...and today is

What a day...felt like Thursday but maybe it was Saturday, but no, it was actually Friday. It was nice to wake before 7 and not have the sun shining in brightly already. I hoped to get on the road by 10 so fell asleep for a little longer. Had a weird dream....someone stole my motorhome. EEEK! That was when I woke up....phew!

It was a good thing I didn't plan to leave before then...there was an endless stream of ATVs, trucks with trailers full of ATVs and people...all right where I needed to pull out. Fortunately they went their way before I was ready. I headed off by 9:30 and as I drove through Marysvale proper I realized that this was where I stopped on my motorcycle....center of town a little general store with table & chairs out front. I got a soda and an ice cream sandwich and sat out front to enjoy them. I thought it was a neat little town...I remember it being pretty quiet, no ATVs running around. LOL!

I continued north on US89 but made one slight error when I took I-70 to get on I-15. I missed that I was supposed to go the other way which would have kept me on US89. Added about 25 miles to the day but the scenery was still pretty.



Somewhere along the way a bright red vehicle pulled out on to the road ahead of me. It looked like a bus front with a utility travel (double height). I snapped a couple of photos but when we hit a construction area (one of many today), I got to stop right behind it and discovered it was a Mercedes and had both an international tag as well as one from Alaska. Would have loved to chat with them!



The drive towards Provo took me through some pretty areas and I even got to see my first Super C, a Gulfstream Ultra. NICE!



As I headed north the road quality got worse. I would have thought an Interstate like I-15 would be in good shape. NOT! Then once I got on US189 and went through Provo, I found some potholes that I swear were half the depth of one of my tires.

If you have never driven through Provo Valley, you really should. I can't wait to go back in a car where I can pull over more easily and enjoy the views. A motorcycle would be even better. I think it is some of the prettiest views I have seen thus far! I couldn't snag many photos due to the curves & grades.



I had two campgrounds picked out for tonight. The first was Holiday Hills in Coalville, UT and the second was Phillips RV Park in Evanston, WY. I wanted to make Wyoming but if I was tired, Coalville would work. Well, after 5 hours of bouncing, curves, grades and not taking time for lunch, I was ready to stop in Coalville. Only problem was....there was no room at the inn. So I took a 15 minute break, caught my second wind and headed off to Evanston (yes, I called to be SURE I could get in there....LOL!). I'm finding that I need to make reservations more often, at least on weekends.



It's a nice little campground, perfect weather, lilacs blooming and trees abound...of course that means no satellite TV but that's okay. I've got 6 new DVDs and am watching "Dragonheart" as I type. I got a discount for Good Sam and another 105 for paying cash. Works for me!

Today ended up at 278 miles, tomorrow will only be 205. I'm headed to Western Hills Campground in Rawlins, WY (yes, reservation made). Should be an easy day with more perfect weather.

NOTE: For more photos from today, visit my SmugMug gallery.

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Made it to Utah!

Yup, finally made it out of Arizona...and back into Mountain time zone. It felt really strange taking the same route, US89, that I rode on my motorcycle the spring/summer of 2005. One spot always stuck in my mind...it was kind of in the middle of nowhere, just a pull-off beside the river with canyon type walls rising up on both sides. Did I find it again? Sure did and had to take some photos.

But to backtrack a bit....I set the alarm so I could get an early start. My A/C ran off and on all night...WAY too warm for me. I left the campground before 8:30 and headed north. Initially I was following a Class A pulling a Tracker (so will see it in many of my early photos). Eventually I passed them on a hill...imagine that. I think he was going for optimum mileage at 55 while I prefer just a little faster at 60.

Here are the first shots leaving Page & Lake Powell.



The first 50 miles were pretty washboarded, at least for me in a truck chassis Class C. Since I can hear my stuff bouncing around (as well as seeing my Garmin & Sirius Visor bouncing all over my dash), I tend to slow down a bit under those conditions....not that it helped very much.

No winds and the rig handled the grades pretty well. I only had to shift into 2nd a couple of times and never dropped below 40 (usually held 45 on the worst grades). The downhill grades were mostly 6% and taking it out of overdrive was all that was needed. I forgot to mention in my earlier blog about the wind on the way to Page...between Williams and Flagstaff I passed an accident. There was a fiberglass trailer that appeared to have been blown off the road and the truck & trailer were both on their sides in the ditch. Yup...it really was windy.



I pulled over on the wide shoulder on the north side of Hatch and ate some lunch....found out I had EVDO so signed on (first time of the day). Suddenly I happened to look out the windshield...seems as though I had parked beside a nice empty lot where there was a community of prairie dogs. I know those that deal with them daily, aren't so fond of them but for us visitors they never fail to amuse. There were several little babies but they always scattered before I could get close enough to snap a photo.



Speaking of wide shoulders, I know I'm not alone in liking towns that offer those....perfect for stopping to visit neat little towns like Kanab, Hatch & others. No hunting for a usuable parking spot for our long rigs. Thank you to the founders & planners....LOL!

Much more of US89 was heavily washboarded....my top shelf on the door of my refrigerator completely broke, my teapot wiggled off the no-slip pad where it has ridden for 2k miles without an issue, BUT my drawer fix held! WHOO-HOO!!



I arrived at Lizzie and Charlie's RV ATV Park in Marysvale, UT around 1:30 MT. The clerk was really nice....I offered all my discount cards but they don't honor them. Then he told me he would give me a discount anyway. He said their normal rate was $25, how did $15 sound. WONDERFUL! I paid in cash rather than my credit card as a thank you back. This isn't a place I would stay more than one or two nights but it's fine for that. Lots of ATVs and dirt bikes running around, sites aren't always level (mine is pretty good though). I hooked up to power (yes, the A/C is running again...) but left off the water. I have 3/4 of a tank and it's easy to work off that. Tomorrow I will try for an early start and hope to make Phillips RV Park in Evanston, WY. An alternative is Holiday Hills RV Park in Coalville, WY where I will stop if running later or overly tired. It's 20 miles short of Evanston.

One final note, what's up with the bugs in UT? They started in Page, little gnat like flies and have been joined by larger more irritating insects as I've driven north. I'd forgotten how much I dislike flying insects after spending 7 months in AZ...just didn't seem to run into many of them. UGH!

NOTE: For more photos from today, visit today's SmugMug gallery.

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna