Author Archives: Mike

End of the wine trail…boo hoo! 10/9/13 – 10/15/13

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Paso Robles, Eberle Winery

Paso Robles, Eberle Winery

We headed out of Monterey to Paso Robles, a nice short and easy drive of just about 2 hours. We arrived at the Wine Country RV Resort around noon and got set up quickly. So quickly we had the rest of an afternoon to head out and find some wineries to enjoy! The resort had free coupons for tastings at several different of the local wineries, so we grabbed our daily allotment of 4 coupons and headed out for the afternoon. First stop was Vina Robles, a newer tasting room that spared no expense. Very large and open building, with great service from Bob, and a nice assortment of wines. A very nice concert venue here and we almost bought tickets to the John Fogerty show the next evening, just could not commit.  Next we were on to Eberle Winery. Again, great service from Sarah, and a nice little tour of the wine cave there. The wine owner, a Penn St. grad who played football many years back, has a great little thing going. He has been there for decades, and everyone knows him and respects his wines – the godfather of Paso. The third stop that day was at Tobin James winery. We were told this was a party site, and it felt a little more lively when we arrived. There were several different people at stations pouring wine, and the atmosphere was definitely more alive. We had some okay wines here, and did a little shopping in the store, but were rushed out the door promptly at 6:00PM when they closed, even though were still had a few more wines to try, a bit odd. Returned to the park and the MoHo for dinner and some rest.

The next day we were off to the other side of town, the west side of highway 101. Headed out highway 46 and made several stops, first of which was at Grey Wolf. A very small outfit, with average wines, dog friendly, and not much more to talk about. Next stop was Zin Alley. We got some great recommendations from a friend Traci worked with, Dana. This winery was right on highway 46, but not listed on any of our maps. Very basic, almost seemed as if it was closed. Well, the owner, wine maker, farmer, property manager, etc. was there with a lively couple of ladies at the tasting bar. They were having a great time, and it was only noon! We sampled his 5 Zin-based wines, and he knows what he is doing!! This is a great stop, not to be missed, but get out your wallet, wines here are not cheap, but the pricing reflects the quality. Third stop was Turley, just south of highway 46. A very nice place, and good wines here, but again just missing something to make it special. Next we were on to Tablas Creek, just off Vineyard Dr. to the west on Adelaide Rd. Beautiful grounds, free waters served in re-usable aluminum water bottles. A very nice place, we would have had lunch if we had time, definitely a great place! Next on to Lone Madrone, a new location for them, but you would never know it. We had great service here and chatted with another couple who were there picking up theire shipment and they gave us a recommendation for our next stop, if we hurried. We did, and got up to DAOU Vineyards around 5:30PM. This place is on the top of the hill, and the views do not fail! A must stop if you get to the area, and good quality wines to add to the ambiance. We headed back to Paso for some dinner, and accidentally found another place to stop, Paso Underground. This tasting room is a place that the little guys share, there were 4 tables here, only one tasting that night though, Edmond August. He had a group of 12 coming in and as soon as they arrived, we quickly finished and headed out to find some grub. We both were in the mood for Mexican, and found a nice little place called Estrella’s. We had great food, and went home full and tired, but happy with our full day of wine tasting!  Overall, the vibe in Paso was very relaxed and casual and we would highly recommend a visit to this area. And, the RV Park we stayed at was probably one of the nicest yet.  Clean, friendly and the customer service was second to none!

DAOU Winery - beautiful view!

DAOU Winery – beautiful view!

Our last full day we went over to the coast, another friend Bruce had recommended we go see Morro Bay. Oh how I wish I had looked it up on the map before we headed out. This is an amazing little town on the coast with a very large natural bay and would have been great if we had brought clothes to go kayaking, damn! We walked up and down the main road, and stopped for lunch at a little bar on the water. Did a little more scenic driving around and then it was time to head back to Paso Robles. The resort had a free tasting that night in the clubhouse, but the wine was not good, so we went back to the MoHo and made dinner and stayed in for the night.  Oh, and we got a few loads of laundry done!

Morro Bay

Morro Bay

The next morning we were off to Cachuma Lake Recreation Area, a reservoir above Santa Barbara to the NE about 20 minutes. This place is an old Mobile Home park that had been converted to a campground. We had a nice big pad to park on, it was quiet and a great location for everything in the area. We got in early enough that day to sit back and chill and watch some football, Dawgs and Cougs kind of stunk it up, oh well.  We decided to drive into Solvang to grab a bite to eat at the local brewery.  This little Danish town was hopping on a Saturday night.  Our dinner was just ok, then we headed home for the night.

Sunday we met up with Traci’s friend she worked with, Dana and his wife Sharon. They offered to take us around Santa Ynez Valley and show us the wine region that is in the valley just north of Santa Barbara to Los Olivos. A small area but it did pack a great punch when it comes to the wine quality and wineries. This is the area that the movie Sideways was filmed.  We started the day at Rideau. A wonderful little place, with very nice wines and great grounds, easily could have spent a whole afternoon here, but we had some other venues to explore. The next stop was at Arthur Earl, a winery that Dana and Sharon are wine club members with. Again, very good wines here, with a nice little tasting room, and very friendly help. The last stop of the afternoon was at Demetria. After a long drive up the entrance road, we arrived at this amazing gem in the middle of the valley and secluded as if you were in the middle of Tuscany! WOW!! We had brought some lunch from town and found an open table outside and sat down and enjoyed lunch and a bottle of wine, amazing place! You would never believe how many people were here, so far off the main highway, but when you are good, they will find you! We headed back to the MoHo, an early evening set in, so we got out the fire pit to keep warm and enjoyed a couple of our wines we brought from home with our tour guides. A great day, a huge thanks to Dana and Sharon for taking care of us and showing us the valley!

Demetria Winery with Dana & Sharon

Demetria Winery with Dana & Sharon

The next morning, moving a bit slow, we decided it was time to wash the house…in the heat of the morning. Long story short, 3 plus hours later the dirt and bugs were cleaned off the outside of the MoHo and car and we were really tired. Quick trip into town for some groceries and we were just happy to relax the rest of the afternoon.

