9-28-16 - Heat Escape - Day 48

                                       

                                                                 On the road
                                                           
We moved 25 miles to Goosenecks State Park.  We rode Amber here Sunday, liked the scenery, picked out a camping spot, and parked in it today.  It is a beautiful boon docking site overlooking the river.  We have plenty opportunity to people watch as the numerous tourist stop by for a look.

our site

                                                                        our view

We hiked about 6 miles around the cliff today.  We debated on getting Amber out of the garage or going in the truck to Moki Dugway and Muley Point.  We were wise to choose the truck on the dusty, curvy, bumpy, washboard roads. The views at Muley Point were similar to Gooseneck State Park only higher in elevation.  Gorgeous views!!

                                                        end of the road (hike) picture

                                                                       Moki Dugway

                                                                    Muley Point views

It was not supposed to rain until tomorrow.  We came back to camp, and the rain started.  Oh well, Mother Nature is hard to predict.  It stopped raining long enough to grill burgers over the campfire and stargaze.  The rain is peppering again, so to bed we go.

                                                                  Goodnight

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/jDKcick3hCHfWtdi6

9-27-16 - Heat Escape - Day 47

                                                      Bye Devils Canyon Campground

 After a week of dry docking, it was time to move to full hookups.  We relocated to Cottonwood RV Park in Bluff, Utah.

We decided not to unhook the truck from the camper and not to unload Amber.  We walked about a mile to Bluff Fort and took our time looking at all the cabins and exhibits.

It was time for the camper to get a good cleaning.  After I got the camper clean, I took a long hot bath.  You realize how good it is to run water freely after conserving for a week.

We bellied up on fried Rez catfish, watched a little TV, and hit the sack.

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/62dTjE5kodHsBcBB6

9-26-16 - Heat Escape - Day 46

                                                     Haven't seen any, Yet!!!!!

We decided to bite the bullet, fight the crowds, and go back to Arches National Park today, and do the one hike we haven’t done at Arches, The Delicate Arch Hike.  We are so glad we did.

Every time we travel Highway 191, we see plenty of deer, dead and alive.  Right before we got to Monticello, we saw a guy picking up road kill,  and placing in the back of his truck.  He had a least 3 deer in the back of the truck, including a nice buck.  Unfortunately, I missed the picture.  

We traveled an hour and a half to get to Arches National Park, waited in line for about 20 minutes at the entrance, then it was on!!

                                                                 Almost to the entrance


 We reminisced about the last time we were here.  Not nearly the people nor the traffic.  We made a bee line for Delicate Arch.  It was a 480 foot elevation, 3 mile round trip hike. 

I thought this hike was a breeze until….  I realized I had to walk on the drop off side to come back down.  I kept plotting as I was going up of how I was coming down.

                         

We really enjoyed Delicate Arch.  Then I sorta panicked.  I told Lauren when we started down that I was going to take my time and let people go around me so I could hug the interior cliff as much as possible.

Low and behold, there was no one in sight, I flew by Lauren, ran down the steep cliff and made it to my safety zone.  WHEW!!

                                                                hanging on the wall

We rode to Devil’s Garden Picnic Area for lunch.  We were planning to have Chicken Salad Sandwiches.  Oops, I forgot our bread, so we ate potato chips and chicken salad.  It was pretty good.

On the way back, we took a ride down Highway 128.  It was a very pretty ride with cliffs on one side of the road and the Colorado River on the other.

When we made it back to the camper, Fernykat was waiting on us.  She really explored tonight.  This is probably the best night here at Devil’s Canyon Campground.  After cooking pork chops, sitting around the fire, and watching a bunch of deer, we got our 5 gallon Ace Hardware bucket full of water and doused the fire.

And we had our own arch burning in the fire pit, 

Another wonderful night!!

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/VY7oswhkswtp9nrG7

9-25-16 - Heat Escape - Day 45

                                                            Beautiful, chilly morning

We decided to layer up and ride today.  It wasn’t long we were unlayering.  It was such a beautiful day in the 70’s.  Wonderful!

We rode to Bluff, Utah, looked at the pretty scenery surrounding the town and the Fort Bluff historic site.  We continued to Sand Island Campground and took a lookie.  Pretty nice.  We rode on to Mexican Hat and Gooseneck State Park.  We paid $2 for a nice view for our picnic lunch at Gooseneck State Park. We had been here a few years ago riding in the truck because of the weather.   I will type again, it is much better to be on Amber touring around sightseeing than in the truck.

We did the Forest Gump view again today. Last time we were here, I convinced Lauren to get out of the truck in the rain and run like Forest Gump did in the movie while I took his picture. Run Forest Run didn’t happen today.

                                                          Run Forrest Run

                                                    passed by Monument Valley

                                                          Horses along the road

We decided to make the loop through Kayenta, Arizona. Several hours later, we made it back to Devil’s Canyon Campground. The last 9 miles we went up in elevation and the temperature dropped 8 degrees.  Of course, Fernykat was ready to come outside and explore.  She had her a big ole time, roaming, digging, and jumping. 

We had another great campfire, cooked on the grill, and are warm and toasty in the camper tonight, thanks to the generator.


Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/DnZMVqhM5BLDDiwR9

9-24-16 - Heat Escape - Day 44

                                                                      More deer


It was a cold night last night.  We had two blankets on the bed and wished we had our electric blanket to warm up the bed while the generator was running.

We had to crank the truck, to crank the generator, again this morning, (or rather Lauren did).  Needless to say, we went looking for the NAPa store.

We spent the cloudy, cold, 39 degree morning at the visitor center to use their WiFi access.   It was slow.  We got our phone updates done, make some phone calls, (some much needed sister talk time), got a new battery, and headed back to camp.  We were hoping for warm sunshine by the time we got back.  It didn’t happen.

We have been here 3 days and haven’t unloaded Amber because of the weather; we decided to layer up and go.

It was a cold, cloudy, 52 degrees when we took off to Butler Wash Indian Ruins and Natural Bridges National Monument.  The Indian ruin was a hike that our camp host had recommended.  It was a pleasant hike with some more amazing masonry skills of our ancestors.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.

We had gone to Natural Bridges many years ago in the truck because it was raining.  It is a lot more scenic and fun, (even though it was cold), riding Amber instead of in the truck.  It was a little hot hiking in our attire, so we only took a few short hikes.

I put on all the layers I had for the ride back.  I had my sweater turtleneck, my cuddle dudds, my hoodie, my gloves, and my knit headband (thanks Jean).  It was a nice ride until about the last 8 miles, then it was cold.

We cooked some good ole ranch crappie on the grill tonight, while standing by the warm campfire, enjoying the sunset and watching a  momma and baby deer.

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/dmcoBip2SBtxSbUK6