We so enjoyed our last visit here we decided to go back this year.  This is Manti-La Sal ​National Forest.  It covers 1.2 million acres across Utah and parts of Colorado.  This park is halfway between Blanding and Monticello.  

​We were surprised to find this upon arrival and the back half of the park was still closed for the winter, awaiting the host's arrival next month.

We selected this site.  It was the best one available, but not as good as last year's site.  We met the park rangers who were fixing the blown down sign.  They were very nice and opened the back half of the park after seeing the big rigs starting to surround us.  So we hightailed it over to our favorite spot...YAY!

We're very isolated here and there are no nearby sites.

Here I'm on my way down to the creek with my metal detector.

We make it a point to get some ice-cream while we do our laundry in Blanding.  Wendy decided to try the "baby size" cone.

​She was not a happy camper :(

We were about 500 feet below the snow line as you can see from the mountain behind us.  We we here from 22 March to 6 April. 

We thought we'd never be back here because of the crowds.  But we found dispersed National Forest land just outside the national park, 1/2 mile from the canyon.  And being the 1st 2 weeks of March with cool temps the crowds were tolerable.

Our first morning we woke up to a herd of horses surrounding our trailer :)

Our Starlink made it out untouched (this time).

This one wanted in :)

We went into town for propane and came across Bedrock.

And now for the main attraction.

I thought it would be cool to ride down into the canyon and back until we came across this group, most of which were complaining about their saddle sores.

We trained ourselves for this hike.  It goes to the canyon bottom and back for about 16 miles.  We chickened out and only went to the 3 mile point and John barely made it back; Wendy was ok.  Over 3000 feet down and 3000 feet up over 7 miles was too much of a slope for these old legs of mine.  I won't try that again!

A late lunch one day at the Bright Angel Lodge.

There's a story here...after taking a break on the last hike of our stay we continued on for 1/2 mile or so and I stopped to take a picture.  But my phone wasn't with me....OH NO!  Panic time.  Did it fall out of my pocket?  I told Wendy and she says "where are your sunglasses?"  Ahhhh...that means I left them somewhere.  I almost didn't go backtracking as I was sure someone would have picked them up.  If lucky they would give them to the lodge receptionist/lost and found.  I backtracked 1/2 mile to the last place we rested.  Lo and behold...THERE THEY WERE!!!  As we approached a young girl on a lookout point above yelled out " I was hoping you would come back, I've been keeping an eye out for you."  :) :) :)

Journey's end.  Time to catch the bus back.  It's been a long hike.

We have earned this ice-cream treat...YUM!

We finally visited Dennis and Nancy at their home park in Salome AZ.  Nancy was out of town but Dennis let us stay 4 nights.  We went to a couple of venues to play music with him and had a great time.  We hope to see them next time through.

We left Dennis and Nancy's for Paulden, AZ to pan for gold at a public gold claim in Prescott.​  I actually found a flake on my first panning attempt.  We went twice and I can't believe I did not take any pictures at the claim.  We stayed at a pig farm, Quenga Farms (Boondockers Welcome), outside Paulden.  Wendy was in hog heaven, lol.

Next up...1 night at Quail Wood Greens Golf Club, a Harvest Host,  in Dewey, AZ. 

We then met up with Jack and MaryAnn, friends we met in Montana, along with Dennis and Nancy, at their home in New River, AZ, a suburb of Phoenix.

Jack, alias "Rocket Man", earned that name after my ride with him in his new Corvette.  That is the most powerful and fastest car I have been in.

We enjoyed another pre-season baseball game in Phoenix.  The weather was perfect.  

After our visit with MaryAnn and Jack we went back to the pig farm in Paulden for 1 more night.  Everyone gathered for our sendoff :)

Next destination...the Grand Canyon :)

Our 4th annual visit to Quartzsite.

A chance encounter with one of Elon's night launches from Vandenberg SFB, CA.

I finally made it to the top of Dome Rock!  :)

Here at the adult daycare center we relinquished our table to this group of travelers and were kindly rewarded with a brew :)

This is one fine washboard player.

Here is Dave.  He kindly shared "Dave's Wave" with me.  Dave's Wave is a particular motion of the gold pan to show the final reveal of your gold panning efforts.

