Utah bound again

paulwadley · 03-08-2021, 01:39 AM

We head out tomorrow morning for Riverton Utah. We will be staying tomorrow night in Mesquite Nevada at The Casa Blanca Casino/Hotel/RV Resort. We have stayed there several times. Looking forward to see how well the newly tuned ECU works on a long road trip in our Sprinter. We will be doing "mooch docking" at our friend's home in their extra large R V driveway for the week. I am still waiting for our Acme Car Tow Dolly to arrive and hopefully it will be shipped out to us at the end of this month. I was hoping to use it as a practice run towing our car but will have to wait for the next trip. We plan on towing our car this summer when we head out from California to Kentucky. We plan on being gone for about 3 to 4 weeks. Hopefully our Carnival Cruise will not get cancelled again for this August.

Paul

Edensob · 03-08-2021, 01:51 AM

Safe travels Paul! Enjoy the ride and stay safe.

Bob Denman · 03-08-2021, 02:01 AM

Don't get too many speeding tickets with that "Super Sprinter"!

Copterdoc · 03-15-2021, 03:23 AM

We are heading to Utah in May from Louisiana. Looking for some good places to stay. We have never boondockers but are looking forward to it. We will traveling only in the southeast corner of Utah after going through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. We have some places mapped out but would love to hear about other experiences.

Terry and Jo · 03-15-2021, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Copterdoc

We are heading to Utah in May from Louisiana. Looking for some good places to stay. We have never boondockers but are looking forward to it. We will traveling only in the southeast corner of Utah after going through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. We have some places mapped out but would love to hear about other experiences.

With regards to the SE part of Utah, I'm not much help with RV parks or other campgrounds, but there are a lot of things in that area to go see. Depending on what you can do for day trips and what interests you, that area could keep a person busy for a week or two.

We went out in November and spent 3 weeks in Utah and Arizona. In our case, though, we stayed in VRBO type places rather than take our RV. We visited all five of the national parks in two weeks, with SE Utah having Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef national parks. Arches and Canyonlands saw us hiking a bit to see the various attractions of the parks.

Another trip will be necessary as we didn't get to visit a few places I wanted to explore. I was wanting to see the Citadel Ruins, the Fallen Roof Ruins, Natural Bridges National Monument, and Goosenecks State Park.

Terry

The_Breeze · 03-15-2021, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Copterdoc

We are heading to Utah in May from Louisiana. Looking for some good places to stay. We have never boondockers but are looking forward to it. We will traveling only in the southeast corner of Utah after going through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. We have some places mapped out but would love to hear about other experiences.

Try to make it to Bryce Canyon while you're out that way, unless you plan to save it for another time. It's BEAUTIFUL. Also, take the towed on the 'loop'. Take a short detour on 25. You will NOT be disappointed.

lwmcguire · 03-16-2021, 01:40 AM

The loop is an all day tour and worth it

Close to Bryce is a great State park as well

We typically stay at Ruby's

The_Breeze · 03-16-2021, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lwmcguire

The loop is an all day tour and worth it

Close to Bryce is a great State park as well

We typically stay at Ruby's

Ditto - Ruby's - where I stayed. It's also just down the road from the canyon so convenient for that leg of the adventure.

Terry and Jo · 03-17-2021, 12:24 AM

If one is going to Bryce Canyon and plans on driving the full 16 miles with all its pullouts and overlooks, keep in mind that the north end of the park is somewhere in the vicinity of 6000 feet of elevation and the south end is at 9000 feet of elevation.

We went up there in the winter to get snow pictures of Bryce, and at the south (higher) elevation, I wore a fairly heavy jacket inside of a heavier coat and the hood was up over my head. By the time we dropped in elevation, I took off the heavy coat and did fine with just the heavy jacket. The wind wasn't helping that day, but I got some good photos, and when I'm taking photos, I seem to ignore the cold.

