Category: Traveling the hiways and byways

We left Cody on Tuesday morning heading for a KOA in Buffalo Wy.   Not a particularly long drive, but we did need to go over the Big Horn mountain range so we knew it might be a scenic one.  (steep)  It didn’t let us down.   Just past the town of Ten Sleep, we started to climb.   Once we reached the really steep part, we were a few cars behind a cattle truck going 15 miles an hour.  After we slowly passed a few turnouts, I knew we were in for a long day.   This joker wasn’t going to pull over.   About 20 minutes of driving that slow and I was ready to pull my hair out.  [I can’t tell you how much it bothers Bill when people drive too slow in front of him, even in the beautiful, scenic parks.  Something new I discovered about him.]

I saw a large turnout coming up and we pulled over to grab a bite as it was just after noon anyway.  We were there probably 15 minutes,  including the dog walk.   Then we got back on the road up.   Not 10 minutes later we ran into the back of a much longer line of cars and trucks with that dang cattle truck way up front.  Oh, The Horror!

He was still not pulling over.   We sat behind that line for at least another hour [Really probably 20 minutes] and at times we were at 5 mph.  Never exceeded 15.  Finally, as we were about to find the summit, he pulled over.   And all the vehicles went around him until a trailer that was two spots in front of us.   He was going to let that guy back in…. I leaned on the air horn… for at least 45 seconds before he pulled out and we got past.  I was not going to stay behind that truck any longer.  Can’t imagine what he would be doing on the long, steep grades heading to the valley below and Buffalo, our destination for the day.

There were four very long 7% downgrades with mandatory brake checks for trucks  and RVs.  Had never seen that on a sign before.  But the grades were amazingly long straights ending with sharp turns all the way down.

We found the KOA, checked in and was led to our spot for the night.   We deployed the living space and unlatched the car so we could go into town.   It was HOT so off to the showers.

Once back we headed into town.  It was still pretty hot,  mid-90’s.  I had read a bit about the town.  I guess its current claim to fame is Longmire Days.  (I had missed that part)  Turns out the guy who wrote the books the TV show is based on lived here and wrote about life in and around Buffalo Wy.  As fate has it,  the celebration begins on Friday.  We were leaving on Thursday.  But I heard Starbuck wasn’t going to show, so I didn’t care.

We stopped by a local museum and picked up a few walking tour maps.   Geez,  they were so incorrect it was comical.   Many U-turns and lefts listed but were supposed to be rights.  I wondered who compiled this mess.  [Thank goodness we were driving.  We would have died on the tour it was so hot!!]

After we drove all around the town’s back streets for about an hour, it had cooled off by at least a degree,  maybe two.  It was about 95, so we parked on Main Street and started walking the very short old downtown.   There are a lot of places called “Crazy Woman”  something,  Square, Canyon, Road, liquor store, Realty etc.  I still don’t have any idea what that is all about.

There was a farmers market happening but not like any I had seen before.  No produce.  Mostly trinkets, and some raw milk tents,

We stopped in the Mishap Brewery and the bartender noticed my dogs looking in the window and said there was a patio out back and that we could bring them in thru the brewery.    Had a decent pint and Kathy had what looked to be a highball glass of white wine (Cold, Anything Cold she had told him)

The beer was just OK,  so I didn’t bother getting a growler fill.   It was still really warm on the patio, so we left and headed up the street to a bench on a small bridge crossing the Clear Creek.  There was a glorious breeze there, and we sat there a bit conversing with a lady driving a horse-drawn cart.    The horse was maybe five feet from us and the pups didn’t let him out of their sight.   She mentioned she grew up just outside of Cody where we had just come from and said she had moved to Bellingham, Washington for some time and missed riding horses,  Not sure why she was in Buffalo and not in Cody, but before we could ask, she got a fare.

