Category Archives: Bicycle

Jordan River Trail

Salt Lake City is a bicycle-friendly place. In addition to designated bike lanes on many of the roads, the city also has a series of paved paths. Some of these paths are multi-use, meaning that some sections are shared with pedestrians or inline skaters.

To the east and north of the city, the Bonneville Shoreline Trail provides a hiking and mountain biking path, currently over 100 miles long. It’s too far from here for me to take the mountain bike on it.

Yesterday, I rolled out of the park on my mountain bike. I rode up the street to a small park, called Cottonwood Park. I found the Jordan River Trail there. This is the multi-use path that Donna rode on Tuesday. Once I was on the path, I came to the narrow, wooden bridge that Donna told me about. It’s just wide enough for a single rider to cross.

Bridge on the Jordan River Trail

As the name implies, the Jordan River Trail runs alongside the Jordan River. As I traveled north, the path mostly stayed on the levee on the east side of the river. It crossed over wooden bridges to the west side in a few sections.

The banks of the river have trees and lush vegetation. It was pleasant riding in the shade of the trees. There were a lot of birds on the trail and in the trees – robins, doves, magpies, finches and mallards in the river. I saw a large turtle sunning himself on a log in the river.

Jordan River Trail on the east bank

The trail crossed the river as it ran through the Rose Park Golf Course, then it crossed back again on a wide, wooden bridge.

Along the way, the path crosses a few city streets. Most of the crosswalks are controlled. You stop and push a button on a post and within seconds, the traffic is stopped by stop lights. The traffic is held for about 15 seconds, allowing you to cross safely.

North of the golf course, I came up to a boardwalk over a wetland area. The boardwalk had a sign restricting its use to vehicles under 10,000 pounds and no horses. The boardwalk was well-maintained and easy to cross on my mountain bike. I imagine it would be a little bumpy on a road bike. The boardwalk curved to the right after a quarter of a mile and rejoined pavement.

Boardwalk section on the Jordan River Trail

Another mile or so up the trail, I saw a sign indicating that I was entering the Chevron Section. I’m not sure what the significance of this is. As I rode along, I heard what sounded like off-road machinery. I continued onward and came upon a moto-cross track.

The Jordan River Off-Highway Vehicle State Recreation Area was on the west side of the river. There were several riders circulating on the motocross track. I stopped briefly to watch them fly over the jumps and slide through the turns. The track could’ve used a visit from a water truck – they were kicking up a lot of dust.

Moto-cross by the river

Flying Moto-crosser

I rode on until the trail became the Legacy Parkway Trail and turned around. The ride back was easier as the wind was in my favor. It seemed like the ride north was on a slight incline, but it must have been the wind. The Jordan River flows to the north along here, so an incline doesn’t make sense. The round trip ride took me about an hour and twenty minutes.

I had visitors last evening. Brett Miller and his wife, Cheri Alguire, came to the park. I last saw them when they visited us at Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego (see this post). We’ve kept in touch as they prepared to hit the road as full-time RVers. They actually completed the move into their 5th-wheel RV on Monday, but had to leave it at the RV park in southern California on Tuesday to attend a conference here at the Salt Palace.

We drove downtown in their new Ford crew cab to a restaurant called Sala Thai. I love Thai cuisine. We ate family style and ordered pad tai with chicken, drunken noodles with pork and pad phed with seafood. Served with a bottle of Singha beer, it was delicious. Brett and Cheri unexpectedly picked up the tab! Thanks again!

Brett, Cheri and me at Sala Thai

The warm weather returns today. The weather guessers are calling for a high of 88 degrees. I think I’ll leave the mountain bike in the trailer today. Maybe I’ll take the scooter downtown and kick around.

Happy Birthdays

Yesterday was a day of birthdays. It was the birthday for two girls that are near and dear to my heart and I love them both. It was Donna’s birthday and also the birthday of my youngest daughter, Shauna. It also happens to be the birthday of my friend in Germany, Stefan Hermann.

I don’t think Shauna was able to celebrate her birthday too much. She arrived in Washington, D. C. on Sunday and had her first day as an intern at the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday. She’s currently a law student at Cal Western School of Law. She finished the school year number 4 in her class of 220 students. The internship will be a feather in her cap when she graduates next year.

Donna started her birthday with a bicycle ride. She rode the bike path along the Jordan River north on the Legacy Trail. She turned around at Bountiful Pond. The ride covered about 27 miles. She spent most of the afternoon packing and preparing for her trip to Phoenix. She’s going to a conference for the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), where she will present a session on book promotion, called Do’s and Don’ts of Successful Book Promotion. She will return on Sunday.