Terry

Mr Sunshine · 03-17-2021, 01:29 AM

Hey Paul, thanks for sharing your trip plans. We planned a similar tour of Utah parks last summer. That didn't happen and it's not happening this summer for us. Will look forward to your reports.

paulwadley · 03-17-2021, 02:05 AM

We made it back safe and sound. We had cold weather all week and had snow the morning we left(Saturday). We visited The Heritage Place and Camp Floyd while visiting our friends. On our trip home, we ran into snow and slush the first 3 or so hours on the road. Temps outside were at 31 degrees. We now have a trip to Solvang planned for Easter weekend. We started mapping out of summer trip to Kentucky to visit some of my wife's family. Another couple will be going with us in the motor home on that summer trip. We are planning on being gone about 4 or 5 weeks. We already have a spot to stay in Tenn. at Loretta Lynn's R V Campground. We stayed there last year and had a great time. We are planning on going to Branson after Loretta Lynn's place on our way back home.

Paul

KathyBrum · 03-20-2021, 11:53 PM

We stayed in Bluff, UT which has easy access to Natural Bridges NM, Bears Ears NM, Valley of the Gods (take the Moki Dugway), and Gooseneck State Park. Try getting into Sand Island Campground in Bluff. It is First come first served and dry camping. They have two sections with petroglyphs. There are a few private campgrounds in Bluff. We also stayed in Cottonwood RV campground. The Bluff Fort is definitely worth a visit. They tell the story of the Hole-in-the-Rock expedition from Escalante to Bluff. An amazing feat. We found the cemetery interesting, too!

Kathy

sanjaun2 · 03-21-2021, 11:57 PM

There used to be an awesome free boon docking camp ground just outside of Bryce. You could walk out to the main road and pick up the shuttle to the park.used it several times. They closed it because Ruby,s complained. This tax payer owned camp was not hurting Ruby,s bottom line because they are fully booked year round. I used to visit Ruby,s for some meals and shopping. I will never stay or spend another penny ever again at Ruby,s. Start using your money as a tool before we lose everything. Just my opinion.

Richard · 03-22-2021, 12:57 AM

Saw post concerning Moki Dugway. Really neat road. Make certain you investigate thoroughly and understand the road layout, switch backs and elevation change. Fine for a pickup, car. Would have some concern with Motorhome and toad. There are length and weight limitations.

The_Breeze · 03-22-2021, 01:37 PM

Thanks for the tip. Just checked it out online. Holy smoke. Is it really that narrow? What do you do if you meet oncoming traffic? Is there enough room to get by?

Would hate to be the guy on the outside in that situation. One false move and...

p.s. found this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU37kZ3XK4o

Edensob · 03-22-2021, 01:41 PM

Paul, how about a performance report on the Sprinter performance with the ECU update?

Richard · 03-22-2021, 02:07 PM

To The Breeze. Thanks for video. Lots of turnouts for passing. Video failed to show vehicle length limit... believe it was 22 or 23 ft. 10% grade, really steep.

Did see a guy coming down in a Cruise America rental... he was a “very happy camper” when he reached bottom.

paulwadley · 03-22-2021, 02:26 PM

Hi Edensob

I just sent you a private message with my results and experience with the new tune to my 2018 Thor Siesta 24ss(built on a 2017 MB Sprinter Chassis).

The_Breeze · 03-23-2021, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard

To The Breeze. Thanks for video. Lots of turnouts for passing. Video failed to show vehicle length limit... believe it was 22 or 23 ft. 10% grade, really steep.

Did see a guy coming down in a Cruise America rental... he was a “very happy camper” when he reached bottom.

Ignorance is bliss, until it's not

Terry and Jo · 03-23-2021, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard

To The Breeze. Thanks for video. Lots of turnouts for passing. Video failed to show vehicle length limit... believe it was 22 or 23 ft. 10% grade, really steep.

Did see a guy coming down in a Cruise America rental... he was a “very happy camper” when he reached bottom.

We had an occasion to be in a repair/tow shop in Kanab, UT a few years ago. The owner had a TV up with a video playing showing a lot of still images of vehicles and rigs that he had towed before. More than one was of someone taking one of those rental RV into places that they shouldn't go.

We were camp hosts at a small RV park in Kanab for 9 months. I still remember a rental motorhome about 24 to 26 feet long that came in one evening. I immediately saw that the air conditioner unit on the roof had been destroyed by hitting something. I pointed it out to them, but they already knew.

There must have been 8 or 9 people get out of that little motorhome, two of which brought out a large plastic garbage bag and "parts" of the air conditioner. (They had evidently stopped to pick up those parts after hitting something.) They "kind of" pushed things down on the air conditioner, put the parts in somewhere, and then wrapped the whole thing up with the garbage bag and duct tape.

Terry

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