I'm a little behind, huh?
We left Moab on the 11th. Headed up Rt. 6 and followed that all the way to Ely, Nevada.
When we got to Nevada, it was around 10 when we hit the border. We saw a motel/gas station/slot machine place, so we went in, and spent a dollar in the slot machine and were done. Didn't win anything.
Ely Nevada, we stayed at a KOA that kinda sucked. The town was pretty dinky, but we had breakfast at a place with a nice waitress and another old lady with awesome hair. Pretty good breakfast too.
Then we headed to Yosemite. Lonnnnng drive. We got there around 730ish, and had to try to find a campground. Not easy. We finally saw a sign for one that was 2 miles down a windy dirt road, towards Saddlebag Lake. They had spots. We picked one, (they were all primitive) and we set up the camper. We then made food, because there was NOTHING around there, and then had to figure out the bear box situation. Did that. Then it was cold, we were on top of a mountain, around 10,000 ft, and went to bed. Woke up in the morning, had breakfast at the little lakeside cafe they had there. Packed up, and left.
In Yosemite we couldn't decide what to do. We entered the East enterance, which is far away from the popular sites. We found a visitor center, and asked the lady what and where and blah blah. We walked up a big rock, what a pain it was to get down. The elevation was still no good for us, we kept having to stop on the way up. Then we drove and drove, it takes like 2 hours from one side to the other. Finally, we saw nice swimming holes in the river, so down we went. First one was rocky and had a lot of current. The water was FREEEZING. So we went in up to our waists and then felt better and got out. Then we were driving and saw a nice sandy one with a rock to jump off. In we went. There was strong current here too, that I had to swim into and let it take me downriver so I could get to the rock. The water was pretty cold, but not as bad. There was a big family there, with kids in a raft and they were having fun. I finally got to the rock, and climbed up, and Dave made me jump off. That was okay. Then we were done. The kids in the raft got off the rope, and were going downstream, so Dave went down to make sure they didn' get too far. They were fine, just dramatic. Little girls.
Then we got out and decided we'd head down to Yosemite Valley. Got there FINALLY and it was packed with people, so we turned around. We were going to go to the Merced Grove of Giant Sequoias but it was a 2 mile steep walk there, and 2 miles back. Downhill on the way there. Blah. We were tired, and hot. So we skipped that. We figured we were going to see Redwoods anyway.
So we exited out the West side of Yosemite. Found a pizza place, had pizza, and then off to Lake Tahoe. The drive there was pretty cool.
When we got there, the address Alex had given me was I guess around 2 months ago, and they had moved, and didn't tell us. So we were sitting at their old address, trying to find them. Alex didn't answer his phone, so Dave called Fred to find out. We find out they work at a Marriott, so off we went to the Marriott. We get there and ask the girl at the front desk if Alex is working. She say no, so we ask if she knows where we can find him. She says she can call him and see if he's home since she lives with him. He doesn't answer when she calls, we tell her that we'll be staying with her then. We stand around and talk to her for a while, waiting for Jose to come back from his break. Finally he comes back, and as he is walking by us, he says hi and keeps walking. Then he sees Dave laughing, and was going to stop and say something to the Jerk who was laughing, and then "No WAY" he notices it's us. He didn't know we were coming. So he was surprised.
We head off to their house, because they had to work still. Get there, and theres Alex. We sit around, Amanda and Jose come home, Alex has work at 1030 and so does Amanda so they go to bed around 1. The rest of us are up until like, 330 just hanging out. We were in the hot tub, and watching TV and lots of stuff. Finally bed because we wanted to wake up early to go to the beach before they had to work. 7 am rolls around and no one is up. 8 am rolls around and no one is up. 9 am, Alex and Amanda get up to go to work. Dave and I got up around...10 and Jose around 11. Dave and I just sat around playing video games before he got up. When he got up, we were going to go for breakfast, but Jose couldn't find his wallet, so Dave and I went. I got an awesome grilled cheese and Dave got a waffle and bacon and eggs. Greaaaaaaat food. Then back to the house.
We played cornhole when we got there, which is basically bean bag toss. I was sooo bad at first. We played one game, but it was wayyy too hot to play another.
Jose had work at 3 anyway. So around 2 he started getting ready. Dave and I sat around until 5, when we went out exploring. Went shopping a bit, and then got food. Chinese food from a Chinese lady who was so funny. Then back to the house.
