Day 9

It is June, it is summer, and we get snow. I thought we had a problem with global warming!!

Yes, snow on the car and coach roof at 5.30 in the morning, a time which probably doesn’t appear on most of your clocks!!

But, when I looked, the rest stop we stayed at was at elevation 8000 ft, and the mountains alongside us were 4000 feet higher, so I suppose snow was to be expected.

We left at 7, and proceeded West along Interstate 70 , and found that the rest stop was the highest point on the freeway, and we went downhill, through road works and on one lane, for the next 10 miles. All was fine until some impatient truck driver decided to blow his air horns up my rear end to get me to move quicker. So, ever obliging Clive, I slowed down to piss him off further!

Any way, we drove North in miserable rain, on Interstate 15, all the way through Utah.

As lovely as the South of Utah is, the central part and the North are not.

Salt Lake City is anywhere USA, and we did’nt even see the pigging lake!

We got into Idaho, and the drive from Utah to Idaho Falls was gorgeous. The road goes along a valley, with snow covered peaks on both sides, and lush farmland in the middle.

(10 points for the first reader to name the movie where the phrase “ As Idaho Falls, so falls Idaho” was used.)

We are staying in a public park, free of course, by the Snake River in Idaho Falls.

Tomorrow it is 100 miles up the road to Jellystone Park for a few days!!

Wildlife watch today includes 3 white pelicans, presumably totally lost, prairie dog/marmot/gopher things in the park, and a suicidal deer what leapt into the freeway from the median, without looking both ways, and was nearly minced by a truck. Pity it got away, I fancied venison for dinner!

We traveled 385 miles, exactly the same as yesterday, which is scary. I think Marlipops took me on the guided tour of downtown Idaho Falls just to get the mileage the same!!

On our evening after dinner (lamb chops and mashed taters with peas) walk, we wandered around the park, and Marlipops annoyed the local bird life sufficiently to attack her, dive bombing from the pine trees. I stood patiently with the camera, but no bird poop was forthcoming!

(Just a side bar, we play cards every night during dinner, and I have discovered that Marlipops cheats, coz she wins every time!)

Todays pix include the RV we have downsized to, coz we are out of funds, and no one is paying yet to read this drivel!!!

Day 7 and 8

News flash, boys and girls! Hard to get phone and/or email service in the mountain ranges....so this email comes to each of you a bit later than planned....but no worries, there will be more to follow!!!

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Day 7.

How can you have a day from hell, and a day in heaven at the same time?

Come ride with us!!!

Wanting to get an early start, we woke the birds up, broke camp, and attempted to put in the sliding room, only to find the awning over the sliding room was bust, so we had to find a dealer who could diagnose and fix the problem.

We found the most helpful person at Desert RV, in Mesa, who, together with his helper spent an hour fixing it, and only charged us $ 50.00

So we left 3 hours behind schedule, traveled through Flagstaff, Arizona, and then through the mountains to Kayenta, the start of Monument Valley.

Driving this beast is great, going uphill no problem, but controlling 45,000 pounds of coach and towed car going down hill and round bendy curves is a challenge, and bloody scary sometimes!

I have grown to respect the way those big truck drivers handle their rigs!

Then, problem number 2. Halfway across the Painted Desert, an enormous noise from outside, and we discovered the passenger side awning had come adrift, and was merrily flapping in the breeze.

So, 10 feet of duct tape later, and Marlipops up the ladder, we moved on.

We get to Kayenta, see lots of RVs boondocking, so we joined them on the McDonalds parking lot. We decided to move to a different location, on the same parking lot, only to find some inconsiderate person had parked in our way. The big problem with towing a car is that you cannot reverse, so we had to disengage the tow bar, with the aid of a hammer and two friendly French Tourists, and consequently broke one of the tow pins. More expense tomorrow.

Alas, no internet access up here in the boonies so this E mail is late. How ever, the scenery on the way here was breathtaking, from the deserts through the mountain pine forests to the Painted Desert. Worth all the hassle, although Marlipops may just get on a plane tomorrow!!!

Wildlife watch today was an eagle on a giant Saguaro cactus, wild horses in the Painted Desert, and wild dogs all over McDonalds parking lot.

Day 8

Sorry, no internet service as yet, in the wilds of Utah.

I make no apologies for the pix today, it is all about some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

(The legs are for Steph.)

We left Kayenta around 9 am in a howling windstorm, which had been rocking the coach all night, so we did not get a good night’s sleep.

But, if yesterday was a trial of RV mishaps, then today more than made up for it.

