Life is good

It's so nice and warm and quiet here.   Right now it's 85 degrees with no wind.

First, I want to post two photos of my grand kids from Vacaville, Lauren and Drew.  They were in their Aunt Allyson's wedding last week, and Kristy sent me these photos.  The first one is so cute, and the second one makes me laugh every time I look at it.

 Lauren and Drew - so pretty and handsome

Silly Lauren and Drew

Sometimes when my kids are taking photos of their children, they will say, "Silly face!" and everyone in the shot makes a funny face.  That's what a professional photographer does that my son's family uses. It loosens everyone up.   I'm pretty sure this one is a Silly Face photo. :)

Yesterday Katie and I went for a walk, and we ended up walking for more than an hour and a half.  We went around all the campsites, which are loops and tiered.  I wanted to see what kind of view they all had, in case I decide to stay here the additional four days until Zion. Some have a view of the lake, above us, and others have a  view of the mountains across the valley from us. I might want to change to another site with a different view.

Then we went into a little wash that's between the camping area and the parking lot for the lake.  I still don't know how the cars/boats get up there, we didn't find the road in and out, but we didn't walk to the end of the lot.  It must be at that end.  From a distance it looked kind of steep to go up the side of the wash, but when we got there, it was pretty easy to climb up in a few spots to the parking lot.  (Sometimes I feel like such a little old lady!)  It's a HUGE parking lot. 

Here are some photos of the reservoir:

 Sand Canyon Reservoir

   

 This is a close-up of the photo above it. 

The color of the rock is reflected in the water.

The photo right above this one - can you see the color change of the water right in the middle - across on the other side?  That's how much my new camera will enlarge.  18X.   We were standing in the same place when I snapped both photos.  In the first photo you can't even see the ducks.  I love this camera!!!

Is this a chipmunk?  I'm used to seeing squirrels, but haven't seen a chipmunk in years.  They have holes in the sand that they dive into when we are around.  They run really fast!  There are also tiny rabbits that scurry around so fast I haven't gotten a good look at one yet.  Just a tiny flash over the sand with a small white tail.  The little guy below, though, runs, then stops and stands up and freezes.  Do they think I can't see them if they don't move?  It's easy to photograph them. :)

 Desert Critter

The next desert critter is:

 Katie and her shadow

 Katie the Sphinx

Doesn't she look like the Sphinx?

Sunset

Just taking it easy and enjoying the landscapes and warm weather...  Life is good.

From Me and My Dog, have a good Thursday, everyone!  :)

We're in the desert

Second Post - Tuesday, October 18

WELCOME to our new Follower, Jolly Ollie!  You don't show a blog, so I can't check it out, but I'm glad you found us and decided to follow along with me and Katie on our adventures.  We're in a beautiful place right now, so read on...   Welcome!

Yesterday we left Yuma Lake RV Park around 10 am, and drove south, looking for signs that would lead to an RV park we'd like.  I also had a couple I had researched, but they came up too soon; I wasn't ready to stop yet.

We did stop at the furthest one on my list, it was in Fillmore, UT.  I had called in advance and they had openings, and were a Passport America park, 1/2 price for two days.  I drove through Fillmore, and headed out of town a ways, finally coming to the park. It wasn't the kind of park I like.  Very cute, every surface covered with bark, cutsie things, lots of permanent RVers, and close together.  It wasn't clean looking because there was so much junk in there.  So, I drove through the park and out the other side, and back to town.

I drove back into Fillmore, which was Utah's first capital.  The original Statehouse building is there; it's the oldest existing governmental building in the state and is a historic site and museum.  It stands on a square city block that has other historic buildings.  I stopped in front of the Stone Schoolhouse, and took Katie outside for a walk before figuring out another plan.

 Stone Schoolhouse

 

 Schoolroom shot taken through the window.

I love looking at old schoolrooms.

We walked around a bit, then got back into The Palms and drove on.  As we were going down the 15 I saw a sign that said Bryce Canyon, and since it was still early in the day, I turned off.  We drove quite a while, over mountains into canyons, beautiful scenery.

I wasn't sure which way to go after a while, so I fed the name into my GPS, which has been really reliable.  Well...  we drove and drove.  Kept on Airport Road, turning and turning and turning, still on Airport Road, and then drove down a long road.  I kept thinking, this can't be right.  But it was new territory for me, so I kept going. 

