Winter Storm Warning

I had to stop driving for a while - the tires were getting dizzy.

Rattlesnake Pass -- Utah

One thing about living on the road is you don’t live out of a suitcase but you do live glued to weather reports during certain times of the year in certain places.  You’ve got to be flexible enough to change plans when the weather threatens to cause havoc. 

Minimum speed -- 45 mph

We had planned on leaving Salt Lake City on Tuesday.  My cousins, Wally and Susie, were leaving the area on Monday.  After getting ready to head back over to the Genealogy Library on Monday morning I decided to check the weather forecast for the strip through the mountains.  It seems the weather forecast is rarely right-on.  However, who am I to question the forecast especially when we’re all familiar with Murphy’s Laws.  The prediction --- strong winds through southern Idaho on Tuesday and a winter storm in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon.   In other words, if we didn’t make a run for it on Monday, we would probably be waiting for the winds to pass in Idaho and stuck waiting for the snowstorm to move out of the Oregon mountains.  Instead of heading out for the library we decided if we wanted to spend Easter with the kids, we’d better get out of there.  We left.

Traveling north on I-84 from Salt Lake there are more mountains and there were even more strong winds.  I got a little tired of seeing all the signs warning of frequent high winds in the area.  There weren’t supposed to be any on this day.  I can just imagine how bad they get if they are predicted.  We had seen more wind this winter than any other time.  It was windy just about every place we were and we were real, real, real tired of it.

We were happy when we finally started going down in elevation.  We knew we’d be going up again  but felt all this climbing would soon be behind us.  Soon just couldn’t come soon enough.

Sometimes my little GoPro Hero camera gets reflections if the sun is just right  ... oh well.

Our intent was to get through the Boise area Monday night to miss the strong winds heading that way Tuesday afternoon.  The winter storm was to blast the mountains late Tuesday night.  So, it seemed we would run from the wind on Monday and the snow on Tuesday.  According to the current forecast there was the perfect little window for us by leaving Monday morning.  We could actually avoid both.  NOT!

We were both beat when we stopped.  I think it was the strong winds and all the mountains that finally got us.  My cousin stopped about 100 miles before we did.  The winds got to him too.  He had some mighty rough side winds coming through some of the passes and enough was enough for one day.

There were a few places in Idaho I had intended to stop but we felt like we needed to keep moving.  The storms were setting the pace for us.  I had wanted to visit Shoshone Falls.  I love waterfalls and this one wasn’t far off the road.  However, it was not to be and figured that it might be best just to enjoy someone else’s picture of it.  So, here you go too.

Shoshone Falls

It’s not that we were really missing a lot in my mind by “flying” through this part of Idaho.  I actually knew it pretty well but that was many, many years ago.  As I matter of fact, I went to school in Idaho.  I also rolled a car down a hill along this route.  The roads were packed with snow and obviously I was going a little too fast.  I tried to pick out the area but everything has changed so much.  All I could remember is that it was just before a bridge but bridges change and even terrain gets filled in.  Oh well … it wasn’t snowing and the road was dry this time (thank goodness!) .  This part of the drive was real nice.  We had left most of the wind behind at least for this day.

Monday was miles and miles of climbing. We were happy when it finally flattened out for a while.   Our stop for the night was the Caldwell Elks.  Even though the sign said not to parallel park next to the electrical hookups, we were told we could.  The last thing we wanted to do was unhook the trailer!  We got chastised when trying to check in about having an expired Elks card.  Oops … it expired the day before.  We were allowed to slide by but now that puts us to Plan B. 

Plug-ins out back at the Caldwell Elks.

Plan B was to go to our own Elks lodge to get a new card since we may not get to slide by again at another lodge.  We definitely need a current card.  We love staying at the Elks …. especially for the price and the locations.  Some of the sites are just hookups in a parking lot and others are full-fledged parks.  However, the convenience, location and price really make a difference when you’re on the road.  The Caldwell Elks was $10 for the night.  That price is hard to beat and it was just off the freeway in another great location!

At this point we figured the worst day was over and we’d sail through the next … NOT!  The next day was the worst yet.  It’s easy to look back and see what really did happen but then the forecast is no longer available to see what was predicted prior to that.  This is part of the warning that was posted on Weather.com  ….

"A VIGEROUS LATE SEASON WINTER STORM WILL BRING MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN OREGON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON ON TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. ….. MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS THROUGHOUT THE DAY WEDNESDAY.”

