If you want to make God laugh, make plans

Having decided that it was time to go, it was hard to leave Maia, her animal family and my cozy nest in her driveway in Claremont CA.  And I couldn't even give Maia a big hug because of COVID restrictions!  Well, the moral of that is, I'll have to come back and see her again when we can hug.  Especially hard for a couple of Italian cooks not to be able to be in each other's kitchens, cooking and eating together!

The first thing I planned to do was go north, to get away from the heat.  My first day, April 14, I drove up to Bishop CA in the Eastern Sierras.  My friends Johan and Michelle like to spend winters there and are very familiar with the area.  I had wanted to go visit them, but with all the parks closed, it wasn't possible.  In fact, they had just left there and headed back to W. Mass a week earlier.  At least I was able to drive through the area and see how beautiful it is.  From there, I planned to follow their route east through Nevada, Utah, Colorado and on east.

Snowcapped mountains surround Bishop.

I stopped for the night at a nice RV park in Bishop.  About 4AM I was awakened by the camper rocking and rolling!  Fell back to sleep trying to figure out what it was.  Reminded me of earthquakes in Los Angeles.  Sure enough, the next morning Michele texted me that there had been a 6.6 earthquake some 35 miles NW of Bishop.  Calling the Nevada Department of Transportation, two sections of my route east were closed because of major cracks in the road from the earthquake.  So much for my planned route!

Looking at maps, I saw a small state highway going east and north and connecting with my planned highways.  Question was, could I drive through there with my car and camper?  Talking with Johan, he knew the road, it was steep and windy, and he assured me I could make it if I just took it slow.  So I headed up 189 and sure enough, it was a narrow winding road, climbing up and up into the mountains.  I wanted to take pictures but there was no shoulder, and you could only ever see as far as the next sharp curve.  The road gains over 2000 feet in 8 miles.  And then down the other side was just as steep and winding - 6% grade.  But Big Babe (my car) pulled and Little Turtle (the camper) followed behind, and we made it over the mountains.   Reassuring to know my rig can do that.  

Beautiful mountains all around.  

On into Nevada:

Tonopah NV.  Pretty stark country.

These wildflowers were often along the road.  

Massive wind farm near Ely NV.  Otherwise, a few cattle here and there.  Most of this land is too dry or overgrazed to even use for cattle.

Stopped for lunch in Blind Valley, Nevada

Coming into Utah, it was a joy to see the green valleys.  Mountains still stark and bare.

Found this lovely spot to camp in Fishlake National Forest, Salina UT.   Gooseberry Creek runs down this valley and that's what makes all the difference.  Water is Life.

Most nights along the way I stayed in a Walmart parking lot (or Costco, Cabela, REI, Cracker Barrel, etc.), which they mostly will let you do.  There's an app to look these up called All Stays where you can search by the town where you want to stay.  You do have to call ahead and get an OK, because some cities have ordinances against campers or semis staying overnight.  I also have stayed at many truck stops.  They often have a separate area for the semis, and have the RVs camp in the front, near the gas pumps.  Usually I can find a quieter corner to park in that's mostly level.  There is always way too much light all night, and vehicles coming and going.  However, it's free and handy to get back on the highway in the morning.  Staying at a national forest is much to be preferred and harder to find as I came east.

On to Utah:

This is what I thought Utah would look like.  And it does!

Then I came to the San Rafael Swell.  Never heard of it before, and it is amazing.  Maybe you can enlarge the picture of the sign that explains it - a geologic feature where many strata of rock from different time periods have been pushed up to display the layers, and then worn down, leaving the harder strata showing.

Geology on display so clearly.  And so beautiful.  I went from one "Scenic Overlook" to the next, reading all the signs explaining the geology and human history.  

Ghost rock.

With semi trucks for perspective on its size.  

This is the region called Moab, where Arches and Canyonlands National Parks are located.  Had they been open, I would like to have seen them.  Next trip.

Every Tuesday, as I may have mentioned, I do nurse visits by appointment remotely from my office.  That requires good wifi.  So I had reserved space at an RV campground in Grand Junction CO.  Turned out I didn't have any appointments that Tuesday and already paid for 3 days there.  Looking at the map of the area, I found a lovely park, one of a chain of parks named after James M. Robb who had the vision of parks and pathways all along the Colorado River through Grand Junction.  He spearheaded the development of 3 lovely parks and a long bike/walking path.  Walking and meditating in these natural places restored me.  Thank you, James M. Robb and friends.

The Colorado River passes by Grand Junction.

One of the natural lakes that parallel the river in The Connected Lakes section of the park.

Lots of lizards here -- all with dark and light vertical stripes.  

Cliffs across the river.  

The bike/walking path runs for miles.  

What it would all look like, or worse, if this land were not cleaned up and preserved. 

The next day I drove along the Colorado National Monument's Rim Rock Drive.  Amazing views down into the canyons.  Scenic Overlooks with signs explained the geology and also Native American presence, and plants and animals they would have eaten and used to live in this dry landscape.  

All these canyons were carved out by water.  Here you can see what was once a stream bed, including the little notch in the distance where the water poured over into the valley far below.  It must have been a much wetter time then for enough water to carve all this rock, and thousands of years for the carving to take place.

Conditions now are harsh here, twisting this still living tree.

The next day I took a hike up the No Thoroughfare Trail to a small waterfall.

This was late May and there would have been more water flowing earlier in the spring.

From the trail through the canyon you can look up to the cliffs where I was looking down from Rim Rock Drive the day before.   

The lizards here were turquoise with grey heads!

Then I took a short trail to a stone formation called Devil's Kitchen.  The trail went across open rock slabs and it was hard to keep track of it.  I was resting in the shade when three young 20 somethings came up the trail.  The lead young woman was showing the other two the trail, and I asked her to point it out to me.  (We were more than 6' apart.)  When I was rested, I headed up where she had pointed, and lost the trail again.  By now, though, the rocks were looming over me and it was easy to see where I was going.  Massive red columns of rock had been carved out of the cliffs, forming a kind of room inside.

These towers were probably two stories high.

Between the spires you could see into the valley below.  

The head of some prehistoric creature as tall as I am, looking at me?

This 3' tall tree was growing right out of the rock.  Life clings in amazing places.

On the way down, I again had trouble following the trail.  I met a couple of young teens hiking up (it was no small hike).  When I remarked that they seemed to be doing a better job than I was of staying on the trail, we got into a conversation.  They said they had been up there many times and knew it well.  I said how fortunate we are that someone had preserved this land for us, because housing development is lapping right up to the borders of the Historic Monument.  One of the young women said, "Yes, someone had the heart to love this place and work to preserve it, and all the natural places like this."  I was touched that these two teens, and the three young women I met earlier, and many other families and couples I met that day who all treasured this special place.  Makes me hopeful that this younger generation gets it - we have to love the natural world and care for it.  

Here I am with my bandana leaving Colorado National Monument.