We had an agenda today that included mostly mundane stuff and little fun. However, things worked out substantially better than initial expectations.
On the misery list this morning was replacing the truck tires, acquiring a battery for the house battery system for our Barbarian Invader fifth wheel trailer, replace our wireless indoor/outdoor weather station which died in our electrical surprise at Monument Valley, buy liquor and tobacco before we go back into Utah where there are bizarre liquor and tobacco laws and terrible prices and to pick up some ice since our portable icemaker performs poorly in weather hotter than Mercury.
The tires went off (and on) without a hitch. We went to a little shop called Pro Tire and Alignment in Grand Junction. It is located in a Quonset hut in town but the appearance should not sway prospective clients. Kevin, the owner, met us at the desk, pulled out the tires we wanted (Michelin truck tires), pulled our truck into the service bay and 35 minutes later we were done. Tires, mounting, balancing and smiling were included in the final $1107 price. The truck has 18″ wheels with 10-ply load range E tires and they ain’t cheap but they perform well.
Peggy accessed the ‘net from our phone and found we were very close to the Interstate Battery store so we then stopped over there for a new deep-cycle battery for our trailer. Another $155 left the accounts and we drove back to Junction West RV Park with our loot. Another little squabble with our battery compartment then ensued before the new battery installation was completed without serious injury. The cores were delivered back to the store and the first two ugly tasks on the agenda were done while it was still morning.
The rest of the agenda soon was relegated to the back seat and we decided to play a little hooky by driving 5 miles up the hill from Grand Junction to Colorado National Monument. Peggy and I were here in 1979 but since we are old, we really do not remember too much about the place other than we liked it.
The Monument is located along the south rim of the enormous valley where Grand Junction is the main city. We were soon at the fee station but passed without charge because of our Federal Access pass. The smiling Ranger gave us a map and told us to move along. The rim road in the Monument has two gates; one close to Grand Junction and the other at Fruita about 7 miles west. From the Grand Junction entrance the road immediately stars climbing up a series of switchbacks, passes through a neat semi-circular tunnel before emerging at the rim of the valley. From there, the road passes either immediately on the edge or pretty close to the edge of some absolutely spectacular canyons. Peggy was a bit nervous along the way because she is not fond of narrow roads running along the edges of abrupt drops to certain death, particularly those without guardrails.
The Monument has more gorgeous terrain like we have been fortunate enough to see recently in Capitol Reef, Bryce, Zion, Lake Powell and Monument Valley. I do not seem to be able to become bored with fantastic rock formations, colorful flowers, scurrying wildlife, Microsoft’s complete array of colors and viewpoints unlike anywhere else in the world. Even the road here at Colorado NM is spectacular with scenic switchbacks up steep canyon walls, good tunnels and great vistas to the north over Fruita and Grand Junction. The entire loop through the Monument is only about 25 miles but only covers about 7 or 8 miles as the crow flies.
We stopped at the visitor center near the Fruita fee station and picked up some of the woodcut-looking postcards sold at national parks and monuments. They are not available elsewhere. Our collection is getting pretty large.
Since we had finished today’s pass through the Monument, we were obliged to finish our original agenda items. Fortunately, there is a Cabela’s store here and we went there to replace our indoor/outdoor weather station. We also bought Peggy a better insulated water container and a DeLorme Gazetteer for Wyoming. Our collection of Gazetteers (combination road and topographic maps for the entire state) now includes most of the west: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and Wyoming. These maps are great when engaged in aimless wandering, something at which we excel.
We got some ice. We got some tobacco for me since Peggy is stronger and doesn’t use any. We went to a liquor store and left wondering if we were drunks because quite a bit of money changed hands there. Amazingly, we had finished our required agenda items for today and went to a national monument. What a day.
