Eagle's Landing Campground, Holt, FL

We are back in Florida! Since Fort Huachuca we have had a wonderful time visiting with John and Jane in Harper, TX. John is the one that got us messed up with jeeps, but we love him anyway. We had such a good time with them we didn’t take any pictures, or take time to do the blog.

We parted company Thursday morning in the misty weather and started our way home. There was a good bit of rain in the morning, but cleared by early afternoon. You could tell that a holiday weekend was coming up. The drivers were nuts, and there were plenty of them. San Antonio and Houston went by without much drama, but that ended at Beaumont. Multiple highways and local commuters converge on a bridge to continue east and, as luck would have it, there was an accident just before that bridge. It took just over TWO hours to cross through Beaumont. That is about three miles! We were two hours late getting to our campsite in Iowa, LA, but we called and told them we were still coming and not to give our site away. This is the campground that I wrote about last year that is a little hard to find the first time since it is behind a Shell station and a McDonalds. Cypress Bend is the name of it, and it is actually a nice little stopover point with paved roads and sites, and plenty of grass. We were beat, so dinner was from McDonalds. I wish I could say it was nice, but it did fill us up.

The drive to Holt, FL today was in nice, clear and warm weather. We continued to fight holiday traffic, and the map apps were showing another major backup getting through the tunnel in Mobile. Luckily when we arrived we found the problem had cleared up a good bit, but there was still a backup. Still, it was nothing like last night and we made it to our present campsite right at five o’clock, just in time for cocktails!

The Eagles Landing Campground is a wonderful find. The large sites are well spread out and accessed from paved roads. There is considerable grass in each site. The actual “pad” where the RV is parked is sand, but not a problem since there is a lot of grass around the RV. This is going on our list of favorite overnight stops heading west.

Tomorrow we head to the big bend area of Florida near Apalachicola. We were fortunate to snag a campsite in that area with short notice on a holiday weekend. It is to meet up with friends Jim and Phyllis as they continue their spring sailing cruise. You may recall that we did the same thing this time last year when we met them in Gulfport, MS. These are wonderful people we met while cruising the Bahamas in our own sailboat, Totem.

Ramsey Canyon Preserve, Sierra Vista, AZ

We have really enjoyed visiting the Fort Huachuca area. The weather has been perfect; the views gorgeous, and there are plenty of opportunities for hiking.

We chose the Ramsey Canyon Preserve this morning for our outing.  While it is known as a hummingbird sanctuary, we only saw one all day. We did see plenty of other unusual birds, though, and several more Coues Deer..

We hiked up to the overlook in Ramsey Canyon. Along the way we saw old settler cabins dating back to 1902, when at its peak there were about one hundred settlers in the canyon. The hike started out pretty tame, but got much steeper and rocky towards the end. It is hard trying to see birds in treetops while at the same time navigating the rocks on a steep path. By the time we reached the overlook at over 6200’ our legs were getting a little rubbery.

We made it!

Ramsey Peak in the background.

Great view of Sierra Vista. Note the Aerostat radar watching the border.

It was a great day!

Fort Huachuca, AZ

Thursday’s drive from Boulder City to Tucson was very long and tiring. The winds were very strong and across our path for most of the drive. Bella had not been feeling too well for the past two days and had the runs, so we made a vet appointment for our arrival in Tucson. Barbara drove her to the vet while I set up camp, and returned with the news that Bella was OK and had some medication for her.

From here we start heading east to Florida.

We laid low and rested Friday. The most ambitious we got was a drive to Trader Joe’s to restock some our favorite stuff, which included their Triple Ginger Cookies! They are becoming our “go to” snack on the road. In a pinch, Oreos!

Today was a short hop over to Fort Huachuca. This is the historical home of the Buffalo Soldiers, and in modern times the site of the Army Intelligence Command. It is a nice and tidy post nestled in mountains near the Mexican border. The campground is not too big, but with wonderful views. Our campsite is situated with our windshield facing north. It is a clear day and from our elevated position we can see mountains that are close to a hundred miles away.

Looking out the windshield.

We drove to the Buffalo Soldier Museum and found both it and the Army Intelligence Museum closed for renovation until late spring. We were disappointed, but enjoyed driving around the base. There are nice walking trails at the campground where we take Bella for exercise. We came across two Coues Deer today on that walk. Coues Deer are a subspecies of White Tailed Deer, and are a bit smaller. Sure had big ears, though!

View from start of the walking trail.

Apache Flats Campground from start of walking trail.

Spring in the desert. Blooming Cholla.

Tomorrow we will visit the Humming Bird Sanctuary at the Ramsey Canyon Preserve.

Boulder City, NV

We had a short but tiring driving day today due to the strong and gusty winds. The good news was that it was mostly down hill. We went from about 4800’ in Virgin, UT to 2400’ here in Boulder City, NV.

