We left the Elks Lodge in Saint George Utah a little later than expected on Thursday. But it was for a good reason… we heard through Facebook that good friends Orman and Susie Claxton were coming through town on their way back home to Gold Canyon AZ. We know Orman and Susie through the Alpine Coach Association and have met up with them a couple of times in our travels., e.g., Hwy-101 (Tillamook, OR); the FMCA Rally (Redmond, OR); and most recently in Yellowstone. Orman is a factory trained and certified Aqua-Hot technician… he serviced ours in Quartzsite earlier this year (link HERE).
The Urban Escape Vehicle at the Saint George UT Elks Lodge.
We waited a little after noon-time for Orman & Suzie to arrive at the Elks Lodge.
Orman & Suzie Claxton roll into the Saint George Elks Lodge.Orman & Susie Claxton
Orman’s new truck.
We went inside the lodge to get them checked in and found out the lodge had hot dogs and sliders at a buffet table for donations.
After catching up with Orman & Suzie, we headed on down to Las Vegas. Safe travels Orman & Suzie! See you in Quartzsite next year 🙂
After an uneventful 120-mile drive and a quick fuel stop, we checked in at the Main Street Station RV Park in North Las Vegas. We’re packed in like sardines here, but it’s only $19 per night for 50 Amp full hook-ups and only a block or two from Fremont Street.
Our son William and his girlfriend Jasmine arrived around 8 PM after their 2-day road trip from Colorado Springs. They drove through 4-corners and spent the night in Blanding, UT. Then they visited Goosenecks State Park, Monument Valley, and then drove to Lake Powell (Page, AZ) where we just were for the Alpine Coach Rally. They visited Antelope Canyon and Glen Canyon Dam before driving through to Las Vegas.
After Will & Jasmine got refreshed from their long travel day(s), we walked over to Fremont Street.
It was a late night. We gave Will & Jasmine our bed and pulled out the couch for us. They’ll stay here in the Coach with us until Sunday. Then they’ll share a hotel room with our daughter Joleen and her boyfriend Dylan over at Treasure Island until the 29th.
Here’s a picture of our spot at the RV Park this morning (Friday):
Urban Escape Vehicle packed in at the Main Street Station RV Park. (Will & Jasmine’s rental car is parked next to the SIlverado)View of the Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hotel from the RV Park.
Stay tuned… we’re looking forward to spending time with William & Jasmine while checking out all the sights here in LV 🙂
We’ve been at the Saint George Elks Lodge for 4 nights now. I took a break from the blog yesterday because there wasn’t much going on to write about unless you want to hear about me waxing the Coach and running around town to find parts.
I’m trying to get my break-away switch installed on the SIlverado. A break-away switch is the last line of defense to activate the brakes on the truck if the tow bar, safety cables, and the mounting plate safety cables all broke while towing. This is of course highly unlikely – but it is required by law in many states. I bought a (used) brake-buddy classic from a gentleman on the Escapees (For Sale) website three or four years ago. I got a pretty good deal but it didn’t come with the break-away switch, so I ordered a switch online and have been carrying it around with us all this time. Now I just have to mount it on the front of the Silverado somewhere; extend the electrical wires to feed through the firewall into the cab somehow; and put appropriate ‘bullet’ connectors on the ends that fit into the brake-buddy that sits on the drivers-side floorboard when we’re towing it. Click HERE for a picture. Check back later to see if I get all this accomplished 🙂
On Wednesday, we took a little hike and then enjoyed steak night at the lodge before turning in for the evening.
We started off at this parking lot (below) just around the corner from the Elks Lodge next to Utah-18 and N Snow Canyon Pkwy.
Bicyclists on the ridge (below).
The scenery turned from red sandstone to lava rock at some points.
Little Coach poses for a pic.
We didn’t keep track of how far we hiked and simply turned around and headed back once we got tired.
After our little hike, we drove along the Red Hills Pkwy which skirts downtown on the north side. Here’s some scenic pull-out views of downtown Saint George, UT:
In the evening, we went into the lodge for steak night. The food was OK, but the experience was a little frustrating because we were first-timers and didn’t know the routine. First, we weren’t sure if we were supposed to sit down in the dining room or wait to be seated because there were a few people standing at the entrance to the dining area and there were slips of paper with the menu items listed at the counter. Finally, someone told us that you’re supposed to find a seat, reserve it by putting a jacket, hat or something at it and then come back to stand in line to give the girl your order. You can fill out the paper menu or give your order verbally. After a long wait in line, we ordered and paid for the ‘surf-n-turf’ which was salmon and a steak. We also ordered an extra salad bar. Then we sat down at our table which had a number on it and waited until someone came by and gave us a ticket. We were told to take the ticket outside to a covered patio where they had several grills fired up. We presented our ticket and got our food. And, oh by-the-way, we finally got an extra plate for the salad bar. The salad bar was rather disappointing… sure they had salad and baked potatoes with a few different dressings, but that was it. No croutons, bacon-bits, cheese, chives or anything other than butter and sour cream. Hardly made a baked potato worth it. At least we had salt & pepper at the table 🙂 Oh well, the surf-n-turf was only $13 and the salad bar $6 or so.
