From here we headed for Kerrville in the TX Hill country.  We checked out a local winery--and bought some.  We had a camper tire that was disintegrating so we replaced it.  Larry found a wonderful herbal store and we stopped in. We enjoyed the local Cracker Barrel.  We had been without one for over 7 months.  That was a treat.

 

We belong to Escapees RV Club.  There is and Escapees Park in Hondo, TX.  We wanted to check it out--we did.  The people were warm and friendly.  We investigated what it would take to lease a lot here.  By the way, the Wal-Mart here is excellent (number 2 on Phyllis' Wal-Mart list).

 

 

 

TravelingMorgans.com

Our Home is Where We Park It

 

 

This area we are in is a fairyland of treasures just waiting to be explored.  Yesterday (8-17) we took a dirt/gravel road into a back area of Red Canyon.  Roscoe and Harpo are with us.  Red Canyon is part of the National Forest System the dogs are allowed here.  We took the arches trail.  You would think I'd tell you this was an average run of the mill hike but-- we found windows of all sizes.  Some very tiny, some looked like the outlines of chubby moon men, and one good size arch, in a canyon setting, that changed shape as we walked around it.  Now when God past out gracefulness I must have been napping.  Some parts of the trail were steep and slick from loose rock.  I went down on my butt and hands.  Oh well, it worked. I made it in one piece.  The dogs had no problem at all. Larry is a little more sure-footed than me.

 

Back on Highway 12, there is a town called Escalante.  There is a road that goes north to Hell's Backbone.  A bridge has been constructed across a chasm.  This chasm has a creek running though it.  I never saw the creek.  The chasm went down forever.  The colors here were pinks, grays, whites, foliage.  One time in a travels we had a lady tell us not to see all the good-stuff first.  I guess she hadn't come to Utah and Highway 12.

 

 

 

On another outing we went to Coral Pink Sand Dunes off of US 89.  They were pretty, but Larry is from northern IN and the sand dunes of Lake Michigan are truly amazing. 

 

 

 

 

From here we continued south to the Paria Movie Set. It is where some western films have been set.  The movie set consisted of 2 saloons and a post office--not to impressive; but the hills around were purple, gray and white wide horizontal stripes.  It was well worth the rough road to see the scenery.

 

March 17, 2007 Happy St. Paddy's Day!  It's the 39th anniversary of Larry proposing to Phyllis.  Time really flies; and speaking of time flying, I'll try to catch up on Utah to now.  It is the end of Sept. 2006. We were still working at Ruby's Inn campground.  Some co-workers had already left.  Felicity and Melody came for a visit.  We had about a week with them.  We took the Navaho and Queen's Garden Trails from Sunset Point to Sunrise Point.  It is hard to explain the oneness I felt with the hoodoos (rock formations) down at their level and looking up at them.

 

The trail down passed twin bridges up a slot canyon.  These bridges are natural formations.  A slot canyon is a wide crevice in the rock and when it rains hard, water floods through the crevice.  We had a wonderful week with the girls.

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of days after the girls left we had monster rain.  The bone dry washes filled with torrents of water. These streams were impassable.  We watched a truck wanting to cross the usually dry wash and unable to.  There were water falls from cliffs that are normally dry.  After viewing these washes in AZ and now in UT it was amazing to see them rush with water.

 

Phyllis’ Journal

 

Phyllis’ Journal 2006-B

This is a chronicle of 4 Morgans:  Larry, Phyllis,
Roscoe (male miniature Schnauzer), and Harpo (female miniature poodle)

This page covers our second full year on the road (Aug—Dec)

Areas visited include :  SW Utah, Moab UT, Monument Valley UT, Big Bend NP TX

 

Page Last Updated: 8/12/2008

The last week we were at Ruby's, we agreed to work 40 hours, since we were the last of the night workers.  We were very busy; there were still many people traveling.  It was getting colder.  We left the afternoon of Oct. 16. That night Bryce had a snowstorm.  We spent the night in Richfield, UT.  Our furnace went out.  There was a dusting of snow on the ground.  We were headed for Moab, UT.  There was a RV repair place right off the main highway.  The young man cleaned out the furnace and repaired a wire.  What could have cost $1500 or more plus a wait for the parts, only cost us $70.  We were most grateful for God watching over us.  Leaving the repair place we went to our campground.

Moab is one of those select exquisite, barren places on earth that if you haven't been there you must.  Arches Nat. Park is here.  Much of it can be seen from your car.  Spectacles (as in eye glasses), double arch, (above right) Balanced Rock (above left) and more are right along the road.  A short walk will give you a view of Delicate Arch (left).  An easy short walk takes you to landscape arch (above center — not to be standing much longer).  Delicate Arch is perched on a barren cliff.  It's there all by itself against the sky.  Landscape Arch has an enormous expanse which is very narrow and thin.  Double Arch you can see in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at the beginning of the film.