Alex and Amanda got home, and we went to the beach. We long-boarded from the road to the beach, so we didn't have to pay to drive in. Dave and I were both on one board because there were only 3 long boards. We worked it out pretty well though.
We got to the beach, sat, and watched the sun go down. Then figured we should go back to the car before it gets too dark. On the ride back to the house, we noticed mini-golf was still open. Awesome mini-golf with castles and dragons and dinosaurs and volcanoes. We did that until 1030. Then back to the house. We were going to make noodles, and sauce, but their gas was off, and to get the stove out of the camper would have been a lot of work. So we ordered Dominoes. 5 of us ate 3 pizzas, and we were all just chilling out watching tv.
Slowly people started going to bed, then it was just Alex and I awake watching Mighty Ducks. Dave and I slept on the couch, and Alex had fallen asleep on the couch, and spilled his beer, which was kinda funny, then he was off to bed.
I woke up to the sun coming in the windows near the roof, shining right into my eyes. Ridiculous.
We went out for breakfast when Amanda and Jose got back from yoga. Pretty good breakfast. Then back to the house, because Alex had work at 3. We played 2 games of cornhole, then were dying of heat so inside we went. Dave played on his computer, and hung out with Alex, I napped. Then Alex had to iron his shirt and go to work. Then it was just Dave and I chilling for a while. Jose and Amanda were napping. They finally woke up, and then we decided to go to the beach again. We went to their friends house to try to borrow another long board, but she was using it, and they found out they needed to be back at her house at 5 and it was 320 now. We quickly left.
We longboarded to the beach, didn't go too far down because they had to be back. We sat for a little while, and it was hot. Then I looked what time it was, and it was 415 already. Time to pack up and head back. Jeeeeze. Dave and I put our feet in Tahoe water, then off to the house we went. They had to rush and leave, and we hooked up the camper, and changed sparkplugs, and then left around 6. Headed west to the coast.
Dave drove, all the way. We got there around 1 I think. We camped in the Redwoods which was cool. We showered and everything else. Went to bed. Woke up in the morning, it was pretty nice. We went exploring, found the Drive Thru Tree, which we didn't fit through. Then went to find food. Found the Peg Barn? or something like that. Buncha hippies, with good food, and stuff to sell. I got a bagel with peanut butter and it was awesome. Dave got a wrap and he said it was awesome. Dave bought me a super cool hoodie, and I bought new soap and some snacks. We ate, and then we were off. The guy gave us a map and told us which was to go to see cool stuff. We headed north.
We saw signs for Confusion Hill, and it looked awesome. It was. We took tons of pictures, and went inside the house built onto the slope of the mountain. Then we needed to buy 5 bucks worth of stuff in the store to use a credit card, so we found a magnet of the drive thru tree that KIIIINDA looked like the Jeep. Cool.
On the road again. We drove and drove through tons of Redwoods, on the Avenue of the Giants. The Eel River runs along there, and we were sweating hardcore, so we found a spot to stumble down the hill and get to the river. The water was SO warm, and clear. It was awesome. We hung out in there for about a half hour then back on the road.
The trees were freakin' HUUUGE. We found some that you could walk inside and stuff. Niiice. Finally we made it to the turn off to get to the shore. We took that road, and then another road...and finally saw the Pacific Ocean. We were so far north though, that it was freezing, and windy. We took pictures, and continued driving on that road. It went along the water for a while. We went to Cape Mendecino, which is the most western point of the continental US. Pretty cool. Then climbed the mountains back to the highway. Then we headed north. I was freezing from wet shorts from swimming in the river, so when we stopped for gas, I got pants and changed. We went to Sizzler for dinner, which was pretty cool. Then I drove for 86ish miles, and then Daves turn.
I fell asleep for about an hour and a half in the car. We then had to find somewhere to camp. Finallllly found a place right next to the hiway, so it's pretty loud. We set up, and I watched Big Fish on the IPod while Dave was on the computer. Then we were out.
I woke up SWEATING TO DEATH at 930. Got up and went to check in and get the bathroom code, because I felt disgusting. Dave was still asleep, and actually JUST got up to go shower. We gotta be out of here in 30 mins, which is fine because it's hot as hell.
I wonder if anyone reads these SUPER long posts.
Later!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Leaving Moab...
Hey guys.
Today we are packing up and headed West again. It was a nice 3 day stop.