To celebrate Donna’s birthday, we went out to eat at a restaurant that her sister, Sheila, told her about. It’s an Italian restaurant downtown, near Temple Square, called Cucina Toscana. We walked out to North Temple and caught the light rail at the corner across from the KOA RV park. The light rail cost five dollars for a round trip ticket. The rail cars were clean and comfortable. The ride downtown took eight minutes.

Toast to Donna

Cucina Toscana is an upscale restaurant with traditional Italian food. Donna ordered the linguini nere con frutti di mare, which is squid ink pasta, shrimp, calamari, mussels and lobster in wine reduction sauce.

Linguini nere con frutti di mare

I had the vitello in saltimbocca, which is veal scallopine topped with aged prosciutto and fresh mozzarella.

Vitello in Saltimbocca

We both enjoyed our choices. The meals were cooked to perfection and the service was top-notch. In honor of Donna’s birthday, our server brought us a plate of tiramisu for dessert.

Happy birthday to Donna

After dinner, we strolled back to the rail stop in front of the Energy Solutions Arena, which is home to the Utah Jazz NBA team. We had a few minutes before our train would arrive. I saw what appeared to be an historic building across the street. I walked over for a closer look. It was the Devereaux House.

Devereaux House

Rather than rehash the history behind this place, I’ll just add photos of the placards that were placed in front of the house. Click on the photo to enlarge and read the placard if you’re interested.

This morning, I’ll walk Donna to the light rail. I’ll be on my own for the next four nights. The temperature is forecast to reach 93 degrees today, it’s already 80 degrees at 10am. I’ll have both air conditioners running all day.

Salt Lake City

On Sunday, I enjoyed the Monaco Grand Prix on Dish Network while Donna went out for a bike ride. She battled windy conditions, but enjoyed her ride. In the afternoon, I cleaned the windows, checked tire pressures and packed the trailer in anticipation of Monday’s 50-mile drive.

Monday morning, Donna did her usual job of securing things inside the coach, while I dumped and flushed the holding tanks. While I was disconnecting hoses and power, Donna drove the rental car back to the Heber City airport. I saw a pair of airplanes, flying in formation overhead. They had smoke generators on, I was expecting to see some kind of show, but they only made a couple of passes before landing. It was hard to tell what they were, but the radial engines and long silhouettes seemed like Yak 52s. I forgot to mention the plane that flew above us on Saturday. It was a Pitts biplane practicing aerobatics. Fun to watch!

I learned something about the HWH hydraulic system that operates our jacks and slide-out mechanisms. A guy posted an old service bulletin on the IRV2 forum regarding complaints of false “Jacks Down” alarms while driving. I’ve had this happen a couple of times. It’s operator error. The bulletin advises not to turn off the HWH control panel when the lights indicate jacks are stored. If you turn off the panel, the solenoids close the hydraulic valves. Fluid may still be trapped in the jack rams. The fluid can heat up and expand while driving, moving the ram and triggering the alarm. You’re supposed to leave the panel turned on. It will shut down automatically three to six minutes after the “Jacks Stored” light comes on, allowing all of the fluid to drain from the ram. Good information! I thanked the person posting the service bulletin as it applied to my coach.

Once I had the jacks up and slides in, I did my walk-around inspection while the engine warmed up. I drove over by the airport where Donna was waiting to be picked up. We drove through a residential area. When we reached US40, I was disoriented. I turned right on US40 and quickly realized we were heading southeast, the wrong direction. I glanced at the seven-inch screen on our Rand-McNally RVND7720 GPS and saw an easy way to correct our heading. A couple of 90-degree turns later, we were on our way.

Once we were out of Heber City, US40 begins a long climb. We pulled the grade at 50 – 55mph in the right lane, but had to swing into the center lane of the three-lane highway to maintain momentum past slow-moving trucks. Some heavily loaded tractor trailer rigs could only manage 30 – 35 mph up the grade. We drove past the Jordanelle Reservoir near Park City, then descended to the Junction of I-80 at Silver Creek.

It was another long grade up I-80, finally topping out at 7,025 feet above sea level before we began the descent into Salt Lake City, which is at an elevation 4,226 feet. Nally (our GPS) directed us to the Salt Lake City KOA, near the airport. It seems a little strange to have a large KOA campground in the heart of the city. It’s a matter of convenience for us. We’re right by the airport, with light rail service stopping next to the KOA. Donna has a flight to Phoenix tomorrow morning for a conference. She can take the rail to the airport. The KOA is nicely laid out and well-maintained, as most KOA parks are. We’re packed in tight though.

