ROAD TRIP REPORT # 1
On the road again, having departed home in Tubac, AZ, Wednesday, June 2, and 4 days and 1,100 miles later we’re south of Jackson, Wyoming on the Snake River. We are traveling via our Leisure Travel Van RV, camping with amenities, as we say. Those of you who know the open spaces of the West also know the raw, unfiltered beauty of the landscape in AZ, UT and WY. For those who might not know, think deserts, Big Sky country, high plains, snow-capped mountains, rushing streams and rivers, pristine, preserved National Forests with big trees, wildflowers, and something akin to Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.” Big ranches, hillsides dotted with cattle grazing on lush, green grass.
Our route, for those interested in maps, took us north to Flagstaff, AZ, then Route 89 north to 160, northeast to Kayenta bordering the Navajo Nation that was hit so hard by Covid. Lunch, still take-out only, at the Amigo Café was worth a stop and then Monument Valley, an amazing assortment of standing hard rocks, some towering 1000’ from the desert floor. Link to the gallery on this web site for some photos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_Valley
Onward on Route 163 to Bluff, Utah where we picked up Route 191 north. This would be our road for a couple more days through Moab, Green River and Price. Green River lunch at Tamarisk, on the river. Lots of spectacular mountain driving and views, the kind that take your breath away when you realize the majesty and mystery of it all. Flaming Gorge worth a note: https://www.visitutah.com/places-to-go/parks-outdoors/flaming-gorge
We reached our first multi-day destination just south of Jackson, Wyoming, on Saturday, June 6. This will be our location for the next 5 days, time to absorb the beauty and tranquility immersed in natural surroundings. Blessed by the gifts of Nature: https://www.fs.usda.gov/btnf
Each of our 4 nights we were “camped” in an RV Park with full hookups of water and electric. For the next several days, we’ll be off the grid depending on solar, perhaps the generator if needed and fresh water from a 24 gallon tank. We are grateful to have the gift of time to take these trips, to not only cover thousands of miles to see and absorb the surroundings, but also to see friends and family along the way. Our 8th RV, SUGAR 8, is a 2019 Leisure Travel Van, made by Triple E in Winkler, Manitoba. It is a small Class C on a Mercedes one-ton chassis with a Mercedes diesel engine. It’s perhaps the best designed smaller RV we have enjoyed over the past 25 years and if you’re one of those who might want to know more about that, here’s a YouTube video that shows all the features, some of which we’re still learning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHtCHWvYl94
