We were up before the crack of dawn to head into Arches for sunrise. Ron had a very uncomfortable night sleeping from his fall the other day, and was beginning to wonder if there was more damage than he thought initially.
We hit all of the highlights of Arches and sunrise was spectacular. Near the end of the day Jeap and Noi decided they wanted to hike about 4 miles to Delicate Arch for sunset photos. Ron’s discomfort from his fall a couple of nights ago was still pretty intense so while they did that Dang, Ton and Ron headed to the urgent care clinic in Moab.
One of the views from Arches NP but no Arch in site.
After some poking and prodding and X-rays it turns out that Ron has three broken ribs, which explains the discomfort he was feeling. Unfortunately there is nothing to do about broken ribs but rest so he will be soldiering on.
Jeap and Noi set personal records for steps during the day at 27,000, and got some great photos.
Primarily a driving day again today. It was a little farther than thought it would be to Moab from Ogden, and we had to pass long ways thru Salt Lake City which was not fun Elephant.
This little arch gave us a preview of tomorrows visit to Arches NP.
Our first stop in Moab was to pick up the rental car. After getting the car (with a nice upgrade from what we ordered from Enterprise) we headed into our packed KOA in Moab.
Ron was a little stiff and sore from his tumble yesterday, plus he and Noi were still fighting the effects of colds. After settling in we headed to bed early as we are planning to be in Arches NP for sunrise and sunset tomorrow.
Today was another driving day. After a slow start to the day we headed down the road. The first and only stop for the day was at the Costco in Pocatello ID to stock up on supplies and to boost the economy of Idaho with some purchases for Thailand.
For the night we stayed at Willard Bay State Park. It was located right on the Great Salt Lake. It turned out to be a nice place to stay and convenient. We had a nice grill out and dinner despite having to fend off some mosquitos.
Sunset at Willard Bay SP.
We decided to repeat our plan in Moab of renting a car and leaving Elephant stationary for the visit. Something made Ron decide to call ahead to get a reservation. Good thing as there was a mountain bike race, and a long school weekend going on in Utah. It took calling five places before we got the last spot in the KOA in Moab. The price is a little bit of a rip off but there was no choice.
One problem for the night was Ron fell going to the bathroom at night and landed pretty hard. There is a little step down from the bedroom in Elephant and Ron missed the step. There was some moaning and groaning but he was able to get up and get back to bed.
Today was a day to explore Zion. After a relaxing morning we headed to the river walk with Pae and Supachai. It is a easy walk beside the Virgin River towards an area called the Narrows. It was a very pretty walk that seemed easy after the walks the previous couple of days.
The trail from our Ranger walk today.
We had signed up earlier in the day for a two hour ranger talk. It was quite fun and interesting and as usual the Ranger did a good job and was very well prepared.
Ton spotted this caterpillar along the trail during our Ranger walk.
At the end of the tour we said good bye to Pae and Supachai. Ton and I would like to thank them for a great time, and we really enjoyed their company.
Today we shifted base to Zion. We had agreed to meet Pae and Supachai at the hotel so we had a pretty early start so we could dump our tanks. When we got to the dump station we had an international dump station party with a couple from Germany, and England. With some cooperation we were all able to get out of there pretty quickly.
Part of the scenic drive between Bryce Canyon and Zion NP.
The drive to Zion was an uneventful 70 miles. Our next target was to get into a campground in Zion. Given how busy Bryce was we were pretty pessimistic about getting into one of the Park Campgrounds. When we pulled into the station to pay the entrance fee they had a sign saying both campgrounds were full. We decided to check anyway as it was still before noon hoping someone left. When we pulled into the South Campground the campground host waived us down and we were expecting the worst. But she told us this was our lucky day because we could have their last spot if we wanted it. Of course we did and jumped in. After setting up we headed into town to have a quick Thai lunch.
Flowering cactus near our campground in Zion.
Zion was very busy and the bus system they have in place was overwhelmed. But we were able to go up and hike the Emerald Pools Trail. What a difference 70 miles can make. When we woke in Bryce in the morning it was 40 degrees, and when we went to hike the Emerald Pools Trail it was 93 degrees. We took it easy and it was well worth the trip.
This squirrel posed for Ton on the Emerald Pools Trail.
We called it a day a little early as Pae and Supachai were staying in a hotel about 50 miles from the park. Ton and I enjoyed a relaxing sunset from our campsite to call it a day.
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 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.
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.
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 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.
The next morning we headed over to the north unit of the park which is about 60 miles away. We enjoyed the drive over. The land in the north unit is very different than the south, and we concluded it was overall prettier than the south unit.
When we finished with the park we were looking for a place we can spend the night on Lake Sakakawea. Lake Sakakawea is the third largest man made lake in the United States and is formed by damming the Missouri River. Keeping with the Sakakawea theme we decided to stay in Lewis and Clark SP. When we arrived at the park we found that we were the only people staying in a campground with 200 sites. We spent some time exploring the lake shore where we found a group of three very hardy fishermen as it was quite cold and blustery.
A view of the Little Missouri River which cuts thru both units of the park.
We headed over to Theodore Roosevelt National Park for the day. It is the only National Park in North Dakota. While the park is open year round, as you can imagine the visitation drops off considerably during the winter.
A giant bison near the south unit of the park.
There are two units to the park both along the valley of the Little Missouri River. The south unit has a badlands type feel similar to the Badlands NP in South Dakota. We toured the park and enjoyed the views and had a chance to see Bison and Deer. For the night we stayed in the parks only campground. Surprisingly the camp ground was pretty full given the high temperature for the day was 36 degrees, and the low was forecast in the 20’s.
Today the highlight of the day was Custer State Park in SD. Ton noted that we were only 30 miles from the park and it had some spectacular views and animals to view.
