Moab UT (05-08-2019)

Trails, trails and more trails.  If we weren't hiking on a trail, we were driving on one. That's what our visit to Moab was all about. But first we had to find a campground.

The last time we were in here, we had the trailer, so we stayed in an RV park.  This time, with the camper, we were lucky enough to snag a first come/first served Federal site right on the river. The only drawback was that we had no cell signal, but we made it work.









We drove several trails with the Jeep- and one of the ones Paul really wanted to do, we couldn't. White Rim Road can't be done in one day, so we would need to have a tent, food and sleeping bags.  Maybe some other time (don't hold your breath).

There were several other "scenic drives" that we were able to do, so all was not lost.  One of the easiest was Gemini Bridges Road. We actually drove part way down this road  one day, but didn't go all the way, on the advise of a ranger, because it had just rained and the road was wet.  We drove it again a different day, and made it all the way through.



Halfway down Gemini Bridges Road there was a hike to a natural bridge. This area is full of natural bridges and arches, and this trail had a blurb explaining the difference.  An Arch is formed by the erosion of the underlying rock, which results in a hole being formed. A bridge is formed by erosion caused by water.  Sounds pretty similar to me, but whatever.

The more adventurous "scenic drive" we took was Shafer Trail. This was longer, timewise, and more intense- at least for some of us. 

It started out scenic and innocuous, with great views and gorgeous rock formations

We got out several times to look around.  And actually "Thelma and Louise" Point is along this road but it isn't marked, and I forgot to look for it. 

And then the road went up.  Up a very narrow, windy, dirt road. (note in the picture the section of road on the right)  I was not a fan. Paul would try and point things out to me and I would just about freak because his eyes should only be on the ROAD. We made it up just fine of course, but I was really glad we had the Jeep and not the truck.

We tried to alternate days- hiking one day and driving the next. I am shocked that we didn't even drive in to Arches National Park (the line to get in was ridiculous anyway). 

We have done many hikes in that park already and there are tons of trails outside  the park.


One of our favorites was Grandstaff Trail- about 4.5 (RT) miles into a canyon, with several stream crossings along the way. Its what we call a Twofer. The trail was great, with  the sound of running water, and easy stream crossings....











And it led to a grotto at Morning Glory Bridge. It was a great place to have lunch before heading back down the trail.

Even though we had gorgeous views everywhere we went, they only got better when we made the trek up to Dead Horse Point State Park.  A park pass gives you 3 consecutive days to visit, so we went back more than once, and did some hiking on the trails.

 The trails were OK but this place is all about the scenery:

Soon enough it was time to leave Moab.  We had a trip planned for Mother's Day weekend and needed to get home before that. But...we made one more stop along the way....To Antelope Canyon.
We had managed to get tickets to tour both Antelope Canyon and Rattlesnake Canyon.

Antelope is the most famous of the canyons, but it's also the most crowded. Rattlesnake was pretty cool, and we were the only group in there, so it was easier to get pictures without a bunch of strangers in them. Our guide was awesome and would show us good shots to take and many times took over  someone's camera and took the picture for them.

The Road to Moab (05-05-19)

Paul and I have been wanting to revisit Utah, with the Jeep, so we could do more extensive exploring, and we figured now would be a good time. Our final destination was Moab, but we made several stops along the way.

Monument Valley is on a Navajo reservation, and although there is one road you can drive on your own, they say the best way to see it is with a Navajo guide. I disagree.

Our guide was not wonderful and we saw only one or two features that we couldn't have seen on our own. The main thing we did see is an arch, where a young man played a few songs on the flute for us.

The Navajo are mostly ranchers and live a fairly solitary life.  There are few towns, mostly homesteads.  When I mentioned that the names of the buttes seemed to be very "European", our guide let us know that the Navajo share some information with outsiders, but not all. In other words, they have their own name for the buttes but he wasn't going to tell us what they are.

 This was taken at "Forrest Gump Viewpoint" and yes, they actually call it that. It was very crowded with people taking pictures.

Ok, been there and done that now with Monument Valley, we were ready to move on. 

