Goldilocks (6/20/24)

 Sitting in the camper with the air conditioner running literally all day is not our idea of fun (its very noisy) so for our next move we looked for some place cooler. And boy, did we find it. Moving north towards Salt Lake City is our game plan and since we loved Cedar Breaks National Monument when we were there, we headed that way again.

There is dispersed camping just outside the national monument, and we picked out a really nice spot. Being at 10,000 feet, the weather is totally different than Vegas.. It was sunny, but a little too windy and cool to sit outside. There were even pockets of snow near our campsite. Our intent the following day was to do a hike, but the wind was still whipping, and it was Cold! 

We elected to drive some back roads in the Bronco instead. That night the furnace ran a lot, and we realized the temperature had dipped into the 20s.

I felt like Goldilocks at this point. First it was waaaaaay too hot, then it was waaaaaay too cold. Time to move on, again.

Our next stop was Provo Utah, where we met up with our friends Liz and Randy, who were staying at the Elks lodge. Since they were busy entertaining their granddaughter, we took off for the nearby mountains to explore.

We had two goals- one was to hike and another was to drive the scenic road, looking for potential places to camp in the camper. But first we stopped at the visitor center for Timpanogos Cave National Monument.  Before we even got inside we were approached by someone who asked if we were doing a cave tour. Of course, we had no idea that there even IS a cave tour. He explained what it was and offered us free tickets because he had overbought for his family reunion. That changed our plans, but that’s ok too.

The cave tour begins with a 1.5 mile hike up a paved trail. There is 1100 feet of gain, so they give you an hour and a half to do it. 

It was pretty warm that day so by the time we got to the top, we were ready for the 45 degree cave. 

It is actually three caves, which have been connected with tunnels. We have been in many caves so this one was just ok for us, but the price was right.

One of the people we met in the RV park told us about a nearby museum (Richard W Erickson Foundation Antique and Classic Power Museum) that they thought was pretty awesome, so we decided to check it out. When we arrived, the place looked closed, but we parked the Bronco and walked around. It was acres of open air, and lots of buildings.

A few minutes later we ran into the owner, who had seen our car and was looking for us. Turns out the museum is really only open a few times a year for special events, or by appointment, which we didn’t have. She was gracious enough to show us around for an hour or so.  Her dad had owned the property and started collecting vehicles of all sorts, many years ago. 

He left a trust hefty enough to take care of the property. There were probably a dozen buildings, each holding a particular kind of nostalgia…one building is bicycles, one is race cars, etc. After a couple of hours we said goodbye to Pam, with the promise of sending her a few things we think she needed from our collection of stuff in the garage.

Before leaving the area we reached out to one of Paul’s (second? first cousin once removed?) cousins on his mom’s side.  We had an awesome dinner with Lori and her husband Rick, but of course, I took no pictures.  Paul wanted to pass along to Lori all the memorabilia he had about the cabin in West Yellowstone that has been in the family for generations.  Lori and her family still spend time at the cabin every summer.

The main reason for our visit to Salt Lake City, was to fulfill Paul’s parents last wishes.

Once they both passed, they wanted their ashes to be buried together in their plot in Salt Lake City.

Paul’s grandparents and great grandparents are also buried here.

They wanted no service of any sort, so it was just Paul and I, doing what they asked.

Our last afternoon was spent at a house on Murphy’s Lane in Salt Lake City. We have visited this house before, with Paul’s mom, but that time, there was no one home. This time there was.

The house used to belong to Paul’s great aunt and uncle, Alla and Tom Mulhall. At that time there was a house and a cottage. The cottage is now gone but the house has been restored very meticulously.   During World War II Paul’s mother and grandmother lived in the cottage while Paul’s grandfather, James Vegene Laird, was away fighting for his country.

Built in 1848, the original owner of the home was Robert Gardner. He and his brother also started the first saw mill in Salt Lake City. In 1928 the house was sold to Paul’s great uncle and aunt, but in 2012 the Gardner family regained possession of it, and decided to restore the house. It is now the oldest house in Utah that sits on its original foundation.

We met Sherril, a member of the Gardner family, because she happened to be staying at the house. Paul had brought whatever documentation he had regarding the house and his family’s part in its ownership, and he gave all of it to Sherril. She, in turn, happily showed us around the property, showing us the restoration that was done.

Our visit to Salt Lake concluded, we continued on our Goldilocks journey, seeking higher (and cooler) ground, in a national forest.

The Grand Canyon-North Rim (06-18-22)

 Most people who visit the grand canyon visit the south rim- it has more view points, amenities, and is accessible more of the year. The north rim sits at a higher elevation and it gets a lot more snow than the south rim. It's also a lot cooler, and that’s what we were looking for.

We stopped at the nearby Kaibab National Forest visitor center and spoke to a volunteer about good places near the park for dispersed camping. Armed with some great suggestions we took off for the east rim.

About 6 miles down a dirt road we found the perfect spot. Enough sun for solar, level ground, and a perk- using our cell signal booster, we had decent data speeds to use our electronics.

The view from our chairs was amazing.

The north rim has a smaller visitor center than the south rim, but we checked it out.  I had forgotten my hat (rare for me) so we went into the gift shop to see if I could find something decent. I have always wanted a hat from a national park- but for the most part they are “ranger” green- kinda boring.  Lucky for me I found one that wasn’t!

We did some short hikes in that area since we were there. Bright Angel Point is a short walk to a popular viewpoint, so we joined the throngs of people on the trail.

Back at the rig, we made some tentative plans for what we wanted to see and do.

Our first full day we drove back to the visitor center to hike 3 miles of the Trancept Trail. There are, for the most part, two types of trails in this park. Those that go down into the canyon, and those that go along the rim. Temperatures in the canyon are over 100 right now, so we stuck to the rim trails.

After our 3 mile hike, we had more time so we decided to drive to one of the viewpoints that was on our list for the following day.

You start to wonder after a while, just how many different viewpoints do you need to see? The view doesn't change that much.

That being said, Point Imperial was one of the better views, in my opinion. I am glad we made the effort to get there.

Day two we drove the scenic Cape Royal Drive. There are hikes and viewponts along the way but we decided we'd better do the hike first, or we might get lazy. 

This hike, Cape Final was about 4 miles round trip to a pretty nice viewpoint.

Done with our hike, we stopped at a picnic area and ate our lunch, and drove to the end of the road- Angels Window Viewpoint.  There are 3 pictures of this…

the one we took looking at Angels Window (note the hole in the rock),

the one we took walking out onto that rock….

and the view from that rock. What was neat about this spot is that you  could clearly see the Colorado River deep in the canyon.

We honestly decided to skip most of the other “viewpoints” along the road.

After a day off, where we just went for a walk down the road and hung around the camper, our final day we hiked part of the Widforss Trail.

It is named for a gentleman who was known for his paintings of the park.  The actual trail is 10 miles- we did half of it. This is one of those trails that we call “good exercise”.  Although it was along the rim, we were mostly hiking in the woods, with occasional glimpses of the canyon.  Had we done the whole trail I am sure the view would have been spectacular- but we aren’t up for a 10 mile hike yet.