Arches and Canyonlands National Parks-Days 11-13

July 4^th, 2014

Bowie looking anywhere for shade.

     Oh my god it’s hot!!!  We left Apple Valley, CA and the temperature was over 100^o.  By the time we reached the border of CA and NV, it was hovering around 116^o.  After a brief stop in Las Vegas, NV for dinner with Jen’s friends, Steph and Bryce and their new little girl, Addy, we continued on in the darkness of the night toward Utah hoping it would be cooler at night.  Well, the good news is that it was cooler.  The bad news is that at 1am, when we found a nice road-side campground that we could stay at for free, it was still 100^o outside.  It was a pretty miserable night for us as neither of us could sleep very well in the heat and we tossed and turned all night.  It didn’t help that there was this constant panting and rearranging that kept coming from the foot of our bed.  Apparently, Bowie didn’t sleep well either. I think the only reason we fell asleep was because we were so exhausted.

Ridgetop drive

     When we woke up later that morning, we continued our journey into the scorching heat toward Capitol Reef National Park in Utah.  We took scenic Hwy 12 through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and then up to Captiol Reef NP.  Grand Staircase was really nice to drive through. We especially liked driving along the ridgetop where we were literally on top of the ridge with about 3 feet on either side of the 2-lane road before it went down a few thousand feet.  After arriving at the campground at Capitol Reef later that day, the cool breeze blowing through the valley and the small river flowing next to the campground thrilled us so much that we decided to stay there for three nights instead of heading to Moab the next day, where it was still in the 100’s. So, instead we decided to take a day trip to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks the next day. 

     Arches NP is an awesome park to visit.  The amazing rock formations, canyons, and scenic views are wonderful, but I must say my favorite part of the whole park this visit was the dirt road Monica found that led us out of the park.  It was called Willow Springs Rd and we got to really test out Grover’s ability to play on a high clearance, 4-wheel drive road.  Several portions of the road are on the well-known slick rock that is popular in the Moab, UT area as well as through sandy dry washes.  So, most of the ride was slowly driving over large rock slabs and then through a sand wash and back up another rock slab.  All together, we had a blast, even though there were a few moments we weren’t sure if we going to make it through or not.  The road is maintained on one end by the National Park Service and on the other end by the BLM.  Once we hit BLM land, the road was graded through the rock and is in better condition as much of that area is open to hiking and mountain bike riding.  Definitely would like to come back to this region in the future with my mountain bike and go play in the hills.  Just too hot this trip. 

The first obstacle.

Straddling the boulders.

Reaching the other side.

   From there, we headed down to Canyonlands NP. Although, is was the evening, we were able to still see the canyon and get some pictures before it became dark.  We noticed a dirt road that led down into the canyon that looked like it could be fun for another trip in the future.  We made it to the end of the paved main park road though and could just make out the canyon below, but it was a bit too dark for pictures.  We headed back to Capitol Reef and finally got home after midnight.  A very long day, but lots of fun playing with the truck and taking pictures.

Jen, Monica & Bowie

 

Southern California - Day 9-10

July 1st, 2014

     Next stop was in Southern California to visit Jen's best friend, Heather, and her new little son, Brandon.  Brandon is 5 weeks old and adorable and Aunt Jen is going to spoil him rotten, I'm sure.  We stayed at Monica's mom's place in Apple Valley, CA as we didn't want to tow the trailer anywhere near the hustle and bustle of the Los Angeles or Orange County area.  So, we arrived June 29th and then spent June 30th down in Long Beach visiting Heather, Tony and Brandon and Heather's mom, Renee.  We took Heather down to Seal Beach for a few hours to help get her out of the house while Grandma Renee baby sat.  Then we came back and watched the baby making funny faces for the evening.

     The following day, we got the trailer ready to head east into the broiling sun that is the desert.  Jen got the oil changed on the truck while Monica did some work around the trailer.  Then, before leaving, we headed 10 minutes down the road to a family friend's of Monica's, Holly, and had lunch with her telling her stories and catching up.

     Tonight, we will make a stop in Las Vegas to have dinner with Steph and Bryce and their 9 month old baby, Addy.  Should be fun. 