Site 1012

Salt Lake City is laid out on a grid. Temple Square is the center of the grid. The street numbers indicate the four quadrants from the grid – northwest, northeast, southwest, southeast. We’re located at 1400 West North Temple Street, 14 blocks west of Temple Square. The first street to the north of Temple Square is North Temple. The first to the west is West Temple. The first to the south is South Temple. A pattern is emerging, but the first street to east is Main Street. From there, each street is numbered with the numbers increasing by 100 for each block. Street blocks in Salt Lake City are larger than in most metropolitan areas. Here, there are seven blocks to the mile instead of the usual 10 blocks per mile.

Salt Lake City is bicycle-friendly, with many bike paths. From here, we can ride on a path along the Jordan River north to Farmington, Utah. There are paths to the west going to the Great Salt Lake. Donna studied the bike path map this morning and took off on her bike. She’s getting more confident in her orienteering skills. Traveling to new places and learning new routes has helped her sense of direction.

Last night, we grilled bacon wrapped tenderloins and veggies. Donna baked a potato to serve with it. The grilled zucchini, mushrooms and onions were so tasty.

Bacon wrapped tenderloin, grilled veggies and baked potato

Sadly, my supply of good beer ran out with the last bottle of Dubhe Imperial Black IPA. Ironically, I bought this beer at Cost Plus in Arizona, but it’s brewed by Uinta Brewery right here in Salt Lake City.

Dubhe Imperial Black IPA

There are 10 state-run stores in the greater Salt Lake City area that sell full strength beer, wine and liquor. Grocery stores and markets can only sell watered down beer. I’m in luck though – there’s a state store within walking distance of the KOA.

Today is Donna’s birthday. We’ll celebrate this evening with dinner at her choice of restaurant. We’ll take the light rail, so no need to worry about being within stumbling distance of the park.

Rain, Rain

I’ll open today’s post by giving thanks to all those who have served our country. My thoughts go out to those who have sacrificed in the name of freedom.

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned Donna’s bike ride on Thursday. She told me how quiet the roads were and how she enjoyed riding through the countryside with the snow-covered Wasatch mountains as a backdrop. Here are a couple of photos she took while she was out.

Wild flowers, horses, cattle and irrigation

Pond, geese and grass

Yesterday, after posting to the blog, I went out for a walk. I walked up 6th street to highway 113, then I walked east to Main Street. The housing in this area is an interesting mix. There are newer looking duplexes on 6th, then older homes on the streets east of there. Some of the houses are obviously rental units with unkempt yards, while others are nicely maintained.

The corner of 600 West and hwy 113

On highway 113, I saw this old mansion for sale. The sign said it had 21 rooms and nine bathrooms! It also boasted of upgraded electrical installation and modern heating. The asking price was $749,000.

For sale – 21 rooms with nine baths

I spent about an hour strolling through the town. The sky was overcast all morning. By 2pm, a light rain started to fall. The rain was intermittent and light, so we decided to walk down to the old Heber train station. We bought tickets for the Wild West Days train ride.

The train took us south, out through the countryside. The rain made it impossible to capture an image through the windows – besides, I forgot my Samsung Galaxy back in our coach. As we rolled along, we saw huge houses on horse farms. We rolled along in the old train over the Provo River and made a stop on the tracks at a point marked “Charleston.”

The engineer unhooked the locomotive and switched it to an adjacent track. He drove past the passenger cars and switched it back onto the main track. Once on the main track, he hooked up to the train cars again, on the opposite end, to pull us back to the station. The train robbery entertainment was geared towards the kids on board. Most of the passengers were young families with children. It was an entertaining ride and we enjoyed the scenery. But it wasn’t worth the $15 ticket price.

We walked back to our coach in the rain. Of course, as soon as we got inside it stopped raining. It was only a brief break in the precipitation though. I had the TV on and watched two documentaries about the late Formula One driver, Ayrton Senna. Later, Donna and I watched two more episodes from the first season of Lost.

Cloudy sunset over the Wasatch range

This morning we woke to the sound of rain on our roof. Donna bought tickets for a Crawfish Festival in a town nearby called Midway. She’s picking up a rental car this morning. The forecast calls for more rain this afternoon, making the scooter impractical for transportation to the festival.