We shot some pictures during our pass through the Monument and you can see ’em if you click here

This morning we engaged in the RV travel ritual of gathering up our stuff, disconnecting from the utilities, closing up the slideouts without squishing anything, hooking up the fifth wheel and vamoosing from Moab Rim Campark. We turned north on 191 past Arches, Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point and into the desert to I-70. From there we turned east until we pulled into Junction West RV Park in Grand Junction, CO. The drive through these stretches of road went by quickly since the scenery along the way is almost non-stop. I am amazed that my notion of a desert was a lifeless, bleak wasteland where the weather is crummy. Today the weather, other than some trailer-shoving gusts of wind, was mostly clear. The clean air made it easy to spot extraordinary rock formations on all horizons. A lot of it may look like the surface of Mars but if Mars looks like this, I wouldn’t mind spending more time here. I would require air conditioning, of course.
Our beloved Barbarian Invader fifth wheel trailer has had some nasty electrical woes recently but a new one popped up in the last 72 hours. The batteries are not charging and trailers gotta have batteries or they start doing weird stuff like de-energizing the refrigerator. After picking up some distilled water here in Grand Junction, we headed back to the Invader for some battery service. It is hot here and the trailer is not set up where the battery compartment is in the shade but we started the onerous task anyway. After not too much finger smashing, confusion and colorful language, I was ready to shoot a hole in the side of our home to make the batteries accessible. However, Peggy and I were able to figure out the Chinese puzzle of getting the batteries out of a compartment that has very little room for bulky things like automotive batteries.
The terminals on the cables had some white shit on them and I cleaned all those up. We cleaned off the battery terminals, washed off a good portion of Monument Valley from the batteries themselves and topped off the cells with the distilled water. We would like to think that our battery problems are temporarily over but we are quite optimistic and really only some testing after a day or two will tell us if we are not going to be spending more.
There are RV services here in Grand Junction if I need more than a simpleton can achieve. Tomorrow, I will be taking a truck over to the tire store to have our truck tires replaced. The tires on the truck now were made by an outfit called Hercules which I had never heard of before buying the truck. They were used when I got them and we have driven them an additional 60,000 miles without any trouble whatsoever. They still have some wear left but we decided to replace them before they got scary. Michelins, coming up!
To top off our work outside, Peggy and I were stringing out the cable for the free cable TV here in Junction West and I blindly head-butted the lower outside corner of the Invader’s open hopper window and gave myself an even uglier spot on top of my head. Even defective heads like mine bleed a lot when forcibly assaulting the mitered corners of sharp aluminum extrusions. Washing my hair is going to be fun.
Peggy shot a few pix on our way over here today. You can see them if you click here

We have been to Arches and Canyonlands while here in Moab so we elected to take a spin to an alternate. There are many places to go around here but we were mostly going to ride so we chose to take a road called the La Sal Mountain Loop. We had no information, other than the name, before we left our trailer today.
The Loop started right where we are staying so we drove south on US-191 for about 5 miles before turning off on the well-marked road taking us east. We passed through terrain very similar to that near Moab (high desert) before starting a climb up to around 8300 feet. While climbing, the vegetation turned from desert plants like sage and juniper to juniper and pinyon pines and finally to pines and aspens as we passed through the higher elevations. There were abundant flowers alongside the road above 7000 feet. We also spotted some wildlife like birds and deer but we mostly saw cattle grazing along the road edges, unfettered by pesky barbed wire. They were very cooperative – we didn’t hit any of them.
The terrain along this drive is pretty spectacular. Desert at the bottom and treeless rock mountains jutting up to around 13,000 feet at the top. Above about 6500 feet, the vegetation along the road is very lush. There are wildflowers in abundance and they were open for business today. Walking between flowers, bushes and trees up there would be difficult because the emerald green brush appears to be impenetrable. Little waterfalls drop their contents along the road in the higher elevations.
Near the summit, you can look west and see the Colorado River basin, Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, Moab and Castle Valley all far below. Once we passed over the summit, there is an absolutely fantastic view of the mountains descending to gorgeous sandstone formations surrounding Castle Valley. Once we dropped to the road in Castle Valley, we got to drive between the towering sandstone cliffs and knobs and see the same scene from the bottom perspective.
