Looking for advice on taming The Wild, Wild West!

[Pabs4]

Originally Posted by ducksface

Pam,
We have reservations tonight at the Red Raven in Williams.
Someone owed us dinner and is paying up.
You joining us would be a big treat for me.
I'm tall and very pretty and easy to spot.
The reservations are under Mr Sylvia if you can't find me.

Shoot!! I’m just now seeing this! Duck, I think we might have been sitting in the booth next to y’all! Did a lady come join y’all after you and your wife had been there for a bit? Then another gentleman stopped by and chatted for a bit? If so, that is wild!! We were there around 5:30

Pam

[Pabs4]

Gritz,

We really liked Moab. The Arches, of course, was awesome! Make a point to drive Utah 279 off of 191. A couple of miles down the road you will see a sign for Petroglyphs. You can pull over to park and walk over to the cliff to see them. Everyone says we messed up when we didn’t visit Dead Horse Point State Park. We visited the Island in the Sky portion of Canyonlands. I wish we had time to visit the Needles District. Maybe, next time. We took a long drive to Monument Valley one day. If you go there, the restaurant at Gouldings was good.

I was born and raised in SE Texas and I still haven’t been to Big Bend. We have plans to visit next year. Have a safe and fun trip!

Pam

[lwmcguir]

Originally Posted by Jimbo56

Waking up on day 4 of our 12 week trip. 1 NP so far , Hot Springs, AR. Currently in Checotah, OK. Scary last night. 2 tornados hit just west of us. Also discovered a crack in windshield. Likely due to the twisting and jerking while “Auto” leveling. We were stopped at a rest area, engine idling, noticed the leveler pump engaging briefly. Hmmmm. Going down the road the jacks down light would intermittently flash twice (while turned off). After touring Hot Springs, I had wife direct traffic as I was crawling underneath the street side looking at levelers. Sure nuff, LR leaked down about 2 inches. Figured I’d troubleshoot at next campground 5 hours down the road. So manually retracted and hit the road. Over the next 5 hours and 300 miles I never got another jacks down warning. Hmmmm. Got to campground, and no leaking down. Hope it stays that way for 12 more weeks. Off to Amarillo and the Big Texan today. Should I try the steak challenge?

Traveled the area for many years for business and ate at the Big Texan frequently. Only saw one person finish the steak, go for it! Or try the rattlesnake.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Originally Posted by Pabs4

Gritz,

We really liked Moab. The Arches, of course, was awesome! Make a point to drive Utah 279 off of 191. A couple of miles down the road you will see a sign for Petroglyphs. You can pull over to park and walk over to the cliff to see them. Everyone says we messed up when we didn’t visit Dead Horse Point State Park. We visited the Island in the Sky portion of Canyonlands. I wish we had time to visit the Needles District. Maybe, next time. We took a long drive to Monument Valley one day. If you go there, the restaurant at Gouldings was good.

I was born and raised in SE Texas and I still haven’t been to Big Bend. We have plans to visit next year. Have a safe and fun trip!

Pam

I referred ti it as Big Bend but actually meant Horseshoe Bend. Glad you are having a blast amd we'll make note of Hwy 279. Most of what we are doing is short walks and slow overlooks. Bugsie can't walk much anymore and my back can't take long walks anymore (hopefully a temp issue). We left yesterday...what a fun adventure to finally put a 4 year plan to life! Tje sun goes down on Night One...that's a pile of firewood at our feet, not Bugsie. She's a snow white Lab.

[The Gritz Carlton]

She's chillin' and loving her wall-to-wall rugs.

[Pabs4]

Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton

She's chillin' and loving her wall-to-wall rugs.

She is beautiful!! We have had 4 Golden Retrievers during our married life. Our last one died nearly 10 years ago. If we had been traveling back then our Ginger Girl would have gone with us everywhere.

We were able to hike some of the supposedly easier trails, but the altitude certainly didn’t help. That’s why we liked that little stop on 279. We had no idea there were petroglyphs there until we saw the sign. You can also see some crazy people climbing on the side of the rocks while you are driving right by them.

Love the sunset photo too! Have a wonderful trip, and keep us posted on how things are going

We are in Mansfield, Texas for the night. We will be home tomorrow. While this trip was great fun, we are both ready to be home. We are also ready to plan the next trip!

Pam

[Jimbo56]

Duck, in Holbrook Saturday 4/22. How close are we?

[ducksface]

Very.
2 hours+
Are you headed to the grand Canyon?
Pm me for contact info.

If you want to see the saddest Starbucks in the world, take the Knife City exit about 12 miles east of Holbrook. Go left and you'll see it on your immediate left before you even get off of the overpass hump. That squalid place is a Starbucks. It's clean and worth stopping so you can tell the tale.
I've bought plenty of antique equipment there.

[Jimbo56]

Originally Posted by ducksface

Very.
2 hours+
Are you headed to the grand Canyon?
Pm me for contact info.

If you want to see the saddest Starbucks in the world, take the Knife City exit about 12 miles east of Holbrook. Go left and you'll see it on your immediate left before you even get off of the overpass hump. That squalid place is a Starbucks. It's clean and worth stopping so you can tell the tale.
I've bought plenty of antique equipment there.

Yes, have reservation inside park arriving Monday 4/24.

