218 Nights in Waldorf
10/27/18 Saturday
We got up when the sun came over the hill behind Waldorf, which was not early. The rig was parked facing directly W and there was a tall hill just at our back window. I sat the outdoor chairs and table up the evening before so I sat down to watch the sun light up the red hills across the valley. Pretty nice and soon Nancy came and joined me. We chatted about what to do. Today is the last day of the Farmers Marked in St. George, so that seemed like a good start, then Zion later in the day.
It was a 16-mile drive into St George from the KOA. I didn’t take the freeway, there was a back way available to us. I took that, great idea the view of the reservoir was nice, and we thought we might kayak there that week. However we soon found ourselves in the middle of what seemed to be a triathlon. Bikers and supporters all over the road, only slowed us down a few minutes but it was funny because last time we were in St George we were in the middle of a marathon. Eventually we passed the bikers and headed to the freeway then on to St George Boulevard the main drag through town. We would be seeing this street again.
The GPS took us to Pioneer Park where the farmers market was, unfortunately we could not find the market. We parked and walked toward the only action we could see. Ha it was the triathlon finish line. Someone there set us straight and we finally arrived at the market. It was quite a bit smaller then I expected but a true farmers market. There really was home grown food to buy and not a lot of trinkets. Nancy got stuff for a couple of dinners. We found wonderful very fresh cheese curds. I got a bowl of biscuit and sausage gravy very tasty. Even the coffee was good. Nancy found a bent wire that fit exactly a wide mouth mason jar. It was fabricated by a crazy guy who said he got a $15K patent on it from Obama. He also had some other crazy derogatory remarks about other prominent democrats. We headed back to the rig to unload our treasures and head to Zion
We headed to Zion about 2:30PM a 45-minute drive.
Good thing too because unknown to us Zion would be pretty much packed with locals on the weekends. We did find parking, but it was not quickly. I think some folks were leaving. We spent some time in the beautiful visitor center, Nancy got her stamps. We learned about riding the shuttle, the only way to get more that 1/2 mile into the park. Actually, the shuttle system is very good. We got a park map and went out to stand in line for the shuttle. I thought it would be a good idea to just ride the shuttle to the end and back it takes about 45 minutes.
That worked out very well and we were amazed at the beauty of the canyon. The walls are straight up from the canyon floor which is about 1 mile wide. The Virgin River runs through the center and is pretty much responsible for the 4000-foot cut through the sandstone mountains. We hit the park at almost the perfect time to view the fall colors. We felt very lucky.
There was still plenty of daylight so we decided to drive to the Eastern entrance of the park. Highway 9 goes through the park up the steep cliffs and through a 1.1-mile-long tunnel built in the 1930s. The drive has steep switchbacks but wider than the drive on "Going To The Sun" road. I pulled over often to let folks by who I thought must be crazy to rush through this beautiful landscape. When we got to the tunnel there was a hold up. They stop traffic to let over size vehicles pass through the tunnel in both lanes. The tunnel is a full 2 feet higher in the center. This is quite a dance with traffic stopped on both ends and a ranger with a radio controlling the whole thing on each end. We got through and continued toward the park entrance.
About 2 miles E of the tunnel we saw several vehicles pulled of and folks walking along the edge of the road. We pulled off to see. Some guy said just down the hill 100 yards was a slot canyon very beautiful. We had to go.
Sure, enough the canyon was beautiful we took some pictures, lost Nancy’s reading glasses and were amazed at the beauty. Another mile we came upon Checker Board Mesa, cracks in the sandstone that sure enough made it look like a checkerboard. We headed back at the park entrance and talked about stopping to find Nancy’s glasses but didn’t.
On the way back I drove directly into the sun, interesting considering the switch backs and traffic. Almost out of the park is a bridge where people line up to take the photo of their life. The sun sets W on the Virgin River, the canyon walls light up red and digital cameras burn up the bits.
Nancy saw an advertisement for “In & Out Burger” she had to have one. Not far out of the way we had a treat. We also went shopping at JoAnn's Fabrics.