Our last full day in the area, we headed to Santa Barbara for the day. We drove down to the waterfront and headed to a little bar in the Marina that Dana had recommended, Brophy Bros. His tip was to sit at the bar (the best seats in the house).  We did exactly that, had a beer and peered out at the marina, what a little gem of a location. Next we headed back up the beach to another little restaurant for lunch, the Shoreline Cafe. We sat on the beach, feet in the sand and enjoyed the sun and sand, along with a nice meal. We headed into town, I dropped Traci off at the Color Room for a hair appt (another rec from Dana & Sharon), and I headed back to the beach for a couple hours, super relaxing. I picked her up and we headed to Dana and Sharon’s for dinner in the Santa Barbara hills. A gorgeous home with amazing touches and an incredible patio, we sat outside for appy’s and dinner and wine. A perfect finish to our weekend in Santa Barbara, we again can’t say enough thanks to our hosts for a great time!  We really loved this portion of the trip.  Paso Robles, the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Barbara are places we will return to for sure.

Toes in the sand, Shoreline Cafe in Santa Barbara

Toes in the sand, Shoreline Beach Cafe in Santa Barbara

Tomorrow we are off towards the Phoenix area, with an overnight stop just east of the CA/AZ border. It is another double, Seahawks on Thursday, Husky’s on Saturday, sandwiched with a birthday party for a good friend in Scottsdale. Then, finishing the weekend with two more couples in the area. Going to be a great weekend!

 

Yosemite (sort of…) – 9/29/13 – 10/1/13

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Half Dome, Yosemite National Park

Half Dome, Yosemite National Park

We left Lodi and headed to the hills towards Yosemite. Nice day for a drive, but I did not do a lot of research into our route. It seemed pretty straight forward, just go east and you will get there. We traveled mostly back roads or 2-lane highways, a couple areas were nice and open, one or two were not so much. The real “fun” began when we started to head up the hill on Hwy 120. Again we got the signs that the road was not recommended for large vehicles, but there is only one road in and out of the area from here, so up we went. (There is actually another road up for cars-only which the locals know about, but we could not go in the MoHo). Straight up 5 miles of 15 and 20 mph corners on the side of a canyon, super slow going for sure. These are the roads that Traci hates, and I have to really concentrate, as there is very little room for a mistake. Then you put very few pullouts along the way and you get lots of upset drivers behind us pushing us to go faster, sorry folks, but we are not a Ferrari! We got to the top of the hill and finally it eased up a bit toward Groveland. We traveled another 17 miles to the campground at Thousand Trails Yosemite Lakes. Along the way we started to see some of the devastation from the fires this summer, and it really is sad. It seemed that every road leading off the highway was closed, and there were piles of fallen burnt trees in every pullout or viewpoint. The fire crews were still very present in the area working on hot spots and cleanup. GPS wanted us to turn down one of these closed roads, we couldn’t, so we just kept going for another mile and there was a much better entrance road to the campground. We arrived for our four-night stay and got set up and relaxed with a cold one, the drive was short, but technical.

Fire Devastation near Yosemite

Fire Devastation near Yosemite

The next day we were off to Yosemite National Park (we would normally link to the NP page, but with gov’t shutdown, the websites are all down); got to the gate about 9:45AM. The ranger at the gate asked for our park pass, and warned us the park may be closed tomorrow…huh?! (I had the TV on that morning and heard something about a govt. shutdown, and now it was making sense.) She said the park would be closed if the govt. shutdown occurs the next day. Fine, whatever lets just get in and go explore. (Political rant here…come on you children, get your act together and figure this out! It seems like someone wants to take their ball and go home and not let the rest of the kids play, absolute joke! If I had my choice, all of those people in politics would only get to serve 2 or 3 terms total, for their entire lifetime, no more career politicians, it just does no good for the long term.) We drove into the park and headed to the Yosemite Valley, as we were hoping to be able to explore more of the park later in the week if it was open. We got to see our first sightings of El Capitan and Half Dome, massive to say the least! We parked and decided to take a hike up to Vernal Falls, a short 2.4 mile round trip, but 1,000 foot elevation gain. A nice paved path leads up the side of the hill. We got to the bridge and we both wanted to continue to the falls, but it was a bit of a climb to here. (There is a note on the hiking map, the last half-mile is up a granite wall of over 600 steps, and it may be wet with water spray from the falls depending on the time of year.) It was dry, but oh my goodness was it straight up! We both took several breaks on the way up, as it was a lot more than 600 steps. We finally got to the top and were tired, so we spent some time relaxing in the sunshine and had some lunch we packed in. The view was amazing up top and completely worth it, but we were dreading the descent back down those same steps. Coming down is always way more difficult, as you have to control your movements or you could tumble. We got down some 100-150 stairs and both of us already had jelly legs, and our balance was not good. We powered through it and knew we were going to be sore the few days, but had no other choice to get back down. Even the last portion that is paved is really challenging as we were exhausted, and our legs were spent. We hadn’t hiked in awhile and our bodies were feeling it! A.G.E. We headed out of the park with a quick stop at El Capitan to watch a few of the mountain climbers on the rock wall doing their crazy thing on the granite face. (You have seen the pictures of this type of climbing I am sure, but if not Google it and you will see why my camera could not even pick them up). Back to the MoHo for spaghetti and wine, we were in bed by 9:30PM exhausted.

Hike up 600 granite steps!

Hike up 600 granite steps!

Vernal Falls - this was halfway up. We ended up at the top of the falls.

Vernal Falls – this was halfway up. We ended up at the top of the falls.

Look closely - there is a climber in blue near top right and a climber in red bottom left. Crazy!

Look closely (click on photo to make larger) – there is a climber in blue near top right and a climber in red bottom left. Crazy!

The next day we were stuck, as we figured. We had stayed up late the night before long enough to watch the news channels and find out that the govt. was closing all the national parks. This was really too bad as there was so much more of the park that we wanted to explore. I guess we were fortunate though to have spent one day here as our neighbors traveled from England and didn’t get the chance to go in. We stopped by the campground office to find out if we could get a refund if we left a day early since there really isn’t much to do here with the park closed. There was a sign right inside the door, no refunds for early departures. Great, we can at least ask, right? I think we caught the manager at the right time, as he let us cut our stay a day short, just fill out some paperwork and he will give us refund due to the park closure. We headed back into Groveland for some cell service and lunch. We ate at the Iron Door Saloon – the oldest continuously running Saloon in California, open since 1852. Back to the MoHo for the rest of the afternoon. We took a venture around the area to see how close the fires got to the place, amazing work done by the firefighters to save this campground. Dinner in and another early night, bodies were still revolting against us from our hike the day before! Heading to San Jose area tomorrow, our base for the weekend of golf and two college football games to attend on Saturday; WSU @ Cal. at 1:00PM in Berkley, and the UW @ Stanford at 7:30PM in Palo Alto. Going to be a busy weekend!

p.s. I think the ants are gone!