 

While in Moab, we went to Dead Horse Point State Park.  At this park, the Colorado River (same river as in the Grand Canyon) does a severe horseshoe bend.  The colors are amazing, along with the layers of rock formations stair-stepping down to the river.  This view rates as one of the top five overlooks that I have seen. 

On this same day we went to the section of Canyonlands Nat. Park that is adjacent to Dead Horse Point.  The Green River has created some very tall islands.  This part of Canyonlands is obviously called Island in the Sky.  Canyonlands has several sections that are separated by the rivers.  There are overlooks where you can see at least two other sections.  We did not get to the Maze, but maybe on another trip. 

We were able to see a portion of the Needles—a lot like Bryce Canyon in the tall spikes of rock ascending into the air.  Also in this section is the funniest arch--it looks like a wooden shoe (right). 

Before reaching the Needles section, outside the National Park, is an Anasazi Indian Rock (Newspaper Rock).  The petroglyphs are almost one on top of another.  The rock had a like varnish on it and the pictures or messages are carved in this "varnished section".  There were carvings of men, animals, and other items.  Unfortunately, this culture of people did not survive and there are no accurate translations, only guesses as to the meanings. 

From Moab we went to Monument Valley.  We had reservations at Gouldings.  Gouldings is a small spec of land in the Navajo Reservation that had been established before the reservation was expanded from northern AZ to southern UT. Because of Gouldings, Monument Valley was introduced to the American people through John Ford films.  It was the one place in the west were western films had great (absolutely awesome) scenery plus plenty of Indians.  The land is harsh, stark and gorgeous.  There is a spot known as Ford point (left below).  Here Ford would direct John Wayne and others from his favorite spot.  There are two formations known as the mittens.  These are view almost immediately as you enter the Valley.  There is another formation near the mittens (I think) is called Merrick Butte.  Several car commercials were filmed here with the car on top.  The way to see the area is a tour.  When you take this tour, go with an empty bladder. There are no necessary stops.  The ride is very rough; but I would do this again if the opportunity is available.  On your own, you must stay on the controlled driving paths; with the Indian guides, you see so much more.

From Monument Valley we headed south.  We had wanted to go to Meteor Crater and over to Flagstaff.  After checking the weather (it’s the end of October), anything above 6,000 ft. was going to be icy and snowy.  We headed east into NM. Briefly stopping in two campgrounds, we head to Big Bend Nat. Park.  The weather was terrific. 

Big Bend National Park in West Texas is a combination of desert, mountains, and river valley.  It is so remote.  The closest Super Wal-Mart is at El Paso (over 300 miles). There are no good size grocery stores.  I don't know how these residents stay.  Everything is too expensive due to the distance to ship it in.  If you are able to backpack or come when the Rio Grande has water coming through the side canyons it would be fun and exciting.

 

We are in the Hill Country of Central Texas. This is home for the next 4 months.  We were here a year and a half ago and really enjoyed the quiet atmosphere. It sits on top of a hill above the San Marcos River.  You can walk over to an island and down to the river.  There are large open areas and a dog park.  It meets our needs with our two dogs.

We thought we could easily find jobs here.  Well----we failed to take into account the college here.  We went in person to pick up applications, filled out applications on line, and went for interviews.  Finally Larry got a call from a temp agency and got a job with the LBJ Museum as curator.  Then another job opened up for Larry at Century Tel a DSL hotline company.  Larry takes calls from customers who need help getting on line.  Both Sam's Club and Wal-Mart called me 3 weeks before we were leaving.  Larry is invited back in the fall to Century Tel.  We will see how life pans out. 

We were hoping to find winter jobs to come back to each year.  Also, we needed to find chiropractor, dentist, and MD. As I told you above, Larry found a job.  We found excellent chiropractors in Drs. Sarah and Raphael Moreno.  We also found a dentist.  Hopefully, if we return here next winter we'll find an MD and Phyllis a job.

The site we had was delightful.  We had a concrete patio, yard, and wonderful neighbors also staying for the winter. This park has a good variety of people--babies, college students, professional people, the older generation.

While Larry worked, I tried to accomplish the day to day necessities:  laundry, dog baths and clippings, cleaning in and out on the camper.  This allows us more time to have fun when he is off work--hiking in the state parks, RV shopping, and cooking out. 

Nov. 15, 2006--San Marcos, TX:  Pecan RV Park.