Heber City Honor System

While Donna was out on her bicycle, I walked into town yesterday. I walked to the shopping center at the junction of US40 and US189, a little over a mile from here. I stopped at the Chase Bank and made a deposit for Donna, then walked to WalMart to buy ground beef. I’d mentioned to Donna that I had a hankering for spaghetti with meat sauce. She said she would make beef ragu if I picked up a pound of ground beef.

I followed a different route back to the fairground. I wanted to explore. The route I chose turned out to be a dead end, but I was able to continue through a field. I came to the old Heber City train station. I looked around at some of the old trains there. The track ends on the north side of the station. I don’t know how far south the track runs.

Heber Station

They had posters advertising the “Wild West Days” event, May 23 – 26. Donna had read something about it online the night before. One of the activities is a train ride in an old western train. The 45-minute ride includes entertainment in the form of a train robbery. We will probably buy tickets and take the ride this afternoon, unless the weather prevents us from walking to the station.

The thunder showers forecast for yesterday afternoon never materialized. Now the weather guessers are calling for thunder showers this afternoon. It’s cool, overcast and cloudy this morning. I’m more inclined to believe the forecast today than yesterday. We had fine weather yesterday, except for the afternoon wind.

Dirt lot with water, electricity and sewer

When we pulled in here, there was only one RV in the lot. It looks like he’s been here for awhile. We had our choice of 149 sites to choose from. The east end of the lot looked to be drier and more level. Yesterday, a truck pulling an Airstream travel trailer pulled in. He drove around the lot a couple of times, looking the place over. He must have come to the same conclusion as me as he picked a spot near us.

They’re an older couple from Tennessee. His name is Ted. He introduced himself and told me it was his first visit to this site. They’re here for a square dance event. This site is convenient for them and he liked the price! Although we don’t have any amenities here, it’s hard to beat having a full hook-up site for $15/night. By the way, we’re staying here on the honor system. There’s a locked wooden box on the gate and we just drop our payment (cash or check) into the slot. The caretaker swings by every evening to collect the “rent.”

We’ll stay here for the weekend, then move to Salt Lake City on Monday. Donna can get a couple more training rides in. There’s great bicycling around here on quiet roads. I haven’t taken the scooter out yet. I’ll get it out tomorrow and explore.

Clean Machines

I rode the scooter into Grand Junction on Saturday. I went to a self-serve car wash and washed our scooter. This works well. I bring along a few microfiber cloths and wipe down the scooter after I power wash it. The car wash had a soft water rinse, so there weren’t too many water spots to deal with.

While I was out, I stopped at the Liquor Barn. I found a potato vodka made in Idaho. It’s called Blue Ice. They market it as “Handcrafted American Potato Vodka – made from Idaho russet potatoes.” It’s priced right, so I thought I’d try it. It makes a great martini. This is my new standard. I think I’ll stock up before we head back to Utah.

Donna spent the afternoon preparing for a video shoot. We shot a demo video of the Reliable Steamboy PRO T3 steam mop. We use this steam mop on the wood floors in our motorhome. It’s also perfect for tile or linoleum and can even clean grout and freshen up carpets. The video we shot will be sent to Reliable’s PR firm for review. Ultimately, the video will be used in Camping World’s online catalog. We have a couple more products to demo, but we’ll see how this one works out before we produce another video.

After we finished the video, I checked the lug nuts on the cargo trailer. I’ve written about this before. Trailer lug nuts need to be checked periodically. I don’t know why, but they have a way of loosening. I set my torque wrench to 100 ft-lbs and checked the tightness of the lug nuts. Three out of 10 nuts moved slightly before the torque wrench clicked. If you tow a trailer, please check your lug nuts.

We both had a late lunch, so Saturday evening, we just snacked. Donna set out an hors d’oeuvres plate with sun-dried tomato and basil hummus that she made along with veggies and shrimp cocktail.

Saturday night snack dinner

Yesterday, the forecast called for the temperature to reach the upper 80s by late afternoon. Donna went out for a bike ride early to beat the heat. She intended to ride 30 miles, but ended up riding out to Highline Lake State Park. She checked out the campground there, then rode back home. The round trip was about 45 miles and she really enjoyed it.

While she was out, I decided to wash our coach and trailer. I saw a guy washing his coach the day before and talked to him. I thought I remembered seeing a sign in the office that prohibited washing in the park. Many RV parks prohibit washing your coach, trailer or vehicle on site. He told me they will allow you to wash on site if you buy a $10 wash ticket. Ten bucks for the privilege of washing my own coach! I paid the fee and got started a little before 10am.

