Dry Camping Shakedown

 

It was a easy drive out of Moab, and we had planed for several stops. The first was at the trio of VW Beatles placed atop a shipping container.

Off The Road For Now

The sun was totally in the wrong spot for photos. I thought about going around to the other side but settled for post processing adjustments. 

Our next stop was at Hole in the Rock. It is quite a interesting tourist attraction  and is even listed in Atlas Obscura. For a few dollars you can go on a guided tour of the home that Albert Christensen blasted out of the rock. The tour is not long,  no photos are allowed inside the home and the animals that Albert stuffed are really dated and need to be set free. But living inside a rock in the desert isn't that bad of a idea. 

Inside The Kitchen

The grounds have some unique antiques, and the place just has a Kitsch feel to it.

Who Wouldn't Want To Fly Away In This?

Not much further along highway 191 we turned  onto  the dirt road to take us to a dry campsite in Valley of the Gods.

Not far  along the road was a almost dry stream crossing, and I watched as PEMA the Winnebago carefully crossed. The crossing offered no issues for the van with a name and soon we were jostling along in search of the perfect campsite. It didn’t take long until the site was found, and camp set up.

Dry Desert Camping

The van with a name, new batteries performed well, but PEMA had some issues with power to its heater and had to run on generator power for most of the night. Not bad for its first night out.

Sunrise In The Desert

We lumbered back out the dirt heading south to Page Arizona to prepare for the next adventure.

 

 

 

 

Classic Camper Caravan

 

Well, I met up with my ol traveling compadre  Maya Hucklberry the other day at Lava Hot Springs. The large state operated spring that you can walk to from the east KOA is closed for some major repairs. Seems the hot pool was sinking, and needed to be excavated and repaired, and that is just what was happening .

New Pools On The Way

No worries though as just across the street from the KOA west is the    Lava Hot Springs Inn

The Inn started its life as a hospital, and the outside retains that old institution look.

The Inn

 The inside look comfortable. The pools are dated but there is a pool with a temperature to suit you. The very hottest one was too hot for me and gave me a good case of rubber chicken legs to walk back to the van with a name.

After some soaking and some RV camper park camping it was south to the city that sits by a inland sea, but not actually to that city but to the one named Jordan after a city in the middle east where god delusional people have been fighting for their imaginary  friend from the beginning of time and most likely to the end of time.

The reason we had to go to the holy city was because Kevlar and Maya have resurrected a classic Winnebago Motor home and the van with a name was going along for the shake down cruise.

Pema

Now  Kevlar is a highly skilled mechanic and has been making the machine road, and camping worthy, and when he fired it up, I could hear the roar from quite a way away.

On our drive out of the holy city we skirted along on smaller highways than I 15. Our route took us through industrial areas, shopping malls, and semi-rural patches. At some point I hadn’t seen a church in some time and was becoming concerned. But soon off in the distance the spire of delusion appeared. .

We only did a short stint on 15 then turned off on a delightfully wide and empty of interstate traffic Highway 6.  The Winnebago proved its chops on the steep climbs , and soon enough we were at our destination of Moab, for some driveway camping and then some scampering on the rocks at the nearby  Needles Overlook, Minor Overlook, and  Deadhorse Point.

Needles Overlook

Needles Overlook

Potlatch Ponds Near Deadhorse Point

Re Charge

 

The  other day the Blue RV people came through , and the van with a name now has new house batteries. These weren’t the Battle Born ones from Sparks, that I really wanted but are Li Time, from China, so hopefully they were made by child labor, with good vision,  and will last a long time.

Everything worked so I give the Blue RV good marks.

It was a couple of days before I could head out but when I did, I headed to highway 12 for a drive along the Clearwater River. This is a beautiful drive no matter if you are east or west bound. Last time I traveled this way the rafters and kayakers were on the river. This time it was people fishing. 

