Waiting Out The Storm Fronts

Impressive Plant For sale at Walmart, $20

Spanish Forks, UT

Sunday, May 12 - Our third and final half-day of removing the red dirt of Moab from the vehicles. Enjoyed cocktails on our green grass and conversations with our neighbors.

We tried to get reservations at two RV parks close to SLC so we would not have to drive an hour to eat at our fav restaurants. Both were full during the week.

We noted the Europeans in the rental next to us locked both door locks while they sat in their chairs 15-feet away. The next morning as they were pulling out, the guy next to them asked them where they were headed. They got out to talk to him and locked the cab doors while they stood in front of the rig. Guess they think they are in a high crime area. We are totally relaxed. I’ll bet the crime rate is about zero.

Monday, May 13 - Retackled the leak in the toilet. Found a plastic fitting that was cracked. I applied an epoxy fix.

Drove into downtown SLC to the Red Iguana. Dorothy had fish tacos, I had pork with a delightful mole.

20-miles from SLC you could see and taste the haze from the stone crushing plants and the refinery.

Downtown is never busy, but it was almost deserted today. Good for us.

Tuesday, May 14 - I spent all of the morning trying to figure out a new leak in the toilet. A friend solved my problem, but so far I have not found the part. No big deal. I can live with it until I can locate the part.

Before daylight, katabatic winds tumble off the mountains and whistle in the trees. The show is over by 8:30.

Wednesday, May 15 - Back to SLC to eat at Mazza. We really liked it the last two times. Today, it was not much.

Logan, UT

Thursday, May 16 - We made the two-hour drive to Logan. I made reservations, yes, I know we don’t do reservations, but multiple storm fronts are moving in from the Pacific, I see no sense in driving in the rain.  I did not want to boondock for an extended period since we would might not be able to fully charge the batteries without running the generator. We are staying at a pricey, to us, Utah State Park on a small lake with nice facilities.

We are here waiting not just for the multiple fronts to pass, but to have electric steps installed on the Jeep. The manufacturer is here and demand exceeds supply, so there is a wait time. He is pulling a set for us ahead of schedule to accommodate our schedule.

Friday, May 17 - Huge laundry day. We had Carne Asada for lunch. It was marvelous and too much to eat.

I am not taking many pictures this year. Just not inspired.

Saturday, May 18 - Oil change, had ice cream at Utah State University’s Creamery.

Sunday, May 19 - Lazy day, watched TV and read.

Monday, May 20 - It was a clear sunny day! We did some errands and had lunch out.

Tuesday, May 21 - The long-awaited electric step install day. Dorothy likes them. 

The sky was slate gray to dark black the whole day. The temps for the last week have been 20 below average.

Green

After spending two months in the desert we are pleased to be with green grass and trees. Most trees are fully leafed, but still have the vibrant green color of Spring.

There are several canyons carved by rushing waters through the mountains east of the several dozen cities that start in the south around Spanish Forks and continue north past Logan into Idaho. Every canyon is scenic. I can not think of another area in the US that has a longer continuous mountain range contiguous to an urban area. The mountains provide the water required.

I don’t think Utah has much in the way of zoning restrictions. Anything can be adjacent to anything. That is well illustrated in places like Logan. New homes are next to land that has been in a family for a few generations. It’s common to see livestock and tilled fields interspersed with new homes. Light industry and warehouses likewise can be seen next to new homes. That said the area is booming. The lack of regulations allows business to prosper. Tax revenue must be fantastic looking at the many new public facilities.

The Cache Valley is spectacular. The mountains, on both sides, retain snow until late July. Mountain roads may not open until August.

Our first stop in the green area was in Spanish Forks, I never bothered to take a picture, but we had a green area under trees in the back that was the site of cocktails every day for the week we were there. We met some interesting people.

Here at Hyrum State Park, it’s green with a water view. There is no space here over the holiday weekend, so we checked at every park in town, all were full except for one that had narrow sites for $40. We followed the GPS to one more park, but there was no park there. Perhaps there was at one time. Now it’s a HUGE city park. We saw a sign that pointed to the fairgrounds. Fairgrounds! I followed the sign and saw one RV parked on the grass. There were electric posts and water spigots all around. We happened on the manager of the new facility and he said they would sometimes allow short term stays. We signed up five days for $26 - dirt cheap for the area.

Hyrum State Park

City of Logan Fairgrounds

Wednesday, May 22 - Grocery shopping and lunch out at a Chinese place. Dorothy has been hankering for Chinese. This one was above average and quite inexpensive. The man cooks and the woman handles serving and the cash register. We had soup, rice, noodles and two chicken entrees for $6. Too much food and it stayed with us.

