Category Archives: Travelogs

Seeing Zion in a Different Light

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I only planned to stop in Zion for a few days, just long enough to say a quick “hello” to my friends and revisit a few of my favorite places.  I came with my usual “list:” Ride my bike to the end of the road, stopping for soft serve ice cream at Zion Lodge.  See a couple of movies.  Spend time with my favorite cottonwoods along the Virgin River as they turn from green to gold.  And hike at least one trail I’ve never hiked before.    But once I arrived, so did Indian Summer.  Continue reading →

Red Rocks Revisited

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Even though I set my intentions to see “all new things” on my southerly migration this year, there are a few favorite stops that I just can’t bypass, one of which is my favorite state park in the little Snow Canyon just outside of St. George, Utah.

I first visited Snow Canyon while staying at the Red Mountain Resort back in 2006 for Thanksgiving weekend as a “spa getaway.”   I took several of the guided hikes from the resort which sits at the gateway to the state park.  It was my first experience ever hiking slick rock, and my first time to ever hear “trust your shoes.”   I can still remember Continue reading →

Cold Feet in Kanarraville

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I mentioned in my last post that there were two places I wanted to visit in Kanaraville. The Red Ledge RV Park would provide the best possible position to explore them both. I knew the park was within easy driving distance for the Tracker to make it to Cedar Breaks National Monument. What I didn’t realize is that it would be within walking distance of my second destination, Kanarraville Falls. Continue reading →

Livin’ on the Red Ledge

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As I start my southerly migration down through Utah this fall, my intentions are to visit some new places I have not been before…places I read about and wanted to see, but the timing or logistics has just never lined up.   Two such places are in close proximity to Kanarraville.   I check the Passport America website to find there is an RV Park right in the heart of Kanarraville…little else…no restaurants, no grocery stores, but right there in the center of the tiny town is the Red Ledge RV Park. Continue reading →

Geezers in Great Basin National Park

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I recently hit that major milestone all RVers look forward to, the National Parks Senior Pass.  Or as I hoped it was really called, “The Golden Age Passport.”   I’d much rather view life from the “golden age” than that of a “Senior.”   I came to hike over 6 miles at 10,000 ft elevation, which doesn’t make me feel much like a senior, but if that’s what they want to call free admission for life and 50% off of all campsites, Continue reading →

Twin Separation at Twin Falls

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Don and I part ways temporarily after Craters of the Moon.  I am headed to Boise to see good friends known on this blog as “Tom the Awning Fixer” and his lovely bride Corinne, who graciously hosted me for a bit of Boise driveway surfing and a fabulous dinner.  (No photos, as I all but changed the names to protect the innocent.)  Don went on to wander in the forest, trying to prove J. R. R. Tolkien’s theory that “Not all who wander are lost.”  Or are they? Continue reading →

Stranger in a Strange Land

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As we leave the beautiful snow-capped mountains of Sun Valley, I tell Don, “Take one last look at that beautiful snow, as we won’t be seeing that again for a long while!  We are headed for the bowels of the earth.”   In just a short, two hour drive along the Peaks to Craters Scenic Byway, I am in scenic shock. Continue reading →

The Sun Also Rises

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So yes, the sun did indeed rise again.  So why don’t I feel better?  I will not allow hate, racism, xenophobia or bigotry into my life. Whomever resides in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is not First Cause to my experience. (Insert safety pin here.) Enough.

I have written often about the beauty of Idaho’s Scenic Byways, and the Sawtooth Scenic Byway has to be the most beautiful of all!   As we head out of the Sockeye Campground and turn south through the Sawtooth Valley Continue reading →

Solitude in the Sawtooths

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As suspected, the Stanley Visitor Center in “downtown Stanley” is closed for the season. I ask one of Stanley’s 63 residents, a handsome man next door doing some carpentry, if he knows of any campgrounds in the area that are still open. He directs me down about a mile out of town to the lovely Stanley Ranger Station for the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Much to my relief, the Ranger explains that are several campgrounds still open. Continue reading →

Stanley or Bust!

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After reading friend’s blog posts all summer from the Sawtooth Mountains, I have my heart set on seeing that mountain range.  I’ve been planning this route across the Banner Summit and down into Stanley for months.  But the strange weather patterns that pummeled the Northwest coast are now moving across the mountain range, Continue reading →