Welcome to Part One of the travelogue for our RV trip through Utah, Colorado,
Arizona and Nevada, with many points of interest along the way, in the fall of
2018. This was a multi-state trip, making a loop while taking in the sites on
our way to and from Superior, Colorado where went to visit Chris’ sister, Cynda
and her husband, Marcel.
This was the 4th time we’ve made a month-long trip in our
'coach,' a 30-foot Class A motorhome (an FR3 by Forest River). As on previous long
trips, I kept a journal—of sorts—during the trip, and have modified it to accompany
the photos we’ve selected to share, and that’s about 200–of the nearly 2,000 we
took. That’s a lot of culling on Chris’ part, to narrow it down to only 10% of
the photos we took! We’ve divided them into four albums, for ease of viewing. We
hope you enjoy the journey!
Friday, Sept 28, 2018 (California)
Thousand Oaks (home) to Yermo (Barstow/Calico KOA Campground)
Our first stop on this trip was a KOA campground just
outside Barstow. Nothing to write home about, just a place that fits our
3-hours-driving-per-day goal. It was 100° when we arrived, so we did as little
as possible while waiting for the AC in the coach to bring the temperature
down. Phew! Even the cats thought it was hot.
Saturday, Sept 29, 2017 (California / Nevada)
Yermo (Barstow/Calico KOA Campground) to Las Vegas (Las Vegas Motorcoach
Resort)
We headed out in the morning, and just before the CA/NV
border, we passed the Ivanpah
Solar Electric Generating System, the world's largest
solar thermal power station. And adjacent to that we could see the Desert
Stateline Solar Facility, a very large solar photovoltaic
power station.
This night we camped at the Las Vegas Motorcoach (LVM) Resort. We had stayed here on our first long trip (to Yellowstone). It’s easily the most beautiful RV resort we’ve ever seen. All the sites are owned, but many owners rent them out when they’re not there. The grounds are lovely and the sites have wonderful improvements such as shade covers, patio furniture, outdoor kitchens with granite-topped counters, built-in barbecues, personalized landscaping and lighting. Absolutely lovely!
Again, at close to 100°, we stayed inside until late
afternoon when it had cooled off a bit. Maybe 92°. With some shade and a
breeze, I took advantage of the site’s amenities and used their sink to wash lots
of fruit and veggies outside. Then after a Caprese Salad, Chris used their BBQ
for grilling our salmon and for toasting some rustic bread with artichoke
spread.
After dinner, we put on our swimsuits and took our dessert
(champagne-soaked strawberries in a cup) and headed over to the pool to cool
off. And just as we’d experienced on our last stay here, we had the pool to
ourselves, and it was delightful!
Sunday, Sept 30, 2018 (Nevada / Arizona / Utah)
Las Vegas (LVM Resort) to Cedar Breaks (Supreme Point Campground)
On our way from Las Vegas, NV to Cedar Breaks, UT, we
briefly passed through the northwest corner of Arizona. The Virgin River Gorge
featured some dramatic scenery that showcased the geologic processes of
tilting, folding and faulting. We stopped in St. George, Utah to fill up with
gas at a Costco. Getting roughly 7 m.p.g. in the coach, it definitely pays to
get the best price around!
We left I-15, heading east on SR 143, and began climbing.
The entrance to Cedar Breaks
National Monument is at a little over 10,000 feet elevation. As we climbed
ever higher, the scenery became more and more beautiful. The Aspens were that stunningly
beautiful, vivid yellow. And with the bright yellow leaves, occasional red
rocks, and blue skies with puffy white clouds, it was breathtaking! The
salmon/red colors were not yet plentiful, but every little bit we’d see some
and I would always say ooh-aah-wow, that’s my favorite!
We stopped at the first overlook of the Cedar Breaks ‘amphitheater’
by the Welcome Center and walked out to the viewing platform. (If you’re not
familiar with Cedar Breaks, it boasts the same type of geological history/features
as Bryce Canyon, but is much less crowded.) I think we hit it at a great time
of day in terms of lighting and shadows. The sun occasionally disappeared
behind the clouds, but never for very long.
From there we proceeded into the Point Supreme Campground
and found our spot for the night. We were camping here on the last night before
the campground closed for the season. Perched on a rise overlooking a large
meadow, framed on all edges by trees, we scoured the scene for elk or deer but
never saw any, though we heard elk bugling during the night. We also heard some
rain during the night, which we knew was coming. We get so little of it at home
that we really enjoy hearing it on the roof of the coach when we’re traveling.
And so far, we’ve been really lucky with rain not interfering with planned
activities during our travels (though I’m afraid with this trip that lucky
streak may come to an end, because Pacific hurricane Rosa is predicted to bring
lots of rain to Utah and Colorado).
Monday, Oct 1, 2018 (Utah)
Cedar Breaks Supreme Point Campground) to Salina (Great Western Trailhead)
As we headed out this morning, we stopped at two of the
three remaining overlooks (there was no room to park our coach at one of them).
The Chessmen Ridge and North View overlooks were beautiful, but we both enjoyed
the view from the Welcome Center Overlook the best, possibly because of the
difference in lighting at different times of day.
We were treated to more beautiful views of Aspens turning
colors as we drove back down the mountain, from SR143 back to I-15 North, and
then headed east on I-70.
Our spot for tonight was a very small campground (about 6
sites) built by the Fish Lake Forest Service at a trailhead for the Great Western Trail. We camped about 15 ft. from
Salina Creek. There was water flowing, but very little, very slowly, not enough
to hear. The scene there by the creek wasn’t exactly calling to us, so instead
we enjoyed a glass of wine in the coach—with the windows open, enjoying the
pleasant temperature—while playing Rummikub.
