We bought our RV less than a year ago and have been on small trips - no more than a week. Rick is an avid skier and loves to ski in Utah when he gets a chance, and has enjoyed going to Powder Mt. for a month at a time. I like to ski, not an avid one, though. More fair weather, sunny days, perfect conditions, you get the picture. During the winter of 2017 Rick decided it was time to plan another trip to Powder Mt. in the 2018. He would look for an AirBnB in Ogden, I said if you find a place that takes pets, I'll come, too! He did and the trip was planned.
Now that we had an RV, why not take it, spend a couple months on the road after Ogden was over. Yikes, a couple of months with my husband, in an RV, with a cat and dog, hmmmmm......OK, I'm game. Now that you have a little background. Let's fast forward to 2/24/18, the first day of our trip.
Of course it snowed the night before we left. The roads were slushy. We decided to take the long route and head out on 90W, which is about an hour and 20 minutes from us. Excited to finally be on the road, we quickly realized we took 87S instead, being used to that route to visit our grown children and their families. Now, the motorhome is about 32 feet long and we are pulling a Ford Focus, so not a quick turn around; always have to be conscious of where a turn around is possible. I'm a nervous willy anyway, put me in an RV and I pretty much have to be knocked out. In addition, I really like to give my husband driving advice, which is ironic since I've never driven the RV (Rick hasn't gotten the nerve to let me)!! It was very windy and are plan was to drive until dark. That didn't happen, we ended up outside of Cleveland, OH in a Walmart parking lot for our first night. Never stayed in a Walmart parking lot overnight before. There were truckers there also, so I felt safe! The wind howled all night and along with heavy rain, we didn't sleep great.
February 25, 2018
The next morning the wind was still howling and after using the facilities in Walmart, Rick decided to reposition the RV so we weren't rocking back and forth like the Love Boat. Walking out to the RV we notice something was laying on the roof. A long metal thing.......the awning cover. Rick decided to slowly move the RV and then get a better look. Yep, it fell off, bouncing on the pavement of the parking lot. It wasn't something you could just fold up and stick in the basement of the RV. So, we had to open up the emergency window in the back of the RV and slide this gutter like metal thing thru the window. Poor Jasper, she wanted to go home!!! Not sure what to do at this point, since the wind finally died down a bit, we decided to get back on the road.
Windy off and on, difficult traveling. Made it to Iowa80, largest truck stop in the world, Walcott, IA. Neat place, lots of full size trucks inside, antique and new. Showers were $7 and they were beautiful. Still haven't done anything with metal awning cover.
February 26, 2018 Ate breakfast across the street from truck stop, Grandma's Kitchen. Still windy, but, we're heading onward. Not much to see in these states when you are traveling Rt. 80 - Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. Once in Nebraska, I heard a flapping noise and we got off the highway near Beaver Crossing looking for a gas station. Not much around, we found a church parking lot that accommodated the RV. Remember, it's still very windy. Started to pull under an awning near the front doors of the church - decided to stop and check the height clearance - good thing - the RV was not going to fit under the awning. There was no way for Rick to back up the RV with the car attached. Unattached the car and he then pushed it out of the way. Rick could then back up the RV to see what was flapping. I decided to take Jasper outside. As soon as I opened the door, the wind took the door out of my hand and slammed it against the RV, smashing the door window! Now, there's glass all over the cement driveway in front of the church.
February 27, 2018 Wyoming seems so barren along Rt. 80. Great for wind gusts! It was a beautiful day and we are starting to see mountains. I am not sure what I was actually doing in the next few minutes, but, I wasn't watching the road. All of a sudden BANG it sounded as if a tire blew. Nope, nope, nope...a turkey buzzard flew right into our front windshield, yeah, the big one. Rick and I looked at each other and started laughing. Are we actually doomed on this trip or what? Now would be a good time to crawl behind the bed with Kaluha. What were we going to do, only thing we could do, keep going! Rick drove the RV 300 miles with a smashed windshield. Glad we didn't meet any troopers, pretty sure they would frown on this sort of thing. Finally we get to Odgen, UT. We tried to reach our AirBnB host, because we arrived 2 days earlier than we expected. Couldn't reach him. Found a place to eat and regroup.Rick suggested we drive to Susan's house, the AirBnB host Rick stayed with on a previous trip to Ogden. She was very willing to let us stay the night. She's a very interesting person, artistic, health conscious, a very gracious host.
