7-30-2022 Flaming Gorge, UT Finale

As I always say, the rv and Jeep never develop problems when they’re sitting in our driveway.  Just before we departed on this trip, we picked up a nail in one of the Jeep tires.  No problem, right?  The repair shop found that the nail was just past the edge of the tread and dug into the sidewall.  That can’t be fixed (theoretically).  The leak was slow so that tire became the spare which requires a bit of babysitting.  An order was placed for a new tire which will be installed when we get home.  And we were off like a prom dress.

 

Yesterday we spent a few pleasant hours sunning, picnicking and paddleboarding on the beach here at Flaming Gorge until, fatigued and grinning, it was time to pack up and head for home (Noobee).  But wait!  Let’s drive around a little on the other small sandy, dirt roads that lead down to the water, just to see what’s happening.  Still not ready to call it a day, there were other back roads to explore around the little town of Manila;  neighborhoods, the courthouse and rodeo grounds, to name a few.

 

Then, it happened.

 

The dash tire alarm began to sound.  Low psi in one of the Jeep tires.  No problem, we figured, it’s probably the spare that needs a little air.  Upon further investigation, Rob discovered that it was not the spare after all.  Another tire was low.  These are fairly new knobby tires with 4,000 miles on them.  Somehow, on the exploration adventures, one of the tires picked up…. wait for it…. an animal leg bone.  It looks like a chicken bone but there aren’t too many wild chickens running around up here.  And this bone pierced the tire, guess where.  Yup, at the edge of the tread, digging into the sidewall.

What the....?!  This is our new
Chickenbone Tire.

 

Do you know how many tire repair shops there are in Manila, UT?  Or for that matter, within 50 miles?  None.  So we are crippled and stuck.  Can’t even drive down to the beach.  We spent the morning switching the two bad tires, making the Chickenbone Tire the spare and the tire with the nail to the left rear since the leak is slower and less scary looking.

 

We called ahead to Richfield, our planned midway stop on the way home and ordered yet another new tire.  They promise to have it by Tuesday.  Tomorrow will be a long drive, limping 300 miles to Richfield, stopping as required to air up the bad tire.  In Richfield, we wait till Tuesday in the hopes that the new tire actually arrives.  (Hope the gin holds out!  This is Utah, after all.)

 

And thus ends this vacation, not with a bang but a whimper.

Meant to send this out earlier but 
forgot.  I don't know what these guys
are.  We saw them on the Sheep Creek Loop.

7-27-2022 Flaming Gorge, UT

OK, I think we can do this...
(Look at the sign.)

There is not one molecule of ugliness in Utah, no doubt about it.  What a beautiful part of planet Earth.  The red rock mountains are spectacular against the cobalt blue sky.

 

Our first stop on the quest for a nice beach turned out to be a boat launch, sort of muddy and rocky.  That wasn’t going to work at all.  A fellow shopper at the True Value Hardware Store was admiring our Jeep and the conversation turned to good beaches on Flaming Gorge.  Turns out he knew the perfect beach at Lucerne Valley where there’s a swim beach around the point from the marina.  He was so right.  On Tuesday, we made that the beach de jour.  It’s a great big beach with protected coves and relative calms where vehicles can be driven right up to the waters’ edge.  Perfect! 

Gearing up.

 

Midday in the sunshine, we unloaded all the gear:  board, paddle, battery and pump, chairs, towels, umbrellas and coolers.  Time to put our aged balance and muscle skills to the test.  It’s even a good cardiac workout!  That damned board is all wobbly and tippy!  But like riding a bike (without training wheels), it is a matter of getting the feel for how to balance while doing a dozen other tasks like paddling and watching the waves, etc.  If you get good at it, you can even look up and enjoy the scenery:  mountains, sky, the glacier and distant, blue water.  Rob and I both gave it all we had for a couple of hours, laughed at each other when we ate it and had a little picnic in the sand and sun. 

 

Just enjoying the day on the dock
at Red Canyon Lodge Lake

I'm in this picture... WAY out there!

Paddling with the baby ducks.

Wednesday morning, we thought we’d try a different venue:  Red Canyon Lodge Lake.  It is a privately owned alpine lake property but we foreigners are welcome if we behave.  A short hike but there was no beach, just a dock with a shaded bench, which was fine enough.  The lake is small and surrounded by trees and reeds where egrets and ducks live and dive for treats.  Serene, calm and glassy, it’s perfect for paddleboard beginners but the launch area was narrow and the water got deep really fast.  I tried it a couple of times while Rob sat in the shade and enjoyed the fine weather and watched as a herd of bighorn sheep grazed nearby.  On the opposite shore I saw a log cabin hidden in the thicket.  The Red Canyon Lodge is a series of buildings, an A-frame lodge and restaurant with a nice deck and private log cabins on the water.  The whole shootin’ match is for sale by the owner who feels he is getting too old to manage it. (FYI, just in case you have an extra $3.4M laying around).