Here are more pics from Yosemite.  Notice the ones showing the fire damage and look very closely at the ones that just look like a closeup of the mountain – there are actually rock climbers  on the face!

Oregon Coast – 9/11/13 to 9/19/13

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Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach

We left Seattle on Sept. 11 and finally got on the road to Oregon – had to wait a couple extra days for a part to arrive for the MoHo. First stop was Cannon Beach and the Cannon Beach RV Park. Got in late that night, about 7:30PM; we usually are parked by 3 or 4PM. Landing the MoHo in the dark is a different animal, but we got set up and retired early as it was a long day. The next morning we headed back to Astoria for some sightseeing, and of course hit a local watering hole, Fort George Brewery and Public House. We then drove up to the Tower overlooking Astoria, unfortunately it was a bit cloudy and foggy, but still an impressive view none-the-less. We headed back towards Cannon Beach, stopping in Seaside. We walked the boardwalk (The Prom), and the sun came out for awhile so we stopped for a glass of white wine and enjoyed the heat of the afternoon outside on an outdoor patio overlooking the ocean. We got back to the MoHo and decided to take a picnic to the beach for a late night fire. We had a great view of Haystack Rock, what a really cool night!

Go Dawgs!

Go Dawgs!

Go Cougs!

Go Cougs!

The next day we were off to Lincoln City. Along the way, we stopped in Tillamook at the cheese factory and made sure we left with lots of goodies! Both sides of my family had a place in Lincoln City – a condo at Spanish Head and a small house in the middle of town. So, I have been here many times and wanted to hit a few of the old places. We stayed in a nice park, Premier RV Resort, right on Hwy 101 on the south end of town. We arrived about 3:30 Friday night and when we checked in they told us about “happy hour” at 5PM that night, BYOB with food provided. Due to cold wet weather, they hosted the party indoors, and we met a really nice couple, the Champagne’s from Canada. I won the raffle – a logo’d wine glass! We were the youngest at the happy hours by at least 10 years : ) After the gathering, we just went back to the MoHo for dinner and relaxing.

Who doesn't love cheese?

Who doesn’t love cheese?!

The next day, the rains returned, but I had made a golf tee time at Salishan, so we were off to play at 9:00AM. Played with a nice couple, George and Joanne from Albuquerque, NM. After the round they treated us to a few beers in the clubhouse as they wanted to hear all about our upcoming adventure. They invited us to visit if we make it to Albuquerque. That afternoon I was needing to have my chicken wing fix, went to three different grocery stores to find them as I was not going to be denied. Stayed in that night, and enjoyed the wings and watched the Husky’s beat up on Illinois! This was my second attempt at wings in the MoHo and I believe I have now perfected the process! (oh and the Cougs won too).

Golfing at Salishan - views of the ocean!

Golfing at Salishan – views of the ocean!

The next day was Sunday, and we were socked in with some really poor weather. We went to the farmers market, cool and showery and small. We did find a neat piece of art, made from a saw blade. This guy is talented and needs to charge 2-3 times what he is, but that is good for those of us buying his items. Afterwards, we decided to hit the local Casino, play for a few hours and then hit a favorite pizza place and head back to watch the Hawks game vs. San Fran. Well, we finally left the Casino at 10PM, watched the Hawks kick the 49ers tails from the tables and skipped the pizza for the night.

The next morning, a bit tired and hungry (hungover), we headed down to Newport to a breakfast place that was featured in a Seattle Times article that Traci’s mom had given us, Fishtails Café. Traci had the biggest French Toast in the history of the world, stuffed with cream cheese and topped with marionberry sauce. Huge does not describe this thing, and we saw at least 6 of these taken out of the kitchen to others in the café, amazing. We headed home after for a nap. Later in the afternoon, the clouds parted and sun came out and we went down to the Taft district for a walk on the beach. We were treated to a local guy catching a very nice Chinook salmon right there in front of us; it was probably 25 lbs. and broke the net some other guy used to try and help land the beast! Walked to the Inn at Spanish Head and back, and collected several small Agates along the way. Then, out to dinner at Gallucci’s Pizza, a favorite from years past. They did not fail as usual and we went home with a full belly and lots of leftovers for the drive the next day.

Marionberry French Toast!

Marionberry French Toast!  HUGE!

The next morning we were off to Florence. A guy from the happy hour recommended we stay at Honeyman State Park, so we made a reservation there. We pulled in and this was camping, well at least how we think of it. (Yes we had full hook-ups for the MoHo but no satellite or wi-fi). Very treed area, more privacy than a typical RV park, camping rings for fires, a very nice campground overall. We got set up and headed back to Florence for a drive around town. Had a quick drink on the Siuslaw River at some non-descript restaurant, with a great view. After we got back, we headed out to explore the Dunes on the back of the campground – wow these are cool. There are 40 miles of dunes here on the Oregon Coast, and you really don’t see much of them from the highway, but when you get into them they are massive! We made a nice pepper pasta with grilled chicken, watched a movie and called it a night.

The next morning we decided we would get out and use the kayaks finally!! We headed across the street from the campground to the lake on property, Woahink Lake. It only took a couple minutes to get into the water, and off we went. Nice day, but it did get a bit windy so we headed back to the MoHo and had some steaks, asparagus and vino for dinner!

Next stop: Crescent City, California.

Sand Dunes in Florence

Sand Dunes in Florence

Husky Tailgate!

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IMG_0361

All set-up and ready for the party!

