Hey, It's Friday Already!

This week has flown by and here it is already Friday! It was a little bit warmer today as long as the wind wasn't blowing.




After a rather lazy morning we went out to do a bit of shopping. Forry's bird clock has finally given up the ghost for good - it's been on life support for some time. I wanted an atomic clock like Vic has so that I wouldn't have to worry about time zones or daylight savings time changes as we travel. I found a perfect one at Target, but when I read the fine print on the back, it said it couldn't be used within six feet of a computer! That really doesn't work in our motorhome...
We did find a clock -- a black one -- but it's going to take some getting used to.


We went over to the Nazarene College Church this evening for a pizza supper and a chance to preview the quilts that will be sold at the Idaho Mennonite World Relief Festival tomorrow. Vashti and Chad Summervill presented a great concert of "bluegrassy gospel" as a special treat after dinner.

A Lovely Visit!

One of the many blessings in our life is our Daughter Dawn's in-laws! And one of the good things about being in Nampa for a few days was a chance to visit Janny and Jerry at their home in Parma. I tried to invite them to go out to dinner with us, but no way, Janny fixed us a wonderful meal! We had some of the sausage that they had made with their kids last fall.

'

As good as dinner was, the visiting and catching up on their other two sons and their families was even better!

Nampa, Idaho

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday Auntie Violet was feeling very lonesome as the only RV for many hours at the RV Park in Snowville. Today she's one of over 80 at Garrity RV Park here in Nampa!

We took Interstate 84 across the southern portion of Idaho as far as Nampa. We will stay here for a few days so that we can attend the Idaho MCC Auction on Saturday. We also want to visit our youngest daughter's in-laws in Parma while we are in the area.

Today was a day of sunshine, snow and rain squalls and wind. It was extremely windy when we arrived at the RV Park and the manager was anxious to get us parked and settled before it started to hail. It did hail a few miles away, but fortunately that squall veered away and missed us. We had frozen water hoses this morning in Snowville and the manager said it would most likely be below freezing here tonight as well.

This really interesting weather vane is on the roof of a building just outside the park - isn't it neat?

On The Road Again --

It is time to leave the "sunny" south and head back to the Pacific Northwest. We want to be in Portland for Daughter Dawn's graduation from OHSU (Oregon Health Sciences University)'s nursing program on June 1st. We have an appointment in Junction City, Oregon on May 14th for the installation of the new cabinets and desk in Auntie Violet. I also want to go with Dawn to her installation into Sigma Theta Tau, the national nursing honorary. (I was President at the chartering of the Delta Chi Chapter at the Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education in Spokane many years ago when I was in nursing school...)


It was a cold and sunny day for traveling today. The roads were bare and dry, but there certainly was evidence of the snow storms of the past couple of days --



Traveling north on Interstate 15 --

We went as far as Snowville, Utah today to the Lottie-Dell RV Park. I walked into the office and this is what I saw.

It seems you are to fill out the registration form, add your check or cash, put it in one of the envelopes, seal it and put it through the slot. The whole thing is on the honor system!

I noticed when we came back out that the OPEN signs were nailed to the wall -- the office never closes (during the season, March to October anyway).

This is the collection of antiques and collectibles on the fence --

Auntie Violet was the only RV there...

Though later in the day two more rigs showed up and she didn't feel quite so lonesome!

Taking a Break, Sort of

A couple more flowers to share with you. This one is Bigelow Monkeyflower (Mimulus bigelovii) that we've seen in many gravelly washes.





I'd been looking for Indigo Bush (Psorothamnus fremontii) and finally found some of them as we drove down to the Vermillion Cliffs.





We are gradually heading up to the Pacific Northwest, but after Saturday's long drives and the often tense drive yesterday through the snow squalls, we decided to spend an extra day here in Fillmore. Especially since we know that tomorrow's drive is going to be a long one. We've reservations at the Escapees park in Snowville, Utah, about a five and a half hour drive from here.


So, after sleeping in this morning, I spent the day doing laundry, washing mirrors, changing the sheets and cleaning the bathroom. All of the things that needed doing, but had been ignored while we were checking out all of the National Parks in southern Utah.

Add Your Blog | RVThereYet Blog Network

Add Your Blog RVThereYet Blog Network

Vermillion Cliffs

As you could tell by reading yesterday's blog, we spent all day yesterday out in the area of the Vermillion Cliffs in Arizona. While we were looking for condors, we also saw some neat flowers as well as some more gorgeous scenery. This dwarf lupine is much shorter than what we are used to seeing in the NW.



I don't care where you drive in southern Utah or the northwest corner of Arizona, you come upon incredible scenery. The multiple layers of ancient oceans make for gorgeous colors.



This is Desert Milkweed (Asclepias erosa) that we found growing in a sandy wash along the road. We were at over 5000 feet elevation.





And then this one I found as I walked out into the pasture near the Observation Kiosk while we were waiting for the condors to show. I saw the one in the second picture first and it wasn't until I saw this one that was in bloom that I began to get a clue to what it was. It's a Hairy Prairie-Clover (Dalea mollis).

These are the Vermillion Cliffs. They are the eroding edge of Paria Plateau. The condors appeared from over the plateau and spiraled down into their nests in the cliffs in that upper band of rock.

Today was another cold and SNOWY day. As we were hitching up the toad and checking the turn signals and brake lights, we could see ugly black clouds over the hills. We had a couple of sprinkles of rain even though we were actually in the sunshine. We took Interstate 15 north towards Fillmore, Utah where we are staying at Wagons West RV Park. We ran into several snow squalls on the way in between intervals of sunshine. The snow was heavy enough at one point that we pulled into a rest area to wait it out.

