With help from above we find space for our rig.

Driving a RV rig with a combined vehicle length of 53 feet presents challenges.  A shorter rig would be
easier to park.  However, we wouldn’t want our trailer to be any shorter inside.  It’s a good size to find
a spot for all the stuff we have and we’re learning which stuff we probably don’t need.  For this blog
I’ll give a few examples of finding a spot.  Near Moab, Utah we took the last pull through campsite in
Arch View (private) campground on Friday afternoon.  We usually camp in public campgrounds (CG)
which typically have shorter sites than private CG’s.  But since a senior pass benefit is 50% off federal
campground fees the cost at federal campgrounds is typically 5 to $11 per night.  Also, the public CG
are in the parks where we want to camp.  The road to Colorado National Monument CG climbs a 1000
foot cliff with switchbacks, sheer drop-offs at the road edge with no guard rails and 2 curved tunnels
with a vertical clearance of 10 ft 6 inches.  Our trailer has a maximum height of 9 feet 9 inches. 
Thankfully, it was only 4 miles to the campground and we were very pleased to find a suitable site there. 
We drove an additional 23 miles on the rim drive (without the trailer) which has cliffs near the road edge
and no guard rails and was built by the CCC.  So far we have made reservations at only 1 CG
(in Zion NP) and have always found a suitable campsite.  We’re on day 134 of our trip.  We're at Grand
Teton National Park.  Yesterday there wasn’t parking for our rig in Albertsons grocery store lot in Jackson
Hole (Wy) but since it was Sunday we parked in front of a closed medical clinic.  Attached a few pictures.

Colorado National Monument

Colorado National Monument

Bob & bone at Dinosaur National Monument

Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Sheep Creek Bay

Heading north of Southwestern States

Since the last post we’ve visited Goblin Valley (Utah) State Park, Capital Reef NP, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP,
Colorado National Monument, and Dinosaur National Monument. 
We’d love to stay longer at every place we visit.  But we have many more beautiful places to visit. 
This is our 131^st day and today we’re going to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area (2 days) and then on to

Grand Teton NP (2 days) and Yellowstone NP(3 days +?).   

Every day is an adventure to new places.  We’re taking lots and lots of pictures.  Attached a few pictures. 

Goblin Valley State Park, Utah

Prickley Pear Cactus

Landscape Arch (306' long) Arches NP

Delicate Arch, Arches National Park

Monument Valley, Colorado National Monument

Just starting as a virgin blogger

Upper antelope canyon near Page Arizona.
Currently at Red Canyon Campground Utah.  Weather is great.

Update May 9, 2012

We’re on the 122nd day of our wonderful retirement trip across the USA.  Many times on this trip we’ve been at the right place at the right time and not by our planning.  For example, we took a tour of Upper Antelope Canyon near Page, Arizona and we were blessed with an excellent Navaho guide who helped us take excellent pictures, a small group of 4, and we were there at the perfect time to capture beams of sunlight reaching the bottom of the 130 foot deep slot canyon.   I’ve included a few of these pictures in this blog. 

Another example of being at the right place at the right time and not by our planning is the 3 days we stayed at the Red Canyon National Forest Campground, Utah.  We stopped at the Red Canyon visitor center and asked about campgrounds.  We arrived at the Red Canyon campground on the first day the campground was open for the year and the camp host showed us an excellent pull-through campsite with lots of room in a beautiful location.  Once the camping season starts this campground is full most of the time and it’s very difficult to get a campsite.  Thanks to the camp host Barbara Lynch who helped us set up this blog post we now have a much better way to communicate with our friends and family. 

Even when we’re not at the right place at the right time we find an unexpected result.  For example we drove to Bryce Canyon National Park for the day from Red Canyon Campground, a 10 mile drive.  After seeing the beautiful scenery at Bryce Canyon and the largest full moon of the year rising above a few clouds on the horizon, we drove back to Red Canyon at dusk.  I was driving at about 50 mph (in a 65 mph zone) when two deer standing on the side of the road jumped straight at the side of our truck, Barb yelled I hit the brake and one deer passed in front of the truck and the other deer passed behind the truck.  This deer hit the rear side of the truck but only left a burnish mark on the paint with no dent or damage to the truck. 

We’ve had excellent weather on this trip.  122 days camping and we haven’t left camp in rain. We really enjoy the blue sky and excellent visibility in the Southwest.    

An equipment problem we have is that the furnace in our travel trailer is working intermittently.  We went to Camping World near Flagstaff Arizona 5 times for this problem.  When we took the trailer to Camping World the furnace would work and they couldn’t find the cause of the problem.  When we left Camping World the furnace usually wouldn’t work.  We decided to order a catalytic heater and the store that was to ship the unit to Camping World, Flagstaff didn’t ship it.  So then Camping World Flagstaff had the unit shipped overnight and didn’t charge for shipping and for a new gas regulator they installed.  During our unplanned extended stay near Flagstaff we camped 3 nights in the National Forest and 3 nights at Camping World for free.  We also visited 3 National Monuments near Flagstaff that weren’t in our plans.  The most wonderful unexpected benefit of our furnace problem was that Barb led a girl who worked at the desk of Black Bart’s Campground in Flagstaff to the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Now we're at Capital Reef National Park and having a great time.  Drove part of Capital Gorge and have taken a few hikes.  Following is another picture from Antelope Canyon.  We couldn't get an internet connection at Red Canyon Campgrouond (near Bryce Canyon NP or at Capital Reef NP.  Now have a slow connection at Torrey, Utah. 

Upper Antelope Canyon