I finally got to cross off a bucket list item – taking the MoHo to a Husky football game for a tailgate! After spending the day before getting the MoHo organized, grabbing all the football stuff from the storage unit, and cooking the night away, we slept well the night before. I wanted to leave for the game by 9:30AM, but the crew (Traci and Bill) was ready to go at 8:40AM so we headed out early. Got there and set up for the day (yes, kickoff was set for 7:00PM) as we had a lot of people planning on coming. Perfect weather, lots of great food (and bee’s), and even better people to spend the day with! Game went perfectly, Huskies kicked the crap out of the Boise State Broncos to re-open the stadium after a 22-month renovation. Got packed up and home by about 1:15AM – but all so worth the adventure. (Thanks again to everyone who brought food to contribute – and Traci and Bill for all their hard work in set-up and break-down).

IMG_0363

Adjusting the flag

Go Dawgs!

Go Dawgs!

 

Canada, here we come! 8/1/13 to 8/6/13

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Wine Tasting in Naramata

Wine Tasting in Naramata

We left Casa de Pflu after a fun-filled couple of days and headed north to Canada. Our drive was an easy one, and we got to the border crossing assuming the worst. We had read and heard that they would board the MoHo and do a very thorough search, not so for us. We answered a few simple questions and were through in only minutes, too easy. Driving through southern BC and the Okanogan Valley we did not realize how many orchard’s and vineyard’s were there, a real surprise. Seemed like there was a fruit stand or winery every kilometer or so, and they were all busy.

We got to Summerland BC, staying at the Summerland Beach RV Park. A college friend of Traci’s parents live there and were able to get us a site in the campground – thanks so much to the entire Webert family! Al and Joan were great hosts, especially when we could not find a place to land because it was their “long weekend,” a three-day holiday we knew nothing about and everywhere was full.

The first night there was a lot of thunder and lightning in the area and two of the strikes actually started small fires across the lake from us, soon put out by the heavy rains that followed. But, interesting to see how simply a fire can start with just one strike. The next day was similar, bit cool and showery, so we decided to stay indoors and do some wine tasting in Naramata, just on the east side of Lake Okanagan. (The entire region we were in from 50 miles north of us and 50 miles south is a huge wine region, for those who want to give this area a try, we would highly recommend). We went to 5-6 wineries and met some very nice people, especially Sal D’Angelo, owner of D’Angelo Winery. A wine maker of some 30 plus years, he was just finishing a Bocce court when we pulled up and he made sure to greet us and take us into his wine shop. After going through the tasting, he brought out a very nice port style desert wine, wanting to share this with us, without his daughter who runs the shop, knowing. I wanted to buy some of the port, but with no label he could not sell it, bummer. We bought our wine and just at the last minute he offered me a bottle of the port and I could not get my cash out fast enough! This area was beautiful and we would like to spend a whole lot more time on the “bench” as it is known, but you can only taste so much wine in one day. The ones we visited were: Therapy, Elephant Island, Black Widow, Ruby Blues, La Frenz and D’Angelo. We finished the day cooking back at the MoHo, and some wine from the days travels.

Life is Good!

Life is Good!

The next day we thought about some golf, but could not get going early enough, so off for some more wine tasting, this time in Summerland. We had a small map (Bottleneck Drive) and I saw a listing for one that looked like it was right on the lake – Greata Ranch Estate Winery. Located right off highway 97, overlooking Lake Okanagan. Nice little shop, average wine, amazing views. We decided to have a quick bite, and polished off a bottle of wine on the deck with the yellow jackets helping us – bad year for those little nuisances up here. A few more stops, Sumac Ridge and Silk Scarf (the best wine we had), and we ended at a winery called Dirty Laundry. Another great view from this place, and because of the holiday weekend, it was so busy we just bought a couple of glasses and drank them on the deck overlooking the valley. Finished the night down in Penticton for dinner, at the Barking Parrot bar out on their summer patio in the marina with a couple of local guys playing music on the water, very nice ending to a great day!

Enjoying the Barking Parrot deck in Penticton

Enjoying the Barking Parrot deck in Penticton

The following day we got in some golf at the Penticton Golf and Country Club, a shorter local municipal course that everyone seemed to know each other. We were clearly out-of-towners, and several people made note of helping or giving some sort of tips, golf, food or otherwise. It was nice to see how friendly everyone was and how they went out of their way to assist and offer advice. Got home and Al came buy to invite us to dinner at one of their favorite spots and we went with him and Joan and the rest of their family who were visiting. Good food, great wine, and wonderful conversation, all capped by some more wine back at their place in the campground.

Golfing in Penticton

Golfing in Penticton

Next morning we were off to a small little place in McClure BC, Pinegrove Campground & RV Park, about 40 kilometers north of Kamloops for a few nights till we head to the Canadian Rockies.  We got set up after a bit of maneuvering to a very nice pull through site and the owners, Randy and Martina, were very helpful from the beginning. We relaxed most of the afternoon and immediately noticed the bee issue here as well, so I got out my bee trap I had at the old house and set it up off the back of the MoHo. Randy mentioned it was a super bad year for the yellow jackets, and he proceeded to make a few traps the old fashioned way, 2-liter bottle with the top cut off and inverted back into the body and some sugar water to attract the little bastards. Within minutes of my trap going out, it was a hit with the bees and they were swarming the trap instantly. The neighbors, John and Ronna-Lee, and Randy all noticed and suddenly it was a nice topic of conversation for everyone. We started to chat, and an hour later we were all sitting around our propane campfire pit. One thing led to another and someone brought out the Tequila and it was all down hill from there! (We left all of our adult beverages back in the states as we read the amount of duty we would have to pay if it was found on our entrance to Canada, so we did not have anything to share or we all would have been in deep trouble the next morning!) Great campground hosts/owners, wonderful camping neighbors, and better conversation was had till almost 12:45AM. Today, we went into Kamloops to pick up a few supplies (shopping in Canada is expensive: 12 pack of BL Cans = $24; box of Kashi cereal = $7) before we head to Jasper and the Canadian Rockies portion of our adventure!

The amount of bees we trapped in a 24 hour period.

The amount of bees we trapped in a 24 hour period.