Remember ---- there were strong winds forecast to hit eastern Oregon before the snow.  The winds were due to start blowing in the afternoon.  At least that was the prediction when we went to bed.  However, the following morning we discovered those winds were already pretty strong and already  hitting our path ahead of the predicted snow.  Gusts had been clocked around 47 mph with straight winds around 38 mph.  I just love the forecast when it changes just as the weather changes and not before.  We don’t like to travel in strong winds.  We had to choose.  It was either the wind or the snow … or maybe both.  That put us in the middle of a dilemma.  What to do?  Should we sit and wait or should we move down the road a bit to get a little closer and then make a decision?  In the meantime, Cousin Wally was already on the move.  We decided to move too.

This is getting longer than I like so I best say  ……..  to be continued ~~~ 

‘Tis life on the road.

Antelope Island – Utah State Park

Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.

Antelope Island was only about 30 miles from where we were parked. I had read a little about it. The island really is an island right smack dab in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. Getting from the mainland to the island was via a causeway which is a little over 6 miles long. We headed that direction Saturday morning. We figured it would be the better day to visit since the clouds hadn’t started coming in yet and the skies were still blue.  The high wind alert didn’t go into effect until later in the day.  We were on our way about 10:00 AM.




We discovered two campgrounds and many of the sites had nice long pull-thrus.  They also had cabanas and picnic tables.  All of the sites had a great water view.

 

The island has a little bit of everything for the people who enjoy being outside with sand, hiking trails, wildlife, beaches, boating and even horseback riding.  The marina is one of the first things you see when you get to the end of that 6 mile ride on the causeway.



Many different types of birds visit the island during different months including bald eagles.  Bisons can be seen grazing along the roadways.

-------------------------------------  Answers to questions on previous blog ----------------------------------

Information on portable hand scanner:  I had several questions on the portable scanner I mentioned on my previous blog. The little scanner works perfectly for what I intended it for.  It takes a micro SD card and two AA batteries.  I took extra batteries with me on Friday because I wasn’t sure how long the first set would last.  There was still juice in them at the end of the day.  The only difficult part is making sure that what you are scanning is flat and you get the whole page under the scanner.  If you're scanning a page in a book, you just need to be careful that you have the whole page under it. Then, you just slide the scanner over the piece you want to scan.   It scans in 300, 600 or 900 dpi and either in jpg or pdf format.  This is a sample of what I just scanned at 300 dpi out of the Mountain Directory West book.

 I also have a flat-bed scanner but this one is so much more convenient to use for items I would like to have a quick scan.  It doesn't  require a computer and it doesn't need to be plugged in.

The 2011 Exit Now book I mentioned was purchased on sale at Camping World for $4.99.  I'm not sure if you can still get it on sale.

 Family History Library:  I did mention that it is the largest genealogical library in the world.  The library belongs to the LDS church but it is free and open to all to use their facilities.  The documents, articles, books, film and microfiche are not limited to the United States but covers the entire world. Information contained at the library has been accumulated from 110 different countries.   The library is huge and there are different collections of research items on different floors.  As an example on Floors 2 and 3, research is limited to U.S. and Canada.  Floor B1 contains the International Collection for Africa, Asia, Europe, Scandinavia, Latin America and the Pacific Islands.  The British Collection which contains research material for Australia, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales is located on Level B2.

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There really is plenty to see and do in the Salt Lake City area.  There’s also a lot of history and  beauty in this area.  If you haven’t been, Utah and even Salt Lake City should be put on your bucket list.

PS *** Monday morning note --   The mountains are beautiful around us.  The snow level has dropped and the background is gorgeous.  Well, it's gorgeous as long as it stays there and doesn't reach us.  The forecast for the next couple of days is for nice dry weather before more snow and rain blow in on our northwest trail.  If we leave today instead of tomorrow as planned, we won't have to sit the new storm out along the road.  We could be down Deadman's Pass aka Cabbage Hill in Oregon on dry roads.  I think we're like the horse that runs towards the barn every time we turn.  When we head south we get in a hurry to get south.  When we head north we get in a hurry to get north.  Either way though ... all is good.  If we head for the barn now, we just may be able to spend Easter with the kids.  We will see.

‘Tis life on the road.

Salt Lake City and the Family History Library

A family tree can wither if nobody tends it's roots

We had been warned about Salt Lake City and the freeway system.  Sandie didn’t like it one little bit and neither do we.  There is a lot of construction going on.  Sometimes we found it difficult to tell what white stripes are the new ones and what white stripes are the old ones. Thus, it's difficult to know if you're in an old lane or in one of the new ones.  Been there?