A big day but finally home. We knew if we were going to get a parking place at the visitor center, we would need to get there by 9am.
Time for sleep.
219 Nights in Waldorf
10/28/18 Sunday
We thought it best not to fight the crowds in Zion on Sunday. We went to Mass at St. George Catholic Church at 11AM. Not hard to find just 2 blocks further down St George Blvd from the Farmers Market. The church is beautiful with amazing statues of St George, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St Jude, St Michael the Archangel, St Anthony and St Frances of Assisi, with the Holy Ghost in the middle.
We ran errands the rest of the day. Made a trip to Walmart for groceries. When we got back to Waldorf Nancy called the hotel in Las Vegas where M&T were staying. She ordered chocolate strawberries and Champaign to their room.
Nancy made Bang Bang Chicken in the Insta-Pot, it was fabulous. We ate outside on the picnic table. The evenings are cool but still OK for a picnic.
Sleeping we really are going to Zion Monday.
220 Nights in Waldorf
10/29/18 Monday
We planned for today to be an early day, up at 6 but still quite a bit of prep to do with the packs, food and drink. We got it done and made it to the Zion Visitors Center by 9AM but I think 8:30AM was the goal. Anyway, parking was not bad at all, which we found to be true all week, just not weekends.
Our first trail was Watchman, right out of the VC. It was a moderate trail 3 miles round trip. Really no sweat.
We did see 3 mule deer on the route. We thought that was quite something. Not really, we were going to find out the deer were as tame as dogs and hardly even looked at you if you were no closer than 10 feet. Mule deer have huge ears and they are very small but colored like any other deer.
At the top of Watchman, we circled the rim.
We came upon a girl from a city back east. She was chubby and out of shape but she persevered and made it to the top. I think her friends abandoned her on the way up. She ask “if I would take her picture”? I did and she climbed up on a high rock and did an Instagram salute, when she got off the rock she was trembling and panting, but I think quite proud of herself. It appears we are quite out of date, we have absolutely no Instagram salutes (except for the couple we did in jest). I wonder if there will be a day in the future when people look at the pictures on Instagram and shake their head the same way we do when we look at photos from the early 1800s.
Back at the VC we take Parus trail.
Flat along the Virgin River. It is 2 miles RT and mostly paved. There are some good pictures here of the river and trees. The trail goes to the Y in the road where cars can no longer travel up the canyon road and must head E up the hill and through the tunnel. We turned back and went to the Human History Museum. Not real interesting but the film was good, Nancy snoozed. We ate lunch on the patio and admired the view of the Patriarchists, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We walked back to the VC then home.
We stopped at Walmart for necessary ingredients for quinoa and peppers. Nancy made it with some leftover taco meat and it was fabulous.
Good sleep tonight
221 Nights in Waldorf
10/30/18 Tuesday
Up early and got a parking spot at the VC no problem at 9AM. Our destination today was the Zion Lodge and the trails that start from there. There should be several moderate trail choices but there are not due to rock slides. Upper and Middle Emerald pools trail are closed. We have to hike Lower.
Really quite a nice hike, not really moderate though, but more difficult than the easy trails. The pools are very beautiful with waterfalls from above that you can walk under and pictures of the fabulous fall colors.
The next hike was definitely moderate, Sand Beach.
It started at the lodge as a T with the Emerald Pools trail. Sand Beach went S past the museum and the Patriarchs up a steep hill with overlooks of the VC and the Virgin River. The trail is a button hook style with the last 2 miles up and down hill all in very deep sand.
The views were wonderful, but the hiking was quite difficult and slow. We sat down by a stream and saw 2 wild turkeys strut by.
The rest was nice, and the snacks were good as usual but we had a hike to finish. More up and down nice views but I was anxious for the trail to loop around and head N again. This trail is used by the commercial horse trail ride outfit and the horses keep it very torn up and difficult for human feet and strides. At about the halfway point we came across a coral where I assume, they rest the horses. We rested and had water then continued thank goodness this was mostly downhill. On the way back, we saw 3 more very tame deer.
Back at the lodge we had snacks, beer and an Irish Coffee. You are required to have food when you order a drink in Utah. The Zion Lodge was built by the RR and very nice but nowhere near as grand as Grand Teton or Glacier.
Home about dark. We bought some wood at Walmart but could not make a fire because of the wind. I wrote some for the web site then hit the sack.
222 Nights in Waldorf
10/31/18 Wednesday
A day of rest??? I guess. Waldorf definitely needs a good cleaning and I wanted to get our summer clothes out of the rocket box. Next stop is Arizona we will need warm weather clothes. Mostly the place just needed a good cleaning and some organizing. We cleaned the attic (storage above the truck cab) we opened and sorted all 4 Thule bags and found some good stuff. We did get organized for warm weather. Nancy did all the laundry, quite a chore. She chatted with some nice women at the laundry.
Nancy has found our next destination Page AZ and Antelope Canyon. The women shared pictures of the slot canyon trips they had been on. These could be the famous pictures that Microsoft uses for screen savers. Nancy was so excited to find out we could go there. She had been told it was extremely difficult to get permission. Well there you go that is how we have planned much of this trip. Ask people where they enjoyed going, they will tell you.
Nancy wrapped a couple of packages for the mail, to Kim and Doug. I did some downloads on Spotify. We are getting our music and playing music figured out. We can Bluetooth from our phones to the Jensen or the Kenwood in the truck cab. Nice to have some of the old tunes playing while we are working or driving. Still work to do on the email conversion.
I made a fire and we roasted weanies. The fire was fun, and we joked about SMORES, Nancy has never had them. We watched a bad movie Margaret gave us. We put it in the Good Will bag with some other stuff.
Nice rest day but to bed a bit late.
223 Nights in Waldorf
11/1/18 Thursday
All Saints Day. We chatted and tended the fire last night Halloween. 365 days ago, I was answering the door at 618 with a bucket of candy and treating the kids with candy of all sorts. Nancy was at work then. Last night we were in St George Utah with only a vague idea of what to do next. So far so good.
I thought we were going to go to Church at 8AM but that just didn’t happen, we slept through the alarm both alarms. Looks like Church at 6PM today.
We worked on email change, more packages and more downloads. Not much. I think I washed a few windows.
Church was very good. There was a fill in priest who could really deliver a homily.
No fire tonight too much wind. Bed early tomorrow is the dreaded "Angels Landing" hike. Actually, only Nancy is dreading it, I'm very excited. Sleep now.
224 Nights in Waldorf
11/2/18 Friday
Today is the day we walk Angels Landing.
The trail is not long only 2.5 miles but rated difficult, 1600 ft. elevation gain. Most of the trail is moderate. It is the last .5 mile that gives the trail its infamous reputation. I have seen pictures of this trail more than a year ago. The pictures were amazing, and I thought then; I gotta go there someday. I really didn’t even know where it was then. I know where it is now and I'm going. I'm very excited. The first 2 miles are a cut into the face of a cliff, with 22 switchbacks.
These switchbacks are called Walters Wiggles, after the park ranger that designed them. The last half mile is a scramble up and along a high fin, where there are chains for handholds and footholds are whatever you can manage.
We arrived at Zion about 10AM but got parking at the VC. No use to arrive early we were going to make one 4-hour hike and that will do it for the day. The rest of the day is for celebration and rest. When we got on to the bus, we did not get our usual seats, front left. There was an older couple there (about as old as us). We sat front right and started up a conversation. They were headed to Angels Landing, first 2 miles then back. We talked for a few minutes, they are Linda and John. Apparently, they had made the entire trip to the top of Angels Landing many years ago and wanted to see part of it again. Of course, we decided to go all together. They were fun and have lived in SLC most of their lives.
They were interested in our full time RV adventures and how to get to that point.
