September 27

I can't believe it's been over two weeks since the last update, but here goes.....

We spent 12 nights in Heber City, UT at Mountain Valley RV Resort; the last five we participated in the Utah Chapter Rally of the Heartland Owners Club.  We had 10 Heartland Rigs at this Rally and had a great time.  Our friends Trace & Terri are the Utah Chapter leaders and were the host for this Rally as well as the Rally we attended last May in Moab, Utah.

One of our evening campfire gatherings

Our home for 12 nights in Heber City, UT


 

Our Rally Hosts Trace & Terri on the Heber Valley Train

One night the park hosted a Polynesian Luau, a fine buffet and afterwards we were entertained by the Fire Dancers. Every Friday night the park shows a movie on an outdoor screen. Several attended on both the Friday nights we were here, but we stayed inside as the cool air blew in as soon as the sun went down.



Our Rally group took a ride on the Heber Valley Railroad, a pleasant three hour ride around the Deer Creek Reservoir. Beautiful mountain views.

View from the window on the Heber Valley Train

On another night we drove 12 miles to Daniels Summit Lodge and had a great Prime Rib in a private party room.

We also had a pot luck dinner one night where I was asked to entertain.  They seemed to enjoy the music and June sang with me on a song.

How's it sound?

After 12 nights in Heber City, Utah we drove 275 miles to Rifle Gap State Park in Rifle, Colorado where we stayed two nights.  We were camp hosts here two summers ago and always enjoy this very nice State Park.  This was also a chance to catch up on Laundry, so we drove to Glenwood Springs to a laundromat and lunch out.

Mountain color changes

A helicopter was assisting in road maintenance in Glenwood Canyon

One lane through the canyon, but it moved well

Driving thru the Eisenhower Tunnel at over 11,000 ft. elevation

Central City, Colorado was our next stop for five nights and another Heartland Rally. 

Our home for five nights in Central City, Colorado

View from our front yard looking out over the town

Downtown Central City. An old gold & silver mining town converted to Casino's

The drive heading East from Rifle to the Central City exit off I-70, is probably the prettiest 100 miles of interstate highway in the country.  I-70 from Rifle takes you through Glenwood Canyon along the Colorado River, then climbs up to Vail, Colorado and the Eisenhower Tunnel at over 11,000 feet. 

Central City was our third Colorado Rally in as many years. Monica and Don always do a great job, as all the Chapter Leaders do at these gatherings.  We had about 18 rigs attending and Central City is gorgeous.  At an elevation of 8900 ft, we're about 40 miles West of Denver.  The Aspen trees are in their fall colors and the mountains are beautiful.

One of the Rally activities was a Rig Poker Run.  We visited seven rigs to pick up the card at each place.  Liquid refreshment and snacks were served at each stop.  All I got was one pair. June had two pair. The winner had four of a kind, but everyone won a prize and we had lot's of fun.

Our Rally activities included the customary Pot Luck which is always fun, and the evening campfires. Don & Monica also host coffee and banana nut bread each morning at their site.  We had a great time.

The toppings for ice cream night.....

We'll leave Central City Monday morning, 9/28, and head to Pagosa Springs, CO for a couple nights, then on South to Gallup, NM for two nights.  We'll stop in Show Low, AZ for two more nights before checking in to another Heartland Rally at Camp Verde, AZ where we'll be staying for two weeks.

September 10

We pulled out of the Border Inn near Baker, NV and headed North to Ely, NV just 64 miles away.  We checked into another RV park/Casino/Motel where only one other RV was parked at the time.  A half dozen more came in later in the day.  It was a nice area, small with maybe 20 sites, but large enough for the biggest rigs.  The only other RV park in town was the KOA with a price double that of this place and not any better.  This is why we rarely stay at KOA campgrounds. They are nice, but we find in general, better choices - preferring State Parks when they are available.

This metal cutout on the Pony Express route across Utah and Nevada was at a rest area on our way to Wendover.

After settling in, we walked over to the Casino (of course) to check it out.  Within 10 minutes, I was ahead $100, while June had lost $20, so I cashed out, family gain $80.  We were on a roll. 

Day two, we drove about 18 miles to see the Ward Charcoal Oven State Park.  The entrance road was 10 miles of gravel.  Truck got really dusty.  These Charcoal ovens were built in late 1800's to provide charcoal for the nearby mines Smeltering operation. The ovens were only operational a few years when the Mine started using Coke to fire their operations, rendering charcoal obsolete as it was more expensive.

Ward Charcoal Ovens

Day three we visited the Northern Railway museum. This is an operational Museum, meaning there is a train ride, and operating machine shop and on occasion they demonstrate some of the old specialty cars, such as the crane they used to clear wrecks, and the snowblower used to clear snow from the tracks in winter. For train enthusiasts, this would be a nice place to visit. We've been to several of these over the years and rode the trains, and it's sorta Ho-hum now.  The museum offices were filled with displays of old office equipment, old desks, old file cabinets, old typewriters, etc..... I felt like I was back at work...

Museum Rail Yard

Machine Shop

Wrecking Crane

Snow Blower

Steam Engine returning with tour group from a 90 minute ride

Back in Ely, we drove down the street and visited a historical landmark, The Hotel Nevada, another gambling hall,  but this one took our $80 gain and didn't even say thank you.  It is what it is.... But we left town even.

Historic Hotel Nevada

We left Ely, NV and drove further North to Wendover, UT, 120 miles,  another border town with the RV lot in UT and the Casino across the parking lot in Nevada.  The only RV park here was another KOA and we weren't interested in spending $44 a night for a gravel pad 6 miles out of town, so we had decided to just keep on going to Salt Lake City, another 160 miles.  Just as we were ready to put it in gear, June noticed at the rear edge of the lot at the Shell Station truck stop, some electric power poles like we see in RV parks.  I went inside and asked and they said yes, RV's can park there and plug in for $1.00 per hour for electric use.  No other fee.  The lot was paved, very clean and nearly deserted so we drove over to the fuel island where they also had water and filled up our water tank (75 gallons), then picked a spot and set up for the night.  We walked next door to the casino, considerably larger than the ones in Ely; in fact more Vegas like, but there were very few people inside.  Of course we had to try the slots, and I lost $20 in two minutes, while June milked $10 for nearly an hour before it was all gone.  Wendover is a nice clean town with eight or ten Casinos lining the main street. I guess all the Salt Lake crowds come over to Nevada and play.


This cowboy greets people on the road who are entering Wendover from the West.

We stayed one night here in Wendover at this Shell Truck Stop. Special  Introductory offer to sign up for the $1.00 per hour electric charge, was a $2.00 charge for 12 hours plugged into the Electric.  We had a quiet night for $2.00.

 

 



The Victory Hwy is the old Pony Express Route that is now a historic highway

 

Just 6 miles from Wendover is the Bonneville Salt Flats Raceway.  There is a paved road leading to the beginning of the raceway which is simply the salt bed.  This sea of salt extends for miles & miles.  If anyone wants to drive on the flats it's not a problem. We chose not, as we were told those who do end up with lots of slat caked under your vehicle.

We stayed just one night in Wendover then headed East through Salt Lake City to Heber City, about 50 miles East of Salt lake.



Driving across the Salt Flats on I-80, about 30 miles East from Wendover and 80 miles from Salt Lake City is this piece of Art Work? called The Tree of Life.  A concrete Pillar with several Balls on the top.  Nothing grows on the Salt Flats and this is an odd thing to see here.



Heading East on I-80 through the Salt Flats

We checked into Mountain Valley RV resort for 12 nights. This is a first class resort with grass, curbs, a new clubhouse, pool, outdoor pavilion. Very well kept grounds and all at rates no higher than KOA's.. We were here last year and really enjoyed the area.  Our next update, I'll fill you in on our activities here in Heber City.

August 29, On the road again!

On the road again August 29, we stayed our first four nights at Palisade State Park near Manti, UT.  We had a reservation for three nights but arrived one day early on Saturday afternoon and found the park to be full, but were able to park our first night in the group camp site where we had electric, so it was actually pretty nice.  By noon Sunday our reserved site became available and by Sunday evening, the park was just about empty as the weekend crowd had all gone home.  The next two days were very quiet.  The park has no hiking trails, but there is a nice lake and beach. We spent some time sitting down by the beach where we had a really nice breeze.  The rest of the time we spent just lounging around except one short trip to town to fill up with fuel.  We found one station that had diesel fuel at 2.39/gal.  That’s the lowest price for diesel since we were in Texas in 2012. 

Our site at Palisade State Park

Beach and Lake at Palisade

Enjoying the shade

 

From Palisade, we drove 200 miles to Baker, NV on Highway 50.  There was one stretch in Western Utah that had a sign “No Services for 89 miles”. In fact, there was nothing but flat desert for those 89 miles with a view of the mountains in the distance.

We pulled off onto this graveled area, still 40 miles from Baker, NV.  It's hard to believe how primitive people crossed the desert on foot and horses.  The mountains in the distance must be 50 miles away or more. 

 

 

At the State line we checked into the Border Inn and RV park. The park office is located in Utah, while next door is the Motel, casino, and RV park, which is in Nevada. 

The Border Inn Motel, Casino, RV Park.  See the Utah Welcome Sign?  The Utah, Nevada border runs between the office and casino/RV Park.

Our site for two nights in Nevada; maybe 50 yards from Utah.

Sunset at the RV Park

 

 

After we settled into our RV site and had dinner, we walked across the lot to the casino/restaurant. June pulled out a twenty dollar bill and played one of the 30 or so slots for maybe five minutes, where she had run it up to $38.00 and pushed the “cash out” button. A message popped up on the screen to call an attendant for the payout.  I had to walk around and found a lady in the kitchen that filled out a form and gave June her money after signing the receipt.  It seems all of the slot payouts are handled the same way. A lot different from what we’ve seen in every other casino where the machine gives you a receipt that you can cash in or play at other machines.  Well, with that $18.00 profit, we had pie and ice cream and still had $5.00 left to take home.

About eleven miles away is the very small town of Baker, NV at the entrance to Great Basin National Park.  We drove over the next morning. The Park road takes you up the mountain to a height of 10,160 ft. that ends at a campground. The road is restricted to vehicles under 24 ft., so only the smallest RV’s can use the campground. We were in our truck, but had no issues on the narrow winding mountain road.  It’s interesting the Park name is Great Basin, as the park itself is the mountain, while the Great Basin is the miles of flat land between the mountain ranges below outside of the Park boundaries.  From the pullouts, we were able to see for many miles across the Great Basin.

On the way to Baker, someone with a sense of humor at this cross street.

Views from Great Basin National Park

 

 

 

GPS screen showing winding road in Great Basin NP

Some Desert Road Art near Baker, NV

 

On the drive back to the Border RV, we stopped at an archeological site where once was an old village referred to as Baker Town.  While just a spot in the desert, it’s still pretty interesting that hundreds of years ago people lived here. Where did they get their water?  It didn’t say.

Archeological Site in the middle of no-where...

 

 

 

Back “home”, I'll clean the bugs off the windshield and tomorrow we’ll head to Ely, NV for a few days.