I used a soft bristle washing brush on an extendable handle to reach the top of the coach. I washed the entire coach and our cargo trailer. Then I got the ladder out and did the windows. Donna found a new product from Brillo called a bug scrubber. This is a sponge-like pad that’s intended for use on windshield glass. It works like charm. The bugs came off the glass easily with the scrubber. It’s a new favorite product. I detest the usual battle trying to remove the bug remains and smearing the glass. It took about three hours to finish the entire wash job. Our coach is looking good!

Afterwards. I relaxed and read for awhile. By the time Donna returned from her bicycle ride, I was watching the Moto GP race from Le Mans, France that I’d recorded. A few years ago, Donna and I attended the Moto GP race at Indianapolis. Moto GP is the premier series worldwide for motorcycle road racing. There are two other GP classes that serve as feeders for Moto GP – Moto 2 and Moto 3. While we were at Indy, I told Donna to watch a kid in the Moto 2 class, Marc Marquez. This kid was fast. He made the most daring overtaking maneuvers.

Last year, Marc Marquez graduated to the Moto GP class, riding for Honda. He won the championship in his rookie year, becoming the youngest Moto GP World Champion in history. This season, after five races, Marc Marquez qualified on pole all five times. He’s won all five races. He’s only 21 years old and he’s destined to smash all of the records. So far, the only rider that’s been able to even stay close to him is nine-time champion, Valentino Rossi.

Last evening Donna prepared pork tenderloin, dry-rubbed with fajita spices. I blackened the tenderloin on the grill. It was superb! Donna also made a red potato and egg salad to serve on the side, which was a real treat.

Pork Tenderloin with fajita spice rub

Today will be another warm day. I have a few errands to run, then I need to pack the trailer. I want to have the trailer packed and the holding tanks dumped by the end of the day. If I have everything done, we can pull out early tomorrow morning. The first stop will be at DSI to have our transmission serviced. Then we’ll head west, back into Utah.

Fruita Loops

I was surprised when I realized today is Thursday. I lose track sometimes. I thought we arrived in Grand Junction on Monday and today would be Wednesday. I lost a day somewhere. We actually arrived here on Tuesday.

The temperature reached the upper 60s yesterday with light wind. Very agreeable weather, perfect for Donna to take a bike ride. She followed the back roads and ventured into the foothills north of here. The roads are really quiet. Cars passed her occasionally, but she said they gave her plenty of room.

We’re on the western slope at an elevation of about 4,600 feet above sea level. The mighty Rockies rise east of us and the peaks are covered in snow. The local terrain is fairly flat with some rolling hills. It’s semi-rural. Most of the houses around us have horses, cattle, Llamas or other livestock on the property. Donna shot a few pictures while she was out on her bicycle.

Cattle along the roadside

BLM land to the north

Colorful with snow covered peaks in the background

Colorful landscape with snow-covered peaks in the background

Donna followed 21 Road north, away from the town of Fruita. The roads are laid out on a grid. The north/south roads are numbered. The east/west roads are given alphabetical designations. This makes it easy to find your way around.

Eventually she climbed to a trail head at the end of the road. From there, it’s BLM land. There was sign with a map describing the permitted use of the public land in the Special Recreation Management Area.

BLM sign

Two girls riding horses approached. Donna took their picture. Horses are very popular around here.

Out for a ride

While Donna was putting in 25 miles on her bicycle, I went out to explore on the scooter. I rode east into Grand Junction. I found a shopping mall. I crossed over the Colorado River and followed highway 340. It’s a scenic road with a high butte to the south and the river bottom on the north. The Colorado National Monument is on the butte. We’ll take the scooter and tour through the monument today or tomorrow. I put in about 30 miles, but I didn’t get the exercise that Donna got!

For dinner last night, Donna prepared sweet and spicy garlic chicken.This was a new recipe. It was spicy and tasty!

Sweet and spicy garlic chicken served with smashed Klondike rose potatoes

The news out of San Diego is frightening. We saw some coverage on the news last night and also have been following it on Facebook. There are a number of wildfires burning in San Diego County. My thoughts go out to those who’ve suffered losses or are threatened by the fires.

The Long and Winding Road

I stayed up late Monday night watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs. We had the heat pumps running, but I thought it would get too cold overnight for them to be effective. Before I went to bed, I set the mode on the climate control to furnace. This changes the heating mechanism from the air conditioning/heat pumps to the propane furnace.

