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Post by Fire21 on Nov 19, 2018 21:35:12 GMT -5
We got away from Montrose this morning about 8:15. Drove north to Grand Junction (52 miles), then caught I-70 westbound into Utah. Drove till we bumped into I-15 and started south. We are staying tonight at the Beaver, UT KOA campground.
The weather was real close to perfect, except a bit too cool for outside comfort. High was only mid-40s. When we stopped to make our lunch sandwiches, the trailer was way too cold to sit in, so we hurriedly fixed them and sat in the truck in the sun. Gave Snickers a short walk and hit the road again. But the sun was bright and the wind was almost calm.
The scenery in eastern Utah is incredibly incredible. It is stark desolate country made up of sharp rock formations...massive hills and mountains and deep canyons of the stuff. Colors are reds, oranges, yellows, tans...I'm talking the ground and rocks! It is fantastically beautiful, seemingly from another world. Perfect place to film sci-fi movies.
Tomorrow we head further south and then turn southwest into Nevada.
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Post by MTwomn on Nov 20, 2018 0:28:05 GMT -5
You are on the route I have taken many times. Nice drive once you get south of Provo.
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Post by Fire21 on Nov 20, 2018 20:09:59 GMT -5
Today we continued on I-15 south through St. George, UT and into the extreme NW corner of AZ. The drive was through a twisting turning incredibly deep canyon that is just shocking in it's size and beauty. The canyon walls have to be at least 1000 feet high...it's just amazing! We then entered Nevada. It became boring compared to UT and AZ.
But we made it through Las Vegas. I can't remember what we did there...our memories stayed in Las Vegas.
We drove on into CA, and boy, is it ever boring! It is worthless desert in this part...scrub brush, some weird cactus, and DRY! I don't know what people do with it...there's not enough water to grow anything; there's not enough grass between the brush to feed livestock; there's no oil rigs, no mines, no farms. It is desolate wasteland, yet there re a few small towns along the interstate. I guess they survive on tourists passing through.
We are tonight at the Barstow/Calico KOA. whose address just happens to be in Yermo. CA---go figure! Three towns really close to each other!
Tomorrow we head for Simi Valley, CA which is where we'll have our camper spot in a Ventura County park. Should take us only 3-4 hours to get there. Looking forward to getting to relax a bit before Thanksgiving Day.
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Post by MTwomn on Nov 20, 2018 22:26:11 GMT -5
We drove on into CA, and boy, is it ever boring! It is worthless desert in this part...scrub brush, some weird cactus, and DRY! I don't know what people do with it...there's not enough water to grow anything; there's not enough grass between the brush to feed livestock; there's no oil rigs, no mines, no farms. It is desolate wasteland, yet there re a few small towns along the interstate. I guess they survive on tourists passing through.I spent four years in the Mojave Desert. A very enchanting area. Traveled a lot of "back roads" that are really just tracks.
"some weird cactus" do you mean the Joshua Trees? They are only found in the Mojave. They are also magical.
It is not really desolate if you have the time to explore. There is a lot of military facilities in the area; Fort Irwin, George AFB (now closed) Twentynine Palms Strategic Expeditionary Landing Field, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Edwards AFB (including Air Force Test Center, Air Force Test Pilot School, and NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center)(home of the Space Shuttle), Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Skunk Works (home of Lockhead's military secret electronic warfare development). You just never see these places from the interstate.
This is a Joshua Tree,(Yucca brevifolia)
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Post by 88cars38 on Nov 21, 2018 2:49:32 GMT -5
It sounds like a beautiful trip and the scenery majestic. Have a great Thanksgiving!
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Post by Fire21 on Nov 26, 2018 0:15:17 GMT -5
We got to Simi Valley just after noon on Wednesday the 21st after having gotten lost in Pasadena. Got into the wrong lane and got diverted off the freeway. Took several miles and dragging the trailer down some narrow streets to get back to where we wanted to be. Finally found the campground and got set up just in time for an Amtrak train to whoosh by...150 feet from the back of the trailer! Several trains a day and night went by, but weren't too bothersome except when the friendly engineer wanted to signal hello. LOL.
Thanksgiving Day we all gathered at my Brother's youngest son's house at 11:00. Jackie, his daughter, brought Gary at 11:30 and we all shouted happy birthday as he came into the house. He was totally caught off guard and just stood there in shock. It was wonderful. He teared up a bit, and I nearly did. His 3 boys and the girl were there, his 4 grandkids, our sister, our oldest daughter, spouses, and a few friends. We spent the rest of the day visiting and eating...except for late in the afternoon.
Jackie and her boyfriend have lived together for well over 20 years, and all of us have urged him to marry her. Well, by golly he finally did...surprise to us all!! Her youngest brother had gotten legal permission, by California law, to marry them in a civil ceremony. We gathered in a corner of the yard by the pool and they took their vows. It was so cool...two surprises in one day.
Friday we all got together again. The younger set went to the beach for several hours while us older gray-hairs stayed at the house. Evening saw even more friends stop by...the house was FULL of people. Thank Heavens for warm weather because the patio was kinda crowded too!