We headed off for the Occidental Hotel.  It’s the main attraction in the town,  nice place.  After looking in there and the attached saloon, we walked back to the car and headed back toward the campground.  Kathy was dying of heat prostration, starved and wanted Mexican, or anything where she didn’t have to cook.   Taco John’s.   Kind of a glorified Taco Bell but slightly better.  The street tacos weren’t bad.

That night a big storm blew in, lots of wind, lightning and thunder.. and of course, large drops of rain pelted the coach.

In the morning it was beautiful again, and getting warm fast.   Packing up and heading for Devil’s Tower!

 

 

 

Saturday morning started out sunny and cool.   After a quick breakfast we started our process for moving which begins by putting cloth napkins between all the plates and the pots and pans to prevent them from rattling on every bump and seam in the road.   We pack all the loose items away in their places,  sometimes a different spot and then they can be difficult to find when you need them later.    We lash  the recliners to the bulkhead with seat belts that were for the couch that previously occupied that space,  bring in the dog crate and wedge it under the dining room table.   I set up the TPMS to see if any tires need to be topped off and also fire up the Vmspec engine/tyranny monitoring system,  dump all the tanks.   While that is progressing, I move the Equinox into position for towing and let it idle the 5 minutes required prior to each day’s pull, during which I hook up the tow bar, safety cables and electric cable so the brakes and turn signals work on the TOAD.   You have to tow the Equinox with the key in the ignition and turned on one click so the steering wheel is unlocked,  also the transmission must be in Neutral.

After that is ready, it’s time to stow the hoses from dumping the tanks,   disconnect the water line and 50 amp electrical cable and wind them up on their reels.   By this time Kathy should have the inside ready to haul in the slides.   There are four of them, and I usually bring in the bedroom slides first,  then go up front and bring in the living room and kitchen slides.   Once those are in, I can depressurize the hydraulic jacks.   That’s when all the racket starts, the bells telling you not to drive away with the leveling jacks down and some buzzers telling you there isn’t enough air pressure to release the parking brake or to use the air brakes if needed.  Once the compressor gets both sides to about 60 lbs, the buzzer stops.   That leveling jack bell usually shuts up at about the same time, indicating the Jacks are stowed.  One more circumnavigation of the coach, making sure everything is disconnected, locked, and the ladder and antenna are cinched tight, it’s time to get on the road!

We head back into Yellowstone Park as that is the shortest way to Cody.   We have already driven about 2/3 of the route we will take in the car, so we know what to expect.  The last third over a pass and out the east gate will be a new road.   It’s another fairly high pass with switchbacks all the way up.  They are hardly noticeable due to slow traffic in front of us the whole way up and the gorgeous views out the front!   Going down the other side was a different story.  Very steep downgrade for about 18 miles with lots of 20 mph turns at the bottom of long straightaways.  Thank god for the Jake brake!   No way would the brakes still be working after the first few miles going down.

At the bottom was the Buffalo Bill State Park and the Buffalo Bill Dam.   The reservoir was pretty big,  went on for miles.   Once we got to the dam parking area, we pulled in and walked over to the the dam.

I couldn’t figure out what all the noise was, but as we got fairly close, I realized the water was right at the top of the dam and they must be in a big hurry to get the level down, so that must be the loud roar.

It was.   We walked out onto the top of the dam and it was deafening.  I took a few pictures, then thought I should take some video to see if I could capture the roar.    I listened to them later and it didn’t seem like a roar.  I guess the phone isn’t really suited for capturing that.

They were letting out a lot of water.  I asked inside about it and they said they were just barely able to keep ahead of the snow melt, and that all the T-Storms recently were adding more water than they could release.  She seemed concerned about that.   Note to self… don’t extend the stay in Cody past Wednesday.

The campground is pretty nice,  but not much shade.   The trees are tall but very skinny.

 

 

Can’t wait to see the Museum!

 

It was a longer drive then we have been doing, but we lucked out getting 7 nights in West Yellowstone at the last minute so we pushed it a bit, it was mostly freeway from SLC, except the last hundred miles.   Once out of the SLC suburbs, it became very pretty country and even nicer once we hit the Idaho border.   Only the last few miles of the trip were in Montana.   The weather was perfect, and as we got closer to our destination, the view of the Grand Tetons was breathtaking.   I think we will need to go there to get the full effect!  Stay tuned.