February 28, 2018 The next day we did get in touch with Jonathan and were able to get into our "house" a day early. March 3, 2018 There's a Megaflex Theater in downtown Odgen. Never been this close to a movie theather before - so we are going to take advantage of it! Saw Jumanji - didn't know what to expect compared to the first release with Robin Williams. Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and Jack Black were funny.
March 6, 2018 First day of skiing for Ellen. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Nicely groomed trails. Powder Mt. has 8,464 acres of skiing terrain, 9422 ft. altitude. Rick loves to ski in the trees. The aspen trees have grown just far enough apart to make turns enjoyable.
I ski one day a week. The other mornings I might take Jasper for a walk, but, mostly I am sewing. I brought my sewing machine with me and have found a quilt shop right in Ogden, less than 2 miles from the house. Sweet! Today after skiing, Rick and I went snowshoeing in the Cache National Forest just outside of Ogden (there are so many trails to be discovered here). After snowshoeing we went to Crystal Hot Springs.
really expanded with condos and shopping centers. Park City itself is unique because it has a town chairlift. Skiers can walk out of their downtown accomodations and hop on the lift for their day of skiing. At lunchtime, skiers head back downtown to eat. 
March 12, 2018 Movie Night - "Game Night" - another "fun" movie.
March 13, 2018 Today we explored George Eccles Dinosaur Park. George and Dolores Eccles Foundation serves the state of Utah, funding Arts and Culture, Community, Education, Heath Care, Preservation and Conservation, www,gecclesfoundation.org/about/founders.html. Utah is one of the hotspots for dinosaur fossils. The dinosaur park was less that 2 miles from our location. A nice museum inside and a outside park with life size models of dinosaurs throughout.
Our grandchildren would have loved it!
March 9, 2018 Like most days, Rick enjoys skiing at the mountain. He is loving the soft, natural powder and tree skiing.
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March 10, 2018 Nice, Spring like day. Hiked the trails behind the house. Lots of people were out enjoying the day.
March 11, 2018 Rick took the day off skiing so we headed to Park City. Stopped at JuJu's Kitchen in Eden for breakfast . We have been to Park City a number of times. It was fun to go back, the Canyons have
really expanded with condos and shopping centers. Park City itself is unique because it has a town chairlift. Skiers can walk out of their downtown accomodations and hop on the lift for their day of skiing. At lunchtime, skiers head back downtown to eat. 
March 12, 2018 Movie Night - "Game Night" - another "fun" movie.
March 13, 2018 Today we explored George Eccles Dinosaur Park. George and Dolores Eccles Foundation serves the state of Utah, funding Arts and Culture, Community, Education, Heath Care, Preservation and Conservation, www,gecclesfoundation.org/about/founders.html. Utah is one of the hotspots for dinosaur fossils. The dinosaur park was less that 2 miles from our location. A nice museum inside and a outside park with life size models of dinosaurs throughout.
Our grandchildren would have loved it!
March 14, 2018 Today we headed back to Salt Lake City to go to the Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah and the Clarks Planetarium. The museum had five levels of exhibits. My favorite was the Native Voices Amphiteatre; traditions of Utah's eight federally reccognized tribes.
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March 16, 2018 On Valentine's Day, Rick gave me a box of chocolate and told me it was the best chocolate I have ever gotten. What??? I opened up the box and there were tickets to a Bon Jovi concert in Utah at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in downtown SLC. Wow! I am a big fan of Bon Jovi, seen him close to 8 times (not sure how many). Anyway we went early and ate at Squatters Restaurant, recommended by employee at the Clarks Planetarium. Its always fun to eat at a local eatery. The concert was great. Jon is rocking gray hair and still has that awesome smile.
March 18, 2018 After Rick skied in the morning, we went snowshoeing again in the Cache National Forest. We took Jasper with us, but, discovered it was colder and windier when we got there, so she had to settle down on her blanket in the car. We walked across the road and went up a different trail this time. It has snowed since we snowshoed the first time. A good workout, because we were breaking trail. Later in day we went to the movies and saw Wrinkle In Time. We liked it, I have to reread the book now.March 19, 2018 Went out to Carlos and Harley's in Eden for lunch and then did some other shopping.
March 20, 2018 Another beautiful day skiing at Powder Mt.
March 23 - 26, 2018 Our oldest son, Scott, flew to Utah to go skiing. It was great having him visit. He's a teleskier and doesn't get the chance to ski much since he lives in New Orleans with his wife and son. One day Rick and Scott went to Alta Ski Area near Sandy, Utah. One night we ate dinner at the Rooster Brewery Company in downtown Ogden. |
On our stay, we saw mule deer, coyote, jack rabbits, antelope and bison. It was a great place to visit. We thoroughly enjoyed hiking and biking the trails. We even stayed two days longer than we had planned.