This is one of the times I'm VERY glad I have a 24 foot rig and no toad.  This is where we ended up:

End of the road, gate locked, no one around. 

There was nothing to do but turn around.  The road was probably 26 feet wide.  It took quite a few of these: reverse/turn/forward/turn, repeat.  Then retrace all the roads we went down to get to the airport.

Along the way we saw the some cattle.  They are so curious, I stopped the car to de-stress a little and walked up to the fence to talk to them.   I love cattle and don't usually get a chance to stop.

I went back into the town of Beaver, UT, got gas and asked the man where Bryce Canyon was.  He gave me directions, two streets to the right, turn left and follow the signs.  Good.

It was still quite a ways, over more mountains to the park.  We entered Dixie National Forest first, through this tunnel in the rock - there were two of them, one right after the other - and drove through Red Canyon:

As soon as I entered the second tunnel, the rocks became fascinating.  When I entered Bryce Canyon National Park, the Ranger gave me a handout that explains how the rock formations came to be.   It all started approximately 200 million years ago. The limestone formations are a deep red, much more vibrant than the photos I got.

 If you click on the photos you'll see more detail.

HooDoo

When the limestone formations get to this point, above, they are called hoodoo's.  

We passed through Red Canyon and continued on until we got to Bryce Canyon National Forest.  The Ranger at the booth said some visitors were coming back out saying there were no vacant camp sites, but she hadn't officially been told that, so I could go in and see if I could find one.  That's what I did.  There was only one campground open, and all the sites were taken.  We drove through the whole campground, and then back out again.  

We went into the nearby town and checked around to see if there was a place we could "night camp," and then drive back into the park in the morning, when we could probably get a site.  I just couldn't find anything.  I asked at a motel if we could park in their lot, but she wasn't sure and didn't want to give permission.  I didn't see a place where we wouldn't stand out, and I was super tired at that point.  It was getting dark and I didn't want to get the "knock" on the door in the middle of the night by a security guard or the police.  

It had been a long, frustrating, interesting, tiring day.

So we drove back out of town the way we came, and kept going until I saw a sign, Paradise RV Park.  It was dark by then and I couldn't see the park, but there were vacant sites, and I drove in.  Full hookups were only $14.50, and I saw in the morning, it was a very nice, clean, well kept park.  It was really cold during the night, and I again turned on the Arctic switch and the space heater and put Katie in the bunk during the night.  There was frost on the hood of the truck and on the picnic tables in the morning.  We were up at 8 and on our way again.

After our stop at Walmart

We arrived in Sand Hollow State Park in Hurricane, UT around 4 this afternoon.  I want a nice park to be in until our reservations at Zion, and although this is more than I like to pay, $28/night, it has full hook-ups.  We haven't had full hook-ups for a while, and it will be nice to settle here for a week or so.  After driving all day yesterday and most of today, I'm pooped and this is a nice relaxing park.

 When I was organizing the kitchen I looked out the window and saw this guy - a roadrunner?  I've never seen one before. 

Roadrunner

 

 The Palms in our site - what a view!
(Darn, wrong setting again.)

 Sunset at Sand Hollow State Park

It was warm this afternoon.  We took a short walk around the loop, and when we got back I changed into short shorts and a tank top.  I haven't worn them in a while, and it feels good.

So, we are settled in and Katie is sound asleep.  As soon as the sun went down, the wind started, and it's howling outside now.  It's really dark, too.  I think we're going to like it here.

More photos tomorrow.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Tuesday evening, everyone!  :)

We're heading toward Zion

First post - Tuesday, October 18

Saturday, October 15

Our very sparsely populated campground here at Utah Lake RV Park has exploded.  In addition to the usual weekend campers, we were invaded by a Boy Scout troop.  There are 21 scouts and 14 adults, in addition to numerous tents being erected as I walked the circle last night, and a bunch of RVs and lots of trucks.  They are so excited and running around and having a ball.  The nights are going to be cold for them, but the daytime temps are going to be warm and perfect.

Reminds me of my son, Tom, taking my granddaughter on her Indian Princess camp outs.  They left all at 9 this morning for a day trip to a team building place where they have all kinds of things to do, including zip lining.  I hope they all have a great time!

 

Part of the Scout tent area. They had tents on the entire side of the park.

I had the strangest conversation with the Camp Host last night.  After my walk around the campground for Katie's usual constitutional, I realized I forgot to bring the garbage to the dumpster, so I left Katie in The Palms and grabbed the garbage bag and walked over toward the dumpster.