Soon after passing through Castle Valley, we hit UT-128 for a 20 mile trip alongside the Colorado River as it continues to saw through the canyons bordered by enormous dark red bluffs. The River is very brown due to the amount of silt it carries and it must be carrying a lot. Some places along the River are narrow and the water is rocketing through and in other spots the water spreads out wider and appears almost placid. Either way, it is a great drive down this slot in the landscape. There are many BLM campsites on this stretch of road, most cozied up right along the River. At the west end of 128 we drove back into Moab, fueled the truck and returned to our camping spot at Moab Rim Campark.
The La Sal Mountain Loop is another one of America’s roads offering absolutely stunning scenery along the way. To prove it, we took some pix along the way which you can see if you click here

Having made a couple passes through Arches National Park yesterday we chose to spend today on a spin through Canyonlands National Park about 25 miles up the road. After about 15 or 20 miles on US-191 we turned off onto UT-313 and toward the fee station at Canyonlands. Our access pass got us around the $25 entry fee and we were soon driving along the top of a gorgeous plateau with the Colorado River gorge on our left and the Green River gorge on our right. They are both massive.
Ample pullouts are provided along the roads but in this place there cannot be too many. The views down the 2500′ from the plateau, through extraordinary canyons eroded by millions of years of exposure and finally to the vibrant green patches of vegetation near the rivers are wonderful. This park is very porker friendly and I took a few trails to overlooks where I was amazed at the panoramas. The weather put on a great demonstration of lightning, thunder, some short downpours and abrupt clearing of skies. This place is absolutely awe-inspiring. If I ran a religion, I’d build a church here and tell the faithful I was responsible for the scenery.
Again, we found the afternoon lighting the best for photos although the clear skies after rainstorms were nice, too. Giant rainbows formed in the tail of each passing thunderhead and they were very spiffy. The lower temperatures brought on by the fast-moving weather systems were ideal for exploring and Peggy and I did quite a bit in Canyonlands.
Eventually we had covered all the paving and blocked many cars while taking pictures so we headed back home at late afternoon. On the way back to US-191 there happened to be a turnoff for Dead Horse Point State Park or Horse Dead Point or some arrangement of Dead, Horse and Point State Park. In any event, this state park near Canyonlands offers some terrific additional views of the incredible rock formations and colossal, monstrous effects of erosion on this landscape. Canyonlands is truly gorgeous with a little bit of Lake Powell, Grand Canyon, Capitol Reef, Bryce and Zion all in one locale for our viewing pleasure. Crowds were minimal. Parking was available wherever we needed it. Restrooms are ubiquitous for all us bladder challenged geezers.
There is no water, sewer or electrical here. Bring your own water or fill a water container at the visitor center because you will need it in this arid, primeval part of the world.
We got some pictures along the way although some look a bit washed out due to weather conditions and the massive distances involved. You can see ’em if you click here

Our current RV park is located in Moab which is very convenient for us on our quest to visit a bunch of national parks. About 5 miles up US-191 is Arches National Park and another 5 or 10 miles will get you to the turnoff to Canyonlands National Park. Based on the terrain we can see from out camping spot they should be spectacular.
Today’s choice was Arches. We knew there were going to be big crowds as soon as we pulled up to the back of the long line of cars awaiting the impoverishment of their drivers to the tune of $25. We soon pulled up to the fee station, produced our nifty Federal Access pass and were told to move along without coughing up the cash. Now that I am 62, I can get an old fart’s pass for $10 for the rest of my life which gets me into any Federal lands for free.
Just past the Arches visitor center the road climbs up some switchbacks offering gorgeous views and certain death for the unaware. Soon thereafter, we entered the gorgeous upper elevations of the park where geology and erosion have teamed up to produce a fantasyland of colored mesas, hoodoos, curtains and many spectacular arches, some up to 300′ across.