On April 3rd we left the park and headed to Kanab, Utah. It was a beautiful drive on Rt. 89 that zigzagged through the mountains. We arrived at 6PM.
BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SANCTUARY https://www.bestfriends.org
April 3 - April 10, 2018 Best Friends is a no-kill animal sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. The sanctuary provides a home to over 1600 animals, horses, rabbits, birds, dogs, cats, goats, pigs and wild life. Rick has supported Best Friends for many years. We visited the sanctuary on a previous trip to Utah and luckily one of the founders gave us a private tour. This trip we decided to volunteer for a week.
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| Waiting for assignment at Old Friends |
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| Spartacus, one of our favorite senior dogs |
If you are an animal lover, there are so many volunteer opportunities at Best Friends. Our first day we volunteered at DogTown. We chose to work with "Old Friends". These dogs were 8 years old or older and some had some medical issues, others were very shy, but, all of them just wanted to be loved. Each volunteer shift, we came to find out, involved poop of |
| Getting some lovin' from Rick |
some sort !! We also did cleaning and laundry. Each day we interacted with the animals in some way. Either by walking them, quietly sitting in their enclosure, grooming or feeding. Every day was different and enjoyable. The week went so fast. Our am shift started at 8:15 - 11:30. The pm shift was 1:15 - 4:00
The puppies were fun. We were able to play outside with them and "attempt" to take them for a walk.
Working at Cat World proved to us we were not allergic to cats. The sanctuary has over 500 - the largest group of animals.
The staff at Best Friends were kind and willing to answer any questions. We were made to feel valuable as volunteers. They seemed to truly enjoy their jobs. One day we volunteered at Parrot Garden. We started the morning off by washing all the feeding bowls. One bird, Paco, was a social eater. He would only eat when he was with people, so he joined us in the kitchen while we did our chores.
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| Speedy |
Our favorite area to work was Horse Haven. In the morning we mucked the paddocks and groomed whoever wanted it. The afternoon we were driven to the outer pastures in a gator and mucked again, as well as groomed. There was always time left over for the staff members to drive us to ancient Plebloan ruins found on Best Friends property. There is so much history in this area. Pigs and bunnies were fun too, bunnies were the most work. Either you were cleaning pens or doing laundry! Near the end of the shift in bunnies we were able to sit in the pens and socialize and feed them cilantro!
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| BillyBob loved to be groomed |
Pigs are very smart animals and to go on walks. As long as you have a bag of raw almonds, they will follow you anywhere! Baby goats were born the Monday before we arrived at Best Friends. They were so much fun to watch, no other interaction with them though.
Our last day of volunteering we did a morning shift with the "Old Friends" again. We fell in love with a dog named Spartacus. He was partially blind and deaf. The staff also believed he had some dementia. On walks he would just pancake flat on the ground, acting like he didn't know what was going on, or where he was. If he didn't have so many medical issues, he would have been in the RVcoming home with us. So laid back, he would have been a perfect buddy for our maniac Jack Russell. We love Jasper dearly (good thing we found her). In the afternoon we were back at horses. Just loved being around them. Some of them are just like big dogs, following you around, rubbing up against you so you would pet them. 
April 11, 2018 Today we hiked Lick Wash Slot Canyon, just outside of Kanab. A lot of side roads are undeveloped and shouldn't be attempted by 2 wheel drive vehicles, but, it has been dry and the roads were in decent travel conditions. Jasper got to come on the hike today, she did pretty good, only having to be carried part of the way. We ended up hiking 4 miles, some of it rocky, but level.
Jasper's spot in the RV after the hike
We were told of some caves you could hike to just down from the Moqi cave. After trying to hike up to them, I was uncomfortable on the smooth rock and Rick went on without me. The caves were on public land, so if anyone wanted, they could camp in them overnight.
Heritage House was our next stop. The house was built for Henry and Mary Bowman in 1894. There are many original furniture pieces. The guide knew a lot about the history of the house, families that lived there and the town of Kanab. It was very interesting and worth taking the tour.
The Hollywood Museum in town kept old tv and movie sets when shows that were filmed in the area.
April 13, 2018 Zion National Park day. The drive through the park was a two way highway, switch-backing through these massive stone mountains. There was a mile long tunnel through one of them. We hiked up to the Emerald Ponds, sediments giving the water it's name color.
This park is beautiful. Put it on your bucket list.
April 15, 2018 Left Kanab for Capitol Reef National Park near Hanksville, Utah. These are some pictures of the road trip.
