On the Road Again - to Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

My.... last night was great, went to the homecoming game for West Salem High School. Got to watch Seth and football and Alyssa on the cheer team as well as Kenny and Sebastian playing their trumpets in the band. The whole band thing is s secret til after their first competition which is a couple weeks away, but these pictures are posted after the competitions which West Salem Marching Band won time after time.. It was great to see all four kids again before we leave town.!!

Today started with a wonderful Memorial Service for our friend Jerri. We will miss her terribly. RIP Jerri. 

Now off to Albuquerque for the balloon fiestas with Fantasy RV Tours. On the road again!!
We left home after the Memorial Services and went to Pat & Lonnie's for the night in Bend. First time towing the jeep as everything was done with the hitch and breaking system just in time. However, their front driveway is narrow and curving.  Huuuummm, didn't judge it correctly.  Should have pulled over by the garage and shops and could have turned around, but......  we had to unhook the jeep, move some lights and Ken had to back up and try again!!  LOL.  Got hooked back up but forgot to take the pictures that I wanted.  Darn it ! ! 


Off to Ontario, right near the Oregon Idaho border.  Tiny towns don't really have much in the way of RV Parks and you certainly cannot trust the internet. The first park we went to didn't really take overnighters and the manager wasn't there anyway, had left town with no one in charge. We ended up in an apartment building lot with a garbage station in our way. So we had to unhook the jeep and start over. Off to our second choice. Roads here are crazily marked and so it was fun trying to find it, it was only two miles from the only other park ! !  Finally got here and there was one space even tho their phone message said that they had openings. I think that this is the only space they rent nightly and it is too close to a tree.  Everyone else looks like they have been here a while...  Oh well.  We needed to stop ! ! !  It is our first night with our new "Carry Out" for Direct, DISH and Bell TV's.  Ken had it working in about five minutes.  YEA ! ! ! 

Spent Monday, September 25th in Heyburn, Idaho in a beautiful city park that is on the banks of the Snake River. Was really cheap too.  If you are ever going this way, stop at the Heyburn Riverside RV Park. Another Direct TV lie was found. Interesting that they sold this to us knowing that we traveled and then said that they are not made for RV's, but we do see them on the road, but not many. Now we know why.  LOL Today''s dilemma is that Direct only contracted with the state of Idaho for HD and with our setup we cannot use HD Didn't matter at home but on the road, means we cannot get local channels. Only got them at the last stop because we were still in Oregon... Frustrating. 

The speed limit in this area is 70-80 mph on 12-14 lanes of freeway. That makes driving so very interesting. Glad it is Ken driving and not me ! !  LOL  He does just fine and these drivers were pretty considerate. 

Tuesday, September 26, 2017 the drive to Utah Lakes is beautiful with fall colors starting. 

We arrive at Utah Lake State Park. We have stayed here before and really like the setting.  Finally got some pictures.

Getting here was a stressful drive for Ken, over 50 miles before and after Salt Lake City with 5 - 7 lanes each direction. That means 10 - 14 lanes total with a 70 mph speed limit. Amazing that it went on for so long. Glad we didn't have rush hour to contend with too.






Wednesday, September 27, 2017 we decided we better start calling to see where in Moab we could stay. The internet didn't list many RV parks and we quickly found out that they were pretty filled up.  Finally, after having to fill out an internet form with our credit card info too, we find that we can stay at The Portal RV Park. We also realized that somehow we goofed and had a couple extra days to use up on the road before we get to Albuquerque sooooooo, we decided to try and stay an extra day in Moab. The Portal had a full hookup space for one night then on Thursday we would have to move one row over to an electric and water only site. 

Interesting that the space we were going into had someone who was not about to leave until the check out time of noon. So, kinda messed up our "be gone all day" plans but it really worked out as we saw everything we wanted at Arches. Since Ken now has bone on bone pain in his knee, hiking it not an option. However, his custom brace is really helping. We love Arches National Park and it is great because with our Senior Cards we get in for free, otherwise $25. Very busy park with all the seniors this time of year since all the kids have gone back to school~~ No one appears to be in a hurry. The parking lots remind us of Costco, you have to wait to get a space.  LOL  Hope you all enjoy these pictures of Arches National Park, we love it!! This first one is looking back to Moab from the park.

See the natural bridge still standing there in the middle ! ! 

My favorite "Three Gossips" above ! ! 

 That is really rock climbers on the top of that rock ! ! 

 Doesn't that look like a folded hand to you??

Isn't it interesting what years and years of wind and water can do???  Again, absolutely amazing ! !  Love this park ! ! 



On to Gallup, New Mexico tomorrow. We will be there three nights.



Arrived in Gallup on Friday, September 29, 2017.  Today we left Utah, crossed Colorado and entered New Mexico. The few pics I took today show that you do not have to be in Arches to see some amazing sites.  LOL  Just wish they didn't have electrical lines in them and I am in too big a hurry to have Ken removed them with PhotoShop..  You sure don't see those lines in Arches pictures... LOL  We also learned that the quality of the roads changed dramatically when we crossed from Colorado into New Mexico, these roads rival the worst in Alaska ! ! .  Very interesting to see all the frost heaves here too!!  We were traveling between 5,000 and 7,500 feet elevation too. 

We realize that this entire trip from home we have probably seen 75-100 antelope. They are almost always in farmed fields. Must seem like the best buffet to them. They look really healthy. 

We got here just in time for a lightening and thunder storm. Poured for about the final ten miles of our trip. By the time we got to the USA RV Park the rain had stopped and the blue sky was showing.  Over night it poured again, leaving lakes on the asphalt. This morning we were awaken by the hail, turned out to be marble size. The weather here is so different, storms, then clears and the whole time except at night, it is warm, between 70 and 80 degrees.  One more night here in Gallup and then off to Albuquerque. This area is definitely Indian land, tons of Navajo and Zuni stores.  

Tonight, Saturday, a whole bunch of Fantasy people are coming into the park. They are coming off the Fantasy Western National Parks tour. Sounds like they had a great time. There are also 32 Airstream trailers here on their tour. 

Monday, we have arrived in Albuquerque ! !   Will start a new post soon ! !