More Misses and Changed Changes

August 30 - September 6, 2019
Ogden & Kanab, Utah - Anthem, Arizona

Two years ago we went south to Ogden, Utah, to see Bill's family. We were early because of the smoke and missed Trish and her family. Aunt Nancy hadn't moved there yet. Fortunately we got to see Cousin Penny and her family.

Last year we went north to Ogden and the morning we were supposed to arrive we received devastating news that kept us from seeing Trish and her family. We did get to see Aunt Nancy and Penny for a quick visit.

Leaving the Tetons, we have plans to finally see all of the family. It's a long-for-us moving day of 245 miles, but it's a nice combination of pretty views and easy interstate. We again set up at Wasatch View Estates (view yes, estate no), where we turn on both ACs in the high temps. 

Unbelievably, I get a message from Penny that Aunt Nancy is in the hospital!! While she gets better over the weekend, she's not up to a visit. We again miss seeing Trish and her family.

Sunday we get to see Penny and her family. It's always a great time getting caught up with them. And now there's a new addition - Rafferty is six months old.

Raffy discovering pickles.

Lemons are even better!

Katy, Rafferty, Jesse, Desmond, Tessa, Bill and Penny

We agree that next time we're going to sneak into town.

It's too hot to enjoy being outdoors. We take a short drive into higher elevations to the little towns of Huntsville, Eden and Liberty. Lots of folks enjoying the water of Pineville Reservoir. Mostly we hang out at home in the air conditioning.

Our last evening we drive south to Salt Lake City to meet up with Bill's good friend Nik. He surprises Bill with another friend, Bernard, who he hasn't seen in years. Along with their family members, we have a great meal and tasty brews at Wasatch Brew Pub. (Sorry Pam, we didn't have a Polygamy Porter this time.)

Fun times!

Tuesday morning we continue south on I-15. The city seems to go on forever, but eventually we return to beautiful golden plains. Utah really is stunning in so many ways. Big puffy clouds dress up the bright blue skies.

We spend a single night in the little town of Fillmore, and on Wednesday we arrive at J&J RV Park in Kanab, Utah. So glad John and Pam (ohtheplacestheygo) found this nice new park! For such a popular destination, Kanab has the worst RV parks. There's no shade, but it's clean with level,  good sized FHU sites. 

En route we hear from our friends Jim and Maggie who are also making their way south. They're going to be in Monument Valley on Friday so after making some changes, we're reserved for a few days in one of my favorite places. It will be great to meet up with them, and see the beautiful monuments. 

Thursday we head out to Angel and Hog Canyons. It's wonderful to be back in the red rocks. Best Friends is a well-known animal rescue sanctuary in Angel Canyon, but until we drive through I had no idea it's so huge. In addition to being the largest in the country, Best Friends has facilities in Houston, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Atlanta. We don't stop, I can't be trusted.

Angel Canyon

Hog Canyon

You know you're living a wonderful life when it's mid-day and you can say "Hey, let's run over to Zion for a couple hours!" And then you do and have a great time :-))

We didn't see any in the national parks, so it's fun to see this domestic Bison herd on the way.

It's not as crowded as it was during our late October visit, so we're able to stop and see a lot more. But the Visitor Center parking lot is overflowing because it includes those taking the shuttle to the rest of the park. It would be nice if they had separate lots so you can enjoy the visitor center if you don't want to take a shuttle. Rather than making a loop again, this time we return the way we came. We see even more incredible natural beauty.

A short wait to enter the long tunnel. On the way back, they've opened it for two-way traffic.

Not only long, the tunnel is very dark.

The dark square is one of three "windows" in the tunnel.

Looking out the same window.

Outside the park the views continue.

Friday morning we're up early and ready to head out. But our slides aren't :-(

The large one comes in all but a couple inches and stops. Nothing from the switch. The other two - nothing. Great!

Troubleshooting with the manufacturer confirms we don't have a simple issue. Bill finds a local mobile tech who is able to send someone out right away. He assures that although the guy he's sending looks young, he knows his stuff.

Lance looks 15, seriously I can't believe he's old enough to drive. While I'm at the post office he finds the problem and is able to get all three slides in. But they aren't fixed. We'll have to get to a shop to have the wire behind the breaker replaced. 

Soooo, for the third time in a couple weeks, we miss a meet up we were really looking forward to. We cancel Monument Valley and at 1:30 we head south to see how far we can get. Bill is able to make an appointment at Camping World for Monday, and we let our Tombstone friends know we'll now be there even earlier.

At sunset we grab a pull-through at Pioneer RV Resort north of Phoenix and spend a very snug night with all the slides in.

We're fortunate we were close enough to our planned destination to just make our way there. 

Our goal in Tombstone is to find a property for our winter base. I've made an appointment to see one place, there's a couple more I want to look at, and our friends sent us one a couple months ago that's still available.

Will we find one we can call home?