Restless Wilson's: 2015

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

I-DA-HO!

We were looking forward to cooler weather.

After spending two weeks in Utah with my cousin and his family we headed north to Idaho. Utah was starting to get a little too warm for our taste.

Our first stop was Lava Hot Springs. Lava Hot Springs is a little town built around natural hot springs. They have a water park, and community pools built on the springs.

Floating away in the hot springs!

We camped in an RV park in a little town called McCammon, Idaho about 12 miles from the hot springs. The RV park was nice, quiet, and shaded. There were only two other RVs in the whole park. I don’t know why, it was a nice park, pet friendly, and had a good location. No Wi-Fi or cable, but there were full hook ups with a picnic table. The price was decent so unless everyone else knows something we don’t, the park was great.

While getting set up we met a couple who were also camping in the park. After talking with this couple for a few seconds I was immediately reminded of the character Walter from Jeff Dunham’s standup routine with the puppets. Nothing suited this gentleman, he was sour, and life had just given him more lemons than he could use.

We couldn’t get away from this couple fast enough.

He was angry their kids didn’t visit. He was angry that they owned a motorhome. He was angry that the sun was shining. He was angry that Tracy and I were young. He was just angry. Tracy has a knack for just walking away from people. For me, it just seems rude to walk away from someone when they are talking to you. I eventually had to gather the strength to walk away. He was probably angry at me.

Once we crossed the state line into Idaho we had stopped at the Visitor Information Center and picked up a couple of brochures and maps. We learned that the Lava Hot Springs community pools closed at 11, and that after 8 they were half priced. So we decided we would go in the evening and enjoy the hot springs after dark. We arrived at the hot springs just after eight. The temperature was still a little warm and the sun did not set until almost ten that evening, but the hot springs were nice.

The Lava Hot Springs Community Pool consisted of five different pools. Each pool is a different temperature. They hottest and least used pool was 112 degrees, and the coolest most used pool was 104 degrees. Naturally, Tracy wanted to jump right in the hottest pool. I enjoyed the next warmest pool that was 108 degrees. The pools are spring feed with mineral water. No chlorine is used in the pools. We enjoyed the evening and floated around in each one. We felt very relaxed and slept like babies that night.

Lava Hot Springs, Idaho: Tracy's favorite, the hottest pool available.

We spent some time shopping in Pocatello on our way to Arco, Idaho.

My father went to high school in Arco about a million years ago. My grandfather was a contractor for the ERB-1 Nuclear Reactor. Tracy, Doug, and I got to tour the old EBR-1 National Historic Site. It was quite cool to get to see this, not only because my grandfather worked there, but because this was quite an engineering feat back in its time, but Homer Simpson was the only thing I could think about while touring the site. Just a note: EBR stands for Experimental Breeder Reactor.

EBR-1, Atomic City, Idaho

Tracy, AKA Homer Simpson
playing in the museum

The ancient controls fascinated me.

The ancient robotics fascinated Tracy.

The cold floor fascinated Doug!

Homer and Doug hard at work.

WOW! Technology of the 1940's and 1950's is scary by todays standards.

Sadly, there were only a few pictures of the construction phase displayed at the museum.

I had hoped to find pictures of my grandfather in the room designated to the construction of the unit. The curator told me I would have to go back to the county museum in Pocatello to look through their archives. I opted not to travel back.

I felt a little uneasy seeing this sign.

The Good Ole Days! I had a good laugh at this sign.
Its from the same era when cigs were good for you, and four out of five doctors
recommended Pall Mall or some other brand.

After touring the EBR we decided to find a camp site.

I had read about a gentleman who let Campers stay on his land for free and we decided we would give it a try. We meet all kinds of people and if it did not feel right we would leave.

Our camp site in Arco, at Honey's Park.

Our host, Scar, turned out to be great!

Scar is a retired electrical engineer who is just lonely and enjoys the company of people stopping by, and we enjoyed his hospitality. He enjoys hunting and will take you out to his favorite shooting ranges if that is your thing. Otherwise, he just likes the companionship and meeting new people.

He calls his land Honey’s Park, named after a beloved dog. He currently has two dogs which are just beautiful. The female is a red hound named Ruby. She is a rescued bear dog. Ruby is trained to hunt and track bears. What I did not know is that dogs used to hunt bears are trained with cats. Poor Boss Lady had to be kept under lock and key. Boss Lady did not recognize this as a favor, or as a necessity to keep her safe. Boss Lady was mad!