Our service work was done at Camping World and instead of hanging around or trying to talk them into letting us stay one more night in their free RV sites, we decided it would be best to get on the road and settled before the next storm came through.  However, we did get a chance to pick up a few little items on sale.  We always seem to find things that we couldn't live without in their stores. It's kind of like going to Wal-Mart.

Cutting board and strainer all in one.

New Exit Book on sale for $4.99

We held our breath and made it through the city and to our new park without any problems.  That was the good thing.  With all the traffic around Terry is sure that no one works here.  They are all driving on the freeways instead.  However, it's been a few weeks since we've been in a big city so it's probably just getting used to it again.  Obviously, we MUCH prefer the smaller little towns without all the people and without all the traffic.

Our present 61' site that still isn't quite long enough and many more $$$$ than we like to pay.

I’ve been to the library quite a few times in the past.  Technology has changed and so has the library. It used to be that most of the information gathered on family histories was either done in person at some courthouse, cemetery or library.  It also required writing many, many letters.

Family History Library

Much of that information is now available on the internet or can be ordered via the internet.  However, there is also a lot that isn't available on the internet and some of those documents are available at the library just down the road.  In addition to documents this library has many history books on families and on local areas. 

That’s the plan for the next few days and that’s what I thought I'd do. However, my planning wasn’t the best since the only Saturday that the library is closed is this Saturday. Wouldn't you figure that one of Murphy's little laws would figure into the plan?

Genealogy has been a big hobby of mine since we attended a family reunion in Kerrville, Texas about 30 years ago.  All the “older” generation were busy talking family history and I got busy taking all kinds of notes.    Thus, the bug was started.  It's like a puzzle.  After that most of my travels for many years was just to visit courthouses and cemeteries where my ancestors had lived.  It’s like a mystery that just needed to be solved. I know it never will be but at least it keeps my mind active as I continue to look for little pieces here and there.

The library has changed.  Many of the card catalogs are gone and computers are on all the tables.  The “greeter” let me know that coffee and tea were not allowed into the library but I could bring my backpack.  I thought that was interesting but I already figured I'd get my caffeine kick before I went.  Friday went fast but by the end of the day my eyes were crossed from all the reading and such.  It was a good day and I'll be back at it on Monday.  This weekend we'll play a bit.

New portable scanner to take with me to scan pages in history books!!

That’s the plan for the next few days and you know how well we stick to our plans.  We change our plans just about as often as the weathermen change their forecast.
 

‘Tis life on the road.

North Thru Utah and More Storms Coming

I am not one of those who when expressing an opinion confine myself to the facts.

Our departure from Hurricane, Utah wasn’t quite as early as we had planned.  The planned departure hour was 7:00 AM when we went to bed Tuesday night.  That time was the goal since our favorite people – weathermen – had predicted strong winds were to hit a section of our travels starting about 11:00 AM.  We figured by leaving at 7:00 AM we would be just ahead of the winds.  However, you might as well figure it that my morning our favorite people – weathermen again – changed their predictions.  Strong winds were no longer in the forecast even as far north as Salt Lake City.  Yippee!!  Things would be good and we leisurely finished our departure tasks before we got on the road about 8:00 AM.

It may look like just rolling hills but we were still climbing.

Our route was I-15.  It had been many, many, many years since we had driven this road.  At that time we were heading south and not heading north. I'm not sure that matters though. Terry swears everything from southern Utah is UP.  We climbed, then we climbed some more.  After that we even climbed more.  The peak was close to 6500’.  Even though our destination was around 4200’, we still feel those roads never went downhill.  Our conclusion ….. Utah is full of mountains.

Don't let the flat look fool you!

Now the roads were good but they were mountain roads.  How can one say Utah and I-15 is not a mountain road?  The Siskiyou's and Grapevine summits in California don’t even reach 4500’.  Of course, if you're already sitting close to 3000’ feet as we were, climbing in Utah is only an additional 3500’.  I said ‘only an additional 3500’.  I’m sure you all know what climbing does to your fuel and there’s no reason even to mention it other than it drains it faster than going downhill.

Is this what a snow plow looks like?

The terrain changed from one type of high elevation with rolling mountains to another type of high elevation with mountain peaks.  Not much snow was visible in southern Utah but as we continued to move north, the mountain peaks were higher and the snow level seemed lower.  I’m sure it wasn’t lower.  It was just that we were higher and at the snow level.

Snow covered mountains were starting to come into view.