Tuesday, Oct 2, 2018 (Utah)
Salina (Great Western Trailhead) to Moab (Big Bend Campground)
We got one of our earlier starts (for us) this morning
(pulled out at 10:10) as Chris had read that the campgrounds along the Colorado
River in the Moab area (along 128) tend to fill up fast in the fall.
As we drove east along I-70, it started misting a bit, and
eventually turned into rain. Which was great for washing the windshield, but
not so great for getting photos of all the wonderful rock formations along the
way.
After reaching Moab, we turned onto Hwy 128, which follows
along the Colorado River. We found a nice spot at Big Bend campground, very
close to the river’s edge, and parked ‘nose-in’ giving us a great view from the
cockpit: bright yellow flowers, the river, and the red cliff on the other side.
Chris found a relatively flat spot for our chairs, on the banks of the river,
and we took our chairs, glasses of wine, our books and umbrellas to sit outside
for a bit. It was in the low-mid 70s and threatening to rain. Chris set up the
tripod to get a picture of us, and I said let’s do another one holding up our
umbrellas just for fun. So we did, and eventually, it did sprinkle a bit and we
used the umbrellas for real!
Wednesday, Oct 3, 2018 (Utah)
Moab, UT (Big Bend Campground to Palisade, Colorado (Grande River Winery)
This morning it looked like it was gonna’ be a lovely day
and we briefly debated staying here another night (which would require shortening
our upcoming stay at Gore Creek by one night), but ultimately decided the day
was heating up too fast, and with no electricity for AC, we decided to stick with
our plan, so we took off toward Palisade (our next camping spot, prior to Gore Creek).
Shortly after leaving our campsite, we stopped at Castle Creek Winery, which we had visited before during our long RV trip in 2015. As before,we enjoyed their free wine-tasting, and browsing the large gift shop.
After entering Colorado, we stopped at a free dump station along I-70 provided by the state. While there, we laughed at the dog-walk area with its colorful fire hydrants. We mused... blue for the boys, pink for the girls, lavender for . . . transgenders? ;-)
We noted a hill that we both recognized was shaped much like Diamond Head (Oahu, Hawaii).
We stopped for the night at Grande River Vineyards, a Harvest Host member. After parking at the winery tasting room, we went inside for some wine tasting. We bought a couple
of bottles there, a Cabernet Franc and a Rosé. Back in the coach, we decided
that it would be nice to have dinner at a restaurant (a rarity when we’re on
the road), as the Wine Country Inn was walking distance from the tasting room
and our coach.
I had trouble sleeping that night and was awake for what
seemed like an hour, seeing some fairly regular flashes of light through my
small window shade. When I finally rolled over to look at Chris’ window shade,
I realized it was lightning. It had been going on for a while before I heard
the first clap of thunder, which came while I was getting out of bed to make my
way up to the cockpit. I wanted to watch the light show through the big
windshield.
Chris hadn’t awakened with that first clap of thunder, but
the sound of the windshield shade going up woke him. We sat there in our seats
up front watching the approaching storm, the lightning bolts spectacular,
coming fast and furious, and the claps of thunder getting ever louder.
Before long, the rain started, and it started coming down hard
and fast in no time. And then with one more deafening thunderous clap, it began
to hail. The sound on the roof of the coach was terrifying. The hail sounded as
though it must be the size of baseballs, and Chris worried that the skylights
in our roof were going to shatter. With the loudest clap of thunder, Cooper,
who had followed me to the cockpit, beat a hasty retreat to the bedroom, with
us on his heels, while Barley hid under Chris’ seat in the cockpit. It got so
loud that we put our hands over our ears. When Chris was able to make out the
size of the hail, he said it looked to be about the size of marbles, but it
sure sounded like baseballs! Thankfully the hail blast didn’t last very long,
but the rain hung in there for quite a while. A large, slow-moving storm it
would seem.
We chatted briefly about the storm with the gals from the
winery, who were out front as we were pulling out, and then hit the road headed
for Gore
Creek Campground in the White River National Forest. Much like at Cedar
Breaks National Park, we would be camping the last two nights before the
campground closed for the season.
It was a beautiful drive through Devil’s Hole Canyon, with
the westbound lanes elevated above the eastbound lanes, reminding us a little of
the Disney World Monorail.
Thursday, Oct 4, 2018 (Colorado)
Palisade, Colorado (Grande River Winery) to Vail, CO (Gore Creek
Campground)
It was a scenic drive with lots of yellow Aspens,
and here and there, some of them were turning red.
When we arrived at the campground, we stopped briefly to
talk to the campground host who confirmed that Chris had indeed chosen the best
site there, and when we pulled in, we were not disappointed! There was plenty
of water in the creek, and there were very small trees/shrubs right in our site
that had turned yellow, and a few even smaller plants that had turned red. It
was a little too chilly (and drizzling just a bit off and on) to sit outside
today, but it looked like better weather was on tap for tomorrow.
Friday, Oct 5, 2018 (Colorado)
Gore Creek Campground
We were able to sit outside this afternoon, next to the
creek, though it was still chilly. With a large beach towel as a blanket, and a
glass of wine and our books, we enjoyed a little outdoor time, though the
scenery was too lovely to get much reading done. Perched near the edge of the
creek, we could look both upstream and down. The photo and video we’ve included
really don’t do it justice because the sunbeams and shadows made for difficult
lighting conditions. But it was truly picturesque with the lush greenery and
the water rushing over the stones in the creek. Not to mention being able to
see more of those lovely yellow aspens on a hillside across the creek. We were
both glad that we hadn’t traded one of our two nights here for another night in
Moab! No hiking or biking here, just taking in the lovely scenery and fresh
air.