Zion

We made it! We met up at a Walmart just before entering Utah–which was a really good idea because Utah doesn’t approve all alcohol. That would have been a shame. At least for some adults. Anyway after everyone stocked up on food we headed out. We had booked a trip down the Virgin river in tubes first. So we parked our campers and headed down the road to our river adventure. And what an adventure it was. Not your typical tubing. It was more like a combination of white water rafting and tubing. Floating along and all of a sudden fast water. Getting hung up on rocks and breaking loose, then running into the brush on the side. Super fun.

Next we went back to camp to make a quick dinner before heading to Zion for a sunset picture. What magnificent views. We had a bit of a hike and naturally, I couldn’t make it all the way to the top. Which worked out fine because this big anvil shaped cloud blocked the view. The next morning Melissa, Mike and John got up early to do a hike and Christy and I had coffee outside the campers. I am really liking this. We packed up the kids and headed into Zion for our smaller hike. Needless to say it was so crowded we would have to park outside the park, wait for the shuttle and take that in, then get the shuttle back. We did not have enough time because we had to check out by 11:00. So we went into the park and parked in a “safety” zone and ran into the visitor center to get our stamp–it was the first time for the kids. We decided we would hit Zion up on the way back.

Christy and I had already gotten the camper ready for John to load up so we met them up the road before we headed to Page AZ. On the way we made a stop at the Sand Caves. Another hike I couldn’t complete. You had to climb ropes to get to the top. I walked with Chanel and Melissa stayed with me because she had already been up and down. This was really cool.

We made it to our campground Page Lake Powell Campground and set up before we headed to the Shell Gas Station Caves. OMG there are so many places to go and see.

That wasn’t the end of the day. We went to Horseshoe Bend for a sunset and that is where I will start tomorrow. Whew it is so hard to keep up. We hit the ground running in the morning and don’t stop til late at night.

June 12, 2025 2

Standing on the Corner in Winslow AZ & Sedona

Taking it easy. We just passed through to get our picture here and then headed to Sedona, AZ. We needed some hook ups and showers.

We spent one night at Mund’s RV Park. We made reservations but, we arrived late so we didn’t get the code to access the bathrooms. We used the shower in our camper–which is fine– just a little confining. Munds is huge. We were in their “oversized” campsites which had no shade. Originally we thought we might stay longer but really didn’t like it there. We found some available sights at Dead Horse Ranch and booked 3 nights. Absolute heaven here.

You can see the difference.

We just spent 3 days at Dead Horse and traveled to Sedona and Camp Verde and even just hung around camp. This place is so pretty and there is so much to do. We saw a Roadrunner but I did not have my camera. I have been shooting with my phone most of this trip as it is too hot to carry any equipment. The pictures below are all from John at Dead Horse Ranch State Park.

Sedona is absolutely beautiful. We went to the Church of the Holy Cross, we wanted to hike to Devils Bridge but we realized it was a 10 mile hike. This old lady is not up for that. Whew! I like the shorter treks. We started the Brins Mesa trail and hiked about 1 mile in and had to turn around because I was getting sick. Ugh! I just can’t seem to drink enough water. We went back to camp and I took a nap. Me, the one who doesn’t believe in napping. I slept for about an hour. We went to Tuzigoot National Monument and hiked the 1/3 mile loop (that’s my speed) and then we went to the airport mesa to get sunset pictures. We got there early. Really early. Clouds came in and we took some pictures and thought we would not get much better since the clouds were so low. On the way back to camp the sky was spectacular. We should have waited. Although, we were on the other side of those mountains so maybe they didn’t get all that color.

Church of the Holy Cross
Church of the Holy Cross
From Church of the Holy Cross
Tuzigoot National Monument
Tuzigoot National Monument
Brins Mesa
From the Airport Mesa
From the Airport Mesa
From the Airport Mesa
On the way home from the Airport Mesa

Slow internet has kept me a bit behind. More coming as I slowly try to catch up.

May 31, 2025 3

Grand Canyon Here We Come

This year’s trip will be so mild and tame after Alaska. I am not even sure if there are any wild animals to be on the look out. Hmm, should probably look into that. I am sure there are snakes and birds and deer–all your typical animals. In Utah there should be wild horses somewhere and bison somewhere. We shall see.

Earlier this week I hurt my foot which had me out of commission for a few days. Of course there was nothing wrong per the ER and foot doctor and two days of rest I was good as new. No clue what happened but I was in excruciating pain for two days and then it stopped. Though I had no problem sitting around with my foot up doing nothing, it did prevent me from “getting” things ready for our trip. Normally we leave the night before we plan to get a few hours into our trip. This time we stuck to the plan to leave in the morning. As we finally pulled out of the driveway at 9:00 am there was a big clunk sound and John couldn’t move forward. Seems the spring on the axle broke and we could only back up and because the trailer was now sitting lower, we scraped the tire as we backed off the road. Not a good start–but it could have been worse. We could have been on the road driving 65 mph when this happened and who knows what that would have meant. Not to mention working on the camper on the side of the road, trying to find parts. OMG! That would have been so much worse. John was smart enough to buy 2 springs to replace both–so it didn’t happen on the other side. He also changed both tires and we finally pulled out at 5:00 PM.

We spent out first night at a Cracker Barrel in Meridian, MS. We arrived about 8:15 and had dinner there and retreated to the back lot to spend the night. We try to have dinner there because we generally leave before they open in the morning. Which is exactly what we did. If they opened at 6:00 am like a good breakfast restaurant should we would just have breakfast before heading out. It’s the least we can do for a nice quiet “free” night of camping.

We headed out toward Shreveport, LA and then north to Murfreesboro, AR to Crator of Diamonds State Park. We arrived about 4:00 PM and thought we were going to head over to the park to look for diamonds but that section of the park closes at 4:00. Our only option was to tour the town, relax at the campsite and we will head over in the morning for about an hour before we leave. We are staying at Murfreesboro RV Park. Our site is awesome. This place is so nice. Very spacious sites, level lots, picnic table, some shade and a firepit. You are going to have to wait for my next post to find out how we did in the diamond field. Don’t hold your breath.

On our little tour we discovered Narrows Dam about 5 miles outside the city. Thought we should check it out so we can compare it to Hoover Dam when we get out there.

May 23, 2025 2