Folsom Lake, CA- Days 5-8

     We met up with Jillian and Bob and their two kids, Cody and Hazel, on Thursday, June 26th. We met up and had some lunch and then headed towards the Beals Point campground along Folsom Lake. Although quite dry and the lake being low, it was actually a great campsite for the 6 of us. We headed down to the beach the evening we arrived and allowed the kids to play, fish and most importantly the dog got to swim. 

     The next day we packed up both of our cars and headed back to the lake where we spent the day fishing, swimming, building things in the sand and generally having fun.  But the most important thing that happened that day was Cody caught his first fish. Aunt Jen and Bob (Dad) were so excited and proud of the Little Guy.  He caught a small catfish which was fried up that night with some trout we had in the freezer.  It was quite entertaining though when we brought the fish into the boat and both kids went running, which isn't easy in an 8 foot inflatable dinghy. 

However, it was a great day and Cody and Hazel both even tasted the catch of the day.  We also learned that Hazel is pretty un-fearful around the water which was fun.  When we told her we could go for a boat ride, she immediately grabbed her life vest we bought for her and jumped in the boat.  Pretty good for a 3 year old.  Definitely made Aunt Jen and Aunt Monica happy and proud.

    The third day saw us back at the beach, this time throwing a frisbee in the water, swimming with the kids and getting them out far enough to where they couldn't touch bottom, and taking the dog for a swim in the dinghy.  Altogether, the long weekend with the Tischio family was wonderful and the Aunts were exhausted, but very happy to spend some time with Jill, Bob, Cody and Hazel.  Can't wait for the next camping trip in 2 years, as I think this is becoming a tradition.

Day 3 & 4- Oregon

June 25^th, 2014

     Today, we left Bend, OR and are continuing our trip south to California.  I made sure Monica was driving across the border this time as whenever I cross the border, my speed increases by 15 mph and foul language starts leaking out of my mouth in regards to passing motorists.  We are heading for Oroville, CA tonight where we will be staying at a property owned by Jen’s best friend’s mom, Renee.  We will be there for one night and do some laundry and take showers.  We left Hwy 97 around 5pm and headed south on Interstate 5 for a little bit before getting on Hwy 99, which takes you through Chico and then into Oroville.  

     Yesterday was a fun day in Bend, OR.  The day started off with some emails and working on the budget.  Monica had a slight brain fart, when she thought she had miscalculated the whole trip and thought we only had enough money for half the trip. Fortunately, she’s a smart girl and realized her mistake a few minutes later and we can now continue on with the 45 day trip.  Phew!!  After that slight panic attack, we started packing up for an afternoon in town.  We started off just up the road a bit at Newberry Volcanic National Monument. We went on a small hike partway up the cinder cone and then headed back down to the Visitor’s Center to get our first National Park Passport system stamp of the trip.  Both Monica and I have our own passport books, as well as a bigger 3-ring binder book that we got when we first started traveling together.  

      After our visit to Newberry Volcano, we headed into Downtown Bend to the Deschutes Brewery.  This is Jen’s favorite beer to drink and she has always wanted to take the tour.  Monica had the equivalent to a 5 year old going to Disneyland for the first time on her hands.  Jen was like a bouncing child, completely giddy with anticipation of the tour and the FREE samples!  The tour lasted about 30 minutes and then we were each given a punch card for 4 free samples.  Since Monica doesn’t drink beer often, it was more like Jen getting 8 free samples minus a few sips of each by Monica.  So now, Jen was a slightly loopy 5 year old.  We discovered a new beer that Jen hadn’t tried called Cinder Cone Red Ale.  It’s a red ale, which I don’t see very often.  So, with a few souvenirs, Monica walked and Jen stumbled out to the truck.  We had originally thought about going to another brewery, but Jen was happy enough to just head back to the campground.  Once back home, we headed to the pool and hot tub. They had some balls in the pool so we had fun for about 30 minutes pretending we were Olympic water polo players swimming and leaping for balls that we most of the time completely missed.  But I’m sure we were entertaining to the others sitting in the hot tub. 

After some fun at the pool and a shower, we went back to Iggy (the trailer for those that don’t know that already) and enjoyed hot dogs and s’mores over the campfire.  Another wonderful day in the life of traveling.

Jen, Monica & Bowie