The first day we were here, Thursday, we putz in the morning, then showered and went exploring. There's a nice little town here. We went tire hunting, for Dave's spare, and finally found a place. Then we needed to find a rim, or the place with the tire could order one. It ended up that he needed to order one, because no where else had it.
We also found a mailing center, and mailed out my camera to Illinois. Stupid Canon. I'm having it mailed to Montana, hopefully it'll be there before I am.
We had lunch at HogiYogi, where there was a miserable girl working, and where this ridiculous fucking family came in. They couldn't make up their minds, their kids were out of control, the dad was acting like an idiot, and they kept having to ask to girl working (not the miserable one) for something else. We sympathized with her through smiles .
Then we headed to the Hole in the Rock. Which is a house, built into the rock, and they made a tour and a touristy attraction around it. We took the tour, which was kinda creepy because they left the house exactly the same after the people died, so all their stuff was still in there. We wandered around outside, then left. It was too damn hot to be dwaddling around. There was a petting zoo, that we skipped.
We went to the Arches National Park next. It was hot as hell there too. We stayed in the car for most of the trip. But decided to get out at the windows and walk up. We climbed around on the North Window, found a cool little crevice to climb in. Took lots of pictures, and left. We were tired of walking after that, it must have been like, 100 degrees in the sun. We went to the 4wd road, called Tower Arch in our 4wd road book, but called Willows Pass in the park. It was so long. I got to drive, so Dave could sit on the hood and take pictures. There was deep sand which was a pain in the ass, and rocks which were fine. It is rated Moderate in our book. I'd say towards the end it got there. We finally got out of there around...10 or something. It was dark, and late. We drove back to the campground, ate and went to bed.
Friday we woke up late. We were super lazy in the morning, then I finally got up to do laundry. That took 2+ hours, and 7 dollars, especially since I had to scrub my jeans with a plastic knife and soap to get the mud out from when we got stuck in Colorado. I had already washed them once, but they didn't come clean at all. Now they're pretty close to clean. Good enough I guess.
After laundry we went to get Dave's tire, and I went to get a tracking number for my package I had sent with my camera in it. We got Wendy's for lunch because I was starving and the people were idiots so it ended up costing 13 bucks. I was pissed. We stopped at an electronics place to see if they had a charger for my laptop. The only thing they had was 65 bucks for a generic thing with lots of ends you could change. Way too much money.
Dave saw a Fujifilm camera there, 10mp 12x optical zoom, for 250$ so, I bought it. It's probably going to end up as his birthday present, unless someone wants to buy a gently used camera when I get home. His moms sony just wasn't cutting it.
Then we went wheeling. We picked Kanes Creek Canyon, out of the book. It was rated Difficult, but really, have you seen Dave's jeep? We were fine. We went the wrong way at first, and took a green, because the trail signs were confusing. By the time we got off the green, and back to the red, it was 730. We took it anyway. We were doing good. We crossed dry creek beds alot, wishing that there was water in it, but nope, none. It was hot as hell still. We must have drank a gallon each at least. And we were still thirsty.
When it got dark, the trail got a little tricky, especially because we were on his high narrow shelf road going up the canyon. There wasn't much room for mistakes, or give. We finally got through that part, and were a bit lost in the creek, when I finally saw the pipeline road off the side. Dave was swearing because his jeep wasn't working right, and we were tired, and hot.
We finally got out of there, alive none the less. We called Dominos, ordered that pizza, got ice from McDonalds, and more 2/2.22 Powerades. We are going through those like crazy, they're 32 oz. Good deal we think. 1.11 each.
Came back to the camper ,eat some foods. I shower, Dave falls asleep. It's hot still, being in just your undies doesn't even help. Dave wakes up around 4 and goes to shower. We wake up around 9, and I get up. Dave lazes around while I start packing up the camper, and now here we are.
Before I forget, there are tons of bunnies and lizards and birds in this campground. There have been atleast 4 bunnies a day almost in our campsite. and TONS of freaking lizards. Pretty cool.
Hot hot hot. We're heading towards Lake Tahoe today. Hoping to go rafting though, before that. We'll see what happens.
We have French Canadian neighbors here. At the campground. They're nice. Little girl is cute.
Later dudes.
www.photobucket.com/popupx
Today we are packing up and headed West again. It was a nice 3 day stop.
