Water Details

Living in an RV is different from a house in many ways.  One is the bathroom.  I’m not going into all the details but some things I had to learn. Besides the obvious small size of the room, other things are different. 

-       The toilet paper is a special type so it decomposes quickly.  At Walmart you have to go to the RV section of the store to buy it, not the toilet paper aisle.  It’s not bad but it’s definitely not thick Charmin.

-       Flushing means stepping on a lever beside the toilet.  If you need to add water you lift the lever up with your foot.

-       The smell isn’t bad.  Every time you dump the tank you add a little bit of a chemical.

-       Toilets are made of plastic.  A heavy ceramic toilet would be too much weight for an RV.

-       You have to dump the tank every 2-7 days.  There is both a gray tank (shower and sink water) and a black tank (toilet). 

-       Taking a shower is quick.  The gray tank isn’t that big.  If you ran water constantly it would fill up pretty fast.  So a navy shower is better.  Wet down, turn off the water, soap up, and then rinse.  Plus, there is little room to turn around.

-       Using the RV park shower is much more relaxing!

William Clark

We visited Pompey’s Pillar in Montana.  It’s another of those places we never would have known about without wandering around.  When Lewis and Clark came through this area, they split up for a time.  Clark stopped at this rock along Yellowstone River and named it Pompey after Sagawea’s son’s nick name (pomp means “little chief”). 

He signed the rock like other travelers had done over the years.  The signature is the only known record left on a site of Lewis & Clark’s travels.  I love the fact that it's behind glass and with a lock!

This view is where Custer’s army stayed at one time.  Little Bighorn is near here.  We visited it on a previous trip so we aren’t visiting this time.

 

Montana RV Parks

Love the wide open spaces and mountains in Montana.  All the views are just so gorgeous.  Here’s the view from the RV park in Bear Canyon.

One comment on RV parks.  Many of them seem to be located near train tracks.  So, if you are having any problems sleeping, you can hear trains pass at midnight, 2 am, 4 am, etc.  Sometimes I hear them, while most times I don’t.  None have been a real problem.

Here’s the sunset from our next Montana park (picture by John).

Gingko Petrified Forest

After seeing the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, I thought seeing Washington’s petrified forest would be neat. Well, there’s no comparison. In Arizona you see log after log that has fallen down. Pieces of the wood (now rock) are all around you. The bad part of this is that people will take pieces. Washington’s forest is only 14 or so logs sticking out of a hill. They don’t want anyone stealing what they have so they enclosed them in small cages at different points on a trail. It is neat, however, how even the splinters of wood are preserved by the petrification process.

The unique part of this place is that there are different types of wood. Plus, the wood was preserved in lava instead of swamp silt. I’m not sure how it didn’t just burn up, but instead it’s preserved in the hills in this area.

Outside the park is a small shop selling pieces. Similar to Arizona, it seems that more of the wood is outside the park than inside and it’s for sale. I like where they have dinosaurs to bring in visitors. There are no dinosaur fossils here, but it’s advertising!

The Worst of.....

In a Zen sort of way, the things that were bad were good.  Here’s my list…

1.    Dolly Breakdown – Yes, the bearings failed on the dolly when the grease ring fell off.  But we met a nice guy who helped direct John to a nearby store.  Plus John got to prove the worth of all his tools he’s brought along. http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2011/10/dolly-problems.html

2.    Gas Pump Breakdown – This was an expensive fix, but afterwards we realized how much we needed the tune-up.  The motorhome has never sounded so good, especially as we climb mountains.  We could have been taken advantage of, but instead they did a great job for a reasonable cost.  We enjoyed the area.  And how many people can say they slept in a repair shop parking lot?  http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2012/01/life-at-repair-shop.html

3.    GPS Lady – Our GPS lady has taken us to some wild places.  Nothing was better than turning around in the field of a lady who has never seen a rig as big as our little RV. http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2011/10/boondocking-and-our-anniversary.html

4.    5” of Snow – The snow was deep and it was cold outside.  But inside we were comfortable and the view was gorgeous!  http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2012/04/life-is-snowy-adventure.html

Washington Wind

You would think that I would have noticed the trees planted in wind brakes all around the campsites, but I was surprised at how windy it was at the campground.  Turns out that it’s OK most of the day, but late afternoon every day the winds pick up and sweeps this Columbia river valley.  There was no way to eat dinner outside.  Somewhere in the middle of the night the winds stop.

Up north it is cottonwood season.  This is the place where cottonwood “cotton” goes to die.

On our next day traveling we saw lots of dust devils (little tornedoes) both little and large.  I’m not sure why we see so many dust devils while traveling.  Once we saw six of them at the same time with most of them circling in a bigger dust devil.  Very cool.

Wind Farm

A wind farm is pretty neat to visit.  First, did you know it’s windy?  This one is on the hills with a steady 20 mph wind.  They said it has gone as high as 120 mph!  It was very windy the day we visited making us wish we had jackets even though it was warm at the campground.  According to the tour guide, the rpm of the wind blades stays the same no matter the wind speed.

