Tucker wanted to go white water rafting in Santa Fe but decided to wait until we got to Moab, UT. However the rapids on the Colorado River looked a little tame to him so we opted not to raft. We had planned before the trip to rent a jeep and finish the trail to Chicken Corners that we failed to finish with Papaw in 2003. We did that and had a blast.

Pretty much anything can be rented in Moab and somehow the idea of renting ATVs came up. I wanted to rent a dirt bike for me but got out voted as Laurie said if she could not go she would go downtown shopping. So we rented 2 ATVs that each seated two people. I figured that was cheaper than turning Laurie loose downtown. We got the ATVs for 24 hours and they came with a trailer so we could take them where we wanted. The business recommended some places to ride.

We had a blast. The first place was Onion Creek with 22 stream crossings and scenery that was breath taking. The boys took turns driving theirs and Laurie let me pilot ours. We rode about 10 miles and then turned around because the trail was too rough, too remote and I was wondering what I would do if we had mechanical problems. Five minutes later the boys had fuel problems with their ATV and we thought we might get stranded. However I was able to get it half running and some local folks came along in a 4 wheel Toyota at the same time and gave Laurie a ride back to the truck so I could limp the ATV back to the trailer.

I took off down the canyon. The ATV would accelerate almost to full throttle and then cut out, slow down and almost stop. But it would catch and take off again. I wanted to get it up on the canyon top, down the side of the canyon and across the 22 stream crossings before it quit so I ran it wide open. A Can Am 500 ATV is amazingly stable sliding around a gravel curve sideways and crossing streams at 50 MPH.

It finally started running ok but we took it back to the rental place and they replaced it with a Can Am 650 that was wicked and added 4 hours to our 24 hour rental. If you are ever in Moab, UT and want to rent something, check out Moab Tour Company. They treated us very fairly. I also added a tow strap to our gear so we could tow one ATV with the other if we had more mechanical problems.

We returned to the camper for dinner and then took an evening ride to Gemini Bridges that lasted until dark and another ride the next day that also had breath taking scenery. We probably rode 100 miles in total. I have to admit it was a lot of fun especially the ride until after dark around the side of a butte. Both boys had a great time and are ready to try it again.

It was also interesting in that there was not a lot of paper work involved for the potential risk. After the credit card swipe we were on the road with a trailer and two ATVs in less than 10 minutes. We made one wrong turn on a trail and were riding up and down bald sandstone like you see on TV until we came to a very steep slope that we would have to go around sideways and then decided we should consult our maps. We stayed out of trouble and within our abilities but it would have been easy to get into trouble.

Anyway, Cousin Judy in Nevada has friends, Dave and Barbara who have two ATVs so the boys might be interested in visiting Cousin Judy again next year.

Laurie and I watched the fireworks in Kremmling, CO. The elevation is about 8,000 feet and there is still a lot of snow on the mountain tops. When we registered for the campground the owner told us to come to the office at 9:30 because they always watched the town fireworks from there. Then she came around later and knocked on our door to remind us.

So we drifted on down and it was a blast. They had a fire going and it felt great… on July 4th. The owner handed out ice cream sandwiches, a retired truck driver told corny jokes and an old man who would have weighed 100 lbs if he was wet walked around in full western gear with hat, mustache, bandana and belt buckle as big as a dinner plate.

The fireworks display had a few false starts but they finally got it going. Afterwards all 8 of us stood around the fire and talked about where we were from and where we were going. It was another perfect night in the American West.

There are other things still to blog about but I wanted to get this post out. After a dusk ATV ride Laurie and I drove back to Arches National Park around midnight to do some star gazing. The view was almost as good as the one at cousin Judy’s place in Nevada. There was a little light from Moab but the Milky Way was clearly visible.

There was a very gentle breeze carrying just a hint of the day’s heat and the usual desert low humidy. We sat in our camp chairs in the dark, the quiet, the gentle breeze and talked about how perfect it was to be spending our Saturday night there.

I played around with some star photography but did not get what I wanted. We had plans to do it again the next night but the weather did not cooperate. Oh well. But it was a wonderful time with Laurie.

I have read there is a waterfall in Death Valley and since this is at least my 4th visit I thought I should find it. We took the dirt road just beyond the small community of Panamint Springs. Actually calling it a road is a lie. It was very rough with rocks and holes and at the end I actually thought I might have to backup the 2.4 miles to the paved road. It took all of us to watch the camper to make sure I did not drag the belly or cut the truck into the camper as we maneuvered around rocks and holes. But we got it turned around a pointed down the valley.