Bonus Material:
On our trip to the campground north of Kamloops, we were really searching for some propane. When we get a bit further north, most of the campgrounds we will be staying in we have to boondock (maybe power, or maybe water, but no sewer hook ups.) We run the fridge on propane when driving or when there is no power to hook into. We also use it to cook and occasionally to heat the water for the shower, so it is important to have as much as we can when we get “off the grid” in some of the areas further north. In searching for the propane filling outlets, we could not find anything easy. The propane fill location is on the bottom of the drivers side of the MoHo, so we really have to get close to the supply tank when filling up. About 40 kilometers from Kamloops, we saw a small gas station with a pull through perfect for me to get the needed propane. Well at least I thought it was perfect….. oh *&%$* I did not make the turn wide enough and now the car was blocking the highway behind me and there was a tree 2 feet in front of me! Damn, I have jackknifed the car behind us, can’t move forward or backwards, we are officially stuck. (I did move it forward enough to get out of the highway, but just barely.) We now had to do our first emergency disconnect of the car – on an extreme incline, I am an idiot! Took several stress filled minutes, and we finally got it disconnected, and it left Traci pretty anxious. Lesson, fill your propane at the truck stops with tons of room to maneuver!

The Tetons and Yellowstone – 7/12/13 to 7/19/13

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Yellowstone River and Waterfall

Yellowstone River and Waterfall – it looks like a painting!

Click HERE for more pics from Jackson/Grand Teton National Park
Click HERE for more pics from Yellowstone National Park

We left Steamboat Springs and decided to just go for it and do the long drive all the way to Victor, ID instead of stopping for just one night in Rock Springs, WY as we had originally planned. The last bit of the drive from Jackson, WY to Victor is over another one of those fun passes (Teton Pass) we have gotten to know so well, and Traci hates every one of them! The MoHo has handled these high altitude/steep grade challenges like a charm, and I can’t say enough for the exhaust brake system. (The exhaust brake is a button I control and it basically downshifts the MoHo for me to keep my foot off the break. Awesome when you are trying to slow down 35,000+ lbs.) We stayed in Victor at the Teton Valley RV Park, mostly because Jackson was full. We arrived at about 5:15PM and there were 6-7 people there to greet us at the registration office. 5PM is the shift change for the park staff, and those leaving and the others not working decide to make it their own happy hour, what a welcoming committee!

Next day we headed to Jackson, also known as Jackson Hole. We had to drive back over Teton Pass, and I had to downshift the Acura to keep the brakes from overheating. Did some wandering in Jackson, and then did a nice little scenic drive from just south of the Grand Teton National Park to Jackson Hole village. The village was beautiful, looked like it would be a lot of fun in the winter. We stayed around to take a free Gondola ride and to have some early dinner up on the mountain, only to find out that it does not run on Saturdays, oops. Sunday we went back to Grand Teton NP for a hike and sightseeing. Took a short hike on a very quiet trail, so quiet that we decided to turn back as this is bear country and we just felt a bit nervous.  We hadn’t purchased any bear spray yet! We drove the rest of the way through the park; the Teton’s are absolutely stunning mountains! Some great wildlife and scenic pic’s (see the link above) and a nice overall day. We finished back at Victor with a brew at the Grand Teton Brewing Company, and I got to refill the 40 oz growler I got back in Denver.

Ansel Adams took a pic of this amazing view of the Snake River & Tetons in 1942. I tried to capture the same shot - pretty impressive!

Ansel Adams took a pic of this amazing view of the Snake River & Tetons in 1942. I tried to capture the same shot – pretty impressive!

The next day was on to Yellowstone to meet up with my college roommate Eric and his family. We stayed at the Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone, a bit pricey, but nice big RV sites with grass, lots of room between RV’s and great access to the park. The first afternoon and night were quickly lost to being with friends, and a lot of vino was had by all…almost too much if that could ever happen. The next morning Traci and I headed in Yellowstone National Park about 11:15AM, a very late start and we paid dearly for it. There were three cow Elk inside the park about 12 miles from the entrance, but the backup was 7 miles long just to see them, worse than sitting in Seattle traffic! We finally got through that mess over an hour later and did a northern loop through the park.
Here is a short video of the elk that caused the traffic jam: MAH06810.

We headed up to Mammoth Hot Springs area, stopped a few times for wildlife and scenery. (Again see the pic’s attached in the photo stream, be sure to let them download completely to see the detail!) Mammoth was beautiful, but it was a bit wet that day, so we hurried through to keep the drive moving. Heading east, just past a road construction site, we saw the tell-tale signs of wildlife approaching. People just stop and halfway park their cars for a picture, regardless of the road, other drivers, etc.  It reminds me of the professional garage sale shoppers who just park in the middle of the street, really? This was an unusually busy area of cars so we decided to try and find a safe pull out. We got ½-mile beyond the main group and talked to a guy who said there was a grizzly bear back at the area everyone was stopped. We had to get parked closer, so we found a safe spot, and made the little trek out to the bluff where everyone was standing, listening to a Ranger talk about this particular bear. His name is Scarface, a 24-year old male whom the park-staff know well. He was way down in the canyon below, probably about ½-mile away, perfect distance for safe viewing. After leaving there we continued on and there again we came across another crazy bunch of people pulled over, this time someone said there was a bull moose nearby. This moose was lying down, taking his afternoon siesta, so the pic’s were challenging to see his rack in the woods/stumps, but still impressive. The rest of the day we just drove the loop and got back to the MoHo around 7PM for dinner and a lot less cocktails that night.

Mammoth Springs - a totally different landscape!

Mammoth Springs – a totally different landscape!

The next morning we were out of the MoHo by 7:00AM, not to get stuck in that same mess of cars again, and headed to Old Faithful for the approx. 8:30AM eruption. She came through like a charm at about 8:40AM, just as I remember when I was here as an 8 year old kid. We headed over to the General Store and I found a fly rod; pole, line and reel ready to go. (I used to fly fish, lost my gear in a move and never replaced it, now was the time!) We continued to see the sights of the southern loop, tons of bison in herds and on the road, very large animals that you can almost touch from your window, but I would not recommend it! Met back for dinner and drinks at the MoHo with the Overholt’s, and another late evening. I got up early the next morning, chomping at the bit to get out and use that new fly rod. Tried my luck on the Madison River on the west side of the park, but it had been awhile and my presentation and limited fly selection were not to the liking of any of the resident fish, oh well. We spent the day in West Yellowstone, shopping and tourist stuff. That afternoon, we took a cooler, chairs, and poles back to the Madison River for a relaxing afternoon of fishing and sunning, before coming back out of the park for a dinner at the Wild West Pizzeria – darn good pizza! Friday AM I was back on the river for awhile, again shut out but had a great time. We said goodbye to the Overholt’s and headed out about 11:00AM to our next stop, Pocatello, Idaho for a few nights before heading to Boise, and then Yakima for pool party!

