Today was spent exploring the park. This was Ton and my third trip to the park. Our son Dylan had worked here one summer so we have a special relationship with the park. We were surprised how busy the park was, we expected that it would be on a shoulder season, but all of the facilities were full. We were lucky to get a spot in the campground.
A bristlecone pine tree, which is one of the longest living plants on earth.
We began with a drive on the 18 mile loop stopping at all of the pull outs and taking a bunch of photos of the hoodoos and the other scenery. For us it was still quite beautiful the third time thru, for Pae and Supachai they seemed to really enjoy the experience. To make up for missing the Bristlecone Pines at Great Basin we hiked the Bristlecone trail here and saw some, though apparently not as old as the ones at Great Basin. We also hiked the Queens and Navajo Trail loop. Ton and I had never done the Navajo trail and we were glad we did, when it was done!. We climbed out on the Navajo trail and it was quite steep, but worth it. The park service here has put in a program where if you hike three trails totaling 4 miles you get a prize. You prove it by taking pictures of markers on the trail. Ton and Pae were very proud of their pins.
Looking Down in Bryce Amphitheater.
We finished out the day by attending two astronomy talks. The first was on the history of astronomy and it was standing room only, probably over two hundred people. Bryce has the reputation as the best place in the US to stargaze and they set up 5 telescopes in the visitor center parking lot. Again their was an amazing amount of people there, but the views were awesome.
We had decided to meet at Bryce Canyon. After a quick start in the morning Ton and I decided to do some shopping while we waited for traffic in Salt Lake City to die down. We topped off the refrigerator and added a couple of six packs of Utah’s finest microbrews.
The drive to Bryce Canyon was uneventful. By the time we all had settled in we decided to head over to the park to Sunrise Point. Ton and I had been here a couple of times when Dylan worked at Bryce Canyon, but it was Pae and Supachai’s first time and they were blown away. After spending an hour or so taking pictures we headed back into town as we had signed up to attend a concert in Bryce City. I did not have high expectations, but it was quite good. The Utah parks are always full of Europeans on vacation and they did a fun thing at the concert, as they seated everyone they asked them where they were from, and at the beginning of the concert they hung flags representing all of the countries in attendance. Somehow they had missed a large group of Welsh who let them know they were there and the team on stage were able to fetch a Welsh flag right away to big cheers. The three Thai in our group were proud that Thailand was the only Asian country tonight.
A cowboy band provided the entertainment.
At our table we had a German couple who have moved to Vancouver BC, and a Finnish couple who are on a three week Bus trip. The concert of Western traditional music was quite good and the group presenting did a great job of representing the US. Everyone had a good time.
Today we finished the drive to Salt Lake City. First we checked in at the Air Force Base outside of town to get a spot, luckily we went there first as we got the last spot they had. We had a little time so we went by the shopping on the base and walked around a bit to see what they had.
Later we met Pae and Supachai at Squatters Pub Brewery downtown. We were hoping to visit this brewery and were pleasantly surprised when they called us and told us to meet them there. Ton and I had always skipped downtown Salt Lake City as we were a little nervous about parking downtown, but it turned out to be no problem as things were quiet on a rainy Sunday.
After a couple of beers Pae wanted to see the Great Salt Lake so we headed out to a state park near Saltair. The view of the lake was nice and we also got a good view of the largest copper mine in the US. Pae tasted the water and determined it was very salty.
Ton and Pae on the shore of the Great Salt Lake.
We ended the day by heading to Cathedral Square which is the center of the Mormon Religion. It was quite impressive with lots of large buildings surrounded by well maintained gardens, and statues of prominent people and events in the religion.
The cathedral for the Mormon religion. Non-mormons are not allowed to enter.
Today was supposed to be a travel day heading west to Great Basin National Park in Nevada. Ton felt sorry for me and let me sleep in so we were late getting going. We were hoping to cover about 300 miles today but ended up covering only about 140 miles due to the scenery and an unexpected stop at Capitol Reef NP.
Some of the scenery that kept us from accomplishing our goal today.
Ton really loves Utah. She thinks it is the most beautiful state in the United States. So today every time we had to make a decision about picking the road that was going to allow us to go fast or the road that was going to be pretty, we ended up on the pretty one. Today the pretty road was Utah 95 which was marked as a scenic highway and it lived up to it’s billing. If you ever have a chance give it a drive as every curve on the road seemed to open up a new stunning vista, with a lot of diversity in formations, color, and size.
