

It was a beautiful space, but ended up being the noisiest one in the entire campground. I was right next to the campground host, who for some unknown reason felt he had to run two 6500W generators from 8:00 in the morning until the clock struck 10:00pm.

After a while it just became white noise, and I was able to read and watch a couple of DVDs. Hanna and I walked several times along a lovely stream. I had a sporadic cell signal, but it was enough to touch base with all my family members and read email, news, and Facebook.

I left this morning (Sunday) around 9:00, with any open campground between Logan and Bear Lake as my destination. I made stops at Wal-Mart, Petsmart and Home Depot, and with road construction a good part of the way,

it was 4:00 when I finally pulled into Guinavah-Malibu Campground about 10 miles out of Logan. I have another nice shady space, and was lucky to get it, as there were only two open RV spots in the whole campground.

I have no cell signal, but lots of road noise, so I will only stay one night and try to find a better spot farther north east tomorrow. I still have plenty of time and not many miles to go to meet up with Robin and Ken in Jackson Hole on Friday.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Dale and I said goodbye to our friends and headed our  Minnies toward Kanab, and adventures farther north.

We filled up with gas, propane and a few groceries and drove on toward the Dixie National Forest in Utah, where Dale had researched a forest road just a few miles outside of Bryce National Park. We turned south on FR 87 off of 12 and drove about 3 miles to "Dave's Hollow". I waited while Dale drove up in a ways to see if there was anything suitable. He found a large parking area and the promise of some more private sites farther in. But first, I needed to dump, and there was a campground down the road at Tropic Reservoir. Dale left his RV and rode with me down a ver-r-r-r-y bumpy 7 miles, where we did indeed find a $5 dump and water station. However, we both agreed the washboard road was not worth the budget price and I should have pulled into the RV lodge we passed earlier and paid any price to save the nuts and bolts on my RV.

Early the next morning, we rode the motorcycle into Bryce and after a walk through the Visitor's Center, we rode the park shuttle up to Sunset Point for our first view of the canyon. It's spectacular!

Dale wanted to hike the Navajo Trail a ways down into the canyon. I elected to stay closer to the top, as I was having trouble breathing in the high altitude.

When he got back, we took the shuttle to Sunrise Point and studied the view again. After an ice cream break, we rode back to camp to find Hanna cool in the RV and happy to have us home.