Monday, April 27/2015

Heading out

This Marmot had to see us off

The tunnels through Wind River Canyon

We headed off again today hoping for another good day's travel.  It was indeed and once again we made a lot of miles. We will be sleeping in Montana tonight and that means that we will be in the last state we need to travel through before crossing into Canada. Home sweet Home is getting closer!!

Train tunnel in this one

Before we hit Montana however, we had to finish off Wind River Canyon and that meant going through a series of three tunnels.  They are pretty neat and are always fun to do.  Even the train has to enter into a few of these to navigate this canyon.

                                                                                                                                                                  The scenery is incredible and one just can not even fathom the millions of years old rock that makes up this canyon.  It truly is a marvel.

Wind River - this river meanders through the canyon
where eventually it joins to the Big Horn River at a
place called Wedding of the Waters.

Montana - someone missed the "Welcome to Montana" sign
Not mentioning any names as to who that was!!

Our spot for the night - nestled amongst the cottonwood trees
at Laurel, Montana

Beverage

Earlier today, we stopped at a little campground in a small town and were lucky enough to be able to fill up with water and dump our holding tanks.  The best part of this was....it was free!!  Now that is my kind of town!!  Had we not had to shop, we would have gladly paid the $20.00 camp fee and stayed there for the night.  It even had electricity!!
We arrived at Laurel, Montana (which sits just outside of Billings) in time to hit to local Walmart store for some last minute shopping items.  With that done, we drove to the local campground (which has been closed every time we get here) and parked for the night.  It is a wonderful little area that lies along side the Yellowstone River and is nestled amongst the huge cottonwood trees.
The birds were enjoying the lovely Spring weather, the squirrels were frolicking in the grass and Hogan was in his glory chasing both of them.  I don't think he is missing all the little thorns and poky things of Arizona!!
As one can see from the pictures, we did partake in a few "red" beer (as they call them in Arizona) and sat in the evening sunshine and simply enjoyed the rest of the day.
John got out the BBQ and commenced to cooking our supper.  While the potato was cooking, him and Hogan went for a little walk while I lay down on the couch and tried to get rid of a nagging headache. Upon their return, my headache was pretty much gone and the last of our chicken was cooked.  Apparently, no poultry is allowed across the border this year as there has been an outbreak of Avian Flu in a few states down here so,  Canada has closed its borders to the import of poultry and anything with poultry in it.  It is a good thing that I did not buy any extra dog food down here as I am sure that it contains chicken.  The little bit that I have left in the bag will probably be confiscated at the border!! We have about 4 eggs left so they should be gone by the time we hit Canada so no worry there.
With supper done, it was time to head in and catch the last of the hockey game and then I was more than ready for bed.  I climbed in and never heard another sound after that,  Hell, I don't even remember John coming to bed and apparently watching TV!!
Life is good!!

Sunday, April 26/2015

We awoke to sunshine this morning so that is a very good thing.  Hopefully all the bad weather that this alert brings with it will somehow just pass us by.

Heading out - and the weather looks rather questionable

We did get into a bit of rain but that was all.  Once we headed north from Rawlins, Wyoming we were pretty much in the clear.

Clouds engulfing the mountains

This weather system followed us all day and the clouds and the rain were not too far away.  Our travel for the most part was uneventful and, we did manage to avoid the one lone antelope that was standing on the side of the road deciding whether or not to cross.  Fortunately he decided to just stay put and that was a very good thing!!

US 789 WY North

Wind River Canyon is always a joy to drive however it was, as usual, windy.  No surprise there.  We decided to stop for the night at one of the many campgrounds that dot the way.   The hockey game was to start soon and one cannot be missing the drop of the puck.  Of course John and I are cheering for different teams so that makes the games even more interesting.

You just can not beat this kind of scenery.
How blessed we are to be able to see this.

Our spot for the night

The marmots were out in full force when we arrived at the campground and Hogan was more than happy to cause them a bit of grief.  Of course they did not stray too far from their dens and once Hogan started coming towards them, they quickly sought refuge!!  Silly things, they had no idea that he was probably more fearful of them and their high pitched chirp than they were of him.  It was rather amusing though!!

Wind River Canyon

The Marmots are out (he is sitting on the rock)

Wind River 

 All in all, it was yet another good day of travel.  We made good time and the weather for the most part cooperated and the truck is running great!!