We took all the paved roads in the park and were treated to a dazzling array of incredible sandstone formations. Various portions of the park have formations that are unique for that area. There are many short trails offered for fat waddlers like me and each little walk ends up with a magnificent view.
We arrived in Arches fairly early in the morning so the number of other visitors and the ambient temperatures rapidly increased. We decided to chicken out for the midday rush and rode back down the few miles to Moab where we pulled into the City Market, one of two grocery stores in town. We stocked up on produce, meat and some staples (but no liquor – we are in Utah) before heading back to the Barbarian Invader to stow our loot.
Peggy might have taken a nap. I fooled around with the holding tanks and helped myself to some contraband remaining from our recent days in Colorado. We watched some movies. By about 6:30 PM, the temperature had come down to roughly that encountered at the sun’s surface so we piled back into Charlotte and went for our second pass through Arches today.
The line at the fee station was very short. The switchback drive (and all the other drives this evening) were almost without any frightening behavior from the now scarce traffic. The colors of the rock in the late afternoon light were almost magical. Walkways to viewpoints were almost completely free of noisy children, cripples, view-blocking ferners and almost everything else. Best of all, the temperature was perfect for strolling around in this extraordinary place. The late afternoon is best.
You can decide for yourself. We have attached some pictures that have time info printed on them and you can decide what time of day seems best by reviewing them by clicking here

Peggy woke up pretty early and soon we were both shuffling around the trailer. Today was a travel day so we gathered up all our stuff and put it away. I went outside and did the exterior stuff like dumping tanks, removing the satellite apparatus, dropping the stabilizer jacks and putting away the water connection stuff and electrical umbilical. We gathered up our stabilizer and leveling blocks and were soon on our way.
By 9:35 we were northbound on US-160 to Cortez where we turned northwest on US-491 headed for Monticello which Utah folks call “Monta-sello” but everyone else in the world pronounces “Monti-chellow.” The people here also pronounce the name of the town Manti as “Man-tie” instead of “Man-tee” like other English-speaking populations. The have a funny religion too but that is beyond the scope of this blog.
Once we made it to Monticello, regardless of the pronunciation, we turned north on US-191. The road between Monticello and Moab is a very nice drive with a wide road, ample plant life and incredible rock formations. We passed one called Church Rock which is not really shaped like a church but more like a turnip or a scoop of ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry on top. It is a pretty unique formation but we shot by it at 65 and soon it was in the mirror. Approaching Moab there are some climbs and descents on the highway but nothing to really challenge Charlotte’s superb diesel motor. However, there were some pretty substantial rain downpours but by the time we made it to the Moab Rim Campark the skies were clearing and the rain quit.
We pulled into the park and right away the operator said “I hope you have a reservation” because the place was full. We did indeed have a reservation and were assigned a nice wide space with full utility hookups, cable TV with 65 channels (no porno) and wi-fi. There are little trees offering a bit of shade between sites. We noted quite a few tenants have big-wheeled off-road vehicles that they have brought to this venue, probably to use on the numerous dirt roads in Canyonlands which, along with Arches, border Moab on both sides. The highway (US-191) is not too far away and during the day we can hear the sound of traffic. The road doesn’t look like a big transit thoroughfare so maybe the noise from the road will be minimal. The view of the fantastic slickrock terrain is spectacular from our RV spot.
We snapped a few shots during today’s travels and you can see them if you click here

Our intention early this morning was to mix a bit of exploring with some necessary chores. Of course we elected to do the exploring first. We started out by heading north from Tawaoc on US-160 until we turned off on US-491 in Cortez. We followed 491 northwest for a bit until we turned off on Road Bb (no kidding) toward Canyons of the Ancients. Our first stop was at Lowry Pueblo Ruins which were pretty much a ruins except for a portion under a big roof where the ruins were not quite so ruined. There was much coarse masonry.