On the crawl up the road Bradley was looking out his window and suddenly shouted “There is a camera!” I thought he meant a disposable camera, but he said no, that it was a Nikon. I stopped and he ran back to get it. Turns out it is a Nikon Coolpix point and shoot. It was operational and had over 300 photos on it. The last photo was of the road we were on and it was dated a week ago. So we figured it had been laying in the road all that time. There is nothing in any of the photos to identify the owners but we plan to call the park service and determine if there is a lost and found department.

We brushed on sunscreen like basting a turkey, loaded up with water bottles and hiked up the canyon. The trail got rough so we sent scout Tucker ahead to find the waterfall and let us know if we needed to continue. After about 5 minutes he yelled that he had found it and we should continue.

I am glad we did. The community of Panamint Springs has a 2-3 inch pipe from the falls to supply them with water. The area was shaded, cool and very pleasant. And of course Tucker had to take a plunge. It was a great hike.

So Laurie had mentioned that she had a cousin Judy that lived in Nevada and we had an open invite to visit her. Judy came to our wedding and we discussed visiting her if I could get a full 3 weeks of vacation from work. I got the three weeks and on Sunday evening we rolled into Smith Valley in north western Nevada. Smith Valley was nice with hay fields and temperatures in the low 60′s at night. The south west always amazes me in that the day time temperatures can get into the 90′s but the night time temperatures are nice because there is very little humidity and the air does not hold heat. Step into the shade and you instantly feel cool. We did not run the A/C at night.

Judy immediately made us feel right at home. She had prepared a great dinner with leg of lamb with baked potatoes, salad and raspberry pie for dessert.

Judy had the next day all planned for us. Her friends Dave and Barbara have a cabin up in the mountains. Judy packed a very nice picnic lunch for us and we all headed up into the mountains. We observed eagles and wild horses on the way up to the cabin on a dirt road.

I have to stop here and say I was pleasantly surprised by Judy. She works near Los Angeles, CA and I assumed she was a liberal Californian. But she is an expert marksman. She showed us her gun safe the night before. All I will say is “Don’t mess with Judy!” And her friends are just like her.

The cabin was just an old miner’s shack with some improvements but it was great. Perfect temperature, a gentle breeze, a spring that never runs dry, dogs running through the grass, blue skies and good company. Dave brought a Henry 22 rifle and the boys soon impressed everyone with their marksmanship skills. I downloaded Barbara’s photos onto my iPad and Dave later told me he figured I had already cost him $1000 as Barbara would want an iPad. She is a very good photographer. Dave gave us a tour of the area and we walked with Judy over her mountain property.

That night we had hamburgers and Judy’s friend Robert came over to do the grilling We had good food, good drink and great conversation. After dinner Bradley and Robert started talking music and Bradley went to Robert’s home with him to do a little jamming.

We all had a great time and thank our new friends Judy, Dave, Barbara and Robert for their hospitality. And the stars and Milky Way were nice also.

After we left Mom and Pop’s RV Park we swung by the four corners monument where you can stand in four states and take your photo. However the Navajo wanted way too much money to get in so we continued to Mexican Hat, UT and proceeded down through Monument Valley. Many of the old western movies were filmed here. Later that night we watched the movie ‘Stagecoach’ with John Wayne which was filmed in Monument Valley.

We had decided we wanted to get to the north rim of the Grand Canyon on this day so we were driving through Page, AZ and the Vermillion Cliffs late in the day. The low orange glow of the setting sun made the sandstone mountains breath taking. Bradley had no cell phone coverage and could not text his girlfriend. So the four of us cranked up the music, took hundreds of photos, rolled down the windows and drove into the setting sun telling jokes, being goofy and just having a great time. The humidity here is so low that 95-100 degree temperatures are really not that bad. Especially if you can get into some shade. Anyway, it was a great time.

The north rim of the Grand Canyon is definitely nicer than the usual south rim. The elevation is about 2000 feet higher. The temperature hit 52 degrees during the night. We were camped about 40 miles north of the rim.

The next morning we got up at 3:45am and drove down to the Grand Canyon. The lowest temperature we encountered was 31 degrees at 8300 feet in elevation. We had just been in 95 degree temps the evening before and we would hit 113 degrees in Death Valley 36 hours from that point.