The first day we were here, Thursday, we putz in the morning, then showered and went exploring. There's a nice little town here. We went tire hunting, for Dave's spare, and finally found a place. Then we needed to find a rim, or the place with the tire could order one. It ended up that he needed to order one, because no where else had it.
We also found a mailing center, and mailed out my camera to Illinois. Stupid Canon. I'm having it mailed to Montana, hopefully it'll be there before I am.
We had lunch at HogiYogi, where there was a miserable girl working, and where this ridiculous fucking family came in. They couldn't make up their minds, their kids were out of control, the dad was acting like an idiot, and they kept having to ask to girl working (not the miserable one) for something else. We sympathized with her through smiles .
Then we headed to the Hole in the Rock. Which is a house, built into the rock, and they made a tour and a touristy attraction around it. We took the tour, which was kinda creepy because they left the house exactly the same after the people died, so all their stuff was still in there. We wandered around outside, then left. It was too damn hot to be dwaddling around. There was a petting zoo, that we skipped.
We went to the Arches National Park next. It was hot as hell there too. We stayed in the car for most of the trip. But decided to get out at the windows and walk up. We climbed around on the North Window, found a cool little crevice to climb in. Took lots of pictures, and left. We were tired of walking after that, it must have been like, 100 degrees in the sun. We went to the 4wd road, called Tower Arch in our 4wd road book, but called Willows Pass in the park. It was so long. I got to drive, so Dave could sit on the hood and take pictures. There was deep sand which was a pain in the ass, and rocks which were fine. It is rated Moderate in our book. I'd say towards the end it got there. We finally got out of there around...10 or something. It was dark, and late. We drove back to the campground, ate and went to bed.
Friday we woke up late. We were super lazy in the morning, then I finally got up to do laundry. That took 2+ hours, and 7 dollars, especially since I had to scrub my jeans with a plastic knife and soap to get the mud out from when we got stuck in Colorado. I had already washed them once, but they didn't come clean at all. Now they're pretty close to clean. Good enough I guess.
After laundry we went to get Dave's tire, and I went to get a tracking number for my package I had sent with my camera in it. We got Wendy's for lunch because I was starving and the people were idiots so it ended up costing 13 bucks. I was pissed. We stopped at an electronics place to see if they had a charger for my laptop. The only thing they had was 65 bucks for a generic thing with lots of ends you could change. Way too much money.
Dave saw a Fujifilm camera there, 10mp 12x optical zoom, for 250$ so, I bought it. It's probably going to end up as his birthday present, unless someone wants to buy a gently used camera when I get home. His moms sony just wasn't cutting it.
Then we went wheeling. We picked Kanes Creek Canyon, out of the book. It was rated Difficult, but really, have you seen Dave's jeep? We were fine. We went the wrong way at first, and took a green, because the trail signs were confusing. By the time we got off the green, and back to the red, it was 730. We took it anyway. We were doing good. We crossed dry creek beds alot, wishing that there was water in it, but nope, none. It was hot as hell still. We must have drank a gallon each at least. And we were still thirsty.
When it got dark, the trail got a little tricky, especially because we were on his high narrow shelf road going up the canyon. There wasn't much room for mistakes, or give. We finally got through that part, and were a bit lost in the creek, when I finally saw the pipeline road off the side. Dave was swearing because his jeep wasn't working right, and we were tired, and hot.
We finally got out of there, alive none the less. We called Dominos, ordered that pizza, got ice from McDonalds, and more 2/2.22 Powerades. We are going through those like crazy, they're 32 oz. Good deal we think. 1.11 each.
Came back to the camper ,eat some foods. I shower, Dave falls asleep. It's hot still, being in just your undies doesn't even help. Dave wakes up around 4 and goes to shower. We wake up around 9, and I get up. Dave lazes around while I start packing up the camper, and now here we are.
Before I forget, there are tons of bunnies and lizards and birds in this campground. There have been atleast 4 bunnies a day almost in our campsite. and TONS of freaking lizards. Pretty cool.
Hot hot hot. We're heading towards Lake Tahoe today. Hoping to go rafting though, before that. We'll see what happens.
We have French Canadian neighbors here. At the campground. They're nice. Little girl is cute.
Later dudes.
www.photobucket.com/popupx
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Moab, UT
We are in Moab, finally. We will be here for a few days which is nice, so I don't have to pack everything up the second I wake up in the morning. After this we will be headed to Lake Tahoe. Maybe we can swim there, it is pretty hot around here.