I wasn’t going to bother with a post today because we have not really done anything but drive. Then I realized the whole purpose of this stop is to record another state on our states visited map in the right column of this blog. We are now at 27 states after hanging at 26 since the fall of 2013. So, here is to Nevada our first new state in two years! By the way, our criteria for counting a state is that we must sleep over at least one night in a state to take credit for it. Barbara and I have been to nearly every state, but this map records our journey in our RV.

We are staying the night at Canyon Trails RV Park. It is a nicely kept, medium sized park with paved roads and gravel sites. There is a nice pool and clean restrooms, although we have not used either. There is a nice fenced dog area and lots of friendly dogs for Bella to play with. She and Jasper spent a good bit of time wrestling in the road and came away pretty dirty, so…

An interesting feature of this park is the cactus gardens at the end of each row. There are some very old cacti here and they are starting to bloom. Not quite ready for photos, though, but the old desert artifacts with them were worthy of a shot.

We will be leaving early in the morning, well, early for us. It is forecast to be another windy day and we would like to be well down the road before the winds peak in the afternoon. It is expected to be well over six hours of driving to reach Agave Gulch in Tucson.

Bryce National Park

We drove over to Bryce Canyon today. It turned out to be a long way off. We spent more time on the road than we did in the park. It was worth the drive, certainly, but we were real tired by the time we got home to watch DWTS. Can’t miss that just because we are on the road.

We found a bowl of chili at the lodge general store. It was appropriate because it was cool and windy in the park. I am not sure what the elevation was at the general store, but at the overview at the end of the park road we were at 9100’. No wonder the jeep was having a little trouble keeping up.

Overall, we think we enjoyed Zion NP a bit more. Truthfully, we just spent a week in Moab driving through some spectacular country. Perhaps we are gaded and were not as receptive to the grandeur as someone arriving from Las Vegas, only a few hours away. We noted that at both parks the majority of visitors seemed to be international with German and Japanese the most noted groups. Hoped they has a great time!

Zion River RV Resort, Virgin, UT

Another great day! We were off to Zion National Park this morning and, like everyone predicted, parking in the park was full by 10:00. We managed to get a place along the highway just outside the entrance and just a short walk to the pedestrian entrance. We love our Golden Age Pass. Just show the pass with an ID and in you go without paying the $25 entry fee. How cool is that?

The park is actually fairly small; at least the portion in the canyon, and it was very busy. Personal vehicles are restricted, and visitors are required to use the free shuttle to get around in the park. They come often, so it is not a problem.

We hiked a few trails and checked out the museum. It was a great time. Next time we will come prepared to hike The Narrows, the trail that follows the river upstream through the narrow canyon. I say follow, actually, it requires walking in the river since the cliffs come right down to the waters edge.

Narrows Trail entrance

The desert is starting to bloom

We are enjoying our stay at the Zion River RV Resort. It is a well-run park with paved sites and access roads. NO DUST! YEA! We got back to the campground in time for the complimentary wine and cheese gathering at the social hall. It gave us a chance to mingle with our neighbors. If you are traveling through this area Zion River RV Resort is worth checking out. We are very happy with them.

The Virgin River runs along the RV park

Moab, UT FMCA 4-Wheelers Rally

It was a nice drive from Durango to Moab, UT and we arrived early enough to join friends John and Jane Canfield for BBQ at their campsite. We are here for the 20^th Anniversary of the FMCA 4-Wheelers, an off-road group. John and Jane are staying at Portal RV Park, the host site for the club’s main activities. We did not make reservations early enough, so stayed at another RV park on the other side of town.

We spent the week at Spanish Trails RV Park. It is a nice park with clean facilities and friendly, cooperative management. It is being expanded, so there will soon be several new campsites available. The access roads and sites are gravel and dirt, so it can get dusty, but there is a nice patch of grass and picnic table at each site.

View from Spanish Trail at sundown.

Trail rides were held each day except Thursday, which featured a treasure hunt. The hunt was well thought out, and executed, but the scoring got a bit messed up and there was no way to determine the winner. Each driving day started with a trail ride at 9:00 and was followed by happy hour at 4:30 and dinner at 5:30. The weather did not cooperate and a couple of the dinners, which were outdoors, were a bit damp. The Portal RV Park gave us a thank you dinner and luckily they thought ahead and changed the venue to a large indoor catering facility called the Bar M Chuckwagon.  There were over three hundred club members attending this rally and we were able to comfortably get them all in the Bar M while the rains came down. We had a nice chicken dinner and a live band provided the entertainment.

This was our second time in Moab, our first time driving the trails here. For those of you that are familiar with this activity, we rode the following trails: Seven Mile Rim, Fallen Peace Officer, Hidden Canyon, 3-D, Long Canyon, Hells Revenge, and Hey Joe Canyon.

Sunday found us on the road again as we headed west to Zion National Park.