Peggy and I then drove back onto another road which took us through Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado toward Hovenweep National Monument which is in adjacent Utah. There are allegedly many ruins sites of Puebloan folks in Canyons of the Ancients but other than Lowry, we did not spot any from the highway. They appear as vaguely placed red squares on our atlas and all require either some 4-wheel driving or hiking or both. Maybe a better title for this place would be Canyons of the Ain’ts because you ain’t gonna see much besides brush.
We wandered along until we made it to Hovenweep National Monument where we found a nice, air conditioned visitor center right close to some more ruins. We moseyed into the visitor center and found the kinds of postcards we like in the gift store. We also benched ourselves for a video tour of Hovenweep’s ruins sites. Considering the temperature outside, I was hoping the movie would be sufficient to fulfill our hiking quota for the day but we were seduced by a short trail to an overlook of a nearby canyon filled with interesting masonry ruins.
Solar radiation was abundant in this locale so it was hot today. There is scant shade on the trail. Water should be taken liberally when hiking here. After ooohing and aaaahing about the former buildings and shooting some pictures, we fled back to the visitor center’s shady breezeway to avoid incineration. Then we took a narrow county road back toward Cortez. Soon after you have left the bleak ugliness of eastern Utah the road crosses the border with Colorado and almost instantly the scenery gets greener and the canyons more colorful. The road follows McElmo Creek and it is quite scenic, in a bucolic sort of way.
As we approached Cortez, we realized we were now going to pursue some chores. We turned from Cortez back down US-160, picked up one of our propane supply tanks and returned to Cortez to have it filled. Fraley Propane was the spot. They sent us over to the tank where their guy did all the work and sent us back to the office where we paid about $1.50 a gallon. I believe that is the best price we have ever paid and the service was excellent. First task completed. Now we were obliged to take care of our second chore which was going to the recreational reefer store. Many varieties of many things were available there and I left not much poorer, thanks to the erudite voters in this state who made dope legal.
Two tasks of three finished, we headed for our last chore; visit the casino since tonight was prime rib and seafood buffet night. The prime rib was okay but the seafood was pretty good. The desserts were tasty and they offered a big fresh fruit bar with real fresh fruit but that strangely included pink shrimp and oysters on the half shell. Peggy and I also tried our luck at some slot machines but, since we were completely unaware how, why or when you win on the contemporary electronic whizbangs, we cashed out after much laughter and only $4 poorer.
We got a few pix along the way and you can see some of ’em if you click here

We have been operating at a feverish pace for us recently and so today we took a day off. We made some reservations for future camp spots and cleaned around the trailer. We got in a bit of maintenance, too, but it was mundane and nobody wants to know about this.
In the evening we went back to That Place in Dolores, a restaurant where we got a great lunch a few days ago. I can state for a fact that their chicken fried chicken is tip-top. Their ham and bean soup was also great. Peggy stayed with a cheeseburger and baked beans and stated that “it was just exactly what I wanted.” We left the restaurant and went home to watch movies in our air conditioned trailer. It was great. Maybe we will do something noteworthy tomorrow.

Today we woke late in the morning in our newly-repaired Barbarian Invader. Having air conditioning was joyous. We took our time with coffee and breakfast before heading over to extend our RV space reservation for the next two days as directed by Sherwin, the local enforcement entity for dummies like us who set up our trailers in the wrong spot.
When we walked into the office to take care of our RV space rent, we were told that we had unfortunately selected to set up our trailer in a spot that was reserved for the the season and we would have to decamp, move and re-setup our RV in an adjacent spot. We went back to our spot and, after much heated conversation and cursing, had moved over into the actual spot we were assigned.
We finished by early afternoon and decided to spend the rest of the day exploring. Fortunately, we are set up only about 10 miles from Mesa Verde National Park and we elected to go there for a visit. From our spot in Tawaoc we got back on US-160 for the trip to the park. Our trailer is set up at an altitude of about 6000 feet but it is a steady climb to the park and, after passing free through the gate due to our federal access pass, started an even steeper climb into the sights at over 8000 feet.
