Warmer? Not so, but so much Canyon beauty!

This morning Tessa and I stayed in our bed, covered under the blankets, while Tod drove us out of our dry camp spot covered in light snow. The road was unpaved, we were 12 miles from Bryce Canyon in Utah, and during the night our house battery got discharged enough that we couldn't use our heater any more. Outside it was well below freezing. No need to feel sorry for us -- well OK, you can feel sorry for Tod, as he got up, while we were cozy in bed. He drove for 20 min, while we had the heater blasting again getting Betsy cozy inside, and 30 minutes later we ate pancakes while enjoying a great view.

Since we left Montana, we have seen temperatures of 70 degrees (21 C) in Provo, Utah (unusually warm we heard), to 15 degrees (-9 C) at night near Bryce. But weather doesn't matter that much when you are surrounded by the incredible beauty of Utah. We visited Capital Reef National Park, and did a great hike with Tessa. Unfortunately our camera stopped working....We drove on to Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, and stayed at a simple camp ground right inside the canyon (Calf Creek).  At one point Betsy was really struggling going up the hills. No wonder, as we got to summit of 9,850 feet (3,000 m) on Boulder Mountain, the tallest summit we passed with our RV.  The drive along Highway 12 from Capitol Reef to Bryce was quite wonderful, with multiple different breathtaking landscapes.  In Bryce it was cold enough that Jolanda & Tessa stayed close to Betsy while Tod did a quick hike/run into the canyon (and played with taking pictures in "Vivid Color" mode... you can tell which photos those are!)

We are now in Zion National Park, and unlike other places, it's busy here ( I don't want to think what high season looks here)! The campgrounds in park is full, so we are staying 1 mile outside the park in a RV park . Warmer weather (55F), and a long holiday weekend must be some of the reasons, plus the fact that it's the last weekend for the trolley here that takes you on roads that no regular traffic can go. Another great hike for us three today, and it's really fun to see Tessa hiking up and down, and enjoying it.

beautiful Bryce Canyon NP on a sunny day 

The snow in Bryce made the colors stand out even more

up, up, up hill in Zion

At the top of hike in Zion - Upper Emerald Pool

Betsy just outside park at Capitol Reef NP

The drive between the parks on SR-12 Scenic Byway is stunning too

Messing around on rocks at our campsite in Escalante NM

Tod & Tessa climbing up rocks  at our campsite in Escalante NM... can you find them?  You will need to zoom!

panoramic view along Highway 12

Yellowstone, just in time!

We are really stretching traveling during the “shoulder season” up north: camp grounds are closing a day after we leave (or shut off the water for the season), roads are about to close. So far, we have been really lucky with the weather. The drive up to Yellow Stone was beautiful. Tod and I both visited the world’s first National Park independently decades ago, and I forgot how huge it is.  Just when you are happy to arrive at the West Entrance, it is still 60 miles to the only campground open in the South this time of the year, Lewis Lake.  We saw our first bison and elk on our drive south, and also the first snow. Not much snow, but we can imagine it piling up here in the winter. Fortunately 2 visitor centers were still open, and Tessa enjoys visiting these centers a lot (especially when there are movies playing!). On our second day, we waited for the old Faithful geyser to erupt (the famous geyser of this park, but Yellowstone has many others, and has the most geysers in the world), then drove out to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River with waterfalls.  Our second night in the northern part of the park, Mammoth Hot Springs, was warmer, but not so warm that we wanted to go out for a long hike, just a short visit to see the terraces composed of travertine.

Once we made the decision to visit Yellowstone, we called our cruising friends of s/v Believe, Sherilyn and George, in Bozeman, Montana north of Yellowstone to see if they were home. Spending time with them was great, and we are looking forward to see them again in a few months in Mexico. They recommended to us to visit the Museum of the Rockies in their town, and boy, are we glad we did! This museum has a huge exhibit of dinosaurs of different eras, the largest one on display was about 38’ long!  With many interactive displays and films about the discovery of the dinosaurs in this area, combined with a special kids section, makes this museum well worth a visit.

Sherilyn knows how to make a girl happy, and made these for Tessa, now
we can hear here everywhere she goes

Time to move south now, as the weather is changing!  As we came south past the west side of Yellowstone park we encountered a bit of snow that was starting to stick on the roads, so we were happy that we didn’t stay any longer in Montana.  With our LPG heater we are staying warm, but outside play is a bit more restricted, and that’s what we like to do.

change of scenery: after long drive, we arrived in Bear Lake State Park, Idaho

Some stats: we have done more than the 3500 miles, and also crossed the $1000 level for gas (yikes). Camping fees for the month of October, mostly state and national parks and forests, average $14/day (off season rates). You can spend way more when you choose RV parks with full electricity, water and sewer hook-ups, but we tend not to like RV parks.  The most expensive overnight stay was $35 in a RV park in Vancouver (well worth its cost due the location).  To dump our grey and black water tanks, and fill up our water tanks for showers and dishes, we use a handy app on our phone that locates places all along the US. LPG for our heater, fridge and stove is readily available everywhere we went so far.

Stark, beautiful in its own way: Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho

A place where NASA’s Apollo Astronauts came to learn about basic volcanic geology in 1969 as they prepared for their moon missions…how stark can that be? It’s hard to describe and my photography doesn’t do any justice, but then I don’t know if any pictures would do the trick. This is a park that you just want to experience. Walking in lava tubes, seeing landscape covered in lava from the most recent eruption about 2,000 yrs ago, and having a rocky campsite in the park, unprotected from wind, makes this a memorable visit. Add to that our first “ happy hour” with 2 other traveling families with young kids, and we are happy campers. 

"sky light" in the lava tunnels

short bike ride, as it was cold!

On our way here we stopped at the Oregon Trail Interpretative Center – in Baker City, OR – which has done a great job in telling the story of 300,000 people crossing the harsh Oregon Trail from the East in search of a better life, and the Native Americans they met and who lived here way before their arrival. We had to move on, but Tessa could have stayed in this interactive museum for a long time.

Before we know it, we will be melting in the Mexican sun again, so we decided we could gear up for some extra snow/cold, and added Yellowstone to our itinerary before their campsites and roads will be closing around November 2nd (we are getting a lot of mileage out of our $80 annual National Park pass!). Tessa got excited to see the little snow on the deserted campground of Lewis Lake, at altitude of 7,800 feet. More about Yellowstone next time.

relaxing in Oregon

Tessa has been playing for a couple of hours at the playground and is now watching two young men changing the license plates on their car, Tod is doing a short project, Betsy is parked next to a great park and I have found a lovely library to work in. We are having a relaxing day, just drove 85 miles today to a small town in Oregon, Baker City.

We spent last night at the RV parking space of a casino (a first for us, as we mainly stay in state parks or forests). Hey, it was free parking, we were tucked in between massive Class A motor homes, and we got to do a few things we don't do very often. Tod went to see a late night movie in the casino/resort, lost a few dollars at the casino, and he and Tessa had breakfast, while I just snoozed away a little longer.

Our last visit in Washington State was to Mount Rainier National Park, and we lucked out again with the weather. Another great park, well worth the visit (sorry the pictures don't do much justice to the park).

Tomorrow we will be heading to our next state, Boise in Idaho.

camp ground just outside the park

dry river bed near Mt. Rainier

taking it slow in Baker City, finally got to do some yoga