McGaffs On The Fly

Spectacular is the only way to describe the views at Zion. Since we were unable to actually go into the Canyon, the first tram tickets available were August, we took a nice hike to the overlook. Although a short mile plus hike, we were still able to see the beautiful cliffs and enjoy the near death experience of falling off one.

Since that was not enough of a hike for our guest hosts, we drove the short distance from their home to Snow Canyon State Park and took another short hike around the lava covered land. That short hike turned into a 4+ mike hike when yours truly complained about trudging through the soft sand and the detour added the extra miles. Think that will keep me from complaining…think again.

Heading back south, 5+ hour trip to Sedona before deciding on next stop before Marfa on the 20th.

We have spent the last two days in St George hanging with the Rays, they are the best tour guides to the vicinity and as an added bonus know the best local hikes. We’ve had to delay pickle ball because of high winds, Dick didn’t seem at all disappointed.

Yesterday we hiked The Lower Sand Cove Trail to the peak. The trail was a short 2 mile to the peak, although uphill, and was highlighted by a vortex at the rim. We ate lunch with the cairns and hiked back down and after picking up groceries for dinner enjoyed the best naps of our lives. Altitude = nice naps.

After we made our way into Utah we were able to find a KOA just north of Bryce Canyon National Park, it was a great location to explore the Park and wind down for a couple of days. The scenery was without a doubt the best we’ve seen so far, weather was anywhere from 35 degrees to 60 depending where you were in the park.

Our two best hikes were the Queens Garden Trail with the Navajo Loop inside the Park and the Moss Cave hike just outside the Park.

The Queens Garden Trail was an easy 3.5+ trail through the hoodoos down into a beautiful valley of trees. When I say easy, that was the down part. The climb back up along Wall Street was challenging and strenuous to my little heart and lungs, I’m thinking those around me were wondering if I was an asthmatic or a full out COVID kid.

The Moss Cave hike was a very short half mile to see a cave that, well…it has moss in it. I’m sure most speleologist would jump up and down to explain the science behind why there are icicles in the winter and moss in the summer…no need, seems pretty logical to me.

Heading to Ivins, UT to stay at our friends house, the Ray’s Spa and Retreat, the plan is to visit for 3 nights but that was the plan last time when we stayed 10 nights…we’ll see.

Our last two adventures before entering Utah was the Walnut Canyon National Monument near Flagstaff and the Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River very close to Lake Powell. Those were Joan’s anyway, I thought the fried chicken stood out at the Bird House in Page…but eating is my hobby and good fried chicken has a place in my heart.

Walnut Canyon was an easy 1 mile hike to see the cliff dwellings of the old Sinagua tribe that lived in the mountains in the 1200’s. It was unbelievable to see how they carved into the mountains to create their homes. They even took the time to create switchbacks so they could visit their neighbors. If I was around back then I guarantee you would have to come to my house to see me, my history of missteps would not be convenient here.

Just as interesting was the Horseshoe Bend, as the sign says a superb example of entrenched meander. When I looked that up I found that it was Geology speak for “bend in the River that looks like a horseshoe”…who knew?!

Another small, but aren’t they all small, issue with the trailer. Seems the outlets won’t work so we are having to charge our devises at the RV Offices. It appears the breaker is bad because I can’t get it to reset, guess I’ll find out in St George…Little Al has an appointment with Dr. Marcus Lemonis.

(Yesterday’s News, WiFi no bueno)

After multiple stops and many miles we’ve decided to stop for at least two nights in AZ. We’ve been able to easily find spots to stay at but weekends are much harder to reserve, and pretty much all National and State Parks are hard to reserve any day. Next time we’ll plan ahead more, it really messes with our flying by the seat of our pants.

Yesterday was another long travel day highlighted by our stop at Petrified Forest National Park. What I thought might be some sort of forest was actually scattered prehistoric petrified logs that have been around millions of years. I’m sure most arborist would find the logs thrilling, I found the petroglyphs from back in time the most interesting.