April 14, 2018 Coral Pink Sand Dune State Park is about a 30 minute drive from Kanab. It is a popular spot for Off The Road vehicles. It was pretty, but, if I'm looking at sand dunes, an ocean would have been nice to see or at least hear.
April 15, 2018 Left Kanab for Capitol Reef National Park near Hanksville, Utah. These are some pictures of the road trip.
April 16, 2018 Windy conditions were predicted for 12 noon throughout the night. So we left early to enjoy some hiking. On the way to the visitor's center we encountered free range cattle. We chose to hike Chimney Rock Trail. It was 3.6 round trip, moderate with awesome views.
The wind started to pick up just before we finished our hike to Chimney Rock. It was a great hike. Once back in the car, we headed a place to eat lunch and found Gooseneck Overlook. It looked like the start of the Grand Canyon. It was so breath taking. After eating lunch we took the 10 mile scenic drive located behind the visitor's center. The drive didn't disappoint. Capitol Reef is not one of the most popular or talked about parks, but, it should be. So glad we stopped. We are debating on
whether or not to drive to Moab tomorrow morning, have to see in the weather cooperates.
April 17, 2018 Last night was extremely windy and we had no protectionn at our site in Hanksville, Utah. Not much sleep. Decided to get out of "Dodge" and head for Moab. It was only 108 miles, so, I drove the car instead of towing it. A lot of campgrounds were full and we were beginning to think we wouldn't find anything. Found a KOA just outside of Moab for 3 nights. It's a really nice park. Drive up to Arches National Park and got a permit to hike Fiery Furnace on Thursday. Only 75 people are allowed into this area per day. After that we took a scenic drive up a canyon along side the Colorado River.
We stopped at Castle Creek Winery on the way back and picked up some wine and then Rick surprised me to a nice dinner at the Sorrel River Ranch and Restaurant.
April 18, 2018 Our destination today is Canyonlands National Park, it was less than an hours drive. Driving into the park, I thought, hmmmm, this might be a disappointment compared to the other parks. Was I wrong. The first hike we took was Grand View Point, a 2 mile trail that followed the canyon edge to panoranic views. Beautiful.
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| Look close, Rick has a buddy |
The next hike was Upheaval Dome - this formation remains a mystery. Some geologists believe a meteor created this dome area.
Then we headed to Mesa Arch before calling it a day.
Another great national park. We are having a hard time leaving Utah!
April 19, 2018 Today we hiked the Fiery Furnace at Arches National Park. This area is a labyrinth of sandstone canyons that requires agility to explore. We arrived at the parking area at 9:30 and decided to follow the only trail that is marked by small arrows. We did this, first of all we didn't know what to expect, second, the park ranger told us when he went in to the area, he got lost for 5 hours, third, I'm a chicken!! So here are some of the pictures we captured. They don't do the hike justice. I am very proud that I accomplished this hike. It involved scaling smooth rocks, squeezing through tight slot canyons and figuring out how to manuever over crevaces. Rick thought we were safe taking the marked trail. It was very challenging. Rick was so encouraging and helpful. He never left my side, even though I was not always positive. He believed I could do it, and, I did!
Waving to Rick while he climbs where I don't want to!!
April 20, 2018 We got up early because we decided to camp at a primitive BLM (Bureau of Land Management) site along the Colorado River in Moab. First come, first served. I drove the car down at 6:30am and parked by a site to ensure we could get the site. We had talked with the people camping there and knew they were pulling out today around 7-8 am. Rick arrived a little later with the RV. It's nice to primitive camp once and a while. There was a nice bike trail nearby also. We stayed 2 nights. We even bought fishing licenses. The clerk told us there were lots of catfish in the Colorado River. Rick caught one. 
View while fishing.
When we went into Moab, I was so excited to find a quilt shop.
April 21, 2018 Today was another trip to Arches National Park. There are over 2,000 arches in the park. We did not see all of them!! Here are a few that we did hike to along with some other scenic pictures. When we called it a day, we hiked 5 miles.
Double Arch
Broken Arch
Landscape Arch
Balanced Rock
Delicate Arch, this is the arch that's on the UT license plate.
April 22, 2018 Goodbye Utah, hello Colorado. Drove to Cortez, Colorado today. Staying at a KOA campground. It is really nice. Will be here for 3 nights. Visiting Mesa Verde National Parks to view Pueblo cliff dwellings.
By the way, Kaluha is doing great!