After yesterday's long drive and the move this morning, we were more than ready to settle in for a quiet afternoon and evening. We were able to watch the last disappointing innings of the Mariner game as well.

CONDORS!

Photo courtesy of enature.com

We drove over 300 miles today and spent many hours watching and waiting, but we finally saw the condors! We took a trip into Arizona to the Vermillion Cliffs Condor Viewing Site. The web-site states that visitors are "almost guaranteed" to see the huge black birds soaring overhead. We spotted the pens atop the cliffs where they have raised the birds until they could be released into the wild and several guano marked sites where they had been nesting, but NO birds.


After watching fruitlessly for a couple of hours (but I did find some new flowers!), we decided to drive over to Navajo Bridge in Glen Canyon which is also supposed to be a hot spot for seeing these birds with their 9-10 foot wingspan. The ranger at the center there assured us that "the birds are here every afternoon -- they play around and fly under the bridges. They should be here within the next hour or so." We walked back and forth across the old bridge, which is a very impressive span built across the Colorado River in the early 1930s; took some pictures; visited with some bikers, but the birds were a no-show. Forry chatted with some Navajos selling jewelry on the reservation side of the bridge. One of the elders told him that the birds usually were there most days, but that they always headed back to their nests in the Vermillion Cliffs at dusk.


We stayed hopefully at the bridge until after 5 PM, then decided to drive back to the Cliff observation kiosk. When we finally got back there, there was nothing new to be seen except for a bunch of ravens playing in the flat below the cliffs. We sat in the car and watched with the scope for about an hour. By then the wind was getting stronger and it was cold. Forry set his scope up outside as thought he saw something black sitting on the cliff above the guano. I went out with him to try to see if he was seeing a bird. It was COLD!


All of a sudden we saw a couple of birds high in the air above the cliff and you could see white on their wings! Then there were a couple more and then there were five, then six then eight, circling around above the cliff, then gliding down into the openings and ledges on the cliff wall! We were able to follow them down into the cliffs and then could see several of them sitting on the ledges. We were so excited! This is a fantastic new life bird for both of us.


The only bad thing is that they were too far away for pictures! The observation kiosk is at least 3/4 mile from the cliffs and the birds were hard to see even with the binos and the spotting scope.

Some Pictures From the past Few Days

Today I've got an assortment of shots we've taken over the last few days -- they really don't go together, but that's all right too. (Nobody ever said I was all together either...!)


This first shot is going over one of the passes -- 9808 feet -- on Highway 14 going to Bryce Canyon National Park. There was no snow on the road itself, but I was wondering what kind of descriptive words Eskimos would have for the various kinds of snow crystals in these drifts along the road?



This is what was going on back at Auntie Violet. (I took the picture through the window -- the white streaks are reflections...) The birds are going through a sack of thistle seed a day! At one time we counted nine finches and least gold finches on the bag at one time!

This lady was seen along the road on our way to Zion National Park. The sign advertised "longhorns and quarter horses for sale," but she's the only one that was grazing out in the pasture. (We did see some lying down further away chewing their cud by a fence.)

These are another Northwest plant that we saw down along one of the hanging garden areas of Zion. This are Fairy Bells usually seen in the NW woods -- and in our wooded yard at the house in Spokane!

This little beauty "Shooting Star" (Dodecatheon pulchellum) has a range from Alaska to Mexico and was also seen in Zion.

This is the articulated propane-powered shuttle bus that takes you on the scenic drive through Zion. There is no charge and you can get on and off at any of the stops on the way up and back.

I've struggled with the identity of this flower and plant for several days. It is blooming along the road from Saint George to the RV Park. I knew the flower looked like a beardstongue, but the foliage didn't correspond to any of the pictures I had. I finally found a picture of it on the Zion Park website. I'm pretty sure it's Tompson's Beardstongue (Penstemon thompsoniae).

We spotted this unusual Mercedes "bus" in the parking lot at Zion Park. We saw it later at a campground with a side pulled out. There were large gas burner stoves built into the bottom luggage compartments. There were 20+ people milling around beside it getting dinner.

Today was another quiet day at the RV Park. The wind has finally died down, but it is partially cloudy. We'll go over to the clubhouse later to hear another Michael Hargis concert. We were quite surprised to discover that Mike and Christy are now managing this Western Horizons Park. It will be fun to hear him again -- and I'm sure he may enjoy it more than fixing the leaky valve across the road from us that he's had to dig out the last couple of days!

More From Bryce Canyon

I had to share just a few of the many,many pictures we took yesterday. (I am so thankful for digital cameras -- we'd be broke if we were buying film! And we'd probably not be taking so many pictures...)

If you look closely at the hoodoo on the left, you can actually see a little bristle cone pine growing on top of it. These are the toughest trees, they seem to grow directly out of the rocks, without any soil involved.

This area is called the "silent city." It's easy to imagine a ghost city below --

Remember I said it was cold? That white stuff down between the outcroppings is SNOW!

One of the tunnels where the road goes right through the red rock --

There is no doubt that the scenery in southern Utah is fabulous. This gorgeous outcropping is in Red Canyon before you even get to the National Park!

I'm sure glad we went to Bryce yesterday. It's been nasty, windy and gusty all day. It rained "dust" during the night and both the Toad and Auntie Violet have dirt spattered windows. We ventured as far as the grocery store and Costco late enough this afternoon that Forry could have his favorite dinner of Polish dogs.