Bighorn sheep, just the boys.  Making
a comeback after near extinction
due to hunting for food and sport.

Fresh lake trout for dinner at
Red Canyon Lodge.  Yum!

 

        

Th   Thursday, it was back to Lucerne.  We’re getting to be so cool we can now identify our favorite beach.  Black clouds were moving in.  Westward in the sky above the hills, it sort of looked like an atomic bomb had gone off.  Not to be deterred, we unloaded and geared up and, defying the Wobbly Gods, gave it a couple of shots.  I did pretty well except for a few cg alarms that almost sent me overboard.  Twice, I even dumped on purpose in the deep part just to see if I could get back on.   Once I had to paddle all the way back in because my ankle strap became entangled in the rudder and I couldn’t untangle it.  Ugh.  So much to learn.  This all reminds me that I’m due for a few cortisone shots.  Rob is getting really good at the kneeling position and tried the standing position but wound up ejecting a few times.  He’s much better at getting back on because he has the arm strength.  We laughed.  We had another picnic.  The black clouds got downright scary.  Nope, let’s call it a day instead of acting as lightning rods.  They say that hurts.  We packed up and headed home to watch the storm hammer in;  hunkered down with a cold toonie, safe and dry in Noobee. 

So far so good.  Rob's getting it.

I gotta go see that glacier!

When you get really good, you can 
even let go and wave!  Hi Rob!

Oops.... crash and burn.

Rob paddling and ignoring the
on-coming atomic bomb.

Paddling with a glacier.

On the beach watching the
approach of the yellow and red cell.

7-25-2022 Manila, UT

KOA Flaming Gorge/Manila

This very nice KOA is actually located in Manila, UT, but we are only minutes from Flaming Gorge.  We are backed up to a long grassy “park” lined with big shade trees.  In the distance, we can see the blue waters of the gorge.  A beautiful 91 miles long reservoir, it was created when the Flaming Gorge Dam was built in 1960.  Flaming Gorge was named by John Wesley Powell who was exploring the area in 1869.  The sun beaming on the brilliant red rocks made it look as if the whole canyon was on fire. 

 

These guys hang around the camps
and parks.  Not tame but 
not timid, either.

"That's where Linwood use to be."

Since we had never been in the waters of the gorge before, the first day we thought that it would be best to explore and scout out the beaches where one might launch toys. The plaques at one of many lookouts around the reservoir describe the peaks and canyons and, in particular, a little town named Linwood, “The Town That Drowned.” It was flooded and disappeared when the dam was built.  Some of the town’s history and even the map still exist.  For example, the elementary school in the town was built on the state line between Wyoming and Utah.  Half of Stateline School was in Wyoming but walk down the hall to another classroom and you found yourself in Utah.  The citizens were strict and enforced the rules of the education boards in the respective states so at your desk in this room, you may have gotten an entirely different curriculum and education than the kids across the hall.  This is not half as interesting as when we stopped for a beer at the local saloon.  It had to be disguised in a brown paper bag at the counter (Utah) but at the other end of the patio (Wyoming) you are allowed to take it out of the paper bag.  (They may be lightening up on this, these days.)

 

The gorge has been drained.
The water level is down about 9 feet.
The water goes to the local
farmers due to drought.

The area was formed, of course, about 5 billion years ago (How do they know this?) when there were crust fissures and colliding plates and all that stuff.  (That’s the Reader’s Digest version.)  We continued to explore and ask questions of the locals and found the perfect beach for tomorrow, complete with wandering wild antelope.  I think they were half-tame.  It wasn’t time to go home just yet, though.  Rob wanted to drive the road headed to the dam.  It is steep and twisty and he wanted to evaluate Noobee’s chances of survival on our trip headed toward home.  We have decided that Noobee can do it but only if the Jeep is not in tow.  That established, the next turn-off was Sheep Creek Geological Loop where, as promised by our camp host, we would see bears, mooses, long horn sheeps and maybe some wild horses and deers.  The rock formations were spectacular.  A geologist's version of Heaven and breathtaking, really, with the setting sun beaming on the rock formations.  But alas, after an hour and a half around the loop, nary an animal aside from a few cows and two butterflies.  For the second time on the trip, nothing to see here, folks.  Time to head home and pop a beer.

Sheep Creek Geological Loop

 

Tomorrow, Paddleboard City!