Anasazi folks lived here until about 1300 when they departed from the area for reasons unknown. They left behind many sophisticated cliff dwellings built in enormous recesses in the rock formations. They had very thick roof structures – sometimes 100 feet or more of solid sandstone. These are not merely little mud huts here and there. Large, complex, multi-story structures can be seen from numerous viewpoints along the canyon edges. Additionally, those wishing to hike into these complexes at high altitude in very warm temperatures can do so if they make arrangements with the park’s Rangers who lead tours along quite frightening cliffs and into the structures themselves. Since it was hot and the tours were packed with tourists and the place is located where there is scant amounts of oxygen, we declined on the hikes. Nevertheless, there are many amazing sights here and we drove around in the park, amazed by the extraordinary structures these allegedly primitive people built into the landscape.
On our way out of the park we stopped at the visitor center to pick up some postcards to post on the wall of our trailer. We then took a long way home to our trailer at the casino. It is wonderful to have air conditioning again because it is quite hot here. The properly prepared neighbor in our previous space number 38 had arrived, towed by the mechanic who did our repairs yesterday. Strange coincidence, that.
We took a few pictures on the road to and in the park and you can see them if you click here

We waved goodbye this morning to my sister, Julie, who departed for the long drive back to Pasadena at about 10:00. Soon after, we left Goulding’s RV Park with No Repair Services Available Locally headed for Watkins RV Repair concealed in the brush between Cortez and Dolores, CO. We had a great drive through the desert of Arizona, Four Corners and into Colorado primarily because the scenery on US-160 between Kayenta, AZ, and Dolores, CO, is different but very interesting and almost bizarre. Geology has had a field day in this part of the world. The remote location (down a mile or two of dirt road) of Watkins RV was not really a problem because when we got there, the RV mechanic, Clark Watkins, jumped right into our trailer with diagnostic equipment in order to determine the source of our recent electrical woe.
We received good news! He had the necessary parts and expertise to fix our problems and would have us on our way in 3 hours. Since it was plain he needed no help from me, we asked where we could find some good local food, including chicken fried steak for me. He suggested a place in Dolores called That Place in Dolores. I was able to continue my quest to find the best chicken fried steak in the U.S. which has been my probably unhealthy search for the last two years. Happily, the CFS here had probably the best coating of anyplace yet. I would have to rank the chicken fried steak here right up there with the leaders, Jake’s in Bend, OR, and Dean’s in Clackamas, OR. This great restaurant also has superb pies that are made on site, great sides with your meal and great prices. The chef owner used to be the bigwig for food at the casino in Tawaoc where we were scheduled to spend the next three days.
After dining, we stopped in at the Dolores railroad museum which was free and pretty good but quite small. We were filling up with fuel after lounging around the museum for a while when we got a call from the mechanic who told us we were ready to go. We parted with about $785 and were on our way. We drove back to Watkins RV Repair and picked up our newly re-energized trailer, towed it to the casino and promptly set the trailer up in the wrong space. We were pretty scorched over our long drive, subsequent repairs, dining, museum viewing and return from Dolores to Tawaoc’s Ute Mountain casino and RV park.
We had just started to relax when there was a knock on the door of the trailer and opened it to find a Ute security cop named Sherwin who was big as a tent. He wanted to know why we were in space 38 when his records indicated the space was supposed to be empty. I explained that we were merely stupid and had not noticed we were supposed to be in space 19 instead of 38 when we set up. He was very nice about us blowing it out our ass and left us alone after directing us to square our location anomaly out with management in the morning, which we agreed to do. He was very nice about it which was fortunate because he did not appear to be the type of person sane people would want to wrestle with. We got to sleep pretty early tonight.
There are a few pictures we snapped along the way and you can see them if you click here