We are wrapping up our trip and heading home so thought I would put a few notes about recent parks and some of the people we met.
On the trip south from Glacier we stayed at a few RV parks that had what they called side by side RV spots. These are designed so if you are traveling with another RV you park with your doors facing each other. Normally you always park facing the same direction so when you step out of your RV you are facing the back side (side water water, sewer and electric are normally hooked up) of the RV next to you. In a side by side situation every other coach parks in the opposite direction so when you step out you are facing the front side of the next coach. This gives you a very big open area between the two coaches. We have stayed in this type of set up when traveling with Bruce’s brother. You don’t see them at most parks but they seem to be getting more popular.
The first one we stayed in after leaving Glacier was in Utah at Perry/Brigham City. We had a huge patio area and the coach we were facing also had a huge patio so lots of room between us. They also included Weber propane BBQ grills (they provided the propane), big table with umbrella and chairs plus extra seating is you wanted to sit around a fire pit. This was similar to the amenities at Glacier except no BBQ at Glacier. When we were at Glacier 4 years ago we did have a site with BBQ grill. We rarely use grills that are provided but we did grill steaks while at Perry/Brigham City.
The only issue at that RV park was the fact that their sites were not real level so we had to put pads under the front tires and stabilizing legs to make us level. The result was a huge step up off the ground to reach our first step. We carry an extra step for these occasions but even after putting it out we still had a large step to get up in the RV. It also did not help that they had used small gravel to cover the parking area, the stabilizing legs really shifted a lot when they were put down. At least the patio area was concrete.
We also had a side by side site when we were staying in Cedar City but it was more level. We were on the next to last spot facing a fifth wheel being using by an older couple. We did not see them much, occasionally the man would be sitting out in a recliner but we did not see them leave very often, of course we were gone a lot touring Zion, Bryce and Cedar Breaks. The end spot seemed to be used by people coming in just for one day. One evening I thought we were going be crashed into by a couple trying to park a truck that had a cab over camper on it and were pulling an enclosed cargo trailer carrying motorcycles. It should have been a very straight forward set up for them but after watching them for awhile Bruce went out to check what was wrong.
This was their maiden trip in the set up and apparently they could not open the door into the back of the camper because of the trailer behind it so they kept trying to cock the trailer at an angle to get the door open. The more they tried the worst it got and the result was the trailer at a sharp angle aimed at the side of our RV. They eventually gave up and disconnected the trailer but he did not use his chocks correctly so Bruce loaned him extra ones we had but don’t use with the coach. When they left in the morning they placed the chocks by our coach. They told Bruce they had previously had a small motor coach but switched to this set up as they wanted to pull the trailer with the motorcycles and did not want to do that with the motor coach.
At this RV park there were cabins across from where we parked and someone from one of the cabins liked to stroll around drinking beer and cutting through the parking spots for the RVs. That is a big no no in RV parks. You never cut through other spots rather they are occupied or not, you are supposed to use the roads. Bruce finally yelled at him and then sit outside for awhile. He started across again and saw Bruce and changed his mind.
We met a couple up at the Brian Head Peak when we had gone to Cedar Breaks Monument. They were actually staying in the same RV park and Bruce had told them where we were staying. The next morning as we preparing to leave they came walking past with their dogs and stopped to talk for a few minutes. They had planned to go to Bryce Canyon that day but were having to get a flat tired fixed. The stopped at the view point in Cedar Breaks that we had skipped because of the construction and they picked up a nail in one of the tires on their vehicle. Glad we skipped that stop.
While in Cedar City we had noticed a local restaurant that seemed to be very busy so we decided to try it on Sunday before we left for Cedar Breaks Monument. With the time difference between Utah and home we were able to connect with our churches Sunday morning service on Facebook and still be gone from the RV by about 11:15 local time. We figured we would beat the lunch rush, wrong. We were there by 11:20 and had trouble finding parking and wondered why there were so many people standing around outside. It was already a 40 minute wait to be seated. We skipped it and when to a Sizzler where we beat the lunch rush. However Sizzler must be where everyone goes after church. By the time we left it was full of people that appeared to be coming from church.
When we moved to Fredonia, Arizona the RV park had assigned us a spot that we thought was a little odd. We had requested a pull through spot which is what we normally get but they had called and recommended we use a pull in spot as it was little longer and easier for parking an RV our size. It was the only pull in they had and it seemed to be in an odd spot based on what we saw online but we said alright since they should know best. It was part of a group parking spot where you could have several RVs grouped together around a central covered fire pit. Never seen a set up like they had but I guess if you were with others it is convenient. Of course we had to back out before we could hook the truck back behind the RV but it was easy to get out, just had to get the truck connected after we had moved out and got to a big open area in the park. Their spots are all gravel and so were the roads in the park, made it hard to distinguish the parking from the road.