Cool tour.  You see a blade (7 tons per blade even with lightweight materials).  They are hollow so they echo when you yell into them.  Of course I’m much too mature to do that. Or someday I’ll be too mature.

They take you into the base of one of the towers.  Outside the sound is from the wind and the swoop-swoop of the blades.  Inside is a different hum from the turbine.  Quiet enough to still talk though.

The wind farm has 149 turbines.  Each one cost $3 million dollars and makes 1.8 MW (or so) of power.  The power costs $0.055/kWh (not bad compared to many industrial costs I’ve seen).  They have 22 technicians on staff to keep them running.  The total farm serves up to 70,000 houses.  Fascinating stop!

Pictures and Comments

This is an interesting example of multi-purposing.  Yes, it’s a flag pole, but it’s also a light pole, a mount for a bird house (the mail box) and it even has the house numbers on it.  Great idea!

Here’s the rolling green hills of the Northwest.  After being in desert so much over the winter, I love the green colors.

Washington mountains.  We’ve seen so many different temperatures.  Seeing snow again alongside the road is a bit unsettling.  The good part was the many waterfalls along the road from the snow melt.

Terror of Wild Life

Certain animals are normal in a campground.  I’ve seen squirrels, raccoons, deer, and even the fearsome skunk.  I’ve heard of elk or bears coming through a campsite.  But geese?  During the evening I saw a mom with her little daughter walking around the pond.  Suddenly she picked up her child and ran to get away from the goose.  I’d have laughed, but right afterward the goose attacked me too.

When I took a walk in the morning more geese were wandering around the leftovers at a campfire.  I’m sure it would be interesting to wake up in a tent and see these guys.

It’s a unique campground.  There’s a mineral springs here (“Highest Mineral Content in USA.”) so they built a water park with slides and everything.  Given we visited on a weekend, it was a busy place.  But beautiful!

The Hills are Alive

We’re traveling through the mountains of Utah.  I can just about hear Julie Andrews singing.  Beautiful views!

The Best of… (Part II)

More "best of...".

Best RV park area – Justin’s Diamond J RV Park - While this park in Tucson wasn’t anything special, it had great hikes.  The trail on park property snaked around all types of cactuses with many signs to help learn the plants.  The coolest part was that it connected to a park with many more trails.  http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2012/02/cold-weather-and-long-hikes.html

Best state park activities – Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park – I like a park where there is something to see on a hike.  This one had a slave cemetery, metal production site, a mill, and old-time displays.  You can keep busy for quite a while here.  http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2011/10/birmingham.html

Best tour – Colorado River Discovery – It was relaxing, instructive, gorgeous views, fun, and exciting.  Great tour guide.  Can’t get any better.  http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2012/05/water-adventures.html

Best “ball of twine” – Cadillac Ranch – It was family friendly, artistic, interactive, fun, and free!  http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2012/03/playing-with-spray-paint.html

Best place to chill out – Lukenbach Texas – Nothing is more relaxing than sipping a beer while sitting under a tree and listening to music!  http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2012/01/lukenbach-texas.html

This is what we'll found so far.  We've been to some great places!

The Best of… (Part I)

We’ve seen a lot of parks and tourist activities. So much that we’ve started to forget the names of a few (which is a major reason for this blog).  I was going to do this at six months, but we’ve been full-timing for over seven months.  I’d thought I’d spend some time listing some of our best and favorite places along with a link to the page on it. 

Best beach – Mexico Beach - Padre Island may have beaten this if we hadn’t visited during a red tide session.  Mexico beach was relaxing without a large crowd.  The powder sand was wonderful.  http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2011/10/in-search-of-warmth.html

Best hike – Superstition Mountain – For a challenge, nothing beat this one.  We didn’t leave early enough or bring enough water to make it the full distance.  But what we saw was great.  http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2012/02/lost-dutchman-mine.html

Best cave – Carlsbad Caverns – Hands down the biggest and best.  I really enjoyed some of the smaller places we’ve been or places like Coronado Cave where you explore with a flashlight on your own.  But Carlsbad is just incredible with the amount and type of formations.  The added plus is touring on your own without a guide.  http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2012/03/carlsbad-caverns-ii.html

Best museum – The Osteology Museum – There is nothing like a room full of bones for a thrill.  The creepy factor helps, but it was educational and enlightening.  You see things a whole new way after visiting this one.  http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2012/03/bones.html

Best national park in spring – Organ Pipe National Park - We heard later that this park can be dangerous given border crossing activity.  We didn’t see any of that.  Instead we saw gorgeous spring flowers, heard birds singing, and smelled desert in the springtime.  http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2012/02/organ-pipe-national-monument.html

Best ruins – Fort Bowie – The places we like are out of the way.  The ruins were good, but the fact that so few people visited (10,000 a year) amazed us.  The 1-1/2 mile hike from the parking lot was very easy and filled with signs and things to see.  http://tandtrv.blogspot.com/2012/01/fort-bowie.html

More to follow.....