Overholt's and Miller's in Yellowstone NP

Overholt’s and Miller’s in Yellowstone NP

Bison - HUGE animals!

Bison – HUGE animals!

Note from Traci – this was my first visit to Yellowstone (at least that I remember) and I was so impressed by the diversity of the park.  It is the first established park in the national park system and it did not disappoint.   The wildlife was amazing – I saw more here than I have ever seen in Alaska.  The geyser’s everywhere were bizarre to me, but very cool.  Seeing Old Faithful was the most touristy thing we did, but one of those sites you just have to see!  Then there were lakes, rivers, waterfalls and mountains that were spectacular.  The number of people rolling into this park every day was staggering, but once inside the park, and cars branched out to different areas, it didn’t seem that crowded.  If you have never been, this is a must-visit on the bucket list!

Old Faithful!

Old Faithful!

Hello Colorado! – 6/24/13 to 7/5/13

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DSC06644Well, we have been busy the last week or so, sorry it has been quiet on the blog front. This post may be a bit long as there is lots to catch up on! Hard to believe we are already into July and are 6 weeks into our trip! Our first stop was Ouray, CO where we spent a nice quiet three days in the Ouray RV Park. Ouray is likened to the Swiss Alps, a very small mountain town that has a rich mining history in the area. There are lots of little shops and restaurants to visit, and a ton of people using this as their launching point to the wilderness areas around the town. This is the starting point from which many people take off-road trips in Jeeps and other vehicles into the backcountry for several days.

The quaint town of Ouray

The quaint town of Ouray

On our first day, we headed over the pass to the south of Ouray to the mining town of Silverton. Just outside of town, we missed a pullout to see a nice waterfall, so I pulled over about 200 yards further up the highway. We jumped out to see if we could see the falls from that point, and somehow I/we locked the keys in the car – while it was running! Long story short, we got back in the car 3 hours later with a coat hanger and pry-bar from the county Sheriff – glad it was only 75 degrees out that day. Silverton was just what you would expect from a mining town of 100+ years ago – 6 to 8 streets, mostly gravel, a few shops on the main drag, most of which are full of tourist goodies, and a few restaurants. We ate lunch at Grumpy’s – fitting after the car episode!

The next day we decided to finally get out the golf clubs – 5 weeks on the road and no golf yet – why?! We went back up the road about 25 minutes to Ridgway to the Divide Ranch & Club (it is not worthy of a link). This was one of the worst maintained courses in the history of the golfing world. I know most of the area is in a bit of a drought, but it looked as if there had not been a drop of water put on the course. Really sad because this place had amazing views of the Rocky Mountains and a lot of potential for a great resort type setting. The only water on the course was used for the greens and tee boxes – really good thing we were in the right mindset – otherwise I would have probably gone back and asked for a refund!

This is the fairway!

This is the fairway!

The next day we were off to Salida. We stopped in Gunnison to have a quick visit with Traci’s brother’s former sister-in-law Jenny. Met for a smoothie and visited for about an hour, great to see her! Gunnison is a very cool spot. We decided to skip Salida, and just go on to Manitou Springs. Long drive, but Salida was just going to be an overnight spot to break up the trip, so we pushed through and got to the Pikes Peak RV Park about 7pm. Nice people, great locations and really well run. We went the mile into town, and found a nice little Mexican place, the Loop Mexican Restaurant (great Marg’s and Tequila selection). We noticed when we were walking through town, lots of sand bags outside many of shops. Apparently they had some massive fires last year, and when it rains hard, the town gets over-run with flash floods because the vegetation is so devastated it can’t hold the water. Cute town, wish we could have spent more time here!

The next day, we ran some errands, and then decided to drive up Pikes Peak, “America’s Mountain.” For those who are not familiar, it is one of the highest places in the continental US that you can visit via car and where the song America the Beautiful was written after.  Just so happens that we were there on a Friday, and they were setting up for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb; a road rally race for speed. Each participant tries to drive as fast as they can to the top. (The road is about 18 miles long, but the race is only the last 6 miles or so). We paid our $12 to enter and started up. One of the first signs we saw was that they recommend at least a ½ tank of gas – we start up with just above 1/3. (Yes, we were staring at the gas gauge all the way up, but it all worked out fine). This drive is not for the faint of heart – or heart condition, or small child, or any other health issues. Climbing to an elevation of 14,110, you are really high up and it gets challenging to breathe. I felt it! We stayed for about 30 minutes and it was time to get back down. On the way down, there were signs everywhere that drivers need to go down in first gear. I went down in second, in an automatic transmission, weird to do. There is a ranger station about 1/3 of the way down to check the temperature of your brakes. We registered 399 degrees! If you are under 300 degrees you are fine. Otherwise, like us, you are asked to pull over for 15 minutes to cool the brakes. We did as asked, and then proceeded down and all was good. An amazing drive, and it was cool to see the road set up for a race. Lots of hay bales, and all the signage for the race was in place. The race is the second longest continuous race in the USA, at 91 years running. We did not get to see it in person, but learned that the guy who won this year averaged over 87 MPH! We did most of the course portion at 25-30 MPH, and that was scary enough.

At the top of Pike's Peak

At the top of Pike’s Peak

On Saturday, we headed out to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. We took the free tour, and I was very disappointed with the quality of the facility. It felt like we were in a high school gymnasium; I expected to see much better facilities for the athletes to train at. We ended the day in Castle Rock to visit Traci’s sorority sister, Lori Johnson and her family – Bill and daughters Taylor and Abby and dog Sonny, for dinner at their home. We pulled up and the girls had a welcome message in the driveway for us in chalk; the whole driveway was one huge message – very sweet! Dinner, visiting, wine, and we decided to spend the night. Next morning we all went out for a nice breakfast, then headed to Denver for some sightseeing. We checked out Red Rocks, a very cool amphitheater for concerts, which I’m sure rivals the Gorge in Washington. We got a tip from a former co-worker of Traci’s (thanks Joe!) to try out his cousin’s brewery in Denver, Wits End Brewery. We had a few samples, I bought a growler and then headed back to the MoHo in Manitou Springs.