7-23-2022 Richfield, UT

 First, our KOA campground is absolutely wonderful.  There are tall old elm and oak trees that provide lots of shade and we have the biggest patio ever.  It is about 30’ X 30’ with a brick fire pit in the middle, a patio table and 6 chairs and a swing.  Perfect for sitting out in the breeze with a cup of coffee and Sudoku in the mornings or cocktails and a bbq in the evenings.  Or it could double as a roller rink.  If you have reason to travel this way, stay here!

Rob relaxing on our patio

Evening campfire

 

That’s where the story ends in Richfield.  We tried, honestly, to find interesting things to do and tell you.  A map was provided at the campground and OK, we’re not expert navigators but hard as we tried and as many times as we circled the town we had no luck.  The cartographers were playing a joke on the tourists, apparently.  The Richfield Town Park does not exist.  The Utah Territorial State House does not exist.  The Visitor Center wasn’t located on the map or in the “search” window.  And the Chamber of Commerce was closed.  So we went to Bar 86, had a beer and came home.

Bar 86 - Voted the best restaurant in Richfield!

 

Oops - crash and burn # 1

Today was a completely different story and began with sunshine and coffee on the patio, of course.  After that, we loaded up the Jeepster:  beach towels, swim suits, cooler, sunblock and shirts, backpacks, cameras and lastly, the inflatable paddleboard, pump and portable battery.  Got it all.  Palisades State Park is about 40 minutes away out in the middle of nowhere where there is a pretty, blue, fresh water lake.  Later, after a drive through the mountains and the farm land, we arrived at the lake and found a wonderland of beaches, docks, warm, blue water and many places to launch toys.  Unfortunately, we spent about an hour trying to figure out the pump but at last, I remembered how it was supposed to work.  (You see, Little Miss Obsessive had filed the instructions safely at home, right where they belong.  Hmmm.)  I got up on the paddleboard right away but I was very wobbly.  I kind of got the hang of it in the reach but the minute I turned abeam, again I got all wobbly and crashed into the deep blue.  I didn’t give up.  After about an hour, though, Rob did the lighthouse thing and beckoned me ashore.  I was grinning from ear to ear but my knees and hands were trembling.  A lot more practice will help.  It was comforting to know that I can still outswim a runaway paddleboard with a crawl stroke while keeping a grip on the paddle, arthritis notwithstanding!

OK - standing up!  So far so good.

 

Party responsible for this foolishness!

Put your tongue away, Krauser!

Walter Fredrick Morrison, inventor
of the frisbee

In a shocking, unexpected turn of events, we ran across the closed Visitors Center!  Out front was a plaque honoring Walter Morrison.  He was from here and invented the Frisbee so this is kind of like Frisbee International Park or something.  While doing that, Maggie showed up.  (I love that name.)  Maggie works at the Visitors Center and came back because she had forgotten her lunch.  She invited us in and gave us the rundown on several places to see while here in Richfield.  Too bad we leave in the morning!

 

Don't know - officers' quarters?

Don't know - barracks?  Vintage 
Civil War?

On our way home from the lake, we encountered a strange sight:  what appears to be the ruins of a military fort or an old prison.  There were no plaques or signs so we have no idea what it is.  Rob got topo maps off of Google and we are sending them to the visitor center to see if Maggie can tell us anything when we come back through on the way home.  Stay tuned.

Sign spotted in the campground.  
Apparently, someone likes to
travel in the rv with his 
pet llama.

The reason for small trips this year

7-21-2022 Introduction to the Utah Stories

 I intended to take a little sabbatical from the t-log business this time around but I’m being badgered.  OK, OK, I’ll write a few stories, jeez.

 

As demonstrated earlier, the cost to feed Noobee’s tank is enough to make our eyes water.  It’s hard to resist the urge to hit the road, though, and Noobee was stomping and snorting in her barn.  A couple of smaller trips seemed like a reasonable alternative until sanity returns to DC.

 

We arrived home from the last little trip in time for Rob to make his scheduled doctor appointment.  With that in the rearview mirror and Noobee still more or less still rigged up and packed, we had seven days to regroup and head out again.  The goal was easy.  I located blue spots on the map indicating water, searched for camping nearby and the plan materialized:     Flaming Gorge, UT.  It seems reasonable to expect a bit cooler temperatures than those baking Pahrump right now.  Our campground is also in proximity to water where, with luck, I will successfully master the inflatable paddleboard Mr. Claus brought me for Christmas last year.  We’ll just see about this last one.

