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Canyonlands RV Campground, Moab, Utah. Tachometer – 1775 miles

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The RV needed fixing this morning, so I spent 2 hours at the local garage while Paola and the kids stayed in the motel room. Most of the issues were resolved except for two, so tomorrow I have to be back there again after some parts will be special delivered. Bummer. The repair guys are real nice, but that does not help us enjoy the trip. I just hope that tomorrow will be the last time we see a mechanic on this trip.

After the garage, I got back to the motel and we checked out. I had to take care of some phone calls and then we had lunch in a local diner. It was actually pretty tasty. (more…)

Best Western Greenwell Inn, Moab, Utah. Tachometer – 1723 miles

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Hi. After several days of relative wilderness (no Internet or cell phone coverage) we have changed to the opposite extreme and are staying in a city; at least the biggest town for around 200 miles – Moab (after the biblical Moav?). We have a few minor problems with our RV (leaky kitchen sink, shower hose problem, and worse of all, the toilet fluch mechanism is not working). I have an appointment at an RV garage tomorrow morning to fix everything.

To celebrate our arrival in civilization, we are staying in a motel, and we also went to a nearby restaurant for dinner. There is a thunderstorm outside so perhaps we chose a good night to be sleeping under a concrete roof. (more…)

Fruita Campground, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. Tachometer – 1535 miles

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I got up at 6:30am for a hike that started just across the road from the campground. It was a climb up to Cohab Canyon, from there to Frying Pan Trail for a few miles and then a beautiful side trail to Cassidy Arch. This is quite a large arch that can only be really appreciated and seen by doing this hike. Click here for hike pictures. Legend has it that famous bank and train robber Butch Cassidy (partner of the Sundance kid, see the movie with Robert Redford) hid nearby when escaping from the law. (more…)

Fruita Campground, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. Tachometer – 1525 miles

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When we got up this morning we were still the only RV in the campground but at least the “grocery” store was open and I paid the nice lady $18 for the night’s stay. We drove up Highway 12 for another hour or so through great views, reaching a height of 9600 feet (2900 meter) at one viewpoint.

We then took highway 24 West and entered Capitol Reef. This is a long and narrow park North to South along a geological water pocket. (more…)

Noname RV spot, Boulder, Utah. Tachometer – 1450 Miles

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We woke up easy and relaxed this morning and departed rather late from Ruby’s complex. Aside from the RV park they have a hotel, general store, gas station and restaurant. We bought some groceries at the store, what a ripoff.

We continued east on beautiful highway 12 and then cut south to visit a small state park called Kodachrome basin. It is very colorful (mostly red and brown) and is known for it’s unique 67 pipes standing erect in various shapes and sizes. (more…)

Ruby’s Inn RV Park, 2 miles from Bryce, Utah. Tachometer – 1349 miles

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I got up at 5:30am for an early morning hike in the canyon. The campground is 3 miles away from “sunrise point” where I planned to start the 5 and a half mile hike. Luckily I didn’t have to walk all the way to the starting point and after a few minutes walk on the road leading to the park, I got a ride with a young Hungarian couple. Kusenem. The hike is called Fairyland Trail, and it weaves through the various rock formations up and down the canyon from sunrise point to Fairyland point. It was very scenic and quiet. Only after 2 hours did I start to see some people coming down from the opposite direction. The blend of colors and shapes is really unique. These “hoodoos” are something that is supposed to be geologically unique to this park. Click here to see hike pictures.

After completing the hike, I walked 2 miles back to the campground. It was 10am and we took the kids in the RV back to the park to complete yesterday’s list of viewpoints. In between it was naptime and lunch. We returned to the campground complex, which is also part of a Best Western hotel around 2pm and took the kids to the indoor heated swimming pool. No pictures because ALL of us were in the water. Orr was first to jump in, she is like a fish. Ron entered cautiously due to the water temperature. And the happy surprise is Shir, who willingly put out her hands and let me take her for a swim. Paola got in too, and we had a fun time jumping around and playing in the pool. After 20 minute Orr and Ron were getting cold so we got out. Shir seemed fine though, and did not complain or seem to be shivering.

We got back to our site and had an unsuccessful steak dinner (too hard, low quality beef). We got the kids in pajamas and headed back to Bryce for late afternoon / evening views and photo session. It was worth the hassle because this park is just so beautiful. You can spend hours dazing at the strange and lovely rocks and colors and still be in awe.

Tomorrow morning we head out to our next adventure.

Good night

Hemi

Ruby’s Inn RV Park, 2 miles from Bryce, Utah. Tachometer – 1322 miles

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Today we explored Bryce Canyon, named after a Mormon settler who 150 years ago tried to live in this area and gave up after 5 years because it was too harsh. He had a famous saying “It’s a hell of a place to lose a cow”. The sights are spectacular as you can imagine. If you can’t take a look at the picture gallery. The problem for us is that there are no trails that we can hike with the kids. They all lead down from the rim to the canyon, so it’s too dangerous to do with our threesome. Similar to the situation we had in Grand Canyon last month. Zion was ideal because everything was happening at the canyon bottom. Here it is at the top. (more…)

Ruby’s Inn RV Park, 2 miles from Bryce, Utah. Tachometer – 1279 miles

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Today we parted with Zion National Park. We got off to a blessedly late start due to the fact that all three of the kids slept till almost 9am! The first part of the drive was through Zion park, from south entrance to the east exit. This required driving through a 1 mile tunnel. The tunnel was built in the 1930’s and is relatively small, so RVs like ours need to drive in the middle lane. No problem. You pay $15 and the “tunnel ranger” (I swear that’s their job title) closes off the tunnel to oncoming traffic, turning it to a one way passage. Neat. Ron loves tunnel driving so this was a big high for him. After the tunnel the scenic road continues within the park for another 6 miles. A nice viewpoint just before the exit is “Checkerboard Mesa”, a huge Rock mountain with square carvings making it look like it’s ready to host the world checkers championship. (more…)