Wer're Home ! Sunday (Mother's Day)

  We took our time waking up this morning, Rich made an egg scramble breakfast, and we rearranged the kids stuff again.  Had to go by Bryan's apt. one more time to pack up the rest of his things that wouldn't fit in the car last night.  Said goodbye to his room mates (met Staphon's family - yay!), stopped by Bryan's mailbox one more time, and headed out.  It was so good to have Bryan on board with us now.  I think Rich was looking forward to having another guy in the vehicle.  I decided to relinquish the navigator's seat to Bryan, and Lindsey and I were able to chat on the coach for the drive home.  This was the first time in the whole trip that we left the GPS off, we've made this trip a million times!

We traveled almost 6000 miles, and went through 14 states with no major incident.  Well, except when we hit Harris Ranch - literally  (but we can fix that).   When we got home, the kids had planned a real great dinner for Mother's day!  We had yummy Nachos in the dining room (we had been craving them for two weeks), beautiful flowers, and a really cute edible dessert bouquet!  We have absolutely the best kids and son-in-law!!!! 

We had the greatest time ever on this trip!  We saw so much of the country in just two short weeks.  Most definitely, we will have to do this again!!!

Utah to California pics.

Utah to California to pick up Bryan

We woke up in Utah this morning, Saturday, and I have to say that once we drove about 250 miles into the state, it finally began to look pretty nice.  Maybe I'm not being fair because we did drive in at night and we couldn't see much.  We were definitely starting to return to the desert by the look of things.  We planned on getting Bryan packed up today, so we are hitting the road pretty early, well, for us anyway :)

We went through some really nice red rock country!  I tried to take pictures of the intense colors, but the sun was not co-operating.  I got a few good ones however.  We passed through Cedar City, which was going to be our destination for last night.  That is actually a pretty big city!  After a few hours in the red rock, we began to see some cacti.  Yep, we were approaching the Arizona border. Quick trip across the corner of the state, then into Nevada.

Ok, we couldn't resist.  It would be a shame to drive right through Vegas and not stop :)  We were doing good with our time, so we turned a sharp left and right down Las Vegas Blvd.  Another summer in Vegas, we've missed them.  I couldn't believe how much it has grown just in two years!!  We parked the RV behind Excalibur, and walked to the Luxor for lunch.  Wanted to go to Mesa Grill (my favorite!!!), but we couldn't take too long for lunch.  We had a great sandwich, said a brief hello to the slots, and back on the road we went.

Oh yes, how could I forget!!  The Mojave Desert again - Yikes!  We made a quick stop in Baker for fuel, and on into California.  We arrived at our KOA in Pomona, unhooked the car, and headed to Azusa.  OMG, we aren't gonna get him packed in an hour!!!!  How could three guys have so much stuff!  We filled the car and went to dinner and back to the KOA.  It was great finally having Bryan on board :)

Pics from the Rockies, and into Utah

Driving through the Rockies - awesome

The mechanic finished with our car about noon on Friday, so we said goodbye to Colorado and headed for Beaver, Utah.  I can't tell you how beautiful the drive was!!  We haven't been below 7000 ft. in several days, and today was definitely going to push the envelope even more!  

Going through the mountains required us to go through several tunnels.  I was surprised by this, I just never thought about how the highway was constructed.  For the most part, the north and south traffic were on two different roads, one the high road and the other the low road.  Because of the sheer mountain walls in spots, it was easier to go throughout the mountain, than to build on it.  Some of the grades were pretty intense.  By the time we got to the summit, we were at 10,000 ft.!  We were really lucky to see so much snow because it was a little late in the season.  Our drive took us through Vail, CO. one of the premier ski resorts in Colorado.  It reminded me very much of British Columbia.  There were several lodges and condos nestled up the slopes, with several ski lifts crossing overhead.  There was major construction going on.  I think, by the looks of all they are doing, that Vail will be at least twice as big by next season!  We were very excited to see a small group of Doll sheep right down on the road!  

As we exited the Rockies, we began to notice that the landscape was getting really flat again, but still about 7000 ft.  As we came into Grand Junction, CO., we remembered what our mechanic told us.  Be sure to fill up, and not much out there once you leave CO.  He was absolutely right.  We drove forever with no change in scenery for hundreds of miles.  It didn't help that we were by now traveling in the dark.  We finally crossed into Utah, and were more than ready to find our KOA.  We decided to stop in Beaver, Utah.  Wouldn't you know, we were tired and had been driving a long time, we just wanted to get there, and Bob (you remember, our on board navigator) decided to run amok again!  Not funny, we were in the middle of no where again!  Luck would have it, we stumbled onto the proper road and settled in for the night.

Pics from Evergreen, CO (Friday)

Extended stay in Evergreen, CO

Yay!  The mechanic arrived in town this morning (Friday) and said the news looked good.  He thinks our RV just needs a new fuel filter and a change of oil and oil filter.  He and Rich took a test drive to see if the fuel pump did the trick, and it did.  It would be a couple of hours, so Lindsey and I took the car and drove further up into the mountains to see what we could see.  We were up around 8000 ft and we saw a few patches of snow.  Oh oh, the snow just on the other side of the "electric fence" looked really inviting!  After careful testing, we determined it was not electrical.  Of course we climbed through and played a little.  We then hiked one of the really pretty trails that we came across.  We could have hiked all day, the weather was awesome, and so were the views!  

The lady at the repair shop, told us that there was some White Buffalo that a man down the road keeps on his property.  We couldn't find them, and after driving a few more miles, decided to return to see how the RV was coming. Almost done, so Rich had some time to help us locate the Buffalo :)  We found them, and they were quit impressive.  He had about twenty or so Buffalo, some Prong Horn Sheep, south African Elk and lots of ducks and geese.  It is sort of funny that he has this animal oasis way out here.  You drive right onto his property, no charge.  This is not a tourist place and he keeps the animal basically for his own enjoyment.   

Went back to the shop, paid our bill, hooked up and off we went to get Beaver, Utah!  They told us that the drive through the Rockies would be absolutely gorgeous, but NOTHING to see and no services (basically, no people!) after we leave Colorado!  He told us to be sure and fill our tanks at the last stop before the border.

Pics from the ill fated journey