The Camp Host drove past in his cart and stopped to chat.  During the conversation, he said, "I haven't seen your husband."  I said, "I don't have a husband," and he says, "You're traveling alone?"  I say, "Well, me and my DOG, it's just me and my dog."  He says, "Oh, I thought you  mentioned a husband the other night."  I said, "Nope, not me."  (On the registration tag, I listed occupants as "1.")

Then he says, "So, I haven't seen you with her."  Thinking he meant Katie, I said, "We walk at least three times a day.  If you see me, you would see her, too."  He says, "That's funny, I haven't seen her at all since you've been here."  I said, "Really?"  (His site is right across from me, and he's come to the door twice, with Katie barking at him and he definitely saw her.)

Then he says something about my mother.  I said, "My mother isn't with me.  I'm with my DOG."  He said, "Oh...  I though you were with your Mother."    I said, "No, I'm with my dog."   Okay, time to walk on...  Is that weird, or what???  Kind of put me on guard more than usual.

He is one of those camp hosts that uses his wheels to tour the campground, even though this is a really small area.

The last couple of nights there were fireworks across town, and I got a few pics.  I'm going to have to find out which setting works best, because these were the best I could get on the 'normal' setting:

Sunday, October 16

These cute little critters were scurrying through our site all weekend:

 

And finally, Sunday evening's sunset pics:

Monday, October 17

There was a storm that came through this area last night, that had me shaking in my bed, in fact the entire rig was shaking, rocking and rolling, and  rattling.  I climbed down and lowered the TV antenna, I was afraid it would fly away.  I was also happy that I wasn't parked under any trees, but I still was afraid something might fly into us.  All the Boy Scout people left Sunday afternoon.  I didn't realize there were so many support people there.  This morning, there were only four sites taken, and yesterday the campground was full.  Anyway, I lay there listening to the high winds hoping everyone put their chairs, lanterns, etc., away so they wouldn't fly into us.

Then the rain started.  Wow.  It was hard and long.  I got down again and grabbed Katie and brought her up with me, it was really cold in The Palms, in the 40s.  About an hour later I climbed down again and turned on our Arctic heater switch so the tanks wouldn't freeze.  I wasn't sure how cold it was outside, but I didn't want to wake up to frozen tanks and pipes.  Then later I got down again and turned on one of the space heaters to start warming The Palms so we wouldn't be too cold when we got up.

It was a long night.  So, we hit the road headed toward Zion, with the intention of finding an RV park along the way.  We left this campground on Monday morning around 10 am.

Tuesday morning, October 18

Yesterday ended up being a very frustrating, long day.  We finally found an RV park after dark to just sleep the night after driving all day.  I was so tired.  

We're in the Walmart parking lot in Cedar City right now.  There's a Great Clips here, so I went across the lot to get a hair cut.  My last one was the end of May, and I've been trimming it myself.  WAY past due for a "real" haircut, and she did a good job.

I'm going to do a bit of shopping at Walmart and get back on the road.  I'll post a second edition later today to tell you what we did yesterday.  The Good and the Bad.  And the Beautiful.  I have some great photos.

Until later, from Me and Katie, have a great Tuesday, everyone!  :)

The UPS Man came!

Good Morning, Utah!  That's what I say every morning when I open the shade and look outside and see this:

Prettier than a  picture.

It was beautiful and warm today, so when Katie and I started out for our early afternoon walk, I decided to go to the Visitor's Center, then keep walking in a direction we haven't been yet.

I talked to a Ranger at the center and explained what happened with the American Coot, and he said that happens often, and whatever it was in his mouth will eventually come out.  He said they often see birds with fishing line coming out of their mouths.  So I felt good about the Coot's prognosis.

We kept walking along, over the lawns in the Day Use Area along a river (or creek ?), and then I heard a loud noise, a dog barking, something like that.  It sounded like something was causing a big flock of ducks to quack and swim up river toward us.  I could see them coming, swimming and quacking frantically.  I wondered what it was that was making that loud noise, and scaring them, or chasing them.

So...  they all come out of the water running toward us.  Then, from behind us coming down the lawn was - Ta Da!  UPS MAN with his arms loaded with four large plastic bags.  Full.  Of.  Bread.

 Yeaaaaa, the UPS Man is here!