April 23, 2018 After stopping at the visitor's center at Mesa Verde National Park, we drove 24 miles to the end of the park to hike a trail to the pieroglyphics. Some of the cliff dwelllings were closed. We did get to see one on the way to the pieroglyphics.
This cliff dwellling was on the trail to the pieroglyphics. So cool. The trail we took was at least 2.5 miles long.
Yucca plants were boiled and used by the Peubloans to make sandals, winter boots and baskets
Wild Clematis
Not sure, just pretty
Marks on rock from Puebloans sharpening knives and hachets.
Saw lots of little lizards on the trail.
After the trail we visited an ancient Peubloan community that built their homes on top of the mesa. They were farmers that grew corn and squash. What impresses me the most is these people used what they had and figured out how to create what they needed to survive.
View leaving the park
Another great park. It was completely different than any other park we visited. So glad we came.
Tomorrow - Telluride, Colorado
April 24, 2018 It's an overcast day, but, still pretty. Colorado is a pretty state. The drive took us on a winding road through the mountains. A lot of ranches and beautiful snow covered peaks.
Telluride is a cute town. Typical ski town, lots of shops, art galleries, cute little eateries, summer festivals and farmers market. Some places were closed for Spring, other places were busy getting ready for the Summer crowd. It was nice to visit, we won't go back, even to ski. The ski area is so crowded with condos and private homes. But again, glad we saw it.
April 25, 2018 Left Colorado and headed for Sante Fe, New Mexico. It took 5 hours to drive to Santa Fe. We found an RV park 14 miles outside the city. After setting up, we drove into Sante Fe. The first interesting thing was all the adobe buildings. The architecture is so "southwest", I know that sounds funny, but, I've never seen anything like it before. Before we got downtown we passed the Santa Fe National Cemetery and took a ride through it.
Thank you to all the servicemen and their families who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Thank you, too, to all the servicemen and their families serving at this time.
Downtown Sante Fe had many shops and restaurants. Beautiful Indian jewelry everywhere. We walked around for a little before we found a place to have an early dinner then headed back to the RV.
This was the only time we would spend in Santa Fe, so, I can't reallly say if I liked it or not. I can shop for only so long. The historical buildings were closed early. We were traveling a little too early in the tourist season to take advantage of some of the offerings of the city.
April 26, 2018 We were interested in seeing Taos, the town, and the ski area. Taos was a good hour away, but, we didn't have anything else planned today. The town didn't impress me very much and then we discovered the ski area was another 30 miles away! Neither one of us wanted to drive further, so, we went to the local park and ate the lunch we packed. There were some scenic views of the Rio Grande River on the way back.
Very Pretty!
Stopped at Dairy Queen and got sundaes before heading back to our site. Just relaxed the rest of the time. Did some quilting and Rick read. He alreay has the car hooked up for our travels tomorrow to Texas. Our next 3 day spot will be Waco. It's about a 10 hour drive, so we will stop tomorrow for one night and arrive on Saturday.
April 27, 2018 Driving to Waco today we stumbled upon Billy the Kid's grave site in Ft. Sumner, TX, so we decided to stop. He was only 21 when he was shot and killed.
When we got to our new home in Waco, for a couple of days, we hung out at the RV park and caught up with laundry.
April 29 and 30, 2018 We spent these days exploring Waco. There was a beautiful, paved bike path along the Brazos River located in Cameron Park. We rode for a while before crossing a bridge to the other side which led us right into Baylor University's campus. It was one of the nicest college campuses I have ever seen.
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| Lots of turtles in the water along bike path |
Baylor University's football stadium
We had an early supper at Buzzard Billy's which was along the bike trail near Baylor. Rick and I both had a cajun dinner, I had shrimp creole and Rick had a combination of catfish, gumbo and jambalaya. It was so good, might have to go back! After securing the bikes back on the car, we drove to Spice Village downtown, which is an old building housing over 60 home decor and boutique shops. It was fun, but, again, shopping really isn't my thing. The next morning after a free breakfast, that the park puts on every day, we headed to Magnolia Shops, made famous by Chip and Joanna Gaines, HGTV Fixer Uppers. First stop Silos Bakery.  |
| Lemon Lavendar and Chocolate cupcakes - yummy!! |
Only so many people are allowed in the bakery at a time!
The Magnolia Shop was neat to see, I was disappointed that so
many items were made in China.
After enjoying Magnolia Shops, we went to the Dr. Pepper Museum. Who knew this concoction started in Waco, TX?
Rick washed the RV after we got back. It looks so like new! Jasper and I went to the dog park and then the driving range (yes, the park has a driving range), no one was using it, so I left her off her leash to run around.
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