Enroute to the park and we did a drive by Mt. Rushmore but decided not to stop as we got a couple of pictures from the highway and the whole thing felt a little too Disneyland for us. On the way out though we saw a mom and baby mountain goat right by the road.
Sometimes the wildlife comes to you. Note the tracking collar on the mama goat.
Going into Custer State Park on the Needles Highway we saw a sign saying low/narrow tunnel, 10’6” high and 9’ wide. I told Ton we were going to test the accuracy of Marks height measurement, we made the tunnel easy, but later came upon another tunnel surrounded by cars taking pictures of the entrance. This one was marked 12’ high and 8’6’ wide. We pulled in the mirrors and squeezed thru. Today was one of the days when the Tiger concept really proved itself.
The sign said we would fit and we just did.
As we drove thru the park we spotted a lot of Pronghorns which in South Dakota have a little different coloring than the ones we saw in Oregon earlier. Later we saw some “wild burros” that were pretty much tame and great beggars. The scene with the Burros walking right up to cars and sticking their noses in to get food reminded me of old pictures you saw of Yellowstone with Bears begging by cars. I guess that is the difference between National Parks, and State Parks. As we were leaving the park Ton commented that we did not see the large Bison herd that is resident in the park. Just as she finished saying that we came around a corner and ran into a herd of about 100 Bison using the same road to move from one pasture to another. After about twenty minutes of integrating ourselves into the Bison herd they finally got to where they were going and left the road. Happily Ton got some nice closeups of Bison as we moved with the herd.
The bison decided the road was the easiest way to get over the hill.
Today was our furthest point east on this trip. Ron has always wanted to see the Badlands NP. But before that we had quite a storm last night. Wind gusts around 40 mph and rain and lighting. We got a little concerned when the loudspeakers on the Airforce base came on and told all personnel to take cover from lightning and severe weather. Ton says I slept through most of the storm but I was really awake and listening to the storm.
On the way to Badlands the signs for Wall Drug started popping up, and I asked Ton if she wanted to visit Wall Drug. To my surprise she said she had no idea what it was. Ton like many people who have adopted the US often knows more than natives about the country so I am always surprised when she does not know something about the country. So we stopped and I had a cup of coffee while Ton explored Wall Drug.
Maybe the original tourist trap. Wall Drug in South Dakota.
I know I am starting to sound like a broken record, but I am not sure we realize how spectacular the National Park System is. Badlands was 25 miles of spectacular other worldly formations carved by wind and water. I am not sure our pictures are going to do it justice. It was definitely worth the 1300 mile trip to see. I hope the other parks live up to the Badlands.
Today we started out with plans to drive 8 hours to the Badlands NP. But enroute our youngest son Dylan called and convinced us to swing by and see the Devils Tower National Monument. This was the first national monument ever created. It is a 800 foot rock that sticks straight up in the air with what appears to be columns. We walked the base of the rock which takes about 45 minutes. A very impressive feature but very crowded today with people scrambling all over the rocks. For me it took away from the experience as it is a place that deserves some quiet contemplation. Especially since there are signs all over saying that climbing on the loose rocks requires a climbing permit, and I doubt the park service is issuing permits to 4 year olds.
The very impressive rock called Devils Tower.
After the stop we decided to stop short and ended up at Ellsworth AFB. When we got there the normal RV park was full but he said there was an overflow lot a couple of miles away. So tonight we are parked in an old parking lot with two other RV’s at the end of the runway in an abandoned part of the base. We do have a great view of B1 and B52 bombers landing and taking off.
Today was geyser and hotspring day at Yellowstone. We visited all of the hotspring sites between the west entrance and Old Faithful. We then stayed for an Old Faithful eruption and had lunch. While the skies were still clear it was colder and windy so while it was good picture weather it was not good hanging around outside weather.
Hotspring near the park entrance.
Mid-afternoon we decided to head over to Mammoth Hot Springs as Ton was not going to let her friends see Yellowstone without seeing where our son Dylan worked as a ranger. We did not have the best light for Mammoth but it is still pretty spectacular.
One of my favorite hot spring photos.
We returned to our campsite well after dark tonight and whipped up a quick meal.
Today was critter chasing day. The plan was to head over to Grand Teton NP and see what critters we could see. To facilitate that we rented a car for our stay in Yellowstone. Elephant costs .35$ per mile to drive, and we figured that the cost of the rental car would mostly be offset by the miles we saved not driving Elephant and we would gain the flexibility of being able to squeeze into smaller places. It turned out to be a good decision.
Noi is a professional photographer and ran her own travel magazine in Thailand. She asked me what the big five were in Yellowstone. I did not initially understand her question until she explained to me that there were a big five animals you should get photos of in the Serengeti. Ton and I did not know if there was an official big five list for Yellowstone, but we made one up consisting of Bison, Elk, Wolves, Moose, and Bears.
Bison on a river crossing.
We were not more than a few miles into the park when we crossed our first animal off the list as there was a large herd of Bison. After about an hour of photos were shot we headed on down the road towards Grand Teton. On the parkway between Yellowstone and Grand Teton we got to cross another big five off the list. There was a grizzly contentedly grazing right next to the road despite the considerable scrum of humans about fifty yards away shooting pictures. So far a good day.
This big fellow munched away while a herd of humans tripped over themselves 50 yards away.
The weather was fantastic today with clear blue skies and highs in the sixties. Grand Teton was spectacular and we enjoyed a really nice lunch in the park.
The view from our lunch spot.
Finally on the way home in addition to some more Bison we were able to get some nice shots of an Elk herd crossing a river. As well as watching some stupid human behavior as a clearly agitated Elk was being ignored by one guy who was so concerned with his photo that he risked getting attacked.
The Bull in this photo was very agitated with some people who were too close.