As we were driving we noticed that one of our options passed thru Capitol Reef National Park. As we drove up to the park the sun was finally out and the colors were spectacular. Interestingly since we have been in Utah it has generally been overcast with occasional rain showers and has caused Ton problems with her pictures. We decided to do the 20 mile scenic drive with a thought of then heading further west. Well three hours and two dirt scenic roads later we pulled into a spotless campground at the park for the night. Since we stopped a little earlier than normal we had some time to socialize. Our neighbor was a German driving a Fiat based camper he had shipped over two years ago. He spends 6 months here and then flies home for a while. Sounds like a plan for me. Later a couple of folks came by to check out Scout and we gave them the quick tour. Everywhere we go we get tons of positive comments. I was pleased to hear from our German neighbor that he thought Scout would be great in Europe, not too big, but capable of going anywhere.
Today was a fun day for us. We drove the 17 mile Monument Valley road. Ron was talking about how Scout allowed us to explore back roads that we would not be able to do in our Sprinter when we were passed by Hyundai Elantra rental car! Anyway the drive is everything we expected it to be, and the formations in Monument Valley are among the more picturesque we have seen in a short area.
Monument Valley is really impressive.
In the morning as we were packing up for the day our neighbor came over and told us that we really needed to also visit the Valley of the Gods. It is a 17 mile gravel road maintained by the Bureau of Land Management, and I enjoyed it more than Monument Valley. The mountains and land forms are not as picturesque as Monument Valley but I think overall are just as spectacular. We stopped about half way and had a picnic with stunning scenery for 360 degrees.
Our lunch spot in Valley of the Gods.
By the time we had finished those two drives we had to make a decision whether to return to Monument Valley for the night or to push west until we were tired, ultimately we decided to go west and as we were driving we saw signs for Natural Bridges National Monument so we decided to make that the target for the night. I am glad we did as it was a clean facility that made a really favorable first impression. The campground was small and spotless and we got a really pretty site. The three natural bridges were impressive.
One of the bridges in Natural Bridges National Monument.
We started out by returning to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison to take the road down into the canyon. We had skipped this road the previous day because it was late, and it looked like it was going to rain. The road into the canyon is paved the whole way but quite steep at 16 degrees. (A steep grade on an interstate is considered to be 6 degrees.) It turned out not to be too bad and Scout had no problems. The bottom was quite beautiful. The road comes out at the entrance to the 5 mile diversion tunnel that was built to move water from the Gunnison to the valley for farming. From the base of the canyon it is fun to look up to the top and imagine the early explorers who came down to see what was at the bottom. Those were men. After another trip along the rim road we headed out towards Monument Valley.
This time we took the San Juan Scenic byway thru Ouray and Silverton. Our original plan was to stop and walk around Silverton, but when we got to the visitors center the hostesses were the most unfriendly we had ever run into in a visitors center, apparently they were having some sort of dispute with the manager and had no time to help us. We decided to skip Silverton. The scenic byway ends in Durango, and the change in scenery is incredible. Up to Durango you are driving in the Rockies with trees and a very green environment, and within ten miles you are in high Desert brown and red without trees and large vistas with Rocky outcroppings.
Near the entrance to Monument Valley.
We arrived at Monument Valley late, but headed over to the visitors center for sunset. We were a little disappointed because there were thunder storms in the area so Ton did not get the pictures she was hoping for, but some of them are still nice.
We visited these states on our way home from picking up Scout. We are hoping to return to Texas one day, but never intend to visit Arkansas again. If you are curious why read the post for January 26.
Today we finally got to try out Scout on the kind of road she was designed to cover. We drove the River Road from Rio Grande Village to Castelton. It is a 54 mile dirt road that runs parallel to the Rio Grande. The Malayan handled the road very well, over the course of the 54 miles we ran into washboard, loose rock, soft sand, and some pretty good holes in the road. I was very impressed with the ride and the handling over some pretty tough roads. We covered the 54 miles in about 6 hours with frequent stops for photos and lunch.
Scout enjoying a little back road driving.
The desert along the road was quite beautiful. We were a little early for the flowers, but Ton did get some nice shots of cactus and a few flowers.
Arrived in the afternoon at Big Bend NP. We would have been there sooner but we had to do a 60 mile detour when the needs Diesel Exhaust Fluid light came on, Ron is still learning how to manage the truck, now there is an extra gallon in the back of the truck so it does not happen again.
The very interesting wet lands near our campsite in the desert.
