May 28-29 , Bakersfield to Red Bluff to Canyonville.

We got an early start for our long drive to Red Bluff.
Left just after 7, made sandwiches so we wouldn’t have to stop for lunch.
Fairly uneventful though long drive, not too much traffic until the freeway through Sacramento which was a little tense.
With a couple of stops for gas and pee breaks we got to the Durango RV Resort about 4 pm.
It’s a very nice park, we stayed here once before.
The place is full because of Memorial Day weekend, good thing we had a reservation.
Temperature is 30°.
We saw a pizza place across the street on the way in and found they give a discount for people staying at the RV park and they deliver so that was dinner.
Great pizza, loaded with toppings.
May 29,
We slept in a bit and got underway to Canyonville about 8:30.
Stopped at Safeway in Redding for a few things and gas.
Nice because a Safeway card gets a discount at their gas station.
Gas in California is the most expensive we have come across, usually over $3 a gallon.
Utah and Arizona were around $2.45.
We stopped at a rest stop near Weed for our lunch of leftover pizza.
Got coffee and  gas again in Medford, Oregon , $2.57, better than CA.
Approaching Grant’s Pass an overhead sign warned of a crash ahead and delays.
Traffic quickly slowed to a crawl but at least kept moving at 1 or 2 mph.
After about 30 minutes things sped up and by 3 we arrived at the Seven Feathers RV Resort.
This is one of our favorites,  we have stayed here  4 or 5 times.
Nicely kept , great showers, each shower is its own little individual  bathroom.
There is a casino across the highway and a free shuttle will pick you up at your site with a phone call and bring you back.
We got set up , put out our chairs and had a drink.
The Wi-Fi at our site is terrible but I hooked up my trusty cantenna Wi-Fi booster and we were in business! 
There was a short sprinkle of rain and some thunder but it has stopped now.

May 27, Bakersfield

We had an r&r day today.
Slept in a bit, used the showers then went out to do some grocery shopping.
Had to leave Mickey in the trailer with the ac on, too warm to leave him in the truck.
We went to Walmart which didn’t have a great food selection then on the way to another grocery store we came across a Mexican supermarket called Vallarta.
Wow, what a store !
A huge selection of nicely organized fresh produce, a gigantic meat counter with some pretty good looking fresh beef , pork, chicken and fish.
You could buy a whole skinned cows head for $39 !
Karen has been Googling  recipes !
We could have spent half a day looking at all the exotic stuff but wanted to get back to let the dog out.
We bought some tamales and a beef taco from their food counter to take home for lunch.
Delicious food, wish we had a store like that in Nanaimo.
After lunch I washed the truck which they allow at this park and cleaned the shady side of the trailer.
Too hot on the sunny side .
It feels good to take a break, we have a really long drive ahead of us to Red Bluff, CA  tomorrow .

May 25-26, Williams to Needles

May 25, Williams to Needles

Before leaving for Needles we bought a couple of breakfast sandwiches from the KOA chuck wagon.

Kind of greasy but it beats cooking !

Left about 9 for the 3 hour drive.

The highways in northern Arizona are the worst we have driven on, so many potholes and humps, very rough driving.

We stopped in Kingman for gas and coffee then proceeded on to Needles, California.

As we drove the temperature kept climbing, by the time we arrived it was 40 ° C or 100 F.

Our GPS, Gladys, led us on a bit of a mystery tour getting to the campground resulting in unnecessary stress on my part but we eventually found the place.

We stayed at the Desert View RV Park which was quite nice, private gravel sites divided by tall Oleander bushes.

This sign is on the gate to the pool.

The heat and 30 miles per hour wind made setting up a chore. We were only here one night so I didn’t unhook, just plugged in the power and connected the water.

The wind was like a blast furnace, no chance of sitting outside. I had to hang on to the door with two hands to stop the wind from grabbing it.

We sat inside with the AC on and watched TV for the afternoon as the wind blasted the trailer.

We didn’t get a good night’s sleep, the AC is so loud but when we turned it off the temperature was stifling.

Around 2 am it cooled off enough to turn it off and try and sleep.

At 5 am we were awoken by our neighbor using an cordless impact driver to crank up his trailer jack’s,  sounded like a air tire wrench.

They then proceeded for the next 45 minutes to open and close hatches, slam truck doors  and talk out loud before finally leaving.

So, after all that we were up by 7 and headed off towards Bakersfield, happy to leave the excessive heat behind.

We stopped in Barstow for gas and coffee.

The drive took longer than our trip planner suggested, we arrived at A Country RV Park around 2 pm.

Thankfully the temperature is a moderate 25 and the park is very nice and clean.

Mickey was very happy to have some grass to lie on after several gravel only sites.