We joined a local prospecting club and headed for the hills.

We're not really lost...we just look like it.

Dry panning is a particularly dusty job, as you can see here.

Lunch time!!!

At another location Chick tries his hand with a detector...no luck this time.

Rocky, our trusty campsite watchdog, permits us back into camp.

A hard days work is rewarded with a tasty dinner.

Of course we have to mention the music.

Our loyal fans give us their support every time we play :)

Chick gives the girls a lesson on his newly won Desert Fox gold panning wheel...we call her Vanna.

We went on a day trip to Wickenburg to see the sights.

I don't think this sign has seen any violators for a while!

I mean, THIS RIVER IS DRY!

Lunch at the American Legion.

This is a picture of the brickwork on a cabin we found on the trail.

Goodnight and goodby to "The Q" for another year.

I'm always looking forward to a project.  The bolts came out of the support arm of our battery tray.  Of course they were stripped so I used a larger diameter self tapping screw.

And, as always, I go overboard with additional support :)

Here are the stops from Texas to "the Q"

Our first stop was at this Tractor Supply Store.  Not much around here but it's always good to top off our propane.

14 Jan...we arrived at Three Mission Brewery, a Harvest Host in Socorro, Tx.

15 Jan...Veterans City Park in Lordsburg, NM.  Nice and quiet for a 1 night stay.

On the way to Benson, AZ. for 2 nights at San Pedro Resort Community.  We've been here before and can wash our vehicles :)

It can be hazardous walking around here at night with no lighting.

18 Jan...for 1 night in Sells AZ. before reaching "The Q".  This is Traveling Eagle Travel Center.

We made it to Chick and Kathy's on 9 Jan and have been feverishly preparing for our departure tomorrow morning (13 Jan, which happens to be Bessie's 4th anniversary :)).  Time flies when you're having fun.

We had a bit of a problem negotiating the water dispensing station and, while Kathy warned me about taking pictures, I was busted again!

This was the river that flooded last year and took the lives of so many young.  The community is still trying to recover from the devastation.  You can see the height that the river reached  by the red flowers and the flag high up on the tree.

We stayed at this campground a few months earlier.  The flood waters surrounded the area of the row of trailers you see here.  This picture was taken 6 months after the flood and the area between the river and trailers was covered with vegetation and trees.

It was cold the day we visited here and Wendy is caught enjoying a little cup of hot chocolate :)

Last year ​we had 3 flat tires on our truck in 10+ months of travel.  This year we've encountered 2 flat tires and 1 missing in action, on our trailer, in the first 6 days!  All is good on day 7...so far.  We're currently in Texas after 1 night in SC, 1 in AL, and 1 in LA.  This has been a fast paced dash to Ingram, TX.  We hope to be there tomorrow.

After a night-over in Andersen, SC, we stayed here at a Cracker Barrel in Tuscaloosa, AL.  It's not often that we run into a level parking lot at a Cracker Barrel!

Vidalia, LA for one night  We've been here before.  Was very quiet despite the large number of overwintering campers.

The Mississippi was quite low!

Our latest challenge...grrrr!

​Lake Conroe, New Waverly, TX.  All tires and spares are still with us and in good shape!

Here we are with our camp host...Jesse Tiffany.  He is retired Army with 2 years of service in the Marines.  He traveled across almost every state in the U.S. (including Hawaii) raising money for Project Recover.  It was quite an honor meeting and talking with him!

​Project Recover is a collaborative effort to enlist 21st-century science and technology in a quest to find and repatriate Americans Missing In Action (MIA) since World War II in order to provide recognition and closure for families and the Nation.

We started this year as we did last year.  We traveled to North Carolina to celebrate Veston and brother-in-law Frank's birthdays for two nights..2 and 3 January.

We left for a campground by Clemson, SC and fell 10 miles short of our goal.  We turned off onto our last highway and a passing motorist rolled his window down, as we were on the off ramp, to say something that we never heard.  We thought he was just inquiring about our trailer.  We stopped shortly after, for gas, and Wendy did a quick walk around to check for anything amiss.  Something was indeed amiss!  "We only have 3 tires!!!" was her report.  "One of our tires is gone!!!!!!!!!!!"  All of the mount bolts sheared off of one tire the tire departed on its own adventure!  After several minutes of careful thought we elected to drive across the street to a hotel and figure things out.