The Johnson's - Bill, Lori, Taylor, Abby and Sonny

The Johnson’s – Bill, Lori, Taylor, Abby and Sonny

The next day we headed up to Vail to meet up with an another college friend of Traci’s, Ron Webert and his wife Stacy and son Tyler at their mountain home. The drive crossed back over the continental divide, up to some passes over 10,000 feet and back down. While on the drive, we got a text message from Traci’s friend Lori whom we were just with in Castle Rock that there was a severe thunderstorm in the Manitou Springs area and the fire and police were evacuating the Pikes Peak RV Park. We had just left there about 8 hours prior – fortunately it was not significant damage to the park, but Manitou Springs got hit hard – lucky we left when we did.

While in Vail, we “boondocked” in Ron & Stacy’s driveway, as we could not find any openings in nearby RV Parks. This worked out perfectly and they certainly treated us right at the Webert B&B! They took us on a ‘little’ hike from the Beaver Creek ski area near their place. We started at about 8,200 feet and hiked up to 9,800 feet to Beaver Lake where enjoyed a couple of cold ones when we finally made it up. That hike was a bit tougher than we expected; 1,700 feet up and back down and 7 miles; our bodies felt it the next day for sure. Had a nice dinner that night in the Vail village, and a nightcap (or two or three…) at the Red Lion (not the hotel chain) listening to some great old tunes played by the local guy, Phil. Long night, but great fun.

Hike to Beaver Lake with Ron and Stacy

Hike to Beaver Lake with Ron and Stacy

We left Vail the next morning and headed to Broomfield to visit another friend of Traci’s who she used to work with at Holland America – Jen and her husband Rod and their kids, Jordan & Bella. Again, we were fortunate to park in front of their house since we weren’t able to find a place to stay. Apparently 4th of July is quite a busy week! We had a great BBQ dinner at their house and had fun catching up. They took us to their local neighborhood fireworks celebration that night and it was pretty impressive! The next day was 4th of July. We golfed with Rod & Jen that morning, then headed into Denver for the Rockies game at Coors Field. My friend Matt who works for the Mariners scored us some great tickets behind home plate. It was a perfect night for a ball game, the Rockies won and the night ended with a killer fireworks show right in the stadium!

Rockies game at Coors Field

Rockies game at Coors Field

The next day we headed into Boulder for the day. A very cool, hip town with lots of character and full of restaurants and breweries. Had a great day then went with Rod, Jen & Bella to an Art Festival in the Cherry Creek area of Denver. Apparently the richest zip code in Colorado. Ate some good food, drank some wine, listened to some music and soaked it all in! A very fun last night with friends.

Cherry Creek Art Festival with Rod & Jen

Cherry Creek Art Festival with Rod & Jen

Today, we head north to Estes Park which is kind of the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. It has been a great past 10 days catching up with old friends, especially for Traci. It has been nice to have some interaction with people who know us other than small talk with fellow campers or just talking to each other. So far, Colorado has been a definite highlight. We really wish we had more time here especially in the Denver area. We didn’t make it to Golden to the Coors Brewery or to a concert at Red Rocks, which we would have liked to have done – next time!

Last stop in Utah – 6/22/13 to 6/23/13

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"Seven Sailors" in Valley of the Gods

“Seven Sailors” in Valley of the Gods

The drive to Bluff was short from Moab, but no less beautiful. We had more mountains to see, a little less desert, but all still very nice views. The park we stayed at in Bluff, The Cadillac Ranch, was small and perfect. A family has owned and run the park for the better part of at least 20 years; there are only about 12 sites here. The park is in the middle of the canyon that the San Juan River has carved out and is still flowing nicely though this area.
We set up the RV and it was early so we headed to the Four Corners region. Let’s just say we saw it. There is a nice little area of descriptions and the actual steel plaque in the ground at the site for a photo, but that is about it. One of those places that I can say we went to, but never need to go back. We finished the afternoon off with a short stint down at the river, and then back to the MoHo for Taco’s.

The next day we set off early to the Natural Bridges National Monument – part of the National Parks system, but not designated as a NP. We got a tip from Dee Dee (family friend) to drive a road in the area. We looked it up, and with some additional research, decided to give this a try. The first part of the journey was on the Valley of the Gods dirt road. This 17-mile trek through the Monuments area of southern Utah was spectacular! This road is surrounded by massive canyon walls, dried out washes and shrubs, a truly awesome back road. It took us about 1.5 hours to drive this portion of the road, pictures, and slow on the dirt/gravel, but just awesome. The road eventually ties back into Hwy 261, and this is called the Moki Dugway portion of the Hwy. It climbs about 1,200-1,400 feet in three miles, and gave us the view back into the valley we just drove. Again, Utah amazed us with the openness and distances we could see from here. This is one of those roads you never will forget. If you ever get in the area, make sure to take this highway but do make sure you come in from the south and go uphill, I could not fathom driving downhill on that road!

We arrived to the Bridges N.M. and checked into the visitor’s center – free maps and water – a must in these parts. We hiked down to the first of the bridges, Sipapu Bridge, the second longest natural land bridge in the world. Until you stand underneath it, it seems so simple and small from a distance. Then you realize the massiveness that remains and wonder how in the world it is still standing. We returned to the car, hiking back up the 500 feet, and decided to just take pictures of the second bridge (Kachina). The last bridge, Owachomo, we decided to hike down to and this one was much younger, and a lot more delicate. It felt that if the wind kicked up hard, this could come down at any time. I caught myself thinking many times that George Lucas must have used this place as inspiration for some of the settings and structures for the Star Wars movies. We were lucky that there were very few people here so we could enjoy the area without anyone on top of us. This has been great at the smaller parks, and I think we have enjoyed them more because of the quietness. We headed back to the MoHo for steaks and a nice bottle of JM Cellars vino and watched Episode 1 of the Star Wars series. Off to Ouray, CO next!

Owachomo Bridge, Bridges National Monument

Owachomo Bridge, Bridges National Monument

Moki Dugway - check out the switchbacks!

Moki Dugway – check out the switchbacks!

Here are more pics!

