Road Trip 2015 - #14 Bonanza and the trip home

October 5, 2015 - The truck runs fine on our drive south to our final destination - John and Carol's place in Bonanza.  We're not really in Bonanza but how do you say that you're outside the city limits of a town of one.  So we'll just call their place Bonanza for simplicity sake.

John and Carol are in the midst of building their homestead with a colossal garage as Phase 1.


We did a little construction work, enjoyed the company of them and their framily; did a little four-wheeler riding, a little strolling and a lot of laughing.

Dharma and Bleu on the trail - I wasn't the only one with a tongue hanging out.

Kerber Creek

The views

Aspen leaves

Chicken hill - no we did not go down

On top of Round Mountain

Tallest damn beaver dam that I've seen

Colossus going up

Construction crew working hard

We heard weather aka snow was forecast so after a couple of weeks we beat feet.  We left on Monday and it started snowing on Wednesday.  Perfect timing for my southern sensibilities!

We planned to spend a couple days driving south, stopping by my dad's house before arriving back at this place called our house.  But then Brenda called.  She was going fishing at her nephew's ranch in central Texas.  Did we want to stop by?  Well hell yeah!

We eased down to Dalhart, TX, spent the night at Corral RV park which we have frequented often when in the area.  We arrived in Carbon to meet up with Brenda the next afternoon.  We had dinner with her and her sisters at the Texas Land and Cattle Steakhouse in Ranger - a combination auction barn and restaurant. Surprisingly the prices were very reasonable and unsurprisingly the food was good.  David got up early to fish the next day and this is the measly catch he came back with.

We had lunch at THE STORE in Carbon and drove the 100 miles to my dad's house.  We had dinner with the family at Tater Junction.

And drove home that evening.  Home?  What is this place called home?  

Another Road Trip in the books.  Where do we go next?

Road Trip 2015 - #13 Fruita

September 30, 2015 - We pull onto Sagittarius Road and parked by the curb at Andy's and Kim's house same as we did on our road trip last year.  Unloaded the dogs into a grassy fenced back yard - which they remembered and love - and settled in.  Derek picked up the truck with the goal of removing as many parts as possible.  Shouldn't they pay US to do that...?  LOL

Andy's and Kim's grape arbor was overflowing so the plan to juice and jelly formed quickly.

While Derek was toiling away on the truck, we were smushing, boiling, straining and canning jelly.  It turned out quite well.  We also got a little putt-putt in before we got the truck back and cruised down to our final destination - Bonanza.

Road Trip 2015 - #12 Moab

September 29, 2015 - We arrive on the south end of Moab knowing exactly where we wanted to be - a quiet little BLM campground called Ken's Lake.  We parked in the same campsite that we had last spring.  As we were setting up, Janice and Tim pulled up in the campsite next to us.  We ended up chatting the evening away with them.  They come to Moab from San Antonio to ride ATVs so we had lots to talk about.

The following morning, we unloaded the four-wheeler to go for a ride on a very challenging trail that we had explored before.  Unfortunately our neighbors couldn't join but at least they know what's available there now.  We showed them the waterfall and where they trail head was and I'm sure on subsequent visits they will explore. Here's where we went.

We just spent one night here as we needed to get the truck to the shop so we loaded up the four-wheeler and made the short trip to Fruita to some subdivision camping.

Road Trip 2015 - #11 Monument Valley

September 29, 2015 - How many times have we watched the old western movies on TV and seen the huge red spires jutting from the earth with no explanation, rhyme or reason.  Monument Valley sits just east of Lake Powell.  We arrived on Navajo land and this is what we saw.

We dropped the camper in parking lot and took the truck into the monument.  We now know that the monument is best viewed from a distance.  Up close seemed to take some of the mystery and enormity away.  Each structure was amazing but they are best appreciated in groups as a part of the overall landscape.

We didn't camp at Monument Valley, just spent a couple of hours there.  From here we took a very interesting drive up Hwy 191 to Moab.  Pulling a 34' 15K lb camper through steep grade terrain...well, let's just call it "interesting."

Road Trip 2015 - #10 Lake Powell

September 26, 2015 - I had wanted to return to Lake Powell since our one-day visit back in 2009.  I knew just what I wanted to do - camp at Lone Rock and kayak a lake that has more shore line that both the east and west coasts of the continental US.  Well, one out of two isn't bad.  And Red Rock was abundant here too.  

I had read many reports of the sandy conditions at Lone Rock and risks of taking a camper down to the lakeside beach.  We decided to get a full-amenity spot at Wahweap and then scope out Lone Rock.  I called and Wahweap had two camping spots left - I took that as a sign and booked one.  Upon arrival, we decided to just stay put for three days and enjoy the luxuries of a full-hookup site.  Beside from here we had a spectacular view of the Super Blood Moon Eclipse.

Our first stop was Horseshoe Bend.  As scared as we are of heights, this was a view we couldn't pass up.  It's quite a trek to the 1000' drop off but as you can see if was quite worth it.

We visited the Glen Canyon dam.  Lots of cement here...

Our next stop was Antelope Canyon.  I've had a print of this place in my spare bedroom for years - I didn't even know where it was when I bought it.  Serendipity I guess.

Here's where we went in.

Here's where we came out.

And here's what was in between.

A surreal place for sure.

I wanted to revisit Cottonwood Canyon Road in Utah - about 20 miles away - so we headed off in that direction only to find the road closed.  Boo but we would've probably just got lost again in there anyway.  We continued down Hwy 89 to Paria Canyon which is just a beautiful riot of color.  

Unfortunately during this jaunt our truck started acting up considerably.  Whenever David accelerated, the exhaust brake would kick in to slow us down.  We made it out of the canyon and limped the truck back home.  Thank goodness for Google as I found that disconnecting the EGR valve would mostly correct the problem.  David made a call to his nephew in Grand Junction and they agreed that we could bring the truck up there and Derek would do the EGR delete upgrade that David had been wanting.

To take our mind off of our truck woes, we rented a jet ski for the day and explored the southern end of Lake Powell.  I just love that this lake is simple and exquisite at the same time.  The day was priceless!

In Labyrinth Canyon

  

 In Navajo Canyon

In Antelope Canyon 

In Warm Water Creek

At Antelope Point Marina.  See the reef below?  It's probably 20 feet under water.  The clarity is amazing!

I was so amazed at this little outhouse that I...hmmm...threw David off the jet ski.  We got catty-wonkered and I gassed it to straighten us back up and...splash...there he went.  I laughed so hard I could barely drive back to get him.  He didn't think it was near that funny...but I'm still giggling as I type this.

I was finally able to fulfill my dream.  I kayaked around 60' houseboats, ski boats and party barges.  Then at times there was no one to be seen.  I stayed out all afternoon...until sunset.  I love this place!

From Lake Powell we started our detour north toward Grand Junction, but we had a couple of stops to make along the way.  Breathtaking stops.