We decided to start with a 2 night stay at the hotel as it was already late and we had many phone calls to make the next day to figure out how to handle this dilemma.  We figured to backtrack along our route we took to get here in hopes of finding our wayfaring wheel.  We weighed our rig at a CAT scale some 40 miles back where we knew we had 4 tires and work our way back those same 40 miles on the other side of the Interstate.  Within 1/2 a mile from our exit to the hotel we sure enough saw a tire resting upright against the guard rail on the side of the road. It was 45 minutes after sunset and we could barely see but surely enough IT WAS OUR TIRE !!!!!!!!  NO DAMAGE DONE !!!!!!  Unbelievable !!!!!!!!!!!  It apparently sidled up to the guardrail and coasted downhill to a stop....upright!  We were very happy campers again.  Finding that tire was such a blessing as it saved us a lot of time and effort to locate a replacement.  We had a spare but it developed a leak in the valve stem the day we left Pinopolis.  We found that out the day we left on our most excellent 2026 adventure and intended to have it fixed soon....but not soon enough!  Now we had 3 tires and a flat spare, a real bummer.  Fast  forward, we coordinated with 4 experts across the country and formulated a plan to find some new wheel mount studs, take off the brake drum, have the sheared bolts driven out and new ones pressed in, and put the fixed spare put on.  And now I have a 3/4 inch drive torque wrench capable of delivering the 150 foot pounds of torque needed to reinstall the brake drum retainer nut.  Oh boy!  I hope to never use it again!  All is fixed for the moment and we plan to continue onward after a 1 day delay.  We'll keep a close eye on things the next few days.  Wish us luck :)

Back to Gwen and Veston's  beautiful home.  We've missed them dearly!

Veston's replacement truck quickly sold.  It was quite a vehicle...even with a steering wheel on the wrong side!

A nice dinner with their family :)

I finally drummed up the courage to clean our air conditioner.  After a year of use it really needed some attention.

Veston had a couple of jobs lined up and I had a chance to help out with my deck building skills.

What a treat it was seeing old friends Bob and Carroll.  We've enjoyed their music for many years :)

Time goes by so fast when we come up for Christmas every year.  I found this helpful device to slow things down a little :)

Preparations for Christmas dinner are complete...let the "filling of the bellies" begin :)

'Til next year...Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It's been about 25 years since we've attended this biennial event.  Some old friends have changed so much I barely recognized them...until I saw the smiles and then the memories come flooding back :)

Some of these guys are legendary :)

An evening around this group will have your sides hurting for days from the constant laughing!

Supposedly (lol) this was an eagle!!!  There were witnesses so I believe it.  Rain throughout the weekend didn't keep us from getting in a couple rounds of golf.

We'll try to not miss these events in the future :)

Our Church celebrated its 50th anniversary and we were able to be there...YAY!!!  Many people volunteered over many months to make this celebration a huge success.  It was such a wonderful blessing to see old and new friends :)

One more night before we stop for the year.  This is Indian Springs campground in Hickory, NC.  We were in the back hills of NC and had great difficulty finding places to stay as our options for campgrounds proved to be unsuitable for us. This was our last chance to avoid our first Walmart parking lot overnighter.

Shadows were long by the time we plugged in.  The next morning Wendy discovered our entry steps had a broken mount bolt.  We'll order a part and continue on... :)

We delayed our trip at this point as a hurricane was headed toward our next destination!  The outer banks of North Carolina will have to wait until another time.  Coneross Park is in Townville, SC.

We decided on this diversion to Kentucky.
Another flat tire.  Ho Hum...#3 this trip.  This park was infested with stinkbugs.  They would gather together in very large numbers during the cool nights.  We unknowingly transported several hundred of these hitch hikers for the duration of our trip and are still finding them 3 months later :(

Trail to Eagle Point on a beautiful day :)

These babies hurt after falling 100 feet...ask Wendy!

4 nights here.  Caught up on some trailer maintenance and laundry.

These are probably the best caverns we have visited in the past 5 years.  Beauty with every step on this 2 mile path.

This area served as a stage prop for "Tom and Huck" (a Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn) movie.