The male is a Visila, named Stig. He was stray that just wondered up one day and stayed. He could care less about Boss Lady or Doug.

Ruby.

Stig, and our host Scar.

In 1955, Arco, Idaho became the world’s first nuclear powered city. What a claim to fame! The town is rather remote and sparsely populated so it is no wonder why it was chosen to be the site of the world’s first nuclear power plant.

Our sunset in Arco.

Have you ever gone someplace and instantly felt at home?

The people are just the kindest souls we have met on the road. They were so kind and hospitable that I had to wonder if it was the heat or the radiation that baked their brains. It’s not every day you meet a town full of people that are ready to just open their lives and homes up to strangers. They were all very helpful in locating an old high school friend of my fathers. I guess in a town of 995 people you get to know each other quite well.

The main drag in Arco, Idaho.

The Suicide Count.

The Hill of Numbers is where each graduating class in Arco has painted the last two numbers of their graduation year on top of the mountain. This has been going on for almost 100 years. There is no rhyme or reason on the placement of the numbers, they appear to be randomly placed in most cases. The favorite local story is that the numbers represent the number of suicides each year. I guess Scar seemed pretty convincing when he told the story because Tracy had to clarify with me that the numbers really were graduation years. I had a good chuckle, because Tracy is not normally that gullible.

The Hill of Numbers

Why in the world is that the United States has more than one national park full of old lava flows? Is one just not enough?

To the South of Arco is another National Park that consists of lava scorched earth. Craters of the Moon National Park is 30 miles to the south of Arco and we decided to check it out. As we drove through the paths and bitched about the heat, I flashed back to our time in New Mexico at Valley of Fires National Park.

Our experience at Valley of Fires in New Mexico was bad enough. Our stay at Valley of Fires was so bad we found pebbles embedded in the side of the Big Lebowski. We had heard pebbles pelting the side, but did not think they were getting stuck in the side. We did not stay very long at Craters of the Moon. It was so hot I was worried abut melting the car tires.

I always make sure WACO is represented.

Craters of the Moon. It was blazing hot!

There was a heat wave predicted for the North West and we wanted to beat it.

The temperatures were starting to heat up and Arco, Idaho was not spared this summer. We decided to leave Idaho and head over to Oregon and Washington to find cooler weather. We got up early the next morning and headed towards Oregon.

We decided to camp on the Oregon side of the Snake River. I was so excited to get to spend a few days floating in the river. We go up and headed out of Arco around 6 am, before the temperatures started to rise.

Our escape was slowed by a mowing truck through the mountain pass.

I was ready to get out and walk.

Imagine my irritation when we slowed to three miles an hour behind a mower, while trying to get through the mountain pass between Arco and Boise, Idaho. Naturally, we were in a no passing zone with a steady stream of traffic from the opposite direction when we got to passing zone. We eventually made it to Oregon that afternoon.

We are no longer chasing Big Foot in the Hoh Rainforest (future post).

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with us. We are now back in a populated region with cell and Wi-Fi reception. That means we can start posting on a more regular basis again. The next post will be about our time through Oregon and into Washington.

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Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Elephant Feet and Sea Monkeys

These last couple of weeks has taken us from Colorado to Arizona to Utah to Arizona to Utah. It kind of felt like we were traveling in circles.

We left Cortez, Colorado and headed towards the Four Corners Monument. The drive from Cortez to the Four Corners Monument was a little bumpy and a lot windy, but it was fairly short.

We were a little disappointed when we made it to the Four Corners Monument. We did not realize we were still on the Navajo Indian Reservation and that the monument is not a National Monument owned by the United States. Rather it is owned and operated by the Navajo Nation. They charge $5.00 per person and only accept cash. I only had $3.00 on me, and I don’t think the lady working the gate would appreciate $7.00 from our penny jar. We opted to just leave.

Tracy and I were hungry so we pulled over just outside the gate to eat lunch. While eating our sandwiches we watched the flow of traffic in and out of the monument gate. We estimated that at least one third if not more of the entrants left because they did not have cash. After watching the gate I did not feel so disappointed.

Our next destination was Page, Arizona.

We hit some bumpy road traveling through the Navajo Nation and opted to not take the shorter route to Page, but to rather stay on the larger highway. This route took us to Tuba City, Arizona. Once in Tuba City we stopped to rest and pulled over at a Burger King with a large parking lot.

We thought about spending the night in Tuba City but after getting approached by three drunks asking for money we decided to move on to Page. About 30 miles outside of Page, Arizona we had to disconnect the car and drive separately due to the steep grades. We had a long 8% grade to make it up and then back down. It was already dark and Boss Lady wanted to get outside.