As I woke up on Monday morning and I heard the wind blowing outside, I knew we would be in for an interesting ride that day.   We had been in Torrey, Ut, four nights and were setting out early for Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.   It was pretty windy every afternoon while we were there, but the mornings and evenings were calm, so the wind at 6 am was not welcome.

We buttoned up the coach for the ride.   It was going to be a longer day than most.  I am trying to keep the moving day rides to three hours or less if it’s not freeway,  and we hadn’t been on a freeway since the South Rim of the GC.   Today’s ride would take us on I-70 for only 40 miles of the 255-mile move.

The first 90 or so miles on US 24 were pretty windy, but we were protected to some extent by the canyon walls for the first 30 or so.   And then after a northbound turn at Hanksville, the wind was mostly at our backs.  But once on I-70 eastbound, the crosswind had me white knuckling the wheel to keep it going straight.   And the gusts were lane changers.    Kathy’s hand was firmly attached to the hold-on bar next to her seat.   Once I saw the exit sign for        US 191 south, I felt a bit of relief.  But it was premature,  the hurricane winds were about to begin.

They really picked up as we headed toward Moab, which is on the Colorado River.  The canyons I was now driving thru made the wind come from all directions and at velocities I had yet to experience, ever!    As we approached our intended stopping point for lunch, a sign on the road said the rest area was closed.   We were hungry and tired and hadn’t planned a different place and were pleasantly surprised to see the road to it wasn’t blocked, and so we headed in.  They didn’t want people coming in to picnic because of the dangerous wind conditions and closed the buildings, but we could eat and rest up in the coach.

The wind was howling thru the trees and lots of branches were blowing off into the parking area and the grassy area under those same trees.   It would have been a beautiful oasis on a normal day.   We both assumed they put out the closed sign due to all the branches blowing around.   While standing under the trees walking the pups, I was wondering if I was going to get beaned by a large one.  The dogs hunkered down so they didn’t get blown away!!

After cooking some lunch, we headed back onto the highway for the next 100 or so miles of the windy hell.   Luckily as we were leaving the rest area, a poor soul towing a large trailer with a pickup truck was just in front of me.  I followed him for at least 60 miles till he turned off for gas.   He was like an early warning system.    I kept about 300 feet behind him and watched the bigger gusts  blow that trailer around like a bobbin on a windy lake, and that allowed me to know when to  grip the wheel tighter so I’d be ready for them.

The rest was relatively uneventful for the occasional gust, and the wind kept blowing all the way till just before Cortez, Colorado, where it slowed way down,  maybe because it was getting near 4pm Mountain time.   Whew!  It took us a couple hours longer than planned, but we arrived safe and sound.

 

 

The day starts out as a usual travel day.   Pack everything,  hook up the TOAD,  bring in the slides and dump the leveling jacks.   Turn on the TPMS and the VmSpc monitor.   Start the motor to air up the brakes and suspension.

Then head out on the hiway!     We travel up 89 to Highway 12, and about 5 miles in there are two tunnels carved out of the red rock just past Red Canyon.   The height says 13’4″ so we should be good.   They are round-topped, short tunnels, so it’s anyone’s guess which part is 13’4″   I tend to move over to the middle on those type of tunnels, but today there was a large semi  truck coming the other way, so I gulped and stayed to the right.  Got thru both without a scratch,  not even the antennas scraped.