Harold and Tess' barndaminium.  We were here for 4 nights.  We always enjoy time with them but come away with our belts let out another notch because Tess is such a wonderful cook!

I don't think this walking stick moved at all!

They had this pond dug after a long delay because of rain.  And have been in a drought since.  Seems Harold has my kind of luck :(

Creekside RV Park and Campground in Chappell, Nebraska on 11 Sept.  Downside...train track very close to the park :(  Otherwise a decent stay.

Cedar Bluff State Park in Ellis, KS on 12 Sept.

Lucky Star Casino in Concho, OK on 13 Sept.

Wonderful friends, Jack and Mary Ann, invited us up to South Dakota when we were together in West Yellowstone so we thought "why not?"  They have a really, really big rig!  We enjoyed a few days together before finally heading towards South Carolina to finish up another year of travel.

Wendy is always on the lookout for rabbits :)

Of course we had to revisit Mt Rushmore.

One of our favorite campgrounds to visit!  We were there from 28 Aug to 8 Sept :) 
On out way there we took out a few Quail...not much I could do :(

We scored a really nice spot for the time we were there.

With our trailer disguised in the background, here's a look across a massive prairie dog colony that has doubled in size since our last visit.

Rock climbers are always here :)

Next up...Bridgers Brewing, an Harvest Host in 3 Forks, MT.  Just a quick 1 night stay at a place we've been before.

They have made many improvements to their parking areas and now host quite a few travelers stopping through the area.  The staff is very friendly :)

We thought we were going to find a place in Two Medicine CG...a park in Glacier NP, Montana.  When we arrived it was full of campers.  It was advertised as "first come, first serve" but in reality had become "reservation only" and was filled to capacity and the empty spots were reserved.  It was so busy that we would have moved on even if we had found a spot.  We treasure the times we had last time we visited but will probably not go back there.  We ended up staying a few miles down the road in the town of East Glacier. We stayed at a residence that opens their back yard to RVers, capable of accommodating 2 RVs.  We were the only campers for the 3 nights we were there.

We played at the golf course less than a mile from were we were staying.  We did that the last time we were here but we both hit the ball very badly this time...no worries, we still had a wonderful time.

Back to Riverfront RV Park in Garrison, a park we stayed at 5 years ago.  It has not changed much at all...a good thing in our opinion.  The owner, Sharon, is still running things the way she used to.  We felt very welcome and enjoyed the 4 nights we were there.

Veston, this one's for you :)

We stayed at Bakers Hole CG in the Gallatin National Forest, 3 miles from the town of West Yellowstone, Montana, in a spot we scouted out 2 years ago.  No water or electricity at the site but the weather cooperated wonderfully.  

This was SOOOO relaxing with the river constantly flowing behind us and no sites close by :)

We stopped in town for a meal and were blessed with this double rainbow afterwards :) :)

This was a bit of a close call in Yellowstone NP.

We stopped here 25 years ago but things have changed so much!  This is Mammoth Hot Springs.

This might have been the staircase we used back then :)

From 30 July to 2 August we stayed at Warren Bridge CG, BLM land outside of Pinedale, Wyoming.  ​An interesting fact about the area is that it was named after a wooden bridge that was constructed in 1889 and was once the only bridge over the Green River in the region. The bridge was replaced in 1978 with a concrete one, but the area still bears its name.  Believe it or not...we saw Dennis and Nancy, a couple we met and played music with in West Yellowstone 2 years ago.  They were on their way back there and so were we....small world!

As you can tell from the flag it can get pretty windy here.  And the tire leaning against the trailer is yet another truck tire repair.  We seem to be a magnet for nails this year :(

I've not seen this before...the winch on the post is loosed to allow a flexible barbed wire fence to open and you clinch it back in place after you go through.  We went through to go on a hike.

This mama Osprey was tending to its 3 babies on top of the old bridge that is no longer open to traffic.

From 21-29 July we visited Firefighters Memorial CG overlooking Flaming Gorge in Ashley National Forest.  ​The campground serves as a memorial to three firefighters who lost their lives in the 1977 Cart Creek Fire.

Our next door neighbors...quite a friendly group of experienced campers!  We were very fortunate to meet them :)

Our back yard for a week.

Wendy led us on another hike...

...but we were not alone :)