The best part of the forest was not even the forest, it was the Painted Desert, a beautiful valley of brilliant layers of red rock. We tried to get some photos but as in most cases it just doesn’t translate. There is a Best Buy in our future to find a good camera, the old iPhone just can’t hang with us anymore.

We are in the middle of…a…lot…to…do. Can’t wait to see what Joanie has planned.

Mobile Maintenance Bro, “Yea sorry but it looks like your water heater tank is cracked, you’ll have to replace the whole thing.”

Marc, “The whole thing, why not just the tank?”

MMB, “Heck it’s only $600 plus installation and you get a new water heater plus a warranty.”

Marc, “My water heater is fine and if it’s running why do I need a warranty?”

MMB, “At least it will look really nice and brand new.”

Marc, “Thanks Bro, I’ll install myself when I get back…here’s your $85. You’ve been a real champ.”

Marc to Joan, “I may have forgotten to drain the water heater for the freeze but the good news is we’re gonna get a pretty new one.”

We started out this morning and set a destination of Truth or Consequences, Joanie had read an article in the Wall Street Journal about it as an up and coming “artsy-fartsy” town. Heck, Ted Turner has a few places there so it must be nice. When we spoke to our friend Geraldine, who is from NM, she said TandC was always known as a meth town…uh oh. Long story short, don’t be afraid to read the WSJ but always listen to Geraldine when visiting NM.

Along the route we stopped at White Sands National Park, over 275 miles of very white sand. And like all stops Joanie tried her best to march across as much of the sand dunes as possible. White Marc now has a tint of pink!

Decided not to stay in TandC, found a great RV park near Elephant Butte Lake, one of the few wet spots in NM. Thinking maybe Petrified Forest tomorrow…

After ignoring Little Al for over a month we decided it’s time to take his handcuff off and get on the road. Just like all of our travels we have a starting point and a destination but will “fly by the seat of our pants” in between.

Destination St. George, Utah.

Little Al decided to throw a wrench into the departure time when he decided not to let the electric trailer jack work. To my relief, after an hour charging the batteries I was able to raise it just enough to back under it. Bad news, couldn’t get it to lower until we were able to figure out how to do it manually. New batteries to come when we get to Dallas.

First leg…Spring Branch>Austin>Dallas.

Happy Easter.

After leaving Dallas with only a plan to stop in Abilene for Joanie’s 2nd vaccine, we decided that Ruidoso would be a great place to stop for a few nights. Our first night in Little Al since the Texas Arctic blast last month, it appears I did a poor job of winterizing because after hooking up water started coming out of the rear when I turned on the water. Mobile maintenance at noon…it’s always something.

Last night we left the fans going over-head since the air was so crisp and refreshing. I woke up at 3:30 to close the fans and turn on the heater, turns out crisp and refreshing turned to frigid and we were in a 43 degree trailer… no fans on tonight.

Joanie’s resting and nursing a headache, I guess the vaccine is working. Rest day today by orders of the boss.

With the beautiful weather came the flow of beach goers to Port A. I learned my lesson about asking anyone on the beach what they were catching, digging for, or any other question…turns out they are all “close talkers”. Lesson learned.

Checked out the RV park on the end of the island, IB Magee State Park. They are still working on the restrooms and showers, still a ways to go. Great spot but not on our list to stay at.

High wind today for last night, manana bebemos!

There were not a lot of good things that came from the result of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, but one thing that was positive was how much they have fixed up the state parks. We have already decided when we come back we will stay at Goose Island, today we added Mustang Island State Park to the list. Both are more remote and offer all the amenities our current stay offers, without the closeness of the neighbors.

Our current park, Pioneer RV Resort, is a great spot with 90% “snow birds” here for the winter. When we showed up we brought the average age down to about 80. We were pretty proud of ourselves until a much younger couple walked by and gave us the “hi old people” nod bringing us back down to earth.

Weather has been great but 18 mile an hour winds this afternoon, looks like reading in Little Al later.