Paths and Trails

Many other places forbid ATV’s.  As a non-ATV’er, I’m pretty happy with that since I don’t want the noise, damage to trails, danger of hiking and ATV’s in the same place, and the fumes.  However, Utah welcome’s ATV’s.  The park we stayed  has trails to neat areas like abandoned mines.  Almost every RV had an ATV parked near it….we felt like such a minority.  Here’s the view from our bedroom window with a big ATV trail right at the park.  BTW, it was still a quiet spot to relax.

Utah also seems to have a lot of bike trails.  We traveled several miles along a bike trail.  Beautiful area with a creek with rapids in places.

This is called Big Rock Candy Mountain.  Looks like an ice cream sundae!  The story is that someone put a sign here as a joke after the “Big Rock Candy Mountain” song came out in 1928.  The name stuck and locals came up with a way to provide a tourist stop with a resort (hotel, cabins, RV’s, and tent camping) at the base.

Utah!

Apparently you are supposed to use an exclamation mark when referring to Utah, especially when you are a tourist.  So far, I have to admit it is !!!ish (new word, I’ll have to trademark it). 

Utah! mountains with snow in the distance

Utah! rocky hills

Utah! rocky mountain

Utah! rocky mountain

Utah! hoodoos

Toadstools

We hiked today to rock formations called toadstools.  Similar to tent rocks, these were ones where a large rock reduced erosion beneath it. 

On the way were other colorful hills.

Agave plants are in bloom.  The plant is also called the Century Plant.  We’ve been told by several people that the plants only bloom once in 100 years.  Given all the blooms we’ve seen, that didn’t seem right.  By googling, it looks the plant really does bloom once and then dies.  But, it blooms in 10 to 20 years not every 100 years.  After it dies several offshoots can start from the roots.  So, it’s not so rare to see a bloom, but still something special.

 

Hiking in a Dry Wash

At the visitor center at the National Park, they gave us a sheet with local hikes.  This one was interesting.  We stopped on the road near a certain mile marker in the middle of nowhere.  There were no signs to tell you there’s a hike there or any signs along the trail.  Then we walked into a sandy wash (or draw) and started walking.  After an hour and multiple times when we swore we would stop walking at the next curve, we finally reached the point where there was an arch in the canyon wall.

The wash was deep with sand so it felt like walking on the beach (the soft portion not the portion that’s easy to walk on).  Everyone once in a while we had to climb up rocks to the next level.  The bizarre feeling that you are totally lost was offset by the view, seeing all sorts of small animals, and wildflowers.

Water Adventures

White water, a raft out-of-control, and a water rescue!  All this was a part of our trip down the Colorado River.  Well…the white water was really limited to a very few places. The out-of-control raft was when the tour guide purposely shut off the motor and allowed the raft to move under the current while she told stories about the area.  The water rescue was when someone’s hat flew off.  One of the tall guys was able to reach over the side and grab it after a few attempts.  It was a fun day.

We took a local raft tour from the Glen Canyon down to Lee’s Ferry.  After this point the river enters Grand Canyon.  I’d love if we had booked a week long raft trip for $3,000+ per person last year (the typical wait time), but instead the half day trip was educational, relaxing, and fun. 

Yesterday during the dam tour we met a couple who stayed right beside us at the RV park.  We mentioned we were going on the raft today.  They ended up signing up for the same trip.  It was neat to have another couple that we knew.

Our guide was really good with stories, bird identification (blue heron in the picture), water use, plant and environment discussion, and even poetry.  We had fun yelling up to the people above at horseshoe bend.  A highlight of the trip was seeing wild horses along the river.  Apparently our guide had never seen so many (8 or so) at one time.  Even seeing one was fairly rare.

Glen Canyon Dam

In an earlier post, I said Glen Canyon Dam is smaller than Hoover Dam.  Well, I guess it depends on how you define it.  Hoover is taller, Glen is wider, Hoover holds more water, and Glen has more tons of concrete.  Glen Canyon is definitely less full of tourists, which is good!

We went on a tour of the dam.  Very interesting hearing how they have to have to control water so closely.  The water in Lake Powell supplies millions of people down river.  The fact that more people are moving into the area downstream is causing lots of problems.  Electricity is just a by-product of the dam, control of water is the real purpose.  Interesting point was that the nearby coal power plant makes three times more power. 

Down at the bottom are two acres of grass.  The grass keeps the dirt from eroding while the dirt reduces vibration from the water flow in the pipes.  John and another guy on the tour just wanted to play a round of golf!

We got to see the electric generators.  They were rebuilding one set.  Since I used to manage repairs of large gearboxes, it was fascinating to see what they had to do.  They have a machine shop within the dam to do any machining they need to do.  That would certainly have made it easier years ago at the Uhrichsville plant.