Moab, UT – Arches NP and Canyonlands NP – 6/18/13 to 6/21/13

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Landscape Arch, Arches National Park

Landscape Arch, Arches National Park

We arrived to some heat, 98 degrees here, but it is a dry heat as “they” say in the desert. The drive here was another spectacular trip. Only about 180 miles, but still awesome at every turn (and I notice every turn when I am pushing 31,000 lbs. down the road, and towing another 4,500 lbs.)! As you can guess, I need a cold one or two after the drive, so we headed to the Moab Brewery. As luck would have it, it was Tuesday night and from 4-6, all chicken wings were $.25 each; can you say HEAVEN!! (Weird Utah laws, no happy hour’s for alcohol at any of the dining establishments, but “nightly specials” for food are allowed).

We stayed at the north end of town at the Moab RV Park, nice gated place that has really easy access to town, would come back for sure. Our first full day here we decided to go to Arches NP. Everyone has seen some photos of this place, and after spending the last two weeks here in Utah it seemed familiar as we entered the park. (We entered twice, I forgot to turn on the AC, so we had to go back and turn it on; that would have been a devastating return to the MoHo in this heat late in the day). We got to see some 8 or so arches on the hike we chose, and each one was amazing in its own way. They all have cool names like North and Sound window, Delicate arch, Landscape arch, Double O arch, etc. Some small, some large, all distinct, and amazing that they are still standing. We drove through the park the rest of the day, and took in some of the more easily accessible arches. Some of these things are massive! It shocks me to see these wonders of the world in person, another place the pictures just do not do the justice that the naked eye can see.

The next day was our day to cool off, a float down the historic Colorado River! We chose a ½ day trip, with lunch, transportation and equipment. The river is not running too high now, so it was more of a float like the Yakima River for those of you who know what I mean, but still a bit of rapids here and there to get you wet. They also had 2-person blowup kayaks called “duckies” that we got to use which we took advantage of. A great group of people on the trip and we would recommend Canyon Voyages Adventure Company if you are in the area. We ended the evening with a really great dinner at Pasta Jay’s, a Boulder, CO company that has a location in Moab. Great sidewalk table, and more food than anyone could eat — there are going to be some great leftovers.

The last full day we headed to Canyonlands NP. Much smaller of the parks, as there was only one “pay” station at the entrance, and it was unattended, the honor system. (We bought the yearly pass to all the National Parks for $80 back in Crater Lake, so now we are getting in for free, so to speak). This area is about 6,000-7,000 feet in elevation, so a bit cooler than Moab – by about 10 degrees. We decided to go to the end of the road and take our hike in the “Islands of the Sky” region to see this area from above. (We had met a couple of teachers from Missouri on our raft trip the day before, and they said if you have not seen the Grand Canyon, this will give you an idea of what it looks like). We did a short 1-mile hike out to the end of the bluff, and you better not be afraid of heights here, as it is a long way down to the area I would call the “subfloor.” (There is a 100-mile drive through this subfloor area, called the White Rim road that is for 4-wheel drive only, high clearance vehicles. They recommend you take two days to do the drive, and you can see much of the road from up here). From the subfloor area, the Green and Colorado rivers have carved this place up and you get the complete picture of why it is called Canyonlands NP. You can see for some 35-40 miles in almost all directions, truly awesome to be there. We finished our day with a quick stop at a local winery in Moab, Spanish Valley Vineyards and Winery – one of 11 wineries in the state. Similar hot and cold weather to our Eastern Washington, but the soil is a lot different.

Canyonlands National Park - it's a long ways down!

Canyonlands National Park – it’s a long ways down!

Next, we are on to Bluff and our last few days here in Utah. We both agree, this state needs to step up their marketing within the US of what they have; these parks are incredible. We found that most of the people we encountered in the parks were foreigners, which surprised us. We had very little knowledge of what was here, now we will never forget and tell everyone we know this is a must for the bucket list!

Pics are HERE for Arches National Park
Pics are HERE for Canyonlands National Park

Bryce National Park – 6/12/13 to 6/14/13

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Note:  We have had VERY spotty wi-fi, so can’t upload images.  Go to the bottom of the post for links to photos if you are interested.  Thx!

We left Zion and headed to Bryce thinking we can’t top what we have already seen in Utah. Well, Bryce may not have topped it, but is sure was damn close! We arrived at the KOA in Cannonville, nice park, got set up early and decided to go back and check into a tourist info place at the start of the canyon area, Red Canyon. On our way, we stopped at a turn off and decided to take a quick check into the Mossy Cave trail. Great choice, as we found a nice little creek and waterfall that was part of an irrigation canal that was put in by Mormon settlers some 125 years ago and still is working, amazing. We saw some of the most incredible Hoodoo’s in the area, but needed to get moving to our goal, Red Canyon. We got to the Red Canyon area and took a short hike and saw some amazing topography. The pictures will never do this area justice; you just have to see it for yourself. The next day we headed to Bryce Canyon, the main destination of this stop on our trip. We decided to take a hike that was rated moderate to difficult. Thank goodness we got out early, the heat was on and we were feeling it. We hiked down some 500-600 feet to the canyon floor, and then met up with some other easier trails and headed back to the rim. The hike was Bryce Point to Sunset Point, and an ass kicker to say the least. On the way out we stopped for a moment and spoke to an older local guy who said we probably picked the best hike in the park! We got lucky and we will never forget how amazing this area was. Hopefully the pictures can portray the amazing scenery that we saw. The next day we decided to take more of a drive (off road) and less hike into Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We did a little slot canyon trail that was scenic but not really what we were hoping for. We stopped at Grosvenor Arch, and this place was really cool, but it was hot and we were tired from yesterday. We took a few quick pic’s, and then onto the local state park around the corner, Kodachrome Basin State Park. (Named for the film that Kodak came out with in the late 1940’s.) We took a short 1.5 mile hike here, and it did not disappoint! This park is a great little gem in the Cannonville area that should not be missed. Many little outcroppings that will make your heart beat, but well worth taking a quick visit. We are headed to Torrey and the Capital Reef NP next!

Day 1 pics HERE (Mossy Cave Hike and Red Canyon)

Day 2 pics HERE (Bryce Canyon National Park)

Day 3 pics HERE (Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument & Kodachrome State Park)