Backtracking to see Caliente

OOO.. the weather looked cold going through Salt Lake City, so we backtracked west as Don wanted to see the Old Union Pacific Station at Caliente, Nevada.  This station is undergoing renovation, and we were met by the Mayor of Caliente himself, who would have taken us on a personal tour, but was busy with a visit of persons from the US Department of Energy.  They were there to see the station and grant some dollars towards the heating and cooling situation.  The building was already well used, as it housed the local art gallery, the Chamber of Commerce and the Town Library as well as offices upstairs.

A fellow from our are in the Shuswap recommended taking 318 and 95 north through Nevada, and we only had a short distance to backtrack to catch the 318, so we did.  A lovely easy drive, till we hit very cold weather in Ely, NV near the end of the day.  The Casino on the edge of town looked liked it even had full hookups, and there were a couple of spaces left.  It was a good deal - $15.00, full hookups, 2 free magaritas, and use of the pool. Can't beat that.

Yesterday, we only made it as far as Wells, NV - 35 mph winds, 55 mph gusts, sleet, hail, snow...... you get the picture.  We pulled into the Flying J for a hour for lunch and to decide - yeah, let's stay here for the night.  Early start the next day......

Close to the start of the ET highway - maybe next year....

inside the Caliente UP Station

Bryce - WOW

People have told us that they enjoyed Bryce National Park more than the Grand Canyon.  Well, come on, compared to the Grand Canyon? Yes, we concur - it was pretty great. We took Utah State road 14 out of Cedar City, very steep, mud slides, rock on road and lots, lots, lots of snow. Beauty!

Antelope in the grass, Bryce NP

 Since we arrived before noon, the light for pictures was fantastic, as was the weather! Lucky! Every 'stop' for a named viewpoint was very different from the one before it, so we enjoyed it all.

Thors Hammer, Bryce

One the way to Bryce is Red Canyon, which had even redder ( is that a word?) stone formations, and two that you drive through - cool!

We are still reading fellow bloggers that have posted of cold weather further north.... are we heading home too early? Probably..... come on spring...... Bayfield Al has talked about how he looks forward to heading back to the southwest almost as soon as he gets home.  We are doing the same thing, and we haven't even left - deciding on what to see and experience next winter, what roads to take.  Maybe we're trying to evade all the " to do" things when we get back to B.C.  

Quick afternoon tour at Zion

Yes, we were lucky to get a campsite due to a cancellation at Zion National Park, but no, there was nothing else the next day, so it was a good thing we did the shuttle tour shortly after we arrived. The shuttles are excellent and such a fantastic idea for busy National Parks ( take heed, Parks Canada! ).

Temple of Sinawava, Zion NP Shuttle stop

At Zion, you view from the bottom up, which is very different compared to the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon.  It was quite a warm day, but when we got to the last stop above, that cold water thundering down the rock face and the creek dropped the temperature some!

It was quite busy with people at Zion, and we can only imagine how crazy it must be in the summer.  We left from there to go to Cedar City, Utah for a couple of days.  Laundry was in order after we arrived at an RV Park, and we went out for a pizza for supper.   Today we left early ( yes, just after 7:30 am our time ) to head off to see Bryce National Park.  More on that on tomorrows blog... as we are back on the road north..... today's bird picture: a Zion National Park TURKEY.

While it has nothing to do with this turkey, a GREAT HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our youngest!  Whoo hoo, Twenty - Two!

Zipping off to Zion

A Classic Car show at the Valley Of Fire entertained us on Saturday, and it was great fun.  The show was organized by the Nevada State Park rangers and was held at their main information/Park Interpretative centre.  A Boy Scouts troup from Las Vegas organized the parking and shuttle vans as well as a BBQ and drink concession.  The troup also stayed around the corner from us in the campground and by their echos in the hills, it sounded like a great weekend out of the city!

The general public was asked for vote for their favorite, and so were the Scouts and the car show exhibitors, for a total of three "categories" of prizes.  It turned out both of us voted for #8, which was this Chev Truck, with a 402. Pretty nice. 

Just as we were leaving the show, we struck up a conversation with some campers who we noticed were in our small campground.  Turns out they are from Ta'lana Bay, just down the road from our Shuswap lot.  Small world, and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks!

Today we left Nevada, drove a short distance through Arizona again, and then on into Utah.  We are now in Zion National Park, and only with a stroke of luck.  We didn't know it was school spring break, and that it was National Park Week, and that entrance fees were free, and that you MUST make a reservation for the campground in the Park. Yikes! Everything was full of course, but we didn't know that till we got to the Park main gate.  Turns out they had one cancellation - hooray!  But only for the one night.  We quickly hopped on the shuttle to see as much as we could in case we have to go in the morning.  The campground attendant advised us to check first thing in the morning for cancellations.  It is a busy place!  We'll post pictures tomorrow......

Into the Valley of Fire

We will be out of touch for the next few days - in the Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, there is no cell or mifi reception.  On the plus side, this is one AWESOME state park.  Words cannot describe, and again our pictures cannot convey the beauty and wonder of these rock formations.

Valley of Fire SP Nevada, campsite, 50 Amp,water

It was an easy drive from Lake Mead, on the Northshore road through the National Park, and then turning into the State Park.  There are not many campsites availavle - 21 with power and about 50 or so total.  We we lucky, as we arrived at about 11:00 am on a Thursday and managed to get one of the last ones.  It was pretty funny watching the 'dance' of RV units coming in very early this morning trying to get a site for the weekend.  There is a big Classic Car show here on Saturday. 

So yesterday we drove around the main road of the park and this morning drove up to Mouse's Tank and hiked off the road to the area in the rocks where at times of the year there can be water.  A native fellow hid up there many decades ago, and his name was Mouse, hence the name of the small place.  The red sand was so fine and deep and it was actually a bit of work to hike the 1 mile distance.

View from the door of our RV

The desert flowers are blooming, and that makes our viewing all the more spectacular. All around the camping area, Desert Primrose is in full bloom, and abundant.  These are large white flowers, much like petunias. The other shrubs and cactus are also blooming and really stand out against the red sandstone. 

A short drive today into the nearest town of Overton allowed us to realize that there is a few BLM boondocking areas just outside of the park, towards Overton.  Good to find.

Well catch up when we get to our next destination - we haven't decided the way home as yet, but we are headed to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park.  Hope the warm weather comes with us, as it is snowing at home!!!!