We passed by the turnoff to Bryce and motored on.    The scenery on that road is second to none.  We passed thru the Grand Staircase and a few very small towns on the 120-mile drive.    Then just as you think you’ve seen it all, we come into a huge gorge with steep windy switchbacks.   The view was incredible, but not really for me.   Going down I had the Jake and the brakes on maybe doing 25 mph and it seemed like it was too fast.   It was right near Calf Creek.   Going out the other side the views were even more spectacular, but again I couldn’t look around and also had to man the tranny to keep the engine in its prime RPM’s so we don’t overheat in those 10 percent steep uphill grades.   [The spectacular thing about the views is it changed from the incredible red hills like in Kanab, to whitish versions of that with rounded hoodoos, then valley views, and then when we climbed into the mountains up to 9,800 feet, it was like you were in the forest with all the pines and birch trees!]

Not long after that we were on the top o’ the world on a narrow ridge… did i say narrow…  maybe 3 feet on each side of the road to an amazing dropoff.   Being up high in an RV and trying not to see what was right next to me was a white-knuckle experience for both of us.   No room for error on that road.  [It was extra scary to have Bill driving when he is afraid of heights.  Most of the shear dropoffs during the drive were on my side, which made me nervous, but this was on both!]

After that the rest of the ride into Torrey seemed uneventful.  But there were plenty more 10% j grades ahead both up and down to go.

Our next stop was about 50′ before the end of Route 12 and a very nice campground.   Nice view of a large meadow with cows and horses.  The boys are loving it here.  Not sure how they have so much lush grass.   Crazy windy though!!  [Baxter and Dusty love seeing the cows.   Baxter barks at them just like when he sees them on TV :)]

We got on the road around 9 am on Thursday heading for Kanab UT.  Driving back eastward on I-40 toward Flagstaff on a gloriously blue sky morning.   As the exit for highway 89 north toward Page approached, I noticed some dark clouds off in the distance.   In a little while we could see rain squalls under those clouds not far north of us and it appeared we were heading right at them.  And of course, we were.  It was a real gully washer as they say in the desert.   It was really great at washing all the smashed bugs off that large windshield.   That heavy rain only lasted about 5 or so miles, then it cleared right up and it was a beautiful and sunny day again.

Route 89 is an incredibly scenic road all  the way from Flagstaff to Kanab.   I had planned to stop for fuel at Mile Marker 498 (the only way to locate the Sinclair station)  Since we are pulling a different car, I had no idea what type of mileage we might get, and I didn’t want to run it all the way down by waiting till Kanab.   I pull into the station.   It has a 15′ clearance so we are all good.  There are 3 pump islands and at the last second I notice diesel is only on the first island.  I stop quickly and get out, only to find I am a foot too far for the hose to reach.   Backing up with a 4-wheel-down towed car (aka a  “toad”) you cannot back up.  I did back up for the foot I needed, and afterward had to go back and straighten out the steering wheels to put them straight again.  The gas pumps were the slowest I have ever experienced.  Even the dollar amount crawled.  When you have 100 gallons to put in, it really makes a difference!

There is a short stretch of “wonderment” a few miles before you get to Page Az where you go up into a tight mountain pass.   The road is carved out of the brightest reds, pinks and white rocks I have ever seen.  Unfortunately we didn’t know it was coming up or we would have been ready with the camera, all we could get was one final cut prior to reaching the summit and its all one color and Kathy’s iPhone camera didn’t do that photo justice.  (there was no where to pull over,  it was a very narrow passage with a sheer drop on one side and towering walls on the other.

Just prior to that spectacular section of road, we saw a McDonald’s sign saying RV parking.   Well,  Kathy decided we were stopping at a McDonald’s.. why, because they have RV parking.   Nuff Said.   Turns out the RV parking was one way in and out and not enough room for our size rig to get out.    I had to disconnect the toad, do a K turn, and then Kathy had to drive it till we found a wide spot in the road, which turned out to be our next stop.

My favorite part was going right past Lake Powell’s Glen Canyon dam and stopping by the visitor center… err, at least the parking lot for RV’s..   As soon as I fired the parking brake, it started to rain again, so I snapped a few pics and quickly reattached the car and got back inside to head for Kanab.

 

 

 

 

The road from Page to Kanab is more great scenery.

We arrived in Kanab late afternoon and found our campground.   It’s right smack in the middle of downtown, a very small downtown.  Two traffic lights was all I could see.    It looked nice, but there were a line of rental class C motor homes all the way out into the street.  I proceeded to follow them in and to my surprise right out the other side.   Turns out they didn’t have reservations and the place was full.    So I go back in,  this time noticing the office and checked in.   The owner told me those folks thought they had reservations for that night, but they were actually for the next night.

Turns out the owner of the campground is an IT nerd who had just installed Gigabit fiber and brand new Ubiquity meshed AC Picostations.   Man, is it blazingly fast, and he is very proud of that system.     Most of the parks we have visited have very poor WiFi.  Some places it didn’t work at all.

So this place let me download all my recorded shows from the home SageTV server in a few hours.   It was truly amazing after all the other experiences.

Long day of driving, glad to get settled in here.  Beautiful view of the red hills of Kanab!

We took to the highway around 9am to beat the heat in Camp Verde.  It was supposed to be a really warm one there today.     It was a short trip up I-17 and over on I-40 to Williams,  just about an hour.   It was the low 70’s when we arrived.   Our campsite is at 6942 feet above sea level.   The highest summit on this leg was 7144 feet.   Lots of slow trucks along the way.   Williams was on the original route 66 and I-40 bypassed it about 2 or 3 miles north of downtown.   Lots of bars and gas stations, and believe it or not, there was a Safeway.    But only one barber shop and it was closed till June 1, the day we head for Kanab UT.

We are staying in a KOA,  lots of pine trees for shade,  pretty much all gravel driveways and campsites.   The most astonishing thing to me is they truck in all their water.  There is no well and they are outside of the city.    I found that out as i was checking in and there was a large round PSI gauge behind the counter.   When asked she told me about trucking in the water.  That must be expensive.   It seems like everyone out here trucks in their water.   We have this gorgeous view of the freeway out our front window if you have checked out the camera link.   But this place is really nice looking.   If only we were in the site reversed.

Thankfully we were able to get out of Yuma before it got up to 100,  guess it was about 9:30 am as we trekked over to the CAT scales to get the coach weighed prior to hitting the freeway.   We were under the limits, a hair over 6 tons on the front axle and just a bit less than the 10 tons the rear axles are rated for.    

The TOAD weighed in at 3900 lbs,  probably 500 lbs more than the Jeep.

We jumped on I-8 east toward Gila Bend, then up to I-10 and over to I- 17,  it was a fairly uneventful trip all the way to  the Distant Drum RV resort on the outskirts of Camp Verde.

What we did figure out is we need to map out where we can stop half way to our destinations.   I have found a pretty good resource listing most rest stops since getting to Camp Verde.

RVParky is my new favorite tool!  http://www.rvparky.com/

We started heading out interstate 8 east into the mountains with Yuma as the destination.   It was warm and as this was the first time for pulling Kathy’s equinox, I kept one eye on the rear camera hoping it was still there each time i looked.   After about 60 miles we topped the highest pass for this part of the trip at  4120 feet,   And then there is a long steep grade heading down to the desert floor that gets to about 50 below sea level.   I got to use my Jake on  the way down to keep the speed below 55, only had to set it to stage 1 compression which uses just 3 of the 6 cylinders to slow the coach down without using the brakes.   I am starting to wonder if I will ever need to use the 2nd stage for anything I will drive on.

As we got a few miles into the desert we noticed it was about 110 degrees outside.   Just then the tire pressure monitoring system started alarming.   After my initial “oh crap” moment i realized it was an over pressure, not an under pressure situation.   Turns out I had set the upper threshold too low.  Live and learn…. err, every day is a learning experience.   No harm, no foul and we kept trucking to Yuma.

We arrived at our destination just at 5pm, were checked in within a couple of minutes and a guy in a golf cart escorted us to the site.   Fairly uneventful except it was extremely hot,  so hot I had to turn the fridge down a few points to keep it cold.  But that’s a story i will write up later.

JFYI.  Both A/C units were on all night while in Shangri La.