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Post by Fire21 on Nov 26, 2018 0:40:20 GMT -5
A lot of people had to leave on Saturday, so we hitched up the trailer and moved to Jackie and Brian's place in Mira Loma, about 90 miles south east of Simi Valley. Once more we were unable to change lanes fast enough, and got diverted into Pasadena again! This took a long time and distance using our GPS to get back onto the proper freeway, but we finally made it. We were able to set up the trailer on their front lawn. Gary lives in an elderly apartment complex only 1-1/2 miles away, so he was able to come over and we spent Saturday afternoon together.
This morning Raine and I went to this neat Hispanic neighborhood church where the Mass was in English, and the priest had some Slavic accent...interesting combination! LOL. We got back to Jackie's after she had taken Brian to the airport to fly to Texas where his new job is. I'll explain that in a bit. Anyway, we got Gary again and spent the afternoon watching football since Jackie is a fan too. Had supper, Gary was tired, and I took him back to his home. We visited with Jackie a bit more, got tired and came back to our home on wheels.
Brian is a lawyer and got a job very recently with a company in Austin, TX. He's already down there, and Jackie is packing to move in a couple weeks. Gary just moved from Portland, OR in June to be near Jackie, where she can help care for him. Well, they've invited him to live with them in their place outside of Austin, so they're packing him up also! And here we came to complicate things! But it's all working out, and none of us would have missed Thanksgiving Day for anything.
We head for home tomorrow, going through Barstow, CA, then onto I-40 to Flagstaff, AZ, then north into Utah and over to Montrose. It should take 2-1/2 days to do it. We have a reservation in Seligman, AZ for the 1st night at an all-year campground. Hopefully we can find one in Blanding, UT for the 2nd night. If not, we might become WalMart campers. The forecast looks good for the trip, but below freezing at nights. I've kinda gotten to like the nights in the 50s here in S. Cal!
God bless you all, and we'll see ya online.
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Post by Fire21 on Nov 26, 2018 23:04:03 GMT -5
We left Mira Loma this morning and traveled NE on I-15 until we got to Barstow, CA. We turned east on I-40 which took us through more desert, but quite different from what we saw farther north on I-15. This is more scenic and rugged. The hills and mountains are steep and tall, and the ground is very rocky with lots of varying colors. As we progressed east, the foliage slowly became more dense, with several types of bushes, cacti, and other plants we're not familiar with. By late afternoon we even saw some cattle!
We rose to over 4000 feet, dropped to 490-something at Needles, CA, and rose again to 5280 at Seligman, AZ, which is where we're camped for the night. I'm pleased that we averaged over 9 mpg for the day with all the climbing.
We have a freeze warning tonight for 24 degrees. I was just getting used to the 50s at night in southern CA! We did see a high today of 70 at Needles.
Will try to post tomorrow, and are hoping we can find a campground that's open!
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Post by Fire21 on Nov 27, 2018 21:07:57 GMT -5
We stayed as planned in Seligman, AZ at a KOA. Got a key fob from them that says "I survived a night of a thousand trains". Guess what runs right behind the campground!...Yup, double tracks! There are a lot of trains daily, but they don't honk, and aren't at all bothersome.
I went into town early this morning to gas up since we had to unhook the trailer. Turns out Seligman, although quite small, is one famous place to lovers of Route 66. They have curio, antique and memorabilia shops lining the main street. I guess it's quite the place during tourist season.
Today we drove thru desert and forest to get to Flagstaff, AZ, which sits at 7300 feet. We left I-40 and turned north going in the direction of the Grand Canyon, but then worked our way more eastward. We drove through Monument Valley AZ and UT, which is a simply fantastic area of red rock formations, like the ones you'd see in old John Wayne westerns like Stagecoach. I just cannot describe how awesome it is!!
And tonight we are in Blanding, UT at a campground in the town. It'll get cold again tonight, as it did last night, but with our new electric blanket we'll stay warm and toasty. We keep the furnace set at low 60s, so Snickers is OK. And we have an electric space heater running too, so the furnace doesn't run so much. Gotta love electricity!!
Tomorrow we have only about 180 miles facing us, so should get home early. We have to go on some mountain roads, but there haven't been any storms, so there shouldn't be any ice.
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Post by Fire21 on Nov 29, 2018 13:11:43 GMT -5
Got home early yesterday afternoon. The trip took a bit longer than I expected because of reduced speed limits on some of the curvy roads. As expected, the roads were dry, although there was a touch of snow on the shoulders in the higher areas. There were some SERIOUS downgrades in a few places...I mean, riding 2nd gear and braking to keep from over-revving, 35 mph limits with 25 mph switchbacks, 6 and 7% grades. Saw some glorious mountain scenes. There is some snow up on the high peaks, but nowhere near what there should be.
So, we're back in Montrose. Sure had a good time seeing family we hadn't seen in many years. But it's always good to get back to home base.
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Post by 88cars38 on Dec 2, 2018 20:15:22 GMT -5
Your trip sounded marvelous with all the fun of family times and the beautiful scenery. Glad it was a safe trip going and returning home.
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Post by diane44fan on Dec 5, 2018 11:33:56 GMT -5
Sounds like you had a great trip! Memories to be cherished!
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