What I neglected to do was adjust the thermostat. The heat pumps run warm air through the air conditioning ducts in the ceiling. Due to the placement of the thermistors (sensors for the thermostat), the thermostat reads a temperature higher than the intended setting. This is because the ceiling ducts blow right at the sensors. This causes the heat pumps to shut off before we reach a comfortable setting in the coach. So when we have the heat pumps on, I set the thermostat higher than the intended comfort level. For example, if I want the coach to be at an average temperature of 68 degrees, I set the heat pump at 73 degrees.

Conversely, our propane furnace blows heated air through ducts near the floor. As the warm air rises, it cools. By the time it reaches the sensors at the ceiling, the temperature is below the intended setting. So the thermostat commands the furnace to to keep running and the average coach temperature is higher than intended.

I went to bed with the climate control set to furnace, but the temperature setting was at the setting for the heat pump. A few hours later, I woke to the sound of the furnace blasting and me lying in bed, warm with no covers. It was 75 degrees in the coach! I got up and reset the thermostat and couldn’t help but wonder how much propane I’d burned.

In the morning Donna cooked up a full breakfast of eggs, pancakes and bacon. We showered and set a target of a 10:30am departure. We had things squared away and the Cummins ISL diesel warming up at 10:35am.

We drove north through Moab and turned east at Highway 128. This road meanders through steep, narrow, rocky canyons along the Colorado River. From Moab, it angles northeast and terminates at I-70. We wanted to check out some of the boondocking sites along this way that we’d heard about. The roadway is narrow with a rock wall off to the right and no shoulder. I was cognizant of how far my right rear view mirror extended. I didn’t want to repeat yesterday’s episode of rubbing the housing.

Donna enjoyed the view and snapped several windshield photos along the way. I enjoyed bits and pieces, but this is a road that demands attention – regardless of of the vehicle you’re driving. I would estimate our average speed allowed us to cover the 40 miles or so in about an hour. The speed limit varies – it’s only 35mph in some tight stretches with poor road visibility and up to 55mph in flat, open areas. Here are some windshield views Donna snapped. The black angular line in the photos is the windshield wiper arm.

Rock wall at the edge of the right side of the road

An open stretch of road with a large mesa ahead

Blind crest with multi-colored rock walls

Road narrows

Another open section with incredible rock formations

We only found one area that could accommodate a rig our size. It’s called Goose Island Campground and it’s on BLM land just a few miles from Moab and also Arches National Park. It’s right on the river with a one-way loop that would make it easy to enter and exit.

We hit I-70 east and made our way into Colorado. Once again, I’m so impressed and grateful to have a Cummins ISL with a two-stage (Jacobs) brake. We had no issues at all with the sudden inclines and downgrades. I didn’t need to touch my brake pedal on highway 128 or I-70.

We found the Colorado Welcome Center at exit 19 and pulled off. The roundabout at the top of the off-ramp was poorly marked, but we made our way without incident. The welcome center has large RV lanes and a free dump station with fresh water! Nice!

We both needed comfort breaks and went inside. The facilities are very clean. The information center has all of the brochures you could ever ask for and more. We picked out a few with information about local cycling routes and then Donna inquired about lunch nearby. We were told we could leave our coach in the lot and walk to restaurants in the area. We went to a Mexican restaurant called El Tapatio.

As we were walking to the restaurant, I had to tell Donna about a guy I used to work for, Joe Sheridan. Joe was the manager of our group back in the mid-80s. Joe spent his entire life on the Atlantic Coast before moving to Michigan in the ’80s. Mexican names and food were a mystery to him.

We were setting up a national service meeting for Audi dealers and selected The Point at Tapatio in Phoenix as the site. Joe said to me, “What is it, Ta PAT-ee-oh… Ta Pay-show… how do you say this?” Growing up in southern California, it was easy for me to see it’s Ta-pa-TEE-oh. I went on to tell Donna that Joe was a great guy and one of the best bosses I’ve ever had.

The lunch was superb. Donna had the enchiladas suizas, a traditional Mexico City dish and I had chile verde enchiladas. I would give this meal a strong 4.5 on a scale of 5. They also had an extensive selection of top shelf tequilas. We didn’t sample, as we needed to get back on the road.

About six miles east on I-70, we exited and found the West Junction RV Park. I had booked online the night before. The online reservation system queried our vehicle type, length, whether we had a trailer and how long the trailer was. Once I completed the information, it told me that a suitable site was available and showed the rate. I booked and my credit card was billed.