Moab looked like there were quite a few cool places when we were driving in last night. So we will have to see today. I have to do laundry SO BAD, Dave is completely out of shorts because he keeps dirtying them so quickly. I'm thinking perhaps we need to buy him another pair or two.
He bought me a fox fur jacket yesterday at a consignment shop, which was cool. We are now going to ship home a bunch of stuff that we have come to find we don't need. Hoodies, my winter jacket, 3 pairs of Daves pants, and the fox fur jacket. We still have too much stuff, but I don't know what we will need.
I posted those last updates through my phone, and they came out all funky so I posted in the help forum, hoping maybe someone knows what happened and how to fix it. I'll probably have to retype them anyway, so I'll reupdate here on those days, but I'm going to leave those posts up for people to see in order for them to help me.
So I left off on the morning of my birthday...
We were in Flagstaff, so we woke up and got chocolate chip pancakes at the little cafe at the KOA. We couldn't even finish them they were so chocolatey and thick. So good tho. Then we checked out, and went to the RV store looking for new stabilizers since our rear ones are gone. We found something we could use, and bought them. Then we looked at all the RV's because this trip has made us realize how small and not really convienent the popup is. So we're looking for a hard side. We are actually considering a school bus, and gutting the inside and making it nice. I think that'd be so cool, paint it cool colors, and put beds and stuff inside. Win.
After the RV place, we called Canon to see where to get the camera fixed, but they said we have to send it to Illinois to get it fixed, fucking ridiculous, and it will take like 3 weeks. Pain in my ass. So we're shipping that out today, and I'm getting it shipped to Montana where if it makes it there while we are there we can pick it up and use it for the rest of the trip after Montana. So for now we are using Daves moms camera, which sucks. Bleh.
Then we were off to the Grand Canyon. Since you all know that we are not people people, we drove right by the touristy South Rim and headed for the North Rim. What a LONNNNG drive. It was so hot. We drove through the Navajo reservation, and Dave wouldn't stop at any of the road side tables, which was upsetting, but it was too hot anyway.
Right after Vermillion Cliffs, we hear a screech noise, and I look at Dave and ask him what he hit. Then the car is sorta...thumping along. We pull over, and the camper has a flat. The road was so hot that basically the tire blew. But we had a good spare, so we pull the car over so it makes shade and Dave changes the tire. I helped out, and watched the fire ants, making sure they weren't headed for Dave who was sitting on the ground. Those things are ridiculous.
Then we were off again. We had to drive up the mountain to get to Jacob Lake, and it started getting pretty chilly. Then we got gas, and headed the last 40 miles to the North Rim. This stretch was super chilly, I actually needed the blanket...we had taken the doors off in the hot desert, so now it was chilly. We saw lots of deer, and a HERD OF BUFFALO! SO COOL! We stopped and took pictures, and then were off again. We got to the Grand Canyon around 8. There was a huge moon, and the sun was going down, so we took pictures while it was light enough, and then went to eat.
The Grand Canyon Lodge up there is gorgeous. I had pork roast, and Dave had some kind of chicken fettucine, and I had a North Rim Sunset as my birthday drink, since we had just seen the sunset. We left there around 1030. The food and atomosphere were AWESOME.
Dave drove back, I fell asleep. All of a sudden I feel the car slowing down, I open my eyes, and there is the herd of buffalo in the road. You see all their eyes, in the lights of the car. So cool.
Dave drove to Utah, and stopped at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. We set up the camper and passed out. Woke up in the am, and showered, then headed out wheeling on the dunes. Bleck to sand getting everywhere. The Cherokee is too heavy for the sand, especially since we have mud tires not sand tires, so we weren't doing too well. We were out there for about 2 hours, then went back and packed up and headed towards Zion.
We entered the East enterance to the park. So we were looking up at all the formations as we were driving all the way down the mountain. We got to go through the tunnel, which was cool. We saw some desert bighorn sheep, which look like goats. We parked across from the market there, and got food. I got a buffalo burger, which was awesome, and Dave had a sandwich which he said wasn't great. Then we headed towards the shuttle. I asked about the Narrows, and they said we wouldn't really be able to walk too far today because it was already 600. I don't even know how that happened. So we take the shuttle up to the top anyway, the last stop. We walk the Riverside Trail, and then hop into the river and walk up for about an hour. We had so much fun! Oh man, it was awesome. I wish we had more time, but we didn't want to get stuck out there in the dark. There were people who had walked 16 miles up there. Oh man.