Tonight we stayed at the Rio Grande Village Campground. They had a great nature trail along the river. It took us thru an unusual wetland, a very interesting microenvironment along the river. It was full of birds, ducks, and a rare fish called a mosquito fish. Hard to believe the picture on the left is from a desert. We then walked up the hill to get a view of the river. Borders are always interesting to me, a line on a map can have such a major impact on people’s lives. We looked over at a village in Mexico and the traveler in me wanted to go.
Here is a nice picture of a Great Blue Heron we saw on the way back to the truck for the night.
There was a slight chance of freezing rain when we went to sleep.
Today we were planning to head to Big Bend Texas but when we woke up this morning we found that the 20% chance of freezing rain had occurred and exceeded expectations. So we decided to take our time moving out and instead visit Fredericksburg Texas. Fredericksburg is in an area of the Texas Hill Country settled by Germans in the 1860’s. It is a cute little town commercializing its German heritage. It is the childhood home of Chester Nimitz who is probably one of the most underrated American military commanders in history. His father and grandfather were prominent citizens of Fredericksburg owning the main hotel in town. After the war the town decided to construct a museum to honor Nimitz. The Pacific War Museum is a very impressive museum documenting the war from its origins to post war recovery. If you are anywhere near Fredericksburg I highly recommend it.
The Nimitz house at the Pacific War Museum.
It seems that it is a tradition to name your Tiger so we have been waiting for some inspiration for a name. Today Ton came up with the name for our Tiger it is Scout. This is how she came up with it, Tiger in Thai is Seua (may not be the official transliteration), our Tiger is small so it is a young Tiger, Leuk Seua in Thai, Leuk Seua is also the Thai name for the Boy Scouts which brings us to Scout, and since a Scout is someone who explores our Tiger is Scout. The original plan was to drive without using the interstates, but we are running out of time so it looks like tomorrow we will be heading Southwest on I-10 to Big Bend National Park.
Today we left Little Rock and began heading South West towards Big Bend National Park. Our first stop was to visit Hot Springs National Park. It is a different type of National Park as it is set around a bunch of 19th century bath houses. Hot Springs Arkansas has over 40 natural hot springs. In the 19th century the Hot Springs were developed as a place to take the waters, much like the famous Spas in Europe. Over time the springs were recognized as a national asset and the government became involved. This has led to claims that it is the first National Park, however it was not designated as a national park until much later and is in fact the 17th National Park.
One of the bath houses at Hot Springs NP.
After the visit to the Hot Springs we decided to head towards Texarkana Texas. We decided to take the back roads as we really want to see the US from the smaller roads, we want to experience the small towns of our states and try to get to see the country on a more intimate scale. Today we came up behind an Arkansas State Trooper near Camden Arkansas. He was following another vehicle who was running below the speed limit. He pulled over to the shoulder and allowed us to pass. He then pulled up behind us with his lights on and stopped us. I was not completely surprised, the Tiger is a unique vehicle, and our South Carolina Temporary plates are worst for the wear as a result of the two monsoons we went thru earlier. Initially I produced my license and proof of insurance as well as the temporary registration South Carolina provides. He asked me to step back to his car with him so I could answer any questions he might have. Back there initially the questioning was standard, where were we going, where did we come from he wanted a great deal of detail on our itinerary. Then the weird questions started, did we have any drugs, guns or large sum of money. At first I thought he was kind of joking around, but when I realized he was serious my tone changed. At that point he said that from his training my answers indicated I was being untruthful. This he said was a Red Flag, he also said that a RV like ours traveling on the backroads was a Red Flag. At that point he said to wait there and he went and questioned Ton. Later I learned he put her through the same questions. He then returned to me and said that Tons itinerary did not agree with mine and he believed we were concealing something in the Tiger. At this point I could see where this was going so I offered to have him search the vehicle. At this point he frisked me and moved me to the front of the Tiger and moved Ton to the rear near the patrol car and told her to stand in front of the camera in front of his patrol unit. At this point he searched the vehicle concentrating on the front of the truck and the engine compartment. After spending about 45 minutes going through the vehicle and looking over the outside, he came to the cabin door which was locked. I told him the key was on the key ring in the ignition. At that point he came to me and said that he was going to let us go, even though he had not finished searching the truck. At this point while unsettling I was only mildly annoyed and chalked up the encounter to a young State Trooper on a slow Sunday afternoon in rural Arkansas. But then the guy really frosted me when he ended the encounter by saying that though he did not find anything he was still convinced that we were carrying contraband and were being untruthful with him. I offered to let him continue to search the vehicle until he was content, but he declined.