Thursday, May 23 - At 10am it was 45 and the wind was gusting to over 30 under gray skies. Next week it’s supposed to clear up and get warmer  - a little.

We picked up some RV parts we ordered and moved to fairgrounds. For some reason, I checked to see if they had wi-fi. Bingo! 9Mbps up and 3.5Mbps down.

Friday, May 24 - There was light rain all night. Dawn brought the now common gray skies. After lunch, the sun appeared.

I installed a new burner tube on the hot water heater. Seems every time I fixed something, another problem develops. This time thermostat on the hot water heater is being ignored and the temp goes to 160.

You can just make out a small section of wind-deposited loess soil

The Temple In Logan. 

Out Of Moab

After two months in the desert, we headed north where there are green trees and water. We will be in the general area of SLC for about two weeks.

We spent a lot of $ lifting the Jeep. It is now capable of crawling over most rocks in one county in the US, Grand County. Was it worth it? We think so.

Monday, April 22 - It’s been a week since we have blogged. What have we done? Well, we drove some trails, went to the Jeep Expo, ate several meals out, had a campfire every night, etc. I think it was last Tuesday that we had a 50-mile view day - no haze at all. I had not seen such a day in years, I had been wanting such a day to drive the Poison Spyder trail. When we got to the trailhead there were dozens of Jeeps headed up. It would have taken hours to get up, mostly sitting and waiting. And so it goes.

One day I needed to get gas before we went on a trail, so it was suggested that we meet up at the dead cow. Yep, someone took out a cow on 191 next to a parking area.

On another trail, we took time out to make the short walk into a canyon to see the world famous Jalapeño obstacle. (the trail also has the Pickle and Pickle Slicer) They were eight V8 powered rock crawlers lined ready to run it. No one got rock damage and about half of them went up with barely a tire chirp.

Yesterday, we took the trail to Tower Arch. It was supposed to be the destination of Safari trail Paul and Laurie took on a guided tour Saturday. Based on their description they got nowhere close to it and the guide got lost twice. We all enjoyed the trail. A nice blend of wheeling with some great scenery.

Paul and Laurie left at 6 Sunday morning. They may drive all the way back to Washington today! Makes us tired to think about it. We enjoyed their company and wish them well until we met again.

We moved out 313 toward Dead Horse and Canyonlands. I wanted to a new view. We are up a 1,000 feet here, so it will be a little cooler. It’s five miles farther from Moab, but closer to a few trails. We went into town for groceries and dump. We got held up at the dump by two bozo’s. We expect trailer folks to be SLOW and they were no exception. It was the guy in the pickup truck that got our attention. He had a metal can full of shit, no water, that he was shaking into the sewer. This went on for 20 minutes. Then his hose came off and so he had a mess to clean up. 

Dee and Bill arrived. They are new to boondocking and want to do more.

Wednesday, April 24 - Three of us drove the Wipeout Hill Loop. It’s an OK drive. Great views of the Monitor and Merrimack but not much else. The trail ends at Wipeout Hill which is a formidable obstacle. I saw it from above last year and did not try it. I wondered if I had gained the nerve to try it this year. It looks even more formidable from below. I again passed.

Monitor and Merrimack

Thursday, April 25 - Keith wanted to go to the Green River. I wanted to try a bit of the White Rim Trail. So we just continued south when we got to the river. The views and pictures I have seen of the trail were at the south end of the trail and they did not inspire me. This end of the trail starts off along the river and yes the river is green. After a few miles, the trail climbs a thousand feet and then you round a curve and it’s like a John Ford movie scene. Expansive. Panavision. Cleopatra’s chair seems close across the river. I did not even try for a picture as it would have to cover about 120 degrees and I don’t have a Hasselblad. The image is etched into my mind.

 The Green River along White Rim Trail

Friday, April 26 - We had a stiff wind storm after lunch, followed by a little rain. Our parking area has fine views in all directions, but it’s hugely popular. Too busy. In the afternoon, rigs are cruising for a place. There are three Cruise America’s here tonight. We are going to move tomorrow probably back to where we last were. 

Keith and Sandy are homeward bound. Bill and Dee are in town for a coupla nights. We will go in tomorrow, dump and fill, do marketing and the car show.

Saturday, April 27 - We left our scenic, but all too busy, parking area and went back to Dalton Wells. I picked a spot close the bluff hoping for minimum traffic, wind protection from two directions and no drainage from the rain in the forecast.

We left at 9 and did not get back to camp until 2:30. We did laundry, marketing, and dump and fill. We wanted to go to the car show, but traffic was insane and Dorothy got separated from me. She saw enough of the show for her and came out to the campground.

Friday there was no chance of rain in the 10-day forecast. Saturday, there was rain forecast for four of the next ten days. On Sunday, only days four and five have a rain chance. Inspires confidence.

