Ukiah, CA

Our Setup at The Kid's Home


Julia at 5 Years Old

We made it to Ukiah and are parked in our daughter's drive (see picture). It was quite a feat to get in and then getting everything level, but Tom's a master at it. We have everything but sewer dump, but we can use the bathrooms in our daughter's. It was a great trip the last day and we were thrilled to be with family again. Beth had Tom helping with a school project the day after we arrived. They are designing a new garden for the kids to plant. She is convinced he can figure out almost anything. They work very well together, too. He's also been doing a lot of "honey do's" in their house and they are so appreciative. We have been very busy with our granddaughter, Julia, when she's not in school. She loves being able to just run back and forth from her house to ours. We love it too. We're planning on staying until right after Mother's Day if all goes well. The kids' neighbor has a vineyard, chickens and other animals. One of their chickens, Flossie, comes over almost every day to see what she can find to eat in the yard. Tom has managed to get her to pose for the camera as you can see. We've had rain for the last two days, but it's supposed to be sunny now for a while. I don't mind either way. It's great being with family again.

Lincoln, CA

This morning we left Fernley, Nevada, planning to get as far as Williams, CA, tonight. The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm. Forty miles west and we ran into rain - then SNOW! We turned on the radio and heard that in order to continue west on I-80, we would need either chains or four wheel drive with snow tires. We decided to pull off and got a site in an RV park for the day and night, in Verdi, Nevada, just west of Reno. It snowed hard for about an hour, but then it slowly stopped and now it's just cloudy. We haven't found out whether the highway is opened yet though. So, I guess we'll just stay here over night and see what happens. So close and yet so far away from our destination of seeing our granddaughter!!! We agree that safety comes first and we'll get there when we get there. Our trip so far has been very nice with desert yesterday and rolling hills this morning. Sunday and Monday were both easy drive for us. We'll update the post when we know more. LATER: We left Verdi, NV, about 3:15 pm because we got word the highway was open with no restrictions. We started out in sunshine again and ran into snow, rain, hail, and sleet, but Tom did such a good job driving we made it through Donner Pass with no problems. We had heard there was going to be snow for two more days so thought it would be good to get over the pass while we could. We're glad we did as we'll be in Ukiah, CA, tomorrow to see our granddaughter. She's very excited! So are we! We'll be in touch.

Provo, Utah

Bryce Canyon, UT

Provo UT Elks Lodge-RV Sites

We've left the snow behind. Yay!!! We're glad to be back in the warmer weather again. We are staying at an Elks Lodge for the next couple of nights. We have full hookups, ashpalt, lots of stores and restaurants within walking distance. We're back to civilization! We enjoyed Bryce Canyon and it's quite different from Zion. It's a canyon you look at from above, kind of like the Grand Canyon and Zion is a canyon you see from the bottom looking up. My preference is definitely Zion, but it's good to see them both. When we leave here we're headed west toward California and our granddaughter. We are really looking forward to that.

Left Zion NP and Headed to Bryce Canyon

It was only a little over 100 miles but it took us almost all day. Of course we stopped at the grocery store and also had lunch. Ran into some colder weather and a little bit of snow. Some fairly steep and long pulls and desents on Hwy 14. Tug was huffin' and puffin'!!! Check out these pix of the trip over to Bryce. Tomorrow we'll explore Bryce Canyon so stay tuned!!!

More Zion and Kobol Canyon

We did another great day at Zion and like they say, a picture says a thousand words. So thought I'd run a little slideshow. Tomorrow we are off to Bryce Canyon for more adventures. We plan to check it out for 3 days if we don't chicken out as it's suppose to be a little colder there. Stay tuned!

Zion National Park

Gorgeous Mountain!!!

Guy Rock Climbing!!!

Gorgeous Mountain!!!

Journey II Enjoying the Park Environment!

Wow! That's about the only thing we can say about this park. It is beautiful beyond words. Tom has put some pictures above, but they don't even begin to do it justice. We would highly recommend it to anyone who loves beautiful mountains. We're staying in the park amid the gorgeous surroundings and it's surreal. We have electric but no water or sewer, but we came prepared. If a person were into hiking and mountain climbing this would be the place to come for sure. We took the shuttle bus up on the scenic road where they don't allow private vehicles to drive and it was breathtaking.

We stayed in Hurricane, UT, last evening in a very nice park - Willowind. It was great - asphalt roads, cement sites, cable, WiFi and full hookups. It would be a place I could stay for a while for sure. Our drive to the park to day was beautiful, too. How much beauty can our brains take in????