When we pulled in, the check-in was seamless. They had all of my information on their computer. The gal at the desk called one of the camp hosts to escort us to our site and he led the way to our site. That’s when things began to unravel.

I had a map of the campground and saw where site 48 was located. As I followed the cart, I became concerned. The site had a very tight entry and exiting was iffy, if at all possible with a coach of our size towing a trailer. The guide seemed to have his doubts as well. He stopped and we talked. He said we could approach from a different direction if I followed him.

We rolled along through the RV park and made a turn around back near the office. This was a simple U-turn for the guide in a golf cart, but was impossible for my 278-inch wheelbase. I inched back and forth to get the trailer into a position to complete the turn. He finally came over and said, “Maybe I should see if we have another site.”

He came back a few minutes later and said he had another site. He told me to follow him out of the park to the street, so we could re-enter the park from the north. Again he whipped the golf cart into the park and made a 180-degree turn that was impossible for me to complete. I had to jockey back and forth carefully. I was concerned about jack-knifing the trailer. Once I completed the 180-degree turn, getting into the new site was easy and we didn’t have to drop the trailer. You would think that the person working at the RV park, assigned to escort you to your site, would have some notion of what it takes to turn a 40-foot motorhome and trailer.

We were told there would be an additional charge for the new site, because it had a cable TV hook-up. Donna went to office and talked to the owner. The owner wouldn’t budge. She insisted that we had to pay whether we used cable TV or not. As I was setting up, the owner came out. She apparently had a change of heart and said they wouldn’t add the additional charge. I thanked her and went about my business.

Once we were set up, Donna and I took the scooter out to reconnoiter the area. Donna is looking for routes to ride her bicycle. We rode west into the town of Fruita. We found some decent roads. Only a few have bike lanes, but the traffic here is very light.

Donna is planning to go out for a ride today. I’ll explore the area and see what it’s like to the east. Our location is roughly centered between Fruita to the west and Grand Junction to the east.

Cactus Garden

Yesterday was a laid back day. In the morning, after I posted to the blog, Donna went for a hike. While she was out, I took care of a couple of chores that needed to be done before we head out of here on Sunday. I cleaned and lubed the chains on our bicycles. The chain on my mountain bike picked up a lot of grit from the dusty trails around here.

I used to have a complete bicycle mechanic tool set from Park Tools, but they were stolen along with our cargo trailer by those Dirty, Rotten Thieves. I didn’t replace the complete set, but I did buy a Park CM-5 Cyclone Chain Cleaner from Amazon. This makes getting the chain clean a breeze. I use a 50/50 Simple Green and water mixture to scrub the chain. Then I follow up with plain water to rinse it clean and dry the chain. Then I lube it with DuMonde Tech chain lube.

Once I had that job done, I hung the bikes in the trailer. I need to straighten out a few more things in the trailer before we can load the scooter.

Brett Miller posted a comment in yesterday’s blog about the cactus garden here at North Ranch RV Park. After lunch, we walked over to office to ask about it. It turned out to be a little park at the end of the street where we are parked. It’s on the north end of the street, which is basically a dead end. We hadn’t been down there and didn’t know about it. It’s a beautiful garden with many of the plants labeled. We strolled through and I took pictures. Many of the plants were blooming. You’ll want to click on the photos to enlarge them.

Chenille prickly pear blooms

There are two large, old saguaros in the park. This begs the question (again). Why do these saguaros survive here while only one saguaro stands in the desert for miles around the park? These saguaros were here long before the park existed. We have a few theories, but that’s all they are.

There’s an ancient, giant saguaro called Methuselah in the park. A placard claims it dates back to 1600. I’m not sure how that was determined. The Arizona – Sonoran Desert Museum says saguaros can live up to 150 – 200 years. Having said that, I’ll add that Kevin Hultine, a plant physiologist at Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden says that a typical saguaro can live up to 200 years but adds, “We are not entirely sure of the true age of the largest individuals.”

Methuselah – an ancient saguaro

There’s another old saguaro called Sheba. The placard says “circa 1870”. This could very well be true. We saw a Gila woodpecker nesting in Sheba. You can see some flowers blooming and others ready to blossom on the ends of the “arms.”

Sheba – another old saguaro

Some of the prickly pear cacti had pretty blossoms, especially the Santa Rita prickly pear cactus with its yellow flowers.

Santa Rita prickly pear

The park is very clean and nicely laid out. The paths wind around the cactus displays with groomed gravel over a hard packed base.