We did miss the winds.  However, my cousin who was traveling a few hours behind us got into the winds.  Now remember the wind forecast went away in the morning.  I guess it returned in the afternoon because now gusts were hitting 40 mph in the Beaver, Utah area.  

There are lots of mountains in Utah.

We pulled into Camping World ahead of the winds and ahead of the newly predicted rain.  The beautiful sunshine was now hiding behind many, many clouds but it wasn’t cold and it wasn’t raining … yet. The front parking lot was pretty empty.  We thought that strange for a Camping World.  Every one we had been to was usually packed with cars and RVs.  However, we visit most of them during their high season.  I think high season here is still just a little in the future.

Here are more mountains and more snow.

We thought we’d just boondock in the parking lot and be ready for the appointment on Thursday.  However, that wasn’t to be.  It was better.  This Camping World has four electric and water hookups in back on a first come basis.  Yippee!  We were first.  I wonder if we can work it out where we can stay the day before the appointment and the day after?  That wouldn't really work but it was certainly worth thinking about since the park we're going to is much more expensive than we like to pay -- (much more!).  However, it's best to get on the road before the weather turns again. 

More mountains and lots more traffic add to the fun of travel.

Just around the corner we discovered the Goodwoood Barbecue Company.  It was great barbecued brisket and it's not even in Texas!

Our RV park for the night -- can we stretch it to two nights?

Over Wednesday night the weathermen were busy at it again.  What was predicted to be a beautiful and dry next week or so in this area has changed.  We’ve got a snowstorm coming along with high winds that are currently supposed to include between 40-70 mph gusts!!  At least that is what one forecast is saying at this exact time. We aren’t looking forward to Saturday or Sunday if this is right.  We could run but we can’t hide since the whole western part of the States is going to have a similar experience … at least the area we would have to run to isn’t going to be in good shape either.  I think we’ll just dig in for a while and hope this storm continues blowing east.  In the meantime right now temperatures are expected to be close to 80 before it drops drastically and the Family History Library is close.

‘Tis life on the road!

Our Last Ride and More Winds

It's my view the  internet is not an information highway, it's an electronic asylum filled with lunatics.

A couple fishermen are out trying their luck.

My last blog told you what the forecast was for this area. It was predicted to be windy with winds blowing at 30 mph Sunday evening. It was windy alright and by the time I went to bed which was around midnight most of the winds had died down – just like the weatherman had predicted. The weatherman was right-on this time ………….. or, was he?

We thought this was just a beautiful place to be.

About 2:00 AM another wave of winds hit us. We didn’t know these were coming. They were coming from the SSE which was a good thing since we were angled just right not to be hit with them broadside. We’ve been in strong winds but these rank close to the very top. Gusts ripped between 60 – 70 mph. Our antenna was brought down as well as our large side brought in. We have slide toppers and we certainly didn’t want that wind to rip them off. The winds blew for several hours before it finally subsided and we could sleep.

Water level is up.  Care to have a picnic in the water?

In the morning we talked to several other folks in the park. Some weren’t quite as lucky as we were as they were hit broadsided with the winds and rocked much of the night. The good thing though is that most of us had already put away what could have been flying objects due to the earlier lighter winds. These winds weren’t just unique to this area. They were the same winds that hit southern California and shook my cousin in Las Vegas on its way here to us. Many folks pulled out of the park early in the morning on their way north. I hope they weren’t going too far or they would have been caught up in them again. I also hope we never see winds like that again.

One thing we did discover was that after the strong winds the sand was smooth again.  All the deep ruts caused by the ATVs and dirt bikes had been blown away.  That was a good thing.

We are traveling on Wednesday.  Weather looks nice, winds are farther north and the sun just may be shining.  We have an appointment for some service work on the motorhome at Camping World.  Our schedule was determined by their schedule and not ours.  They had only one appointment available this week.  We took it!!

On our last ride at the park.

Now I know a lot of people gripe about work done at Camping World. We all gripe about some of the work we have done on our RVs and have more than our share of horror stories. We have used Camping World for many different service items and other than a normal little glitch or two still rate it the best. This is our thought. If you have an RV technician do service work in Portland and something goes bad, you pay for the repair again in Phoenix. If you have Camping World do service work in Portland and something goes wrong, they redo it for free in Phoenix or San Antonio! That’s insurance.