When we were thinking about buying the Tiger we read many blogs about encounters with the police some unpleasant and most routine. So despite driving a brand new RV, and despite the record check on both of us coming up clean we were subjected to a full search of our vehicle, and left with the final comment from the only representative of Arkansas we ever came across that he expected we were running drugs despite his inability to find any after a thorough search of our RV. I never expected to have it happen here in the US. The funny thing is just a few minutes before the stop we were talking about how Arkansas had been a pleasant surprise and that we may need to return to explore the Ozarks in detail. Now we will never return.
The moral of the story is if you are driving a RV in Arkansas, do not leave the interstate as it is a Red Flag to the State Police, insure that you and your spouse can recite your previous 20 days destinations in detail both as to location and chronology or it will be a Red Flag to State Police, and make sure that when encountering the Arkansas State Police that you answer all questions promptly and with the same tone of voice or that may be a Red Flag.
Let me end today with a picture of the beautiful sunset we enjoyed in Texas.
Today we are back on the road. The week in Elizabethtown was incredibly cold with overnight lows near 0 every night. When we arrived I thought about bleeding the water out of the truck and putting in anti-freeze, but figuring we were in Kentucky I thought it would have to warm up, I was wrong. We really tested the Webasco Heater, and solar system in extreme conditions and they came thru well. We were able to keep the heater going for 6 days with below freezing temperatures.though it cost us nearly one half tank of diesel.
Scout in the middle of an arctic blast in Kentucky and Arkansas.
Our plan to stay off the interstates ran into a snag today as it was snowing hard and blowing snow when we left. We decided to head due west towards Paducah Kentucky instead of south towards Nashville. The first 80 miles were in pretty heavy snow and the parkway had not been plowed for about the first 50 miles. After some white knuckle driving we finally drove out of the snow, but decided to push on on interstates as we did not know the conditions of the backroads.
After a long day we ended up in Little Rock for the night.
After picking up Scout we took a short trip thru the Southeast spending a day or two in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi .
This morning we began moving north so Ron can be in Elizabethtown Kentucky for work on January 20. Ton discovered a cool concert in Granville we could go to. We told the navigator to send us on backroads only. About halfway to Granville we came across Lynchburg Tennessee which for you whiskey drinkers is the home of Jack Daniels. We swung in and took a tour of the facility. Interestingly the biggest selling whiskey in the US is in a dry county and can only sell limited addition bottles, and only give 1oz of tastes to each customer. We opted for the free no taste tour as $10 seemed a bit much for 1oz of Jack Daniels.
Ton posing with a life size cut out of Jack Daniels.
Tonight we attended the Sutton Ole Time Music Hour in Granville Tennessee. Granville is a little village on the Cumberland River, it is far off the beaten path and was slowly dying after the best farm land was covered by a dam in the 1960’s. However, the town did not die. While it is still small it has revived itself through tourism. The lake on the dam generates visitors at a couple of marinas near town. They also converted the old general store in town into a museum and visitors center. On Saturdays they host a bluegrass music concert. An old southern tradition is the live weekly concert broadcast. This is how the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville got its start. The Sutton Ole Time Music Hour is broadcast every Saturday on 15 radio stations and on the web. Everything is live including the commercials. We enjoyed the experience tremendously. Ton really enjoys bluegrass music and the music was excellent. The live experience was very interesting and enjoyable. So far one of the highlights of the trip.
Thursday was taken up with taking care of a maintenance item on Leuk Seua (Baby Tiger in Thai) and a long days driving. Pretty boring drive without much interesting to see. Once we arrived in Huntsville we decided to spend the next day exploring the area.
On Friday we decided to go to Muscle Shores, and Tuscumbia Alabama. Enroute we passed General Joe Wheelers home. He is one of my favorite soldiers as he is the only person to serve as a General in both the Confederate and US Armies. He was a boy general in the Confederate Army reaching Lt. General. Then during the Spanish-American War he was commissioned as a Major General of volunteers in the US Army. He is famous during one battle during the Spanish-American War for shouting at his soldiers to “Come on Boys, we’ve got those damn Yankees on the run!”
Ton at the famous water pump where Helen Keller spoke her first words.