Page, AZ

We left Moriarty, NM, on Thursday, 4/8/10, and headed west. We went to Holbrook, AZ, and spent the night there at the OK RV Park. Tom kept saying we'd been there before, but I didn't remember it at all. I checked my "Parks and Dates" document and not only had we stayed there but it was EXACTLY 3 years to the day! It was too strange. This morning we headed out fairly early and started going north on Highway 89 just inside the city limits of Flagstaff. The drive to Page, AZ, was one of the most beautiful drives I've traveled. The mountains were all different colors - red, pink, gray, etc., and every turn brought more gorgeous scenes. Time flew by as we drove along. Now we're in Page which is just 2 miles from Lake Powell. We are going to take a drive to the lake in the morning before we take off west again. It looks so blue from where we are. This whole little town is surrounded by mountains which are mostly red. How colorful. Tomorrow we'll head toward Zion National Park but won't actually go into the park until Sunday as they are booked until then. We'll be staying right in the park - we're excited. The weather is supposed to be good. We'll keep you posted on our adventures as we go along.

Moriarty, NM (near Albuquerque)

Deer Near Roadway Near Ft. Davis at Dusk

Our New Combination Desk and Dining Table

Friday, we arrived in Ft. Davis at the Davis State Park for a two night stay. We went to the McDonald Observatory Friday evening for the "Star Gazing Party". It started at 9:00 pm - which is late for us. We went outside to an amphitheater and sat around on benches. The narrator of the program showed us stars, planets and constellations. It was very interesting, but cold. If any of you are planning on going there, be sure to wear warm coats, hats, gloves and take a blanket for the bench because it's stone and very cold. Also, be very sure you have a flashlight for going to the parking lot. Here's what happened to us - as we walked to the parking lot we realized how dark it was but thought we were doing okay. Suddenly, I hit a curb and down I went. I didn't have time to even catch myself, so landed pretty much full front. Since my breastbone sticks out now, it was hit the hardest. I thought I'd really messed up my face and broken my glasses, but all was well there. Tom and a kind stranger managed to get me up. I couldn't lever myself because the ground was covered with goatheads. I was pretty miserable for a couple of days, but am fine now. Just remember - TAKE A FLASHLIGHT.

On our way to the observatory we finally saw some Javelinas. Unfortunately, Tom couldn't get his camera quick enough to take a picture. They are ugly things though. We also saw a lot of deer.

Saturday, we took a drive around the park - it's beautiful and I highly recommend it. Then in the afternoon, Tom went to see Ft. Davis (the actual fort). He really enjoyed it.

Sunday, we traveled to Artesia, NM, where we stayed at an Escapee park and had a great Sunday Easter Dinner with the people there. They treated us like royalty and it was so much fun.

Monday we traveled to Moriarty to get our new desk/table. They brought it over this morning and it's gorgeous. Picture above. So we don't know how long we'll be here because we have a few things to get taken care of on the rig. Happy travels to all.

Lajitas, Starlight Theater, Ft. Davis

Old Terlingua Cemetery

Wonderful Meal Here in the Ghost Town of Terlingua

Wild Horses Near Latjitas

Yesterday (4/1/10), we took a drive to Lajitas to check out the RV park there. It was really nice. It’s all asphalt, has a pool, an agave spa (we didn’t find it or know what it was), cable, Wifi, etc. It looked nice – a few trees, but not many. It would definitely be the place we would stay if we went back to Big Bend. During our drive we saw some beautiful wild horses and Tom was able to get some pictures. He also walked the Terlingua Ghost Town Cemetery. Some of the markers went back to the late 1800's. Cool. We took it easy in the afternoon and then went to the Starlight Theater for dinner. It is an old and tiny restaurant in the Terlingua Ghost Town. We had margaritas and a wonderful creamy pesto tortellini with chicken pasta. It was the kind you eat and then moan over. We were good and brought half home for another meal. It was a nice relaxing day.
Today, we left Big Bend and headed north to Ft. Davis and the McDonald Observatory. It was a nice drive with a stop in Alpine for lunch and a visit to the Big Bend Museum at Sul Ross University there. We arrived at Ft. Davis State Park about 3:00 pm and we’ll be heading out for the evening program at the observatory. We hear it’s great. The weather has turned much cooler and we’ve been told to wear warm clothes tonight. Off we go.