Sunday, April 28 -  Lazy Day. 

Monday, April 29 - Rain and wind. We went to the library. Bill and Dee arrived after lunch.

Tuesday, April 30 - Still raining,  back to the library

Wednesday, May 1 - A clear day, we did the Poison Spyder Trail for the fourth time. We passed two large groups on the way up and we keep going to put some distance between us. Happily, we did not encounter them again. We had the trail to ourselves.

A short section of the waterfall obstacle that always made me think we were going to tip the rig over if I did not keep the driver's wheel on a very precise line was gone. It was easy peasy. I could not tell if the rock was worn down or it had been chiseled away. 

 This Green for Moab

Barney's Overlook, yep goes pretty much straight down

For the first time, we did the loop of the trail. I imagined it would be an easy roll out to the viewpoints. Not so. The loop is the more challenging part of the trail. We did it counterclockwise and encountered only three dirt bikes. Blissfully quiet. We found lots of ledges and parts of the Skyline Drive that is all on slick rock and all off camber. Great views. It was a long, but good day

Thursday, May 2 - Bill and Dee were leaving and Bill was chatting up the man parked next to us that had a new JL Rubicon. So I also chatted him up and we agreed to run Metal Masher together. He had wanted to do Steel Bender, but I advanced that I had heard that it was more difficult. [He ran Steel Bender the next day and said it was easier than Metal Masher] Anyway, MM was an easy trail until it wasn’t, then it was ledge after ledge. I met defeat in a narrow canyon with a steep ledge. I could not get my front tires up on the top of the ledge while the rears were still pushing. In his 4door, the longer wheelbase allowed him to get up with no problem, as did a truck that had joined our merry caravan. I tried a half dozen times, but all I could do was to burn rubber. I finally accepted a winch cable and came right up.

 The ledge that defeated me

Bill, in a 4door, was able to get his front tires up while the rears were still pushing. Sometimes short wheelbase works better. This was a case of not.

Friday, May 3 - Groceries, wash Jeep and chill. Bill donated some Alaska caught salmon for dinner.

Saturday, May 4 - Went to Dixie Jeep to see about getting Dorothy’s seat belt replaced. The woman has had a life long struggle with seatbelts that annoy her. We are scheduled for next Wednesday. Will also get the tailpipe sawed off. It was bashed almost closed on MM. My bad for coming down a ledge too fast.

Sunday, May 5 - R&R - We watched Clint Eastwood in The Mule

Monday, May 6 - We went with Bill to Bartlett Overlook, about a five-hour slog. I did not think we had been on that side of the canyon before. I knew I was wrong when we pulled to the overlook. We had a long lunch while looking at the canyon.

 Always reminds me of swirls of ice cream

We made the decision to get electric side steps to aid Dorothy’s ingress and egress from the Jeep. We will get them installed on in Logan in about two weeks.

Tuesday, May 7 - Lazy day, Dorothy was not perky at all, so we read and watched The Green Book, which we thought was a really good movie.

Wednesday, May 8 - We got the passenger seat belt replaced. The part alone was almost $400. It has an explosive charge that is activated when the airbags explode that locks the belt. Did you know that? Moab finally has a quality Jeep service facility, Dixie Offroad. They know more about Jeeps than dealers.

On the way back to camp we decided we would abandon Moab. We originally said we would leave when it got hot and hot is not in the forecast. However, we are ready for a scenery change, but leaving is a mixed bag. 

Thursday, May 9 - We drove about 3 hours north on 6. We were going to park at a Days End destination, but a few miles before we got there, I realized the parking area would be close to the road as we were in a narrow canyon. I saw a BLM sign for Price Canyon Recreation Area and figured what the heck. So we drove the three-mile narrow twisty road up a mountain to a quiet campground at 7,900 feet. We are the only ones there at dark. About midnight, I heard what I thought was a ATV. The next morning, there were five other campers, including the guy who needed to unload his ATV at midnight. No ATV trails around. I imagined we would get a cell signal being up high, but there was no service.

Friday, May 10 - At first light, we came down the mountain 3,000 feet and parked at a rest area for breakfast. We were low on gas and found the next gas station in Spanish Forks. The gauge was below my comfort level. We stumbled on a city park with all amenities for the low price of $20. It’s green all around us, grass at our backdoor. Even a golf course. These things stand out after being the desert for two months.

We shopped at Costco and on the way back saw a sign Free Homemade Sourdough Bread. I hung a right and we got our free loaf. I suspect we will be back as it is damn good.

I got the Jeep washed and cleaned up. Tomorrow I will tackle KoKo.

Saturday, May 11 - Cleaning and more cleaning to get the red dirt out. To be continued tomorrow.