The UPS Man said when the ducks hear his truck, they start swimming and running toward shore.  By the time he parks, they are all on the shore waiting.  If he stays in his truck too long, they run over the lawn and wait outside his truck door.  You gotta love it! 

He has been coming to feed the ducks for a long time now.  He said the loud barking sound was one of the females, either one of the ducks or the female swan.  He knew quite a bit about these birds.

He said the female goose mothers the goslings of  the Canada Geese that fly in annually to have their babies.  She will mother them, guard them, and keep predators away.  Then the Canada Geese fly away, and she and her mate stay here.

These geese are beautiful. I've only seen white geese before.

The grey and white duck in the front, below, was left here by someone, and when the UPS Man first saw him, he could hardly walk, he has a bad leg.  He can't fly, but can make it to the water if he needs to by using his wings.  He doesn't waddle like the other ducks, but walks tall and upright.  He immediately stood out when they came barreling onto shore because when they all walked, he was walking differently than the rest.

 This little guy walked like a Penguin.

 

 This cute little white duck has a tuft of feathers on it's head.

This was  a pretty duck, I liked it's colors.

After their treats, they went back to their day:

The bird shots aren't very colorful because I had the camera on the black and white setting, highlighting a yellow-green color for a previous shot of a flower.  Unfortunately, the ducks look colorless except their beaks, and also the green grass was picked up.  Usually I check my settings, but this time I was caught off guard when all the excitement started.  :(

And finally, this boat caught my attention and I wanted to get a picture of it..  You can see it from the RV Park.

Dry Dock

From Me and My Dog, have a great Friday, everyone!  :)

Hooked bird :( and Katie's closet :)

Katie and I took a walk around the "berm" again this afternoon, but we went the other way.  When we walked about a half hour, I realized we were at the end, it doesn't go around.  I don't know what I was thinking, there are boats moored inside, of course they have to get out!  So, I got some photos of birds along the way:

 A flock of Seagulls

I love it when they all fly off, but I don't usually get the shot.

There were a couple of different types of ducks.

And these little black guys.

So we're walking along, and I see this black bird by himself at the water's edge.  He was going under the water, jumping back up, ruffling his feathers, kicking up a bunch of water.  I thought he was catching some kind of wonderful dinner for himself.  I started taking photos of him as we walked up to him.  

Surprisingly, he didn't fly away.  When I got closer, this is what I found:

 

 He had fishing line coming from his mouth.

 Poor thing, I could hear him breathing.

I wasn't sure what to do, no one was anywhere near us, and we were on the other side of the bermed off area from any activity, about a 20 minute fast walk.  So I tied Katie up a bit away, put my camera on the ground, rolled up my jeans legs, and went into the water a couple of feet so I could get close to him.

I held onto the fishing line, and he went crazy, then calmed down.  If the crazy spurt didn't dislodge whatever was in his mouth, I knew I wouldn't be able to pull it out without hurting him.  I tried to pull the line up from the water side, and something in the wet weeds was sharp; when I pulled the weeds off, there was a three barbed hook.  I pulled on it, and it broke off.   I was left holding the line with a bird at the end of it.  I figured the best I could do would be to shorten the line and he could swim away, with whatever was at the other end still in his mouth.  

I couldn't break the line closer to his beak and had no tools.  So I got two rocks and sawed the line off as close to the bird as I could.  And he turned around and swam away.  What a relief!

If we hadn't walked by when we did, he would have been tethered to the shoreline and since it was starting to get dark, I doubt anyone else would have come by to help him.  What a scary thought.  I don't know if he'll live with the thing in his mouth and a little fishing line coming out, or if he'll die, anyway, but I couldn't have left him there.  I'm hoping for a full recovery. :)

 Fly away, little guy!

 Yellow flowers in black and white shot

 

 Resident campground cat

Some people have mentioned Katie's wardrobe, but she only has four things and her vest for walks.  She has a princess dress, a blue sweater dress, a pink jacket and a raincoat.  She also has a Christmas sweater dress, but that's put away until December.  Here is her closet door where I hang her clothes on hooks:

 Katie's Door

 

 ...and her pink walking vest, with loops for the leash.

Can you see the blur where her wagging tail is?

 And finally, here are tonight's sunset shots:    

 

 I wanted to try a black and white shot and pick up the color of 

the clouds in the sunset.  Four ducks flying through.

Beautiful.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Thursday night, everyone!  :)