We got off the shuttle at the Grotto, the trail head to Angels Landing. From the bus stop we could see people walking the trail high up across the face of the cliff. John pointed out the top of Angels Landing, yup it is high. We crossed the road together and started up right away. John has been bothered by some hip trouble lately and needed a few extra rest breaks, no problem I knew Nancy and I would need the reserve energy for the last bit of the hike. The first 2 miles went easy enough and provided wonderful views of the canyon below. Just before Walters Wiggles you turn into a slot between 2 cliffs
where a nice stream runs below as you continue up.
At the 2 mile point we had been walking about 1 hour. It is wide providing a nice resting place, where many folks stop and just watch the climbers struggle up the last half mile.
From here I can almost see the top of Angels Landing, it goes over and across the fin at the very top.
Not much to do now but drink a little water and get in line behind someone I don’t even know working their way up the chain.
You find ways to let those coming down pass, there are rest spots and there are jumps. I will say a small jump across a 12-inch crack is intimidating when the distance to the ground is 1000 feet.
Across the face of some sandstone and up the narrow fin. This is the picture I saw long ago, I was there but only half way.
Still a few more pictures to take and some distance to the top.
We made it along with about 200 other people that day. It is hard and scary but with determination and white knuckles it is mostly doable. Nancy said the hardest part was going down. It usually is.
We were tired but still managed the 1 mile walk from the Grotto to the Lodge. That is the shortest mile I have ever walked. There was beer and snacks there.
On the way home, we drove through Springdale just outside the park. We were told by a bartender in Eureka CA that we had to stop at “Jacks Switchback Grill” for BBQ in Springdale. She was right it was fabulous, I had a lot.
Sleep was good, now I had my own picture of Angels Landing.
225 Nights in Waldorf
11/3/18 Saturday
Day of rest, except for laundry. Nancy works hard to keep the family in clean clothes.
I worked on the schedule and plan for the next leg of our trip. On to Page AZ then to Sedona AZ. I called around and found that this is not a real busy time of the year for RV parks in AZ. I thought it would be and we would have a problem finding a space. It didn’t seem like it. I did some checking and found that there was an Elks Club in both places. We always planned to stay at the Elks but so far it had not worked out as we thought, for one reason or another. Mostly I thought it would be difficult to not have sewer if we were planning to stay more than 5 days.
Well we will see. Elks Lodge parking is first come first serve, so that is another trick we will have to turn, since we won’t have a guaranteed spot. The parking is cheap but not deluxe. We were ready to try it. I planned the route time, and mileage to Page. Get up early and get going that would be our plan. One snag, Nancy wants to stop at “Best Friends” in Kanab UT. It would take about 1.5 hours, so we planned it in. We leave Monday.
I sent some mail to Rick P and Kevin W to plan our visit there. Albuquerque and Alto are too far apart to see both guys from 1 stop, so that means moving to Alto after we visit with Kevin in Albuquerque. The time is getting close and Rick will be out of town right around Thanksgiving. It looks like we will be in Louisiana about 12/14. Nancy is OK with that but wants to be sure. I'm sure that is doable.
We went to Church at 5PM. It was the usual pastor today, finally, and he is pretty good. The Church has a small store in the back. We went in to check it out. Nancy noticed a seminarian buying some books. She stepped in and bought them for him. He was a really nice guy and gave us a blessing and said he would look out for Father Peter in his travels.
Nice fire and bed tonight.
226 Nights in Waldof
11/4/18 Sunday
Arrived at Zion around 9AM, but it was Sunday the weekend. The parking was jammed, and I expected it. We drove straight to the East entrance of the park. The hike was "Canyon Overlook" rated moderate about 2 miles. Getting to the East entrance is up a steep switchback road on highway 9.
The 1.1-mile tunnel is one of the highlights. This tunnel dug in the 1930s is quite amazing, long, wide and high. It has 3 large windows cut into the wall to let in light and peak at the view. Anything larger than a cargo van must pay a $15 fee to go through. There is a ranger at each end with a walkie-talkie that stops the traffic so the large vehicle can pass using the middle of both lanes. We got stopped every time we went through. This kind of thing when you are retired and just headed out to play is interesting, I'm not so sure everyone who passes this way sees it like that.
