ON the Road again!!! Almost there!!

We are headed back to the Black Hills!!! We waited as long as we could, even though we know it's still a little chilly (cold!) up there. Last Thursday, we left North Ranch near Congress, AZ in fine time and headed North. The weather was beautiful and as we headed North from Prescott, the wind came up a little. We went up through Tuba City and then East towards Monument Valley. There is a place called Gooseneck State Park that we had heard about as a neat place to boondock. (click on all pictures to enlarge)

As we pulled into the park, it was shortly after 4pm; however, we lost an hour as we crossed over into Utah into the Mountain time zone. So really, it was only 3pm for us, but after 356 miles in the wind, we were tired and ready for the stop. This is a neat spot, the view is truly spectacular, as is the drive through Monument Vally. We parked right next to the lookout on the "rim" of the Canyon....(below)

Just over that stone wall (above) are the Goosenecks. It drops off 1000 ft down to the San Juan River. Check out some of the views below:

This is the view(above) down from the stone wall behind our rig.

That(above) is part of Monument Valley in the background......

This was the Sunrise the next morning after a very pleasant evening......Thanks to the Utah State Park system, free camping with astonishing views....

Here (above) is Ms Pat enjoying her morning coffee sitting on the ledge talking on the phone with Dale Bruss, our good friend who was checking on us.

Pat even caught me out on the ledge with my coffee,,,,,what a VIEW!!! (The CANYON,,,not me!) It was about 5am and 65 deg,,,,,,Fantastic!!! Well, we gotta get a move on,,,,,,a few more hundred miles to go today!!

Oh yes, and Ms Mega2(above) enjoyed the view from her favorite perch too!!!!

For those of you interested here are the coordinates of Goosenecks State Park:

N 42* 10.462'

W 109* 55.63

elev 4950

Friday we proceeded on another 370 miles to Craig, Colorado..........Weather was fine and the wind was not a factor, but we were tired and there was not a campground that could handle our size. We were pondering exactly what to do when we spotted a nice, new Super Wally World. I don't mind staying at Wally's in small towns,,,but No way in the big city's. As we pulled in, Shuck's,,:-( ,,,, there was a big sign "No Overnight Camping" . Oh well, we needed some groceries and would run in and pick them up before we proceeded on. While inside Ms Pat looked up the Manager and ask her if we could park in the parking lot way back out of the way.

"SURE",,,she said, "they do it all the time". Pat told her there was a sign out front that said "No Overnight Parking" ,,,,,,,the manager replied,,,"that's OK, they do it all the time". So Pat got her name and we stayed the night....... I'm not a frequent Wal'marter,,,,,,as I just don't sleep well in them, but after 2 days of 350 + miles, I slept fine in this little country town.....

Saturday we were up and out early headed on to Streamboat Springs, Colorado and over Rabbit Ears pass,,,,,,,,,,,elevation 9590'....lots of 7% grade up and down. We sailed over that and stopped at the top for a quick picture of the SNOW...

We went down to Cheyenne, WY from here, stopped at Flying J and picked up about 150 gal of Diesel Fuel at $2.099. We went on to the little town of Lingle, WY and found this little PassPort America Campground that we had ALL to ourselves! 50 amp power and good Free WiFi... A real treat after out 2 nights of boondocking with little or no Internet....

Now, as we get up Sunday Morning,,,,,,it is raining. We had a nice easy trip on up to Custer planned, but neither of us enjoy traveling in the rain. So we're just taking our time,,,,,and I'm making a WAY too LONG of a Blog today....But anyhow, we're CLOSE!!!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!!

Stop back Wednesday and I hope we'll be on our property all situated.......

Happy MOTHER'S DAY to all ladies.......Mothers or not!!!! You're all Mothers at heart!!!

God Bless.

Mike

This Blog is published every Sunday and Wednesday.