When we left the North Rim of the Grand Canyon we stopped at the Jacobs Lake Inn to eat since there was nothing else around for about 40 miles. We were expecting plain food but this was excellent, I had Jagerschnitzel and started with a potato soup. Bruce and I both loved the soup, I could have made a meal off of just the soup broth, rich and creamy. The soup came with a wonderful fresh baked roll. Bruce had a hamburger and fries but only ate half of it as he helped me with the soup. Jagerschnitzel is a pork schnitzel that is served with what they call a hunters sauce (sort of like gravy but thicker with onions and other stuff in the sauce) and topped with onion strings. I had the sauce on the side as I like plain schnitzel. Used to eat it in Germany with just a squeeze of lemon. The schnitzel was probably the best schnitzel I have had since living in Germany. Hunters sauce was not bad, tried a little on my potatoes but I focused on trying to eat the schnitzel which was not possible as it was too large. Bruce had a few bites of the schnitzel but we still had enough left for a sandwich the next day. I never even got around to trying the steamed vegetables. Bruce ordered a chocolate shake to go and it was so thick you needed a spoon to eat it. We just put it in the freezer when we got back to the RV and he had it the next day. This place was an inn, restaurant, bakery, small retail store, casual dining bar area and a service station. Bruce spotted the bakery and ordered a half dozen large chocolate ship cookies to go.
There menu was very interesting they had things like camp fire chicken which was a complete meal cooked in foil, they also had one with pork. Both of these were already sold out when we got there, the waiter mentioned they are usually gone very fast after the dinner service starts as they only cook a limited number of them. When we first got there we were probably the youngest couple in the restaurant and it appeared that most of the customers were guest at the inn and ate all their meals at the restaurant. They knew the waiters by name and asked after anyone they did not see. Just before we left two younger women came in to eat and were struggling with the menu as they stated they had dietary restrictions and were going need special handling of their order. Their first attempt at ordering did not work, the waiter came back with feedback from the cook that their request could not be handled immediately they would have to wait for awhile. They changed to something else so not sure how that was going to work as we left.
While getting the cookies at the bakery we could hear the people trying to check in to the inn and one lady was having a real struggle. She and her husband had apparently stayed there earlier in the week and had checked out but wanted to check back into the inn. They had openings but would not let her have a room because she mentioned her husband had Covid. They kept explaining they were not equipped to handle the cleaning that would be needed if he stayed in the room but she kept saying they had already stayed the day before. I felt sorry for her because there was nothing else anywhere near here and it was already dark out and they would be having a long drive to find a place.
While at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon we met a real young couple that were visiting from somewhere else, not sure with their accent but probably Germany. They were fascinated with the scenery and were wanting another camera lens for their camera as they had the equivalent of basically a 35MM and wanted something to get a wider angle. Bruce let them look through his camera and they loved his lens and took down the info so they could try to buy one before they went to the next national park. They were going to Las Vegas the next day and everyone around felt they should be able to find a camera store that would have the lens in stock.
They had one of the small rental RVs that we see a lot when visiting national parks. We kept seeing them at each of the view points as we moved through the park. At one stop Bruce had out our huge 500 mm lens and they were really impressed with it. Of course that is not something you would normally carry around, since we were parking right at the view points it was easy to get it out. It is better for when you can set up the special tripod that we have for it. It was an anniversary present that we picked out for each other one year. It was the gift that kept on costing, first it was a new camera bag as it was way too big to fit anything we had, then the very expensive gimbal tripod and then a second camera body so Bruce did not have to keep switching lens. I really wanted the lens but quickly discovered it was too heavy for me to use if it was mounted on the tripod.
After leaving the North Rim we started heading home but we don’t rush. We drove to Holbrook, AZ the first night and just stayed one night. The we drove to Albuquerque, NM and stayed two nights. That drive was an experience, we were on I40 for the entire trip and they had some major construction delays. As we were driving along we suddenly got a message on the GPS saying there was a delay ahead and it was adding over 200 minutes to our trip but we were on the fastest route. A short time later that jumped to an even higher delay and eventually it got to a 5 hour delay. I kept checking on my phone for any highway news about a problem but could only find construction about an hour west of Albuquerque. Eventually we got a message about taking an alternate route that took you over on to old route 66 but it would only save you 10 minutes off the delay. To make a long story short, it was the construction (tearing up an overpass), so much traffic got off it backed up route 66 and it appeared that there had also been a wreck as there was a big wrecker that was just finishing loading up two cars on his big flat bed as we got through the area. At the end of the day it was only a little over an hour delay, most of the time just sitting.
By the time we got to the RV park we were tired and just relaxed the rest of the day. Since we were staying two days the next day we went to a really big Camping World and were able to finally find the extra large windshield wipers and several other items we needed.
We then moved on to Amarillo for one night and then to our last stop in Wichita Falls where we are staying two nights. Apparently the Amarillo RV park was hosting some type of Airsteam Trailer group. We counted 20 Airsteam trailers in the park, most parked in on long back row, with about 6 parked in our row. From Wichita Fall we will head straight home, just have to get past Dallas one of my least favorite places because of all the traffic.