On The Water

Some fisher people  were standing in the river in rubber fishing gear; some were oaring boats that looked a lot like the McKenzi river boats. Some were using boats with outboard motors, and some had even anchored their boats and  stepped out and were now standing in the middle of the river, with fly rods, and all manner of fishing poles. I never saw anyone catch a fish but I really didn’t watch for long.

Row Boats

I did east bound Lolo pass again, this is truly one of my favorite drives, and I would have stayed at the dry campground in the middle but the batteries needed to be plugged in and fully charged before I abuse them.

I ended up at a koa in Missoula  that I didn’t realize I stayed here previously until I fell for the GPS trick of turning on a side road and then facing a left turn across 4 lanes of traffic that resembled a conveyer belt of cars.  I was forced to do some mini cooper maneuvers to get across  this traffic jam, but apparently  if you are driving an F 350 in Montana the road is yours. 

I journeyed south on highway 93 all the way to Challis Hot Springs and got the last two nights of camping before the park closed for the season.

Challis Hot Springs

The facilities are well used here but the pools are primo, and very relaxing. I slept for quite a while that first day after a dip in the hot pool.

It was a peaceful drive southbound on 93

Not Much Traffic Here

I think I only saw 4 or 5 cars the entire morning.

I stopped in Arco Idaho, the atomic town for fuel and supplies

Its Still Lit

Another peaceful ride into Blackfoot, where my blue highway ride would be over as I needed to do a run on I15

Blackfoot is apparently the potato capital of Idaho and has the Potato Museum, that I was planning on visiting until I saw the sign “Ramp Closed”. I had a feeling that the closure would involve my ramp and sure enough it did.

What happened next was an almost two hour drive to go 5 miles to the next ramp.

3 MPH Was As Fast As We Went

A Rare Muffler Girl

I would have stopped and gotten some proper photos of the muffler girl but I would still be stuck in Blackfoot, as I later learned that the entire Interstate, east and west bound had been closed because a semi rammed into a bridge, leaving the structure precariously balanced and at the whim of gravity.

More Rail Less Trucks Please

No word if the driver survived or not.

 

 

Another Ride

 

It was an early morning get up with a ride in a cab to the airport. Years ago, cabs all had two-way radios that would be crackling with cab driver conversations that was in a language they only knew.

I Remember These

Now a days cab drivers are multilingual, but still speak in a language  on their phones that only they understand.

Our Pris driver was no exception, and was either new to Anchorage, or just had creative ways to get to the airport. We kept him on track, and he kept the Pris going along at I would guess  around 50 mph Stopping at red lights was included in our trip, and that is always a plus.

Stop On Red

High class check in was a breeze, and unlike last run I wasn't even asked if I printed some bag tag.

The TSA volunteers were on duty and I thanked them for being there. I was hoping for another full body massage as I was feeling just a bit achy this morning, but all I got was a scan.

Just a brief wait for the lounge to open, and some much needed koffee. I made pancakes too; seems I can't resist.

You Get Two Even If You Only Want One

 

Much to my surprise the airport tvees were not blaring the lies from felon 47 that the government shutdown was the fault of democrats.  

 

Everything was going good. We boarded on time, but then the staff were milling about, with some other worker bees in high vests

High Viz

Some more vests came on,  then left, and then the wait staff had a full on Palaver. Soon the driver announced that some suspect material had been left on board and we would have to get off while they conducted a proper security investigation. 

Everyone shuffled off and after not to long everyone shuffled back on, and even the seat belts were neatly arranged on your seat.

It didn’t take that long, and like I always say if a sky carriage is going to have a issue, its better to have it on the ground.

Soon we were on our way to the sky. Some planes had been waiting for a while.

Waiting Long?

 

Breakfast was excellent. English bacon, fingerling potatoes, parmesan scrambled chicken eggs, orange and grapefruit slices with cinnamon sugar on them, and a bowl or yogurt with berries.

The Fruit Was A Treat