So we walked back, and by the time the shuttle got back to the visitor center it was basically dark. We went into the market for postcards, stickers, and bread for dinner, then headed to Cedar City. I fell asleep so fast, no matter how hard I tried to stay awake for Dave, I couldn't. That walk tired us out.
Cedar City was nice. The guy at the KOA let us in and let us have the site for 25 instead of 35 bucks, because we weren't using the cable or the sewer. We set up, I cooked Ramen and made tuna fish sandwiches for Dave, and then I passed right out. We woke up in the morning to a GORGEOUS day. The wind was blowing through the popup, and we definitely did not want to get up. So we took our time. Showered. Dwadled. We got out of there around 1.
We stopped at tire shops, because we needed a new spare for the camper, and we need a spare for the Jeep, since ours rolled down the mountain remember.
Didn't find any Jeep spares. But trailer spares are easy to come by. We ate at Ninja Sushi and Steakhouse, which was good food, and awesome green tea fried ice cream. Yummm.
Then we were off to the car wash. We had fun with that. One of those wash your own car ones. That took up about an hour.
Then we tried again to find tires. We got the trailer one, but still nothing for the Jeep.
Then we were on the road to Moab. Long drive. We just drove and drove, then stopped for dinner at Mom's Cafe, at the exit that was the last exit with any services for 110 miles. Food was super good. I had spaghetti with homemade sauce, and fries, and Dave had a club sandwich which he said was good. Now it was my turn to drive.
Oh man, I drove up this HUGE mountain, the car was putzing along, hardcore. We stopped to let it cool off. I drove for 67 miles, then stopped at a viewing area on top of the mountain, and Dave drove. He got to drive DOWN the 6% grade hill. We were flying. And the engine gets so cool. Nice.
We made it to Moab around 1. Set up. The internet needed a code, so no internet. So we watched Top Gear, and fell asleep. Woke up this morning to HEEEEEEEEAT.
Now it's time to shower, since we've been lazy long enough.
Let's hope I figure out how to mobile update, because my computer code died and wont charge my computer, so blah.
Moab looked like there were quite a few cool places when we were driving in last night. So we will have to see today. I have to do laundry SO BAD, Dave is completely out of shorts because he keeps dirtying them so quickly. I'm thinking perhaps we need to buy him another pair or two.
He bought me a fox fur jacket yesterday at a consignment shop, which was cool. We are now going to ship home a bunch of stuff that we have come to find we don't need. Hoodies, my winter jacket, 3 pairs of Daves pants, and the fox fur jacket. We still have too much stuff, but I don't know what we will need.
I posted those last updates through my phone, and they came out all funky so I posted in the help forum, hoping maybe someone knows what happened and how to fix it. I'll probably have to retype them anyway, so I'll reupdate here on those days, but I'm going to leave those posts up for people to see in order for them to help me.
So I left off on the morning of my birthday...
We were in Flagstaff, so we woke up and got chocolate chip pancakes at the little cafe at the KOA. We couldn't even finish them they were so chocolatey and thick. So good tho. Then we checked out, and went to the RV store looking for new stabilizers since our rear ones are gone. We found something we could use, and bought them. Then we looked at all the RV's because this trip has made us realize how small and not really convienent the popup is. So we're looking for a hard side. We are actually considering a school bus, and gutting the inside and making it nice. I think that'd be so cool, paint it cool colors, and put beds and stuff inside. Win.
After the RV place, we called Canon to see where to get the camera fixed, but they said we have to send it to Illinois to get it fixed, fucking ridiculous, and it will take like 3 weeks. Pain in my ass. So we're shipping that out today, and I'm getting it shipped to Montana where if it makes it there while we are there we can pick it up and use it for the rest of the trip after Montana. So for now we are using Daves moms camera, which sucks. Bleh.
Then we were off to the Grand Canyon. Since you all know that we are not people people, we drove right by the touristy South Rim and headed for the North Rim. What a LONNNNG drive. It was so hot. We drove through the Navajo reservation, and Dave wouldn't stop at any of the road side tables, which was upsetting, but it was too hot anyway.