 

Yesterday, Rob had another doctor appointment, this one in Vegas.  So it made sense for Rob to drive the Jeep to that appointment while I drove Noobee to Oasis RV Resort to set up camp for an overnight while I waited for him to show up and mix the toonies.  Oasis is particularly close to my heart because this is the camp where I stayed for 8 weeks during my breast cancer radiation debacle.  Parking and hooking up was, shall we say, mostly a success.  I couldn’t figure out why the microwave wasn’t working, for example.  It turns out that Rob had unplugged it in the secret, far reaches of an adjacent cabinet for reasons that remain a mystery.  He had also forgotten to open the shore water valve.  I hooked up the water but couldn’t get water out of the faucets inside.  So I forgot about it for the moment and proceeded to open a bag of popcorn.  Later, when I stepped out of Noobee for other reasons, I discovered Noobee was sitting in the Oasis Ocean, water flooding out of the bottom and onto the ground.  Well, that was interesting!  The water was on, all right, filling the potable water tank to its limits and then tumbling out of the bottom of Noobee like Niagara Falls (the Canadian side).  Right about that time, Rob arrived, opened the valve and all is well.  The grass and trees got an extra little drink of water and our water tank got a nice flush-out.  Just in time for cocktails!  (The popcorn was another story.  It was awful and went out with the trash!  How can anybody screw up popcorn?)

 

This morning, we packed up and we are now on the trail to Richfield, UT, halfway to our camp at Flaming Gorge.  We’ll investigate and see what Richfield has to say for itself.

7-6-2022 BORREGO SPRINGS, CONT'D

Our camp is The Springs at Borrego RV Resort and it’s mostly empty and pretty quiet right now, as this is the “off season.”  It is very hot, topping out at 105F, but hey, we are used to that.  We loll around in the pool in the daytime and grill out in the late afternoon.  Night times are unearthly black and there are so many stars it is like a solid blanket, punctuated every now and then by meteors traveling halfway across the sky.  Breathtaking, really.

Noobee sitting quietly.

Serene and quiet, just like we like it!

Part of the golf course

 

Dennis Avery was a wealthy guy, artist, philanthropist and lover of all types of art and history.  He was the heir to the Avery fortune, the brand with which you may be familiar that makes Avery labels of every kind.

 

Dennis loved the Borrego Springs area.  He purchased 3,000 acres of land to prevent it from being developed.  Because he was so interested in archaeology, anthropology and history, he commissioned an artist, Ricardo Breceda, to design and construct metal sculptures to stand and be on display on his acreage, which is now known as Galleta Meadows.  Some of the art is phantasm, such as the dragon, but a majority of the sculptures are accurate, scale 1:1 recreations from artifacts and fossils that have been found in this area.  There are more than 130 of these sculptures and one can drive on flat, well-manicured sand roads to view them.

Giant tortoise (extinct)

Looks like the score here is saber-
tooth cat - 1, horse - 0

Rob's into T Rexes (whimsy - none
of these was found in this area)

Harlan's ground sloth - carrying her "baby" 
on her back.  The fossils were found
just this way.  The animals date back
to 2.3 million years ago.

Columbian mammoth - fossils date
back 4 million years

Details of the wind god bird's tail feathers

Dragon's head 

The dragon is 350 feet long and
snakes along under the roadway

Bugs.  Ick.  Rob likes 'em.

Aiolornis incredibilis, the incredible wind
 god bird (twice scale) - the largest flying bird
 in North America dating 3.5 million years ago.
Fossils of 3 have been found in this area.
This one has captured its prey, a great
big ol' boar.  Rob wants to caption
this photo, "When pigs fly."

 

Badlands, indeed!

"So this is a 'trail?!'"

Next on the agenda was Lindy’s wish to hike a canyon called, “The Slot.”  We had heard about this from a fellow in the resort pool and I was mysteriously fascinated with his description.  Rob was not fascinated at all but he was a sport and created our map to the area.  I know nothing of the history or geology of this phenomenon.  It was just Lindy’s “had-to-do-this,” for some unknown reason.  “We shall never pass this way again.”  More than that, “We shall never be younger than we are right now, so let’s go for it!”  This area is located in what is called, “The Badlands,” for obvious reasons.  This place really quite resembles Hell, although I have no personal experience in this category, yet.  It was hot.  We carried water.  It was very fucking hot.  We only made it about halfway and had to turn back.  Did I mention that it was hot?

I'm making it!

Yup, this could be called a "slot."

 

We arrived back at camp and cooled down in the pool, feeling very smug and proud that we hiked "The Slot.”  Tomorrow, we say good-bye to Borrego Springs and you, our friends, just for this time.  As Arnold would say, “We’ll be back!”

"I made it!"

"Me, too. I'm dyin.' Let's get the Hell outta here!"