We spent ten minutes chasing Boss Lady around the desert because she escaped through the door.

She was not happy to have to go back inside for a longer drive. While chasing the cat around in scrub brush and sand I thought about snakes. This stopped me in my tracks. The only good snake is a dead snake. I was not going to chase my cat in the desert in pitch black darkness and risk getting bit by a damn snake. She would come back when she was done.

We made it to Page, Arizona and parked at the Walmart. The parking lot was already full of big rig motorhomes and we were lucky to find a spot for the night. We slept like the dead that night.

The next morning we drove to Kanab, Utah.

This is the dam we crossed over Powell Lake.

We stayed at the Hitch –N- Post RV Park located right in the center of town. We really enjoyed our stay there and the owners were very friendly. The nightly rates were quite affordable and the grounds were well kept.

Hitch-N-Post RV Park in Kanab, Utah

Everything was within walking distance in Kanab so we got some exercise during our stay. Kanab, Utah is known as “Little Hollywood of the West” because over 150 movies and TV series have been filmed on location in the little town. Tracy and I enjoyed reading about the movies and shows filmed in the little town. Among the movies and shows listed as being filmed in the little town are The Six Million Dollar Man, The Lone Ranger, The Outlaw Josey Wales, and Daniel Boone.

On the first day we ate a late lunch at a hamburger joint called Big Al’s.

I couldn’t believe the prices. A big cheese burger was just $2.50. Lunch for both me and Tracy cost less than $11.00. The burgers were great, but the milk shake was spectacular. We were also introduced to “fry sauce”. Every place in Utah has “fry sauce”. I thought fries were fine with ketchup, but evidently they get their own sauce in Utah.

The next morning we got breakfast at the Perry Hotel. The breakfast special was Eggs Benedict. I love poached eggs and usually just pick off the ham, so I was so excited to get the special. When our breakfast arrived I was very disappointed to find that rather than poached eggs, the Perry Hotel uses fried eggs for eggs benedict. I guess it’s all the same, eggs are eggs. Another disappointment was that we requested home fries, but we got hash browns. One thing I have learned is that some places just pretend to take your order and give you what they want you to have, the Perry Hotel is one of those places. The food was decent, but I suggest just saving your money and go to McDonalds instead. At least at McDonald’s you get a poached egg with your Egg McMuffin and they don’t pretend to give you a choice of home fries or hash browns.

On Monday we left Kanab and headed to Cedar City, Utah.

We had to cross back into Arizona to make the trip. While driving along the highway we needed to stop and rest and chose a spot that is near a landmark that the Navajo’s refer to as Elephant Feet. It was quite beautiful. We visited with the Navajo Woman who was selling jewelry. He English was a little accented and not very strong but she was very eager to talk with two crazy Texans passing through. While talking with her two other Navajo women showed up. They kind of surprised me and I asked them where they came from. They giggled and pointed to a spot over the sand dunes and said that their house was just over there. I looked and it was a speck over the horizon. They said they were out for their evening walk and wanted to see our RV. The women were very intrigued about our travels and could not fathom leaving home. We had a good chat and then I watched them walk off into the sunset and disappear.

Elephant Feet, Navajo Nation, Tonalea, Arizona

We made it into Cedar City, Utah and over nighted in the Walmart parking lot. Fortunately there was a Great Clips and a nail salon in the same shopping center. We spent the next day getting cleaned up before heading on to Parowan, Utah. Tracy and I both were starting to look a little rough. My eyebrows were starting to rival Frida Khalo’s, and Tracy’s ear hairs needed trimming. We needed some TLC for our grooming issues.

While in Cedar City we decided to buy a couple of beers to enjoy with our pizza.

I enjoy a good cold beer with dinner on occasion. My beer tasted a little watery, not bad but not full flavored. I looked at the label and saw that the beer was 3.2% alcohol. I thought “What? It should be 6%.” Then I remembered that Utah has some very strange alcohol laws. Evidently, all liquor stores are owned and operated by the state and you can only get a full flavored beer from the liquor store. The beer sold in the grocery store is what is called 3-2 beer. I was a little disappointed with my beer.

Our next destination was the Parowan Gap Petroglyphs just outside of Parowan, Utah.