In Tuscumbia we visited Helen Kellers childhood home and birthplace. We saw the famous water pump that Helen Keller said her first word at “water”. In Muscle Shoals we went to the Alabama music hall of fame. Muscle Shoals during the 60’s and 70’s was a center for recording of rock and R&B music. Artists as diverse as the Rolling Stones, Jimmy Buffet, and the Commodores recorded at the Fame Recording Studio in Muscle Shores. When the Stones recorded here (Brown Sugar was recorded in Muscle Shores) they had to sneak into town, not because they were famous, but because they did not have a work permit. If you see Muscle Shoals you would never believe that at one time it was a source of some of the great music produced in the US. Unfortunately it has seen better times. The museum has just recently reopened after being closed for nearly a year due to lack of visitors. Hopefully, they will manage to keep it open as the story of Muscle Shoals is a great cultural story in the US.
Muscle Shoals is a small town in Alabama that had an outsized influence on popular music in the US.
We moved west to Gulfport to complete our tour of the Redneck Riviera. US 90 was billed as a scenic highway, but unless you enjoy miles of strip malls it is not very scenic. Biloxi was interesting because you can still see the impact of Hurricane Katrina, even though there is considerable construction of high rises there are still large areas without anything on it. Building high rises on a stretch of cost that has been wiped out by 2 Class 5 Hurricanes does seem to be tempting fate.
The beautiful white sand beaches along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.
The coast here does have the most beautiful white sand beaches. They really are quite incredible.
Today was an easy day. We started out by walking down to the old lighthouse in Pensacola.
The beach was incredibly white and we had it to ourselves. After a quick stop at the Naval Exchange (Department Store for our non-military friends) we headed east. We stopped at Naval Oaks National Seashore. It is a small park. We learned that it was one of the first nationally controlled forests as it was a source for the wood for the early naval ships of the United States including the famous frigate USS Constitution. This wood is nearly 30% denser than other wood which made our early men of war very strong.
On the beach at Naval Oaks National Seashore.
After arriving in Destin we decided to treat ourselves to a nice seafood dinner. Ton had a great grouper, and Ron had lobster and etoufee, we really enjoyed the meal.
Today we drove down to the Redneck Riviera as the Florida Panhandle is referred to. The plan is to write about the sites and scenes we see on the road, but frankly so far South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama are a little underwhelming. Pine forests and farms, the only break in the monotony are some small towns with nice old houses.
Ton in the cockpit of a Blue Angel.
Today we ran into another monsoon on the last couple of hours of the trip. Any chance of going out to see anything was lost as it was raining cats and dogs. When we arrived at Pensacola we visited the Naval Aviation Museum. If you are an aviation buff and are in the area do not miss the museum. It is very well done with a great collection of aircraft from all eras. The museum is free and staffed by volunteers who are often former aviators. We met a very interesting gentleman who was trained by the Luftwaffe when he was young to fly the ME-262 jet. It was fascinating to listen to his story and how he came to be a volunteer in Pensacola Florida.
Today we left Columbia. Enroute to Pensacola we realized we were within 50 miles of Ft. Benning and decided to swing in there for the night. Today we covered over 300 miles over back roads through Georgia and South Carolina. The Tiger handled very well and is very comfortable to drive. Despite being a bigger looking vehicle it actually feels smaller than the Sprinter. We are able to fit comfortably into any parking lot and quite often into a single space. We are getting spoiled with the XM radio and will have to see what we do once the free trial is over.
We arrived at Ft. Benning and after checking into the campground, Ton noticed that there was a Brew Pub on base so of course we had to check it out. Ton had an Infantry Stout, and Ron had an Armor Ale. To keep with the tour of the south we included boiled peanuts with the beer. The beer was OK, and the boiled peanuts were not up to the standard of Thailand, too salty and mushy.
Tomorrows plans include a visit to the PX and Commissary on base, and then onward towards Pensacola.
We ended up spending another day in Asheville to plan some changes in our itinerary. Ron received a request to work a week in Kentucky so we needed to figure out what we are going to do next week. The current plan now is to head to the south east and explore Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and the pan handle of Florida, before heading up to Kentucky. So tomorrow we will be heading south.
One of the many craft breweries in Asheville.
The day was not a total waste. Asheville is reputed to be the beer capital of the US with the most breweries per capita. To put things in perspective there are 12 breweries in Asheville compared to over 60 in Portland. We visited 4 of the breweries. They were all good, but none of them knocked our socks off.
Still trying to figure out the Tiger. We are very happy with the handling and the ability to manuever in the city. We were able to park downtown in a standard parking spot. There are a few things that Ron is still trying to figure out. At this point all of the major systems are working well, there are small things that are not working, but this could be an operator problem as much as a vehicle problem.