Saturday, April 25/2015

Happy Anniversary to John and I. We have been married for 34 years and in today's world, that is quite an accomplishment. Life sometimes crazy with all its various demands and stresses and it is nice to know that there is at least one constant in your life. Thanks for the memories!! Maybe, if we are lucky, we will get 34 more!!
I awoke at about 1:30 this morning to hear rain on the roof. It was a gentle rain and I was not really worried about the truck being stuck. By 6:30 however, with intermittent rain showers for the past five hours, John decided to break camp and drive the truck to more solid ground. There was pavement just off the highway and we parked there until the sun came up and the rain stopped.
Today we will tackle "the big pass". It is a pass that sits at elevations of greater than 8000 feet so hopefully last night's rain did not drop a whole mess of snow up there!!
I certainly did not feel any better about going over the pass when I saw the snow plow heading that way. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I just may need to call on "The Powers" today!!
With much trepidation, we headed out.....  Much to my surprise, the pass was clear. There were a few wet spots on the road and some snow along the side of the road but we had clear sailing up and down the 8268 foot pass. Life is good.
We sailed out of Colorado and into Wyoming. The weather held but looked threatening several times today. We saw several deer and antelope today so that is always good to see. They did not seem to worried about the highway traffic and all continued on with their business.
Baggs, Wyoming greeted us with its rich history of Outlaws. Butch Cassidy is said to have made a home here in Baggs, back "in the day" and hid out in the now infamous Hole in the Wall here in the surrounding hills. The Wild Bunch along with The Sundance Kid were always close at hand.
We found a camping spot along Little Robbers Road (how appropriate considering the outlaw history in the area) and soon had the chairs our and an adult beverage in our hands.
Hogan was busy chasing rabbits and soon had all these vicious creatures scattered!!
As the sun faded, it became chilly so John got out the little campfire in a can and we sat around it watching the hockey game. With the demise of the Vancouver Canucks (they are now out of the playoffs) John got the steaks on the grill along with the authentic shrimp from Mexico (thanks Ray).
In no time at all we were eating our anniversary dinner.  It was delicious (no surprise there).
This concluded another good day of travel.  Hopefully tomorrow the weather cooperates but it is just now starting to sprinkle rain. The big weather warning for this area continues through Sunday.

Heading out - Colorado 139 North

Into the pass

And the fun begins

More fun

Snow in the pass

Douglas Pass - 8268 feet

Where we were!!

At the summit

Heading down

Off the pass and now in the valley.  Abandoned buildings

Following the river

Lots of pretty scenery

Downtown Craig, Colorado

Rolling hills and vales

Welcome to Wyoming - Highway 789 North

Our spot for the night.  Little Robber's Road

The evening view.

Bundled up watching the hockey game

I refuse to change my flip flops to shoes!!

Friday, April 24/2015

It is 47 degrees F this morning so that is 20 degrees warmer than yesterday so that is a very good thing. Hogan is happier because he sooo hates to be cold.

Heading out on US 191 N UT

Hit some snow and some rain and some hail on the pass

Church Rock in Utah

Sandstone sculpting

Moab Rim

Going through Moab, UT

Always lots of interesting vehicles here

US 128 along the Colorado River

A new bike path

Utah landscape

Typical Utah 

Cow crossing (and cowboy, his horse and faithful dogs)

Cowboy chasing him

Snow on the La Sal Mountains

Fisher Tower

Out of Utah and into Colorado

Our spot for the night on CO 139 N

Another great day

 Last evening he needed his coat on as he was shivering while he was lying on his blanket while John and I were out enjoying the last of the sunshine.
It is cloudy this morning but the rains have not started so hopefully, we are out of here before they hit.
We got rid of the garbage and filled with water at the Sand Island Campground just outside of Bluff Utah then got on our way.
Just after we got through Blanding, Utah we hit rain, which soon turned into slush, then snow then hail. Holy Buckets, we went through a full season of weather in about 15 minutes!! After that, it was clear sailing all the way through Utah.
We hit the Colorado border, turned North on Colorado state road 139 and headed for "the big pass".  It sits at elevations in excess of 8000 feet so I am truly hoping there is no snow on the road!!  As it was getting late and it looked like there was rain in the air once again, we found a spot to camp out for the night on some BLM land just off the highway.
We enjoyed the last of the sunshine then headed into the camper for the hockey games and supper.  We did note that the ground we were camped on probably would not take too much rain before it became mud and the possibility of getting stuck was not something we wished to experience. Been there.... Done that!!
I made a most awesome stir fry tonight for supper. Even John commented on how tasty it was and he usually is not too crazy about stuff like that. He is more of a meat and potato kind of guy.
With hockey games over, it was time to head to bed. All in all, another good day's travel.