Road to Parowan Gap Petroglyphs

The Parowan Gap Petroglyphs are managed by the Bureau of Land Management which means the camping is either free or cheap (less than $12 a night). I consulted the web site for the Petroglyphs site and was glad to see it was listed as a free site for up to 14 days. When we arrived we met a local gentleman who gave us a brief tour of the petroglyphs and educated us on their meanings. He was quite the character. He was a World Was II veteran and had lived in “The Gap” all of his life. He was 89 years old and was getting ready to go on a trip to Washington, DC to be honored by the President. He was not too excited about the trip, he was mostly excited about getting to show us around and tell us how the government came in and ruined the petroglyphs. He was angry because the BLM had installed picnic tables and concrete paths with hand rails. He was also upset about the fact that the cave openings had been either sealed with large rocks or bars had been installed to prevent the public from entering.

Parowan Gap Petroglyphs

Parowan Gap Petroglyphs - Markings made by early settlers

I did not venture to suggest that perhaps the site was safer now and that more people could enjoy the site. This might have set him off. The walkways are level, there is a shady area, and a pit toilet is available to the public.

I enjoyed the petroglyphs very much. I find early Native American history fascinating and enjoyed seeing the site. I think I stood and stared at them for several hours, to me there is a story being conveyed.

Tracy and Doug climbed the mountain late in the evening.

Parowan Gap Petroglyphs

They seemed to enjoy the view and adventure. While they were on the mountain there was a flock of at least 300 sheep that crossed through the camp site. I watched sheep cross the road for what seemed like an hour. I only noticed one black sheep in the whole flock, and thought that was hilarious. There is always on black sheep in the family!

Parowan Gap Petroglyphs

Early the next day we were graced by the presence of antelope. They were very curious about us, but also seemed very concerned about Doug. Doug did not pay them any attention, he was busy eating ants. They kept stomping at Doug, but he just kept eating ants.

Parowan Gap Petroglyphs

When we left the Parowan Gap Petroglyphs we headed north. After a short trip we realized we were hungry and tired. We stopped in Beaver, Utah for lunch. We ate at a little café. The food was typical café fair. Nothing special. After lunch we decided that we were just too tired to go on and parked in the corner of a big vacant lot across the street from the café. I took a four hour nap.

What we did not realize when we parked in the lot is that UPS drivers use the lot to turn their tractor trailers around before driving into the fueling station. So for the better part of the evening we were serenaded by the sound of big rigs all night.

Parowan Gap Petroglyphs

The next day we decided to camp in a state park for the weekend because a storm was due to roll into southern Utah.

We picked Yuba State Park near Scipio, Utah. We did not make reservations, but we lucked out because there was one slot available when we arrive. I was so thankful. We figured the park would be empty because a storm was expected. Evidently, Utah doesn’t pay attention to storm warnings and goes camping anyway.

Yuba State Park is one of the most popular camping places in Utah. I can see why after visiting. The park is nice and clean, and the water is a turquoise blue. I felt like I was looking at the Caribbean waters. The park was full but quiet at the same time. Our camp site was very large. It not only included the water and electric hook up, but also had a fire ring, a covered picnic table, a grill, and a tent pad. I thought the tent pad was a little strange because most parks do not allow a tent in the RV sites, but I saw several families in their RVs that had tents set up for their kids.

The state park rented jet skis, boats, canoes, and kayaks. The water was little cold so we did not venture in with Doug when he jumped off the dock. He wanted to chase a duck, and dove off into the water. He is defiantly a beach dog. He had fun digging in the sand and running in the water.

When the storm finally rolled in our solar system was fully charged so we did not notice when the electricity went out. We spent the evening watching Lonesome Dove and listening to the rain. After the storm we stepped outside to see people walking around trying to find out if anyone had electricity. Only a few people had generators. The power outage lasted all night and into the next day. Several people were not happy.

We left Yuba State Park on Sunday and drove to Payson, Utah.

We needed to replenish our supplies and headed for Walmart. Sometimes I feel like we are on a Walmart Tour. We stayed overnight and got up early the next morning ready to head towards Salt Lake City, Utah. The closer we got to Salt Lake City, the heavier and the faster the traffic got. I think we got flipped off twice by women who were too busy talking on their phones and not paying attention to traffic. Come on ladies, put the phones down and let people move over when their blinkers are on. Your giving women drivers a bad name!

We were starving by 11:00 and decided to exit the highway and eat lunch. We saw a sign that said “Visitors Center” so we took the exit. As luck would have it, the exit we took lead us straight down town Salt Lake City. With traffic being as heavy as it was we decided to just pull over and eat lunch. Luckily there was street parking wide enough for us. We regrouped and headed on to Antelope Island State Park.