Anyway, enough of that… we’ll head on down to Las Vegas later today (Thursday) and wait for our son William and his girlfriend Jasmine to arrive in their rental car from Colorado Springs. I’ll keep you posted 🙂
After a night of rainstorms, we finally got through a whole day (Monday) with no rain. Funny, how after all the nice weather we’ve been lucky enough to enjoy since we left Colorado; that after only a couple/few days of scattered rainstorms we’re already complaining for a change… It’s like we’ve been spoiled or something 🙂
I washed the Coach down a bit in the morning after all the rain and then we ran around the scenic town of Saint George and did a little shopping; Camping World, Home Depot, Michael’s, WalMart.
In the evening, we went into the lodge for chili-dogs & wings night and met up with a couple of the other RV’ers that had pulled into the park today. Once again, we got to enjoy meeting and talking to some new-found friends.
Here’s a few pics I snapped this early morning on Tuesday while taking little “Coach” for his walk:
Side-view of Elks Lodge 1743 (Elks Care – Elks Share)
Views of the golf course that is adjacent to the Elks Lodge.
The RV parking area:
The camp host (John) has his Alpine Coach next to the garage on the left (below). Washers and Dryers are located in the garage which Stilla already tested out for our larger loads, i.e., bedding, sheets.
Here’s Don and Fannie France’s Heavy-Duty Truck (HDT) and 5th Wheel combo (below). We met Don & Fannie inside the lodge at chili-dog/wings night. They just returned from 4 months in Alaska and are heading back to their home base in Mesa, AZ. It was nice to meet them. Safe travels Don & Fannie!
And here’s a Beaver Coach (below left) that belongs to a nice gentleman from California (sorry, didn’t catch his name) that we also spent time with inside the lodge. Once again I have to say – we get to meet the nicest folks in our travels 🙂
Tonight is Tuesday Steak Night at the lodge. We’ll stay here until the 22nd and then head on down to Las Vegas NV to meet up with family. Stay tuned…
We left the Hitch-N-Post RV Park in Kanab, UT by 11 AM and headed south on 89. We dipped down into Arizona and turned west on AZ 389 which becomes 59 at the Utah border again. After the town of Hurricane we took 9 to Interstate15 and then motored south the last several miles to arrive in Saint George, UT.
At times we drove through the rain… other times, it was nice and dry. It was raining again when we pulled into the Saint George (Dixie) Elks Lodge #1743 after our 82 mile scenic trip for the day.
Elks Lodge 1743 Saint George, UT.Elks Lodge 1743 Saint George, UT.
Here’s our spot for the next 4 days.
I went inside the lodge and paid $60 for four nights. It’s $15 per day here for 50 Amp power but I don’t think the sites have water. I couldn’t find a spigot at my site… I’ll have to ask the camp host tomorrow. And by-the-way, the camp host here has an Alpine Coach! John has been hosting here for a couple years. I talked to him briefly inside the lodge.
It rained off and on most of the night. At times – a really heavy downpour accompanied by lighting & thunder would come through, but we weathered it alright.
We’ll move on to Las Vegas, NV on the 22nd where we’ll meet our son William and his girlfriend Jasmine. They arrived from Germany Friday evening for a 3-week vacation and will drive to LV from Colorado Springs where they are now with our two daughters. Looking forward to that 🙂 I already reserved a spot at the Main Street Station RV Park for a week.
Stay tuned to see what we get into – here in Saint George.
We did a lot of running around again today (Saturday), so brace yourself for lots of pictures. Remember – this blog serves the dual purpose of being our personal ‘photo album’ to look back on in our later years. Plus – You know what the say; “A picture is worth a …”
We left little dog “Coach” in the Coach and headed over to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary (←link here) a few miles north of Kanab. We heard it was best to not bring a pet along on the sanctuary tours.
Sign on the side of the highway for the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.
There was only one problem when we arrived – the sanctuary only has four “General” tours daily and they were already full 🙁
They also have a number of “Special” tours, i.e., Parrot Garden; Wild Friends; Horse Haven & Piggy Paradise; Bunny House; Behind-the-Scenes; etc., but these tours also require prior coordination and are mostly early-morning tours.
So we signed up as “standbys” for the last “General” tour of the day at 2:30 PM and left to go check out some other local attractions.
We went north on 89 for a mile or so and came upon the Moqui Cave.
The Moqui Cave was once used by Anasazi people as a shelter or food store, according to archaeological digs in the area. It was rediscovered by white settlers in the 19th century, and served as a speakeasy in the 1920s during Prohibition. In 1951, the cave was purchased by Laura and Garth Chamberlain, who opened a tavern and dance hall the following year, and it became a tourist attraction and museum. It currently contains a substantial rock collection, including many ultraviolet-fluorescent minerals, fossils, pottery, spear points, American Indian artifacts and art, dