Our First week On The Road

05/08/2016

Well, we did it, but not without issues. We spent the last week before leaving on our trip tying up loose ends, having dinner with friends and family and making sure we were ready to travel. Or more to the point, making sure the coach was ready to travel. We were absolutely rearing to go!
     We took the coach in to have some major service performed. I wanted the transmission, engine and rear axle serviced. I also had a smaller list of things I wanted repaired but if they didn't get done we would get them taken care of when we returned in July. The shop did all the major items but neglected to even try to get to the secondary list so once again we are traveling without a/c in the cab. This time it's not so bad because we are headed north but when we come back at the end of June it's gonna be one of those times I have to fire up the generator to run the whole house a/c to keep Kathy cool. She isn't good in the heat.
     The second issue we ran into was on payday. Kathy got paid but I got nothing. I'm still waiting. We went into the CalPers office and found out nothing but they were nice enough to send a message to Sacramento asking them to look into it and stated I would hear from them the next week. It is now 9 days later and guess who I haven't heard from? Kathy and I both knew after working for the state for so long that either one or both of our paychecks would fail to be deposited on time so we set money aside to make sure we could survive until we got paid. The State of California never lets us down. They seem to fail every time!
     We decided to head out anyway and deal with it on the road. What else could we do? I can make a phone call from anywhere. We left on Monday morning, stopped in Barstow at the hospital to visit my oldest daughter and headed to Mohave Valley, AZ for a few days.

Me at the wheel

Kathy, Candice and I

Friends put us up in their back yard and we had a great visit! Spent time with a few other couples in the area we knew from past camp-outs and a few new couples we just met. The temp was in the 80's and 90's so we didn't stay long. Our intention was to head towards Flagstaff, AZ for a few days to check out a possible camp site but were told by our friends we would be running into rain & snow and that the roads we would be camping on would be very muddy. We decided to take a day trip to Flagstaff in the car on Wednesday to check out the camp areas. We also decided we should head north up through Utah when we left in order to try and avoid the rain and snow.

Michael & Sara checking out the site

Ashurst Lake boat ramp

All was going well until we stopped for a bathroom break and Kathy rolled the window down in Michael and Sara's car. It wouldn't roll back up. Michael & I spent the better part of an hour removing the broken motor and then figuring out a way to keep the window in the up position. I ended up riding the 3-4 hours home holding a screwdriver pushed through one of the access holes and wedged against the outside of the door to keep the window in the raised position. It was a long ride home.

Michael & I dissecting the car door

My riding position back from Flagstaff

     On Thursday we headed out towards Mequite, NV and spent the night in the Casablanca Casino and Resort parking lot. It was windy and looked like rain so this was a good stopping point. We had dinner in the casino and the next day we went in for breakfast before heading out towards Bryce Canyon.

A beautiful canyon drive 

More of the scenic canyon

Mtns in the distance as Michael is passed by a car

We made reservations at the Red Canyon Village RV Park for 4 nights figuring from here we could tour Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. The weather wasn't looking promising when we arrived on Friday but on Saturday morning we decided to take a chance on Red Rock Canyon and maybe Bryce Canyon. We ran into sprinkles of rain at first but as we went on the rain turned to hail and then snow. We made it all the way through the canyon stopping at all the turnouts and taking pics. We even saw a small herd of antelope by the side of the road. As we were leaving the park the snow was evident on the roads. The temps have been around 45-50 for highs and down below freezing at night.

The tunnel into Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon Entrance

Michael, Sara & I

The Natural Bridge

Us!

Small herd of antelope grazing

Sara, Michael & Kathy

Us again!

Hoodoos!

Hoodoos in Red Canyon

    

Lunch!

   Today is Sunday and because the rain percentage was predicted to be high, we decided to hang out in the RV park, do laundry and make today sort of a rest day. We will go to Zion tomorrow and then leave here on Tuesday to spend a day or two in the Salt Lake City area. I need to stop by StealthGear to pick up the holsters I ordered and the timing is perfect. I called last Friday and they were just shipping them out so I had them hold onto them and said I would be in the area to pick them up this week.