Saguaro Park

Santa Rita (right) and purple prickly pear (left)

Cow tongue cactus

The wind picked up in the afternoon as we were enjoying the cactus garden.

Windblown Donna taking a break

At the other end of the park we saw a sign warning about an active javelina visiting the park to forage.

Javelina spotted in the park

We didn’t encounter javelina, however we did see a couple of interesting lizards. The first was a desert spiny lizard. He was trying to hide beneath a prickly pear cactus.

Desert spiny lizard

He’s there in the circled area

The other lizard we saw was a Western whiptail. He didn’t let me get too close. As I closed in for a photo, he would scramble away.

Western whiptail lizard

Last night we watched a movie called Waterproof, starring Burt Reynolds. What a flop. No wonder I never heard of it before. Donna will return it to the park library, where she borrowed it.

The wind was still blowing at bedtime. I battened down the hatches in anticipation of more wind and rain. The wind woke me up a few times as the coach rocked. The rain came early this morning, but moved out of the area by 9:30am.

We have a project for later today, then I need to pack the scooter and prepare to leave tomorrow. We’ll head over to the Camp Verde – Cottonwood area first. Then I think we’ll go to the Grand Canyon.

Lonesome Saguaro

While Donna was out riding her bicycle yesterday, I rode the scooter down to Wickenburg. I went to the Basha’s grocery store to pick up a few things. I brought bungee cords with me so I could secure a case of bottled water on the back seat. I had everything loaded nicely and I made an uneventful trip back.

Scooter loaded under seat, on rear seat and in front

For lunch, Donna made tomato basil wraps filled with scrambled eggs, black forest ham and sharp cheddar cheese. I wanted to go for a bike ride, but thought I should wait for a while after eating. I walked over to the clubhouse to return a book I read and select another one. The were five guys there playing music. One guy was clearly the leader. He played a weird four-string acoustic guitar through a small amp. They played old country/folk music. Pretty basic, simple music, but they sounded good. The guy with the four-string guitar sang really well.

By the time I got my gear on and headed out on my bike, it was 2pm. I went out to the same trailhead as before, but this time I took a different trail at the four corners crossing. I saw a trail called Lonesome Saguaro. I wanted to see if a saguaro actually existed out there. I found it a short time later. This is puzzling to me. The saguaro looks to be at least 50 years old, judging by its size and the arms starting to form. The terrain it’s growing in doesn’t look any different than the surrounding desert. I wonder how this lone saguaro survived here when no other saguaros are to be found in the area.

Lonesome saguaro

I rode out to Martinez Wash. The ride to the wash was difficult. It had a few short, steep drops and climbs. Most of the drops into little washes had soft sand or decomposed granite in the bottoms. A few times, my front tire dug in too deep and I had to hop off the bike. I made the return trip past the cattle and water tank. I saw tracks in the soft sections made by one or two other mountain bikes. Now that I think about it, I think it was one bike going out and back. The tracks looked pretty squirrely through the soft stuff.

I’d waited too late in the day to ride. The heat was oppressive and I wasn’t feeling well by the time I got back just after 3pm. I took it easy for the rest of the day.

Donna saw a new neighbor pulling into a site behind us. She said it looked like an older coach, but she didn’t know what it was. I looked out the window and saw another Alpine Coach. This one is an older single-slide model. That makes five Alpine Coaches currently here in the park. Before coming here, I had only seen two Alpine Coaches – one in San Diego when we still had our Gulfstream and one in Usery Park.

Last night, Donna and I grilled chicken breasts and skewered fresh strawberries. Donna made a balsamic reduction to put on the chicken and drizzle over the strawberries. Grilling the strawberries brought out the sweetness. This sweetness combined with the balsamic reduction was a great combination. This was the first time we tried this dish. I’m sure we’ll have again at some point.

Grilled fresh strawberries and chicken breasts with balsamic reduction

Donna remarked yesterday how this place is growing on her. It’s so quiet and the hiking and mountain biking paths are easy to access. This morning I awoke to the sounds of doves cooing and quail calling. It’s not a bad place, but it will be too hot here next week.

Today, the forecast calls for a high of 77 degrees with winds from the southwest picking up to more than 20 mph. There’s a 50% chance of rain by tomorrow morning. It should calm down and clear up by the time we pull out on Sunday.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Bicycle

Jordan River Trail

Happy Birthdays

Salt Lake City

Rain, Rain

Heber City Honor System

Clean Machines

Fruita Loops

The Long and Winding Road

Cactus Garden

Lonesome Saguaro

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