Getting up that early made for a long day but we all agreed it was worth the effort. Seeing the sun rise in the Grand Canyon is not something you will soon forget.

Vermillion Cliffs west of Page Arizona.

An overlook for Vermillion Cliffs while climbing to the mountain forest north of the Grand Canyon.

Sun rising at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

A mountain meadow north of the Grand Canyon

So we were drifting into Farmington, NM after a beautiful drive at 9000 feet through the mountains north west of Santa Fe and we needed a campground. Bradley pulled out Paddie (we call the iPad Paddie) and quickly found a campground that had Wifi. The boys won’t stay at a campground that does not have Wifi.

We called ahead and confirmed an empty spot for us and checked prices. But when we drove past it we all agreed we did not want to stay there. So we drove on into the setting sun.

Next we spotted Mom and Pop’s RV Park and turned in. It was a wise decision. Pop retired from the Air Force in 1981 and he and his wife full timed for a while at sometime in their lives. One time when he was in Boston he picked up some toy lead molds at a flea market and discovered he had a knack for making molds of small toys and figures, filling them with molten lead and then painting them.

His whole office was filled with painted lead figures. He had individual parts or complete scenes like hangings, indian gatherings, cattle roundups, signing of the Declaration of Independence, ancient Europe battle scenes, etc. It was wild.

He also had an outdoor train with complete scenes from the American west, the 1920’s, etc.

He was a joy to talk to. He only accepted cash and I think he stuffed it into a drawer. He sold nothing else in the office except his toys.

And the finishing touch for this campground was the parrot on top of a camper. We all agreed this was a good stop.

So we got on the road again after the truck repair. Over in the afternoon we noticed an old car driving about 55 mph and as we passed we observed an old man driving with intense concentration, windows down and we joked that that was probably the first car he ever had and just kept it. We could not determine the model or year.

We stopped for a break to stretch our legs. We passed the car again and made the same comments.

We stopped for about 45 minutes late in the day to eat dinner. We were making it a late day as we were going to get to Amarillo or bust after losing one day to the breakdown. On the road again in the evening who did we see? The same car. This was too much. I slowed down to match his speed as we passed. We rolled down the windows, yelled and waved and took some video. Bradley told him we had passed him 3 times. He grinned from ear to ear and waved enthusiastically. He was wearing gloves and what looked like a flannel shirt. Bradley did not get a photo but here is a screen shot from the video he took. It was funny.

Our grand adventure took a slight detour on Sunday in Clarksville, AK. We were making good time when around noon the check engine light came on and we lost 3 of our 6 cylinders as the truck went into ‘limp home’ mode. This has happened 3-4 times in the last year but it always cleared in a few seconds and the dealership refused to do anything about it. Looking at the engine codes I always thought I had a marginal fuel injector.

Anyway, the problem did not clear. We turned the truck off and restarted a couple of times with no luck. We tried clearing the codes with a code reader with no luck. Since the truck would still run but had little power we drove on the shoulder to the next exit while Bradley was trying to find a Dodge dealer on the iPad. At the next exit we saw a Wal Mart so we knew we could park in their parking lot. Then a great stroke of luck! There was a combined Dodge/Ford dealership within 1/4 mile of the Wal Mart. However this was Sunday so it was not open.

We fired up the generator and had an easy afternoon watching movies and getting all our Wal Mart shopping completed.

The next morning Tucker and I were in line at the Dodge dealer when the service deprtment opened. They had one diesel mechanic and we were third in line but they assured me they would get to me that day. I checked with the service department and they had 3 injectors for my truck so we would not have to wait for parts.

Then the waiting began. I just hung around where I would get a chance to chat with folks. I soon found out that everyone there drove Dodge Cummins trucks and did not care for Fords. Most of them had campers and we started talking about where we were headed. They gave us good advice on a campground in Amarilla and talked more about the Dodge Cummins. Then they moved me up in the line.

The diesel mechanic was a good ole boy and did not mind me watching him work. I now know exactly how to replace a fuel injector in my truck. We talked more about how sweet the Dodge Cummins is, the agony of raising teenagers, the different jobs we have had and just life in general. He lived on 20 acres and had 6 kids.

Before long we were back on the road and the 100,000 mile engine warranty paid for the $995 fuel injector. We lost exactly 1 day but we picked a perfect place to have a breakdown.

And I enjoyed talking with the local folks. Regardless of where folks live most of us are just good decent people trying to make a living and raise our kids well.

The next posting will be ‘There Goes That Car Again!