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I think Murphy is busy with Murphy’s Law.  Before we made an appointment at Camping World and made a reservation at another RV park, I checked the wind prediction.  Wednesday was going to be a great day for a beautiful drive.  We paid for one more night, gave the ATVs a bath, loaded them on the trailer and hooked the trailer to the motor home.  This is where Murphy got busy.  I checked the wind prediction …. again.  There was a brand new forecast and the forecast was predicting high winds for about 200 miles north.  Guess what?  Instead of the planned departure time of around 10:00 AM, we’ll be pulling out of here around 7:00 AM.  I hope I didn’t say that too loud because we have a way around the current forecast as long as it’s not changed again. We just leave before the winds arrive.  That’s the plan but we’re not necessarily sticking to it.  I'll be checking the forecast at least one more time before we pull out.

ATVs were unloaded, Terry gave them a bath and we reloaded behind the motorhome.  We’re ready to go.

‘Tis life on the road.

Bryce Canyon National Park

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station through which God speaks to us every hour if we will only tune in.

There are just some places you have to see and especially if you’re kind of close.  Now I had been to Bryce many years ago.  Terry had not.  We had to go.  It wasn’t a short drive but we still were determined we had to do it.  We did.

You could compare Bryce to Grand Canyon but only becuase you are looking down into the canyon.  However, at Grand Canyon you see canyons.  I think Bryce is much more spectacular.  The vastness of the canyons and the colors are beautiful.   I think pictures just speak for themselves … the good ones and even the bad ones.

Our road trip started fairly early.  For the round trip drive to Bryce we had about 250 miles to go.  We decided to make a loop instead of going and returning on the same route.  The first leg of the trip started with us heading due north on highway I-15.  We climbed and climbed. Then, we went down and down.  Then, we climbed again.  None of the climbs were big but with all the mountains in Utah the only way to get on the other side was to either go through them or over them.  Obviously, without a tunnel we weren’t going through them. 

We stopped at a rest area off of I-15.  We had never seen a fenced pet run at a rest stop.   This was amazing.  It was huge, no other dogs were around and Duchess loved it.   Good job, Utah!

We knew Highway 14 crossing over at Cedar City was closed.  That route climbs to about 10,000 feet but  was closed due to snow.  Thus, we continued on to Highway 20.  We figured it was probably a better route anyway and I’m sure it was.  It was a short 20 miles crossing over to highway 89.  In that 20 miles we saw plenty of snow on the side of the road, icy spots and lots more up and downs including some good 8% grades.  Elevation on this climb took us to about 8100 feet.  We were glad to get on the other side!!

Highway 89 was also a very good road.  We saw several State Troopers with vehicles stopped on the side of the road and lots of varying speed limit signs that waivered between 65 to 55 to 45 to 35 and then back to 65.  We didn’t know if all the varying speeds were a way to catch tourists or what the deal was but we didn’t want to take a chance.

Highway 12 took us through Red Canyon on our way to Bryce.  There isn’t much to say in words so I’m just going to post a few photos of this very scenic area.

Once through Red Canyon it was just a short distance on to Bryce Canyon National Park.  The entrance fee is $25.00 per private vehicle unless you have an American the Beautiful Pass … then, it’s FREE!  Free is always good.  Free is actually best.

Our first stop after the Visitor’s Center was Sunrise Point.

Next we were on to Sunset Point.

 

Next it was Inspiration Point.

Finally we stopped at Bryce Point at an elevation of 8300’ for a panorama view and what a view it was.  To make the view easy, even a platform had been built so spectators got the best view of all – the full panorama.

We left Bryce and drove back through Red Canyon.

On our return trip we headed south on Hwy 89 until we came to Hwy 9 which was the route through Zion National Park.  This was the east entrance and as you drove through you dropped from the upper part of the park down to the lower canyon.  We had just driven this route at Zion a few days before (remember the flat tire?) but it was just as beautiful going through it again as it was then.  Besides this was the shortest way to get back to the motorhome.

The winds were expected to blow Sunday over much of Utah and the Southwest and we certainly noticed them as we arrived back at the motorhome.  The forecast was for windy conditions with winds blowing at 30 mph.  We’ve been told by several that the little town of Hurricane was named that for a reason.  Other than today we really haven’t noticed the winds so much and we’ve been hanging around for almost a couple weeks.  Perhaps, it’s been because we’ve been in other very windy locations this winter season.  Or, maybe we’ve just been lucky.  We love this area.  I think of all the places we’ve recently visited we like this best … it just needs a Winco, an ocean and the rest of our family to make it perfect.

This is one of those times I’m really thankful digital cameras replaced film cameras.  I took a lot of pictures.  It would have cost me a bundle to have had all of the film developed. The hard part was choosing which ones to put on the blog.  I knew posting over 100 would be just a few too many!! 

‘Tis life on the road.