Traveling in the truck camper means we can get into smaller campgrounds, which is a real bonus sometimes. This is the view from our camp site and Gooseneck State Park in Utah...

We did several scenic drives in the area- probably the best one was the Moki Dugway up to Muley Point. The dugway is a road that was constructed by a mining company to move ore from the mine to the processing plant.

The drive up the road was ....interesting...to say the least.  

Once to the top, the views of the San Juan river were stunning, and we took the walk to Muley Point.

Off in the distance we could see Monument Valley.

We also drove up and over one of the peaks in the Abajo Mountains, but the scenery was just so-so. We were glad we had 4 wheel drive though!

We moved a little ways up the road ( not too far) to Bluff, Utah. Here we took the Jeep on yet another adventure, as we had to go seriously offroad to the trail head for the trail we wanted to hike.











The trail itself was pretty good- after a mile and a half it ended at the San Juan River, and there were even some pictographs along the way. We found out later that we were hiking on the old road that the pioneers had built while finding their way to Bluff.

Done with our hike, we drove through town looking to see what else might be of interest. We came upon a museum with a reconstructed fort, complete with houses. We almost didn't stop but we were SO glad we did.  Every once in a while you happen upon a gem, and this was one of those times.  Bluff was settled in 1880 by Mormons in order to establish a supply route for other Mormons making the trek across the United States.



The 70 families that settled here were the same ones that traveled thru, and survived, the Hole in the Rock (a 1200 ft cliff that they had to descend) in Glen Canyon.

The museum was incredibly well done- each cabin had a button you could push that played an audio clip that told the story of the family that lived in that cabin.  One of the cabins is actually still the original.

After seeing Monument Valley, our next scenic drive, a 19 mile trek down Valley of the Gods Road, was pretty much more of the same. Enjoyable because we are easily entertained.
We did find some interesting boondocking sites along the road if we ever decided to come back and hang out for a while.

Our final hike before arriving in Moab was Mule Canyon Ruins. The weather was such that we almost turned back but for the most part the rain held off and we hiked a very nice 6 mile trail to 700 year old puebloan ruins.




Some of them were accessible, some were not, but the trail was great so we had a good time.

 

April 2019

April was a month of highs and lows.

It started on a high note, as my early birthday present arrived on April 1st. I turn 60 in May, and Paul and I decided to celebrate with a new Mustang convertible.

Half the fun for me is to let other people drive it, which means, I have had a lot of fun with it!

The girls and I had a Thelma and Louise day, taking the car up to Oatman for lunch.  We decided we are all Louise, and the car is Thelma.

Liz and Randy, and Mike and Julie were still in the yard, so we had a great time just enjoying retirement.

Although the boat didn't get much use, due to the constant winds, we did have a few good days on the water.

My favorite was the day we brought everything to make quesadillas, and stopped at one of the many picnic spots for lunch.

Mid April brought more first time visitors to the PPP.  Two of my childhood friends made the trip out here for vacation.  Paul and I picked Linda and her fiance Alan up in Vegas, and the 4 of us made an overnight stop at the Grand Canyon.






By the time we got back to the house, Rita and her husband Ed had already arrived and been greeted by our stand in hosts, Mike and Julie.







I was looking forward to a great time, and I wasn't disappointed! Although the weather didn't cooperate, we still had a great time-

More outings in the Mustang...

Dinners on the back deck..

A game night that had us laughing ourselves silly..

And a Dance Party..

They even surprised me with an early birthday party !

We had a great time- I hope they come back soon!

Unfortunately, as soon as my friends left, the month went from the high to the low.  We knew our cat, Dozer was having problems eating, and things got worse in April. Finally we knew it was time to let him go.

 He had plenty of adventures during his 16 years with us, and was more well traveled than many people.  He even wrote a blog post about his Alaska adventure.

From Newfoundland to Alaska, he had lots of opportunities to explore the great outdoors.

Of course, like most cats, he had to check everything out...

And usually managed to be in the way....

But mostly he was a great companion, and his loss will leave a large hole in our lives.