Hoping for a good night’s sleep, we are here for 2 nights and are looking forward to a day off without driving , starting to get tiring.

May 23-24 Monument Valley to Williams and Grand Canyon

Before leaving Goulding’s I stopped at their car wash and washed the truck and trailer.

They were pretty dirty after 2 weeks on the road.

The 4 hour drive to Williams went fine.

We stopped in Tuba City for coffee and Flagstaff for lunch.

There was some confusion about the time until we found that Arizona doesn’t do Daylight Savings Time, so we are one hour earlier than Utah which is on Mountain Time.

Got to our campground by 2.

After setting up we drove into Williams to Safeway for some supplies ( wine).

It is a cool retro little town on Route 66.

Back to the trailer with the wine and a rotisserie chicken and potato salad, we sat and enjoyed the warmth.

May 24.

We woke up early because of the time change and a dog wanting out.

After breakfast we were underway by 8:30 for the 50 mile drive to the park.

After the Park entrance and $30 fee we went to the visitor center then Mather Point right outside of it.

Impressive views after a short walk but we notice it is a little harder to breath at the 7000 ft. altitude.

Next we took the 25 mile drive along the Desert View road towards the east entrance and the Watchtower.

I climbed the stairs in the 70 ft. tower built in 1932. More great views of the canyon.

On the return drive we stopped at many of the canyon viewpoints which are on that side of the road.

At Navajo Point we had our lunch which we had brought with us.

After we had our fill of lunch and canyon views we headed back to the RV park, stopping on the way in Valle to see the metal horse sculptures and the rock and gem shop.

Bought a petrified clam ! No jokes please .

After getting cleaned up we till had time to sit and enjoy the 25 degrees with a welcome wind blowing.

May 22, Moab to Monument Valley,

We got away just after 9 am for the 2 ½  hour drive to Monument Valley  in southern Utah.

For the first hour we drove through typical Moab Marscapes. Huge red cliffs and rock formations.

The Hole is a tourist stop on the other side of the rock

Quite suddenly it changed to green fields of farmland then just as quickly we were back into more red rocks with the buttes of Monument Valley visible in the distance.

Stopped in a town called Mexican Hat for gas. It is named after a rock formation. Population 31.

Mexican Hat

We arrived at Gouldings Campground around 12:30 and got settled.

Time to do laundry and have proper showers.

The campground is in a small valley surrounded by more of those towering red bluffs.

Great views out towards the monuments.

The Gouldings bought the land here in the late 20’s and built a trading post.

In the 30’s when times went bad they had an idea to go to Hollywood to try and attract business.

They got lucky and met John Ford and he decided it was the perfect place to film westerns.

He filmed Stagecoach and many other John Wayne movies here and the Goulding’s built their lodge and cabins to house the film crews.

Nice and hot here, 26 today, but we hear it is just as hot in Nanaimo !

May 20. Moab

May 20, Moab

We awoke to another sunny morning in Moab.

The temperature is up to 23 already.

We took it easy then drove into Moab to explore a bit and find someplace for lunch.

We drove up the Colorado River Valley for a ways, admiring the stone walls towering over the river.

Back in town we found a restaurant with outside seating so we could tie Mickey up on the sidewalk beside us.

It’s up to 25 now and too hot to leave him in the truck.

The cottonwood trees are in bloom and there is so much fluff in the air it almost looks like snow.

Mickey in cottonwood snow

After a nice lunch we came back to the trailer to Skype with Stephen.

The wifi here is pretty good so we were able to see and talk to him.

After all this activity we decided a nap was in order.

When we got back up the weather had changed. Clouds have moved in and it has cooled down a bit.

Still nice enough to sit outside for happy hour though.

our RV park

May 20 Dead Horse and Canyonlands parks

Karen was feeling better this morning, a little tired and her sugars were sky high after all the sugar she had eaten got into her system.
We had breakfast and headed off to explore Dead Horse State park and Canyonlands National park.

Lots of cattle grazing by the road, these calves kept an eye on us.

they are both about 35 miles north of Moab.

2 buttes named Merrimac and Monitor

The first park was Dead Horse, named after some wild horses that were herded to a narrow point that could be blocked off but that then were forgotten and left to die of thirst within sight of the Colorado river.
Not a pleasant story, but the views of the canyon and river are spectacular.
We ate our picnic lunch at the rim of the canyon near the visitor center before driving and stopping at the various viewpoints.

View of Colorado River from Dead Horse Point

After we had seen it all we drove another 5 miles to Canyonlands National Park.
It also offers some views of the Colorado River but on the other side  is of the Green River .
Amazing rock formations and views looking down from 6000 ft. to the river 2000 ft. below

Looking down at the Green River

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After we had seen enough we headed back to the trailer and enjoyed the sunshine.