We spent two days on Antelope Island.

Antelope Island, Utah

When we checked in we were greeted with a notice that the gnats (or “No-See’ems”) had just hatched. We really did not know what this meant and really paid no attention. We had originally wanted to spend the week at Antelope Island, but Park Ranger said we could only pay for two days at a time, but our total stay could be two weeks. I thought this was a little odd. Now we know why.

Antelope Island, Utah

We found our camp site and went about setting up. I noticed several people walking around with nets over their heads and I quickly realized why. The gnats were horrible. Tracy and I were flailing about trying to knock the gnats off our faces, legs, and any exposed body part. There were not just little irritating gnats. There were full bodied biting gnats that were armed to the teeth. Why they are called “No-See’ems” is beyond me, because you can see’em! You cannot help but see them as they try to chew your face off.

Doug and Boss Lady refused to go outside for any length of time.

Tracy and I sprayed every square inch of our bodies with Off. This seemed to help, but we still left with big sores on our bodies. One even got me just on the inside of my mouth. Guess I should talk less.

Despite the gnats we had a good time. The island is a beautiful place and I hope to visit again someday when the gnats are not out.

Antelope Island, Utah

I did learn that the only organisms that lives in the Great Salt Lake are brine shrimp. Sea Monkeys!

My Aunt Anita, and cousin Nick and his family visited us while we were on the island and they showed us around. We waded out into the Great Salt Lake. I was a little freaked out by the brine shrimp swimming around, so I did not wade into the water any higher than my knees. While wading in the water I thought about the Sea Monkey adds in the back of comic books I saw as a child. I felt like I was walking through one of those little plastic aquariums you get when you buy the Sea Monkey kits.

I was a little disappointed to see that the lake level was down quite a bit. I guess they are having the same problem with water and drought as every place else I the United States. It makes me wonder “Where is all the water going?” I asked my cousin and he quickly replied “It’s going to all the green lawns everyone thinks they need.” I have mulled this response over for a few days and came to the conclusion that maybe he is partly right.

There is a ranch on the island. The ranch supports a heard of bison, goats, and antelopes. It is a very interesting place.

Bison at Antelope Island, Utah

Coyote at Antelope Island, Utah

Deer at Antelope Island, Utah

Antelope at Antelope Island, Utah

Antelope Island, Utah

View from Antelope Island, Utah

After our second day we decided to leave and camp out in front of my cousin’s house.

He lives just a few miles from the island. He and his family have been very gracious. It has given me the opportunity to visit with him and my aunt because I have not seen them in many years. Plus there are no gnats here.

Gnats! Gnats!

While in Utah we took the time to drive into Salt Lake City to visit the Genealogy Center. The Mormon Church has the largest collection of genealogy documentation in the world and makes it available for free. Their web site is FAMILYSEARCH.ORG if anyone is interested. I spent a couple of hours learning about the center and how to work their web search. It was very interesting and I plan to visit again on our trip back.

We made a day trip to the north side of the Great Salt Lake and were pleasantly surprised.

We drove to a site called Spiral Jetty which is near the Golden Spike National Historic Site. The drive to Spiral Jetty is 26 miles down a gravel road and took us about an hour. The Spiral Jetty is piece of environmental art that was constructed in April 1970 by a sculptor named Robert Smithson. The great thing about this side of the lake is that there are no gnats or sea monkeys!

Spiral Jetty

The walk to the jetty is through old lava rocks.

It was a long walk to the water .

Everything is covered in salt crystals.

Happy Doug!

Soaking Cousin

Happy Doug!

Salt crystals

The Salty Doug

The long walk back

After visiting the Spiral Jetty we made our way to the Golden Spike National Historic Site. The Golden Spike is where the Union and Central Pacific Railroads joined their rails at Promontory Summit in Utah. This completed the first transcontinental railroad. We made it to the park in time to catch the last reenactment of the day.

Golden Spike National Historical Site.

Golden Spike Reenactment.

My cousin and his family. Thank you for letting us
camp at your house!

We saw this in the parking lot of the Golden Spike National Historic Site.
I don't know how it came to be, but we thought it looked fantastic.

Upon returning home we were all so salty that our clothes stood on their own. Tracy had to cut his socks off because they were so stiff and stuck to his leg hair.

Now that we have finished visiting with family we are leaving for Idaho!

I am a little excited because I will get to visit Arco, Idaho. My father lived here in the 1950's while my grandfather worked on the nuclear reactor. So it will be neat to see the museum and visit the little town.

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