Right after Vermillion Cliffs, we hear a screech noise, and I look at Dave and ask him what he hit. Then the car is sorta...thumping along. We pull over, and the camper has a flat. The road was so hot that basically the tire blew. But we had a good spare, so we pull the car over so it makes shade and Dave changes the tire. I helped out, and watched the fire ants, making sure they weren't headed for Dave who was sitting on the ground. Those things are ridiculous.
Then we were off again. We had to drive up the mountain to get to Jacob Lake, and it started getting pretty chilly. Then we got gas, and headed the last 40 miles to the North Rim. This stretch was super chilly, I actually needed the blanket...we had taken the doors off in the hot desert, so now it was chilly. We saw lots of deer, and a HERD OF BUFFALO! SO COOL! We stopped and took pictures, and then were off again. We got to the Grand Canyon around 8. There was a huge moon, and the sun was going down, so we took pictures while it was light enough, and then went to eat.
The Grand Canyon Lodge up there is gorgeous. I had pork roast, and Dave had some kind of chicken fettucine, and I had a North Rim Sunset as my birthday drink, since we had just seen the sunset. We left there around 1030. The food and atomosphere were AWESOME.
Dave drove back, I fell asleep. All of a sudden I feel the car slowing down, I open my eyes, and there is the herd of buffalo in the road. You see all their eyes, in the lights of the car. So cool.
Dave drove to Utah, and stopped at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. We set up the camper and passed out. Woke up in the am, and showered, then headed out wheeling on the dunes. Bleck to sand getting everywhere. The Cherokee is too heavy for the sand, especially since we have mud tires not sand tires, so we weren't doing too well. We were out there for about 2 hours, then went back and packed up and headed towards Zion.
We entered the East enterance to the park. So we were looking up at all the formations as we were driving all the way down the mountain. We got to go through the tunnel, which was cool. We saw some desert bighorn sheep, which look like goats. We parked across from the market there, and got food. I got a buffalo burger, which was awesome, and Dave had a sandwich which he said wasn't great. Then we headed towards the shuttle. I asked about the Narrows, and they said we wouldn't really be able to walk too far today because it was already 600. I don't even know how that happened. So we take the shuttle up to the top anyway, the last stop. We walk the Riverside Trail, and then hop into the river and walk up for about an hour. We had so much fun! Oh man, it was awesome. I wish we had more time, but we didn't want to get stuck out there in the dark. There were people who had walked 16 miles up there. Oh man.
So we walked back, and by the time the shuttle got back to the visitor center it was basically dark. We went into the market for postcards, stickers, and bread for dinner, then headed to Cedar City. I fell asleep so fast, no matter how hard I tried to stay awake for Dave, I couldn't. That walk tired us out.
Cedar City was nice. The guy at the KOA let us in and let us have the site for 25 instead of 35 bucks, because we weren't using the cable or the sewer. We set up, I cooked Ramen and made tuna fish sandwiches for Dave, and then I passed right out. We woke up in the morning to a GORGEOUS day. The wind was blowing through the popup, and we definitely did not want to get up. So we took our time. Showered. Dwadled. We got out of there around 1.
We stopped at tire shops, because we needed a new spare for the camper, and we need a spare for the Jeep, since ours rolled down the mountain remember.
Didn't find any Jeep spares. But trailer spares are easy to come by. We ate at Ninja Sushi and Steakhouse, which was good food, and awesome green tea fried ice cream. Yummm.
Then we were off to the car wash. We had fun with that. One of those wash your own car ones. That took up about an hour.
Then we tried again to find tires. We got the trailer one, but still nothing for the Jeep.
Then we were on the road to Moab. Long drive. We just drove and drove, then stopped for dinner at Mom's Cafe, at the exit that was the last exit with any services for 110 miles. Food was super good. I had spaghetti with homemade sauce, and fries, and Dave had a club sandwich which he said was good. Now it was my turn to drive.
Oh man, I drove up this HUGE mountain, the car was putzing along, hardcore. We stopped to let it cool off. I drove for 67 miles, then stopped at a viewing area on top of the mountain, and Dave drove. He got to drive DOWN the 6% grade hill. We were flying. And the engine gets so cool. Nice.
We made it to Moab around 1. Set up. The internet needed a code, so no internet. So we watched Top Gear, and fell asleep. Woke up this morning to HEEEEEEEEAT.
Now it's time to shower, since we've been lazy long enough.
Let's hope I figure out how to mobile update, because my computer code died and wont charge my computer, so blah.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
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