Just past the East entrance to the tunnel is where we start the hike. The trick is to park in the 20 available spots. We lucked out and tucked in just behind someone who was leaving. Pretty much first come, first serve and I'm not sure how long you would wait if you don’t have good "parking karma". The hike starts out pretty straight up but only the first 500 yards. Then it is mostly flat and crooked, also packed with tourists. The views were good across a deep canyon that followed around the mountain side we had just driven up. I even saw one of the windows in the tunnel we came through. We made it to the end and played on the rocks, the view was of the distant Virgin River valley and the floor of Zion Canyon Park. Across the river were the steep rock cliffs of Cathedral, Patriarchs and Sacrifice mountains. Back down the trail was a breeze with views of the fall colors and the bridge that starts right after the tunnel's East portal.
We drove back down W on highway 9 to the valley floor. Parking was non-existent so we parked on a wide spot of the road near the museum. Plenty of cars there, but the busses roared by very close. We caught a shuttle at the museum to ride to the end of the line the "Temple of Sinawava" trail.
This is where folks start the walk in the river to the "Narrows". Nancy and I decided it was just too much to rent waders and shoes to walk 5 miles up the river. However, we had heard the trail to where the "Narrows" trail begins is spectacular and easy. A good choice for us today.
That part of the story was true this walk provided so many beautiful photo opportunities of the river, beautiful fall colors, and colorful mountain walls, likely the best place to take pictures of all our time in Zion. I loaded up on photos and even took some 360s. I took a video here (first one of the trip). We were in a place where many trees were dropping their leaves and the wind was blowing strong up the canyon. Amazing the leaves were coming off the trees and falling up the canyon walls hundreds of feet to fly out of sight high into the blue sky. A photo just would not have done this justice. We saw 3 mountain climbers on the way down. The phone recorded 5 miles for us today. Great hike then back to the shuttle and home.
Nancy made another one of her tasty quanah dinners, mango, avocado and crab with lemon, olive oil and garlic dressing. She managed to bump the dressing off our tiny little kitchen cabinet. We spent 15 minutes getting the oil off the floor. No big deal, I dumped a whole glass of wine on the floor the night before. Waldorf's floor is going to be very tasty by the end of this trip.
She made more dressing, it was a good dinner and good fire, and good sleep.
227 Nights in Waldof
11/5/18 Monday
A driving day, up at 6:30AM and driving by 9:15AM. Headed to Page AZ but the first stop is Kanab UT where "Best Friends" is located. This is a national organization with a budged of several million dollars each year to rescue dogs, cats, horses, every kind of animal they can think of. The objective is to get every single dog and cat adopted and out of a kennel by 2020, they are well on their way. Interesting the most common dog requiring adoption is a Pitbull, duh.... We made our way to Kanab and up to Best Friends. It turns out you can’t get a tour without a reservation, but they did allow us to watch their movie. The place was big like a ranch. The movie was sappy and promoted giving to the place to save crippled dogs and every kind of sad pet imaginable. We pretty much left the place thinking they were completely overboard considering millions of children including ones in the US were starving or going to bed hungry.
Off to Page AZ. We plan to stay at the Elks Lodge. $20 per night, elect and water. As it turns out $20 per night is cheap if we stay out of the Elks Club, happy hour and bingo. Anyway, we got there and got space #5 no problem. First come, first serve at the Page Elks is not a real problem, there were only 3 other campers there total the whole 6 nights we stayed.
The Elks lodge in Page is a lively place. We met Dixie and Eugene the bartenders. Dona and Dan at the bar, plus a lot of friendly folks. We got several tips on what to see while we were there and a very cool Elks Lodge pin. We are now starting a collection of Elks Lodge pins on our kitchen curtain.
Sleeping in the Elks parking lot in Page was a bit un-nerving since we were not really in the best part of town and at 2AM in the morning we are the only rig in the lot. However, it all turned out well and we were cozy and warm.