Our View From The Road

Day 15: June 3 – Moab, UT to Santaquin, UT

A warm and sunny morning awaited us in Moab. This was the view from our campsite looking West as the sun lit up the rocks.

After enjoying a breakfast outside at the campsite we packed up and headed out to Ken’s Lake Campground (BLM) just South of town where we hopped on our bikes and rode to a scenic waterfall.

We also saw lots of these cacti in bloom. something that neither of us had ever seen before.

Having enjoyed a small amount of outdoors time we reloaded the bikes onto the rack and resumed our travels. This time towards Salt Lake City. Our journey today saw us say ‘so long’ to I-70 for after several days of it carrying us Westward, we would now turn Northerly and take US 191 through the mountains. The drive was spectacular as was the scenery. Even the sky offered up its beauty as can be seen in the following picture.

We stopped in Green River, UT for gas and Barb had to take a picture of the Sinclair company mascot. They at least understand the source of the petroleum we consume.

Woody, Buzz, isn’t that a great looking van?

A few hours after setting out we came down out of the mountains and into the Salt Lake valley. We stayed at the South end of the valley in Santaquin. Rowley’s Red Barn were our hosts. This is a ‘farm shoppe’ that sells homemade fruit pies made from the fruit grown on the farm; however, they also sell other items such as ice cream, preserves, cheese, fresh produce and as shown in the picture below, a large variety of classic soda pop. I enjoyed an old style lemonade and Barb had Butter Beer.

Unfortunately the camping location is adjacent to I-15 and we’re both hoping the traffic noise does not make for a restless night.

Day 14: June 2 – Central City, CO to Moab, UT

We awake with the temperature having dropped to zero Celsius early this morning. We ran the electric cube heater all night and it appears to have warded off any freezing issues with our water lines. Phew! I did however have a restless night thinking about what might have happened. Hopefully I shall sleep better tonight in Moab, UT.

Today I ran out of superlatives for the views and scenery through which we drove in Colorado. Stunning, Incredible, Amazing, Wow. We’ve already decided to come back and spend far more time exploring this amazing state.

Eisenhower tunnel, elevation 3,401m (11,158ft) and 2.72km long under continental divide

We climbed upwards for the first part of the morning until we reached the Eisenhower tunnel (above). It took under the continental divide, meaning that after we exit all rivers will lead to the Pacific Ocean.

Exiting the tunnel we descended down a 7% grade for 13km (8miles). A good test of nerves and equipment and then onto Vail, CO and the driving was easier (not so quick Tony).

Another long uphill and then a tunnel led to another (albeit shorter) 8km (5miles) 6% downhill section. This would be the last of the big downhills, but there was still many more smaller sections to negotiate.

Eventually the scenery changed and the mountains became shorter and more grass and scrub covered instead of tree covered as they were earlier in the day. We approached Grand Junction and yet again the scenery had changed to be much more desert-like. All around us now we’re flat topped Mesa’s.

Soon we had crossed into Utah and the temperature was 32 degrees C. Not much grows here. Turning down Hwy 191 into Moab, the rocks turned red and the number of campers increased significantly. Moab as a town was not really to our liking, overly commercial and too busy. We passed through on our way to the KOA that would once again be our home for the night. A nice site in a well kept campground. We’d recommend both this and the previous nights stay.

Day 13: June 1 – WaKeeney, KS to Central City, CO

A gorgeous sky awaited us this morning, the light was painting in various blues and greys and as the sun rose it changed almost by the second.

The morning routine is becoming more natural for us now as we each ‘dance’ around each other in the van doing the things we do to prepare for the day. Pulling out of the Winery we both were still in awe of this beautiful place set unassumingly in the prairie grasslands. As we drove away, we captured this picture in an effort to show the isolation.

Today we are driving towards Denver and the Rocky Mountains; however, we took a quick detour into Oakley, KS to see the monument to Buffalo Bill. A huge bronze statue of the rifleman chasing and shooting at a buffalo during one of the ‘hunts’ held in the 1800’s paints a stark reminder of life in the Wild West.

Light showers accompanied us for most of the morning as the elevation slowly climbed first above 1000m and then 1500m. We arrived in Denver and rains had subsided allowing us to see how the mountains spring from the plains with the city right at the base acting as a gateway into the Rocky Mountains.

We took a detour to Red Rocks Ampitheatre and park. This incredible live performance venue has been built into a natural sandstone ampitheatre that is nestled within the foothills just outside of Denver. It is open to the public for exploring between events, and so we took a chance and luckily we’re able to go in and explore.

In the panoramic shot above you can see how the seating and stage have been built into these incredible red rocks (thus the name). You can also in the distance see the city of Denver.

Tonight we are camping at a KOA in Central City, CO just West of Denver at an elevation of 2594m (8510ft). There are still some piles of snow around and the overnight temperature will get perilously close to 0 degrees.

Dorothy, we’re definitely not in Kansas anymore!

Day 12: May 31 – Higginsville, MO to WaKeeney, KS

A hot and muggy night leads to gentle showers falling as we awake. A quick breakfast and we’re ready to go. West towards Kansas is todays itinerary.

30 minutes into the drive and the skies opened as heavy rain fell and lightning lit the morning skies. The interstate was awash with water and the traffic slowed to a manageable speed, but did not stop. An hour into the drive and we arrived in Kansas City still amid the storm. We passed the Kansas City ballpark and went through downtown. Once on the other side the rains began to let up and before long we were on the Kansas Turnpike headed toward Topeka. The toll was $4 for the entire I-70 portion and then we were back onto the I-70 as a freeway.

The scenery changed throughout the drive from tree-lined pastures until we arrived on the true grasslands that define the great western plains where one can see for miles in any direction. Communities are defined on the horizon simply by the presence of a grain elevator and the train tracks and roads that connect each together.

The road today was uphill. We started at an elevation of 250m and ended at 750m. Tomorrow will be quite a bit higher than this.

Our stop tonight is another Harvest Host, Shiloh Vineyard and Winery just outside of WalKeeney, KS. I’ve included a link to their website below. This place is amazing, tranquil, friendly and just what we were looking for. If ever you’re out this way, look them up.

https://www.shilohvineyard.com

Day 11: May 30 – Terre Haute, IN to Higginsville, MO

A quiet night. I awake early in the hopes of having the shower to myself, Yay! It works. It’s also COLD … freezing actually. It takes almost my entire shower before any warmth is felt. The shower gets a 6 / 10. It loses points for lack of immediate hot water, no shower curtain and standing water inside and outside of shower pan. It is however clean and there are hooks and a bench.

We enjoyed a light breakfast of yogurt, banana, hard boiled egg, coffee and a danish before topping off the water tank, packing up and heading out.

Today was a day of driving westward. We’d bypass St. Louis and head towards a winery just short of Kansas City. This takes us across both the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and onto the great central plains.

We came across one traffic backup (unknown cause) which happened to be just as we came upon a rest stop. So being in an RV, we simply pulled in, parked up, and laid down for a short nap while the traffic sorted itself out. When we rejoined the highway, traffic was moving slowly but we felt refreshed and ready for the remainder of our trip.

Pulling off of I-70 in Higginsville, MO we managed to get gasoline for $4.169 / gallon ($1.394 CAD / litre) the best price we’ve seen.

We are staying tonight at the Arcadian Winery & Brewery, a Harvest Hosts location for which the only cost is that you purchase something from their business. If you’re a camper and have not heard of Harvest Hosts or Boondockers Welcome, check them out as there are thousands of places to stay across North America for almost no cost.

Lastly, here is our map with stickers added for the Provinces and States through which we have driven our campervan. Look for an update further along the road.