Part of the way through Utah

5/16/2016 Monday Start: Panguitch, UT (KOA); End: Palisades State Park, Sterling, Utah.

We woke to beautiful sunshine in the mid-50’s about 7:00 am (we lost an hour when entering Utah).  Our destination was only about 150 miles away so we got packed up and headed into Panguitch to check out the town. We were too early for shopping so we hit US 89 North. 

[Side note to Uncle Irv, the parents here want their money back on the children’s books!].  

After picking up some propane, we managed to find the poorly marked turnoff to Palisade State Park.  It’s tucked back in the hills between Sterling and Manti. There is an enormous Mormon tabernacle in the little town of Manti  where each year in June they have “The Mormon Miracle Pageant” and the place is mobbed with people.  Good timing, we missed that! 

Manti, Utah Mormon Temple

For $20 we got a dry camping spot (no hookups) on the lake in the park, just in front of the golf course. 

View from the 4th hole

Guess what Mike did in the afternoon?  It rained for an hour when we arrived but the sun came out and he was able to get in a complete round of 18 holes of golf.

I did some genealogy work and we went for dinner at the club house.  Here’s a picture of our site and the neighbors.  Life is good!

Bonnie

Palsaide State Park, Utah

Geese and goslings

After months, weeks and days of preparation we left this morning at 7:15 am for our Alaska adventure.  First, we have to get north however, to the Canadian border, crossing Utah, Idaho and Montana.

We had a few shakedown issues to start; getting the Go Pro to record, an oil overheating while climbing a hill and the break light indicator not coming on.  Mike figured them all out and we were sailing along about 55 to 65 mph for most of the day.  He’s one tired guy after fighting the wind through Flagstaff and Kanab.

Bridge over Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona

Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona

Panguitch KOA, Utah

We stopped at Glen Canyon Dam for lunch and a walk to stretch our legs then went on into Utah.  We checked out a couple of campgrounds and settled on a KOA in Panguitch, Utah.  I tried out running the crock pot off the inverter while we were driving and we had creamy chicken and broccoli noodles that smelled wonderful!  Tomorrow I’d like to check out the town and maybe a hike before a short day to a campground south of Salt Lake City.  

It's 8:30 here, an hour behind Arizona.  Mike's watching TV show recordings with his headset and I'm going to curl up with a book.  Til next time!

Bonnie

Getting Ready for the Trip

Back when we first got married, Mike and I went to California for a summer to prospect in the Klamath River.  We stayed in our 5th wheel for three months, exploring the "county of Jefferson" ---northern California and Southern Oregon.

To keep family and friends in the loop on our adventure, I started this blog.  You can still view the stories and pictures from our 2008 trip and a few shorter excursions since then.

This summer (2016) we're taking our Class C RV and Jeep Cherokee Sport to Alaska!  It's over 3500 miles one way.  We're leaving mid-May and don't expect to return until the end of September.  Rather than advertise all over Facebook, I'm going to use this blog to share where we're at and what we're up to, when we have an Internet signal strong enough to post.

Google Blogger tells me you'll need to sign in to read the blog.  If that's too much of a hassle or you have problems logging in let me know and I'll see if I can figure something else out.

We'll be hauling the jeep behind the RV so we have a vehicle when we get somewhere we want to explore.

We expect to get to Canada before Memorial Day and then to Alaska be mid-June.  We'll be staying somewhere in the Fairbanks area for a while and then move south to see Denali National Park and on to Anchorage.  We plan to tour the Kenai Peninsula too.

That's all for now, let the countdown begin!

Bonnie