Highway 163 goes through Monument Valley, which really is more awe inspiring than the Grand Canyon, and I’m not ashamed to admit that it brought tears to my eyes, coz it is one of the places I have always wanted to visit, since I was a kid, watching John Wayne tame the West.

After that the road goes into Utah, and we drove until 7.00pm through Southern Utah, and the views and scenery are just out of this world. Pix do not do justice to the awesome majesty of this area. Makes you feel very humble to know you are standing on 2 million year old rocks. That’s even older than me Dad!

Spent the night at rest area 80, on interstate 70, in the middle of nowhere, after 385 miles, where it started to snow, before dark, so we’ve gone from 107 degrees to nearly freezing in 36 hours.

Once again going up the mountain passes is easy, coming down is kinda scary!!

Wildlife watch today was one prairie dog scuttling across the road, and two squished skunks!

Day 6

Day 6 started with a 5.30 am stroll through the park, watching the family of deer, all the rabbits and thousands of birds waking up.

We then spent the morning tubing in the icy cold waters of the Salt River. It was fun going through the first two sets of rapids, but the third set was rough, and Clive had several encounters between his fat arse and submerged rocks, and the rocks won!!!

And of course macho Clive refused sunscreen on his legs, and is now like the proverbial lobster!

We have pix, but they are the old fashioned kind, on film, in a waterproof camera.

Marla has been busy making curtains while Clive was making sure no one stole the TV.

Tomorrow we are off early o'clock, all points North to Alaska!!

Good luck to you Taylor ( our Grandson) in your baseball game.

Love from The Rolling Hills.

Days 4 & 5

Hallo World, we're back!!!

Missed a day coz it's the weekend, but no worries all is well.

Woke up on the morn of day 4 at 5.15 to catch the most glorious sunrise over Pass Mountain, in the Tonto National Forest, Mesa, Arizona.

Did some coach maintenance chores, chilled at the wonderful scenery and quiet, and had pleasant afternoon and evening with family, Dad Morgan, Nancy and Steve.

The Giant Saguaro cactus which can live for over 200 years, are as solid as oak trees, and are all over the mountains like soldiers, almost as though they are protecting the area.

Day 4 we saw some chipmunks piddling around the coach, and around 6.45 pm, the wildlife highlight of the trip so far....................first the howling, then we saw a coyote.

Only a glimpse, but check out the pix, you can see him from behind, facing away from the camera.

Come On You Coyotes!!!!

Day 3

First, the pix.

Sunset in the New Mexico desert.

The view from the coach door at our new campsite in Mesa Arizona, at sunrise.

The view over the mountains at sunset.

Various pix of coach, Marla is responsible for the site number, not me.

Marla praying for rain, or something.

Day 3 drove 200 miles across New Mexico and Arizona, then went off the highway for 100 miles through some gorjus country, with 20 million Saguero catuseses, and not a human bean in sight. Brill.

Our new site for the next few days is Usery Mountain Recreational area, North of Mesa, which is near Feenicks.

We have a number of glitches to fix, mainly the AC in the front of the coach ( just a detail in 104 degree heat ) so we'll stay here until Tuesday, and then off to the wild blue yonder!!

Hoping to catch us a rattler for breakfast, I'm told they are delicious with eggs and coffee!!!

Love to all.

Us.

Day 2

Day 2 the saga continues.....

Frodo and Sam left Hobbiton at the crack of dawn...............oops, I'm in the wrong story.

Woke up at early o'clock to see hummingbirds right outside the window, and jackrabbits playing in the grass. At least I think they were playing, and as this is a family show......

600 miles later, at a rest stop in New Mexico, I am looking forward to the first beer of the day, and the second, and the third!!!

Marlipops is cooking pork chops marinated in wine, with mashed taters and sprouts.

We are gonna crash early, and off to Phoenix tomorrow.

love to you all.

Us.

Day 1

Hallo World!

You lot are gonna get fed up quickly!!!

Less than 12 hours into the trip, and we've seen more wildlife than there is in Houston in a year!!

I'm not gonna give you a blow by blow account of our trip, coz you will kill us when we get back.

Here are a couple of pix so far.

Don't worry, we'll get bored writing to all of y'all soon anyway!!!

Love,

Me an Marlipops.

Departure Day

Our journey has just officially begun!

We departed Houston from Highways 2920 and 290 at 9:00 a.m.(Central Time), Wednesday May 30th, and we are headed due west on Highway 290, through Austin, Texas and then onward to Junction, Texas when we join Interstate 10. We will spend one night at the South Llanno River State Park, just west of Junction.

More to follow later.

Cheers!

Clive and Marla