[Jimbo56]

So far Hot Springs NP. Painted Desert/Petrified Forest NP. 2 days on the south rim at Grand Canyon NP (we stayed in trailer village inside park) was breathtaking. Now in Page AZ for 2 days. A week ago LR leveler leaked down. Extended, retracted no problem with that one since. However, yesterday when leaving GCNP the RF leaked down. I hand tightened the valves. Extended and retracted. It stayed up on the short drive to Page on 64/89. Pretty bumpy. Hope it’s not going to be a constant problem. Lippert tech support guy says at some point I need to do a pressure test. We’ll see.

[Pabs4]

Originally Posted by Jimbo56

So far Hot Springs NP. Painted Desert/Petrified Forest NP. 2 days on the south rim at Grand Canyon NP (we stayed in trailer village inside park) was breathtaking. Now in Page AZ for 2 days. A week ago LR leveler leaked down. Extended, retracted no problem with that one since. However, yesterday when leaving GCNP the RF leaked down. I hand tightened the valves. Extended and retracted. It stayed up on the short drive to Page on 64/89. Pretty bumpy. Hope it’s not going to be a constant problem. Lippert tech support guy says at some point I need to do a pressure test. We’ll see.

We drove to Page, AZ to do the lower antelope canyon tour. It was spectacular! Have a great time!

Pam

[Buckhorn13]

If you have never been to Yosemite, this would be a great year to go. With the massive snowpack starting to melt all of the waterfalls will be amazing. The month of May is a great time to be there, although Tioga Pass may not be open.

[Jimbo56]

Originally Posted by Buckhorn13

If you have never been to Yosemite, this would be a great year to go. With the massive snowpack starting to melt all of the waterfalls will be amazing. The month of May is a great time to be there, although Tioga Pass may not be open.

Well be there 5/22 for a few days

[The Gritz Carlton]

Been super busy as we slowly trek westward. What a wonderful adventure. Two things I have learned on this trip (a lot more than two but these are significant)...every little town and back road across the country has so much to offer and the farther west you go, the more laid-back and really nice people are. We left a 3 night stay in Tombstone this morning. Tons of fun and old western history. OKC is an outstanding city...I could live there. Most amazing adventure ahead....I get to meet Duckface on the 10th. We are staying at the KOA just down the road from him just for this opportunity. Then on to GC, Horseshoe Bend and the NP's in Utah. Thanks again for all who contributed with so many great ideas. BTW, I loved my Super C but this new Sprinter is amazing. Drives like a Mercedes Benz and we're averaging 15.6 MPG. The fuel savings is more than paying for campsites. I'm sure things will change once we hit the big hills but...they would have equally changed with the Thor. Peace...more to come soon.

[happy]

You ain't goin no where if there ain't picktours.

[Jimbo56]

Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton

Been super busy as we slowly trek westward. What a wonderful adventure. Two things I have learned on this trip (a lot more than two but these are significant)...every little town and back road across the country has so much to offer and the farther west you go, the more laid-back and really nice people are. We left a 3 night stay in Tombstone this morning. Tons of fun and old western history. OKC is an outstanding city...I could live there. Most amazing adventure ahead....I get to meet Duckface on the 10th. We are staying at the KOA just down the road from him just for this opportunity. Then on to GC, Horseshoe Bend and the NP's in Utah. Thanks again for all who contributed with so many great ideas. BTW, I loved my Super C but this new Sprinter is amazing. Drives like a Mercedes Benz and we're averaging 15.6 MPG. The fuel savings is more than paying for campsites. I'm sure things will change once we hit the big hills but...they would have equally changed with the Thor. Peace...more to come soon.

We were going to try to get up with the Duck but alas, had a leveler issue that took precedence. He suggested that we tour Antelope Canyon while in Page. He was correct. It didn’t disappoint. We’re at Capital Reef today. Then onto Bryce Canyon. We’ve had to scramble a little as Sequoia and Kings Canyon we can’t get to. So we’ll head to Montery instead. The entrance to Yosemite we’d planned to use is closed as well. But we’ll figure it out. The west is beautiful, dry, and dusty!

[Jimbo56]

Originally Posted by ducksface

Moab and those five parks are best driven through as are Zion and Bryce.
Painted desert and petrified forests are drive through as best.
Four corners is the worst site in America. It's a full pass no matter what anyone says.
North Rim of the Grand Canyon is a long boring drive to get to a boring overlook.
South rim is drive and bus and nicely developed.
On the 40 about 30 miles east of flagstaff is an odd off the norm place called two-guns. See on YouTube if you'd like to stop.
Wolf creek pass in Colorado just so you can say you did, Silverton train, newspaper rock.
That high pass in Utah(I forgot the name, it's just a road we travel)
Phoenix sucks, Heber is like Vermont, Sedona is meh so just look as you drive through. The town itself is useless.
Wapatki national park is mostly driven and the ruins are within 100yards of parking.

Yep, 4 corners was a $16 waste of time. Glad I assisted the economy.

[ducksface]

Gritz,
Are you going to antelope Canyon?

[The Gritz Carlton]

Originally Posted by ducksface

Gritz,
Are you going to antelope Canyon?

Looking route over now. We were going to Horseshoe Bend early tomorrow (5/13), stay in Fredonia 2 nights and hit Zion on a Monday behind the weekend crowds. Trying to mix in the Nascar race at Darlington (classic track) on Sunday. Might end up setting up dish at a roadside park for race. If April misses her race I'll have a bad hair day for a few days.

[The Gritz Carlton]

BTW guys...we stopped by The Ducface Ranch yesterday on our way to GC. Great folks and his spread matches any museum you'll see out here. Excellent visit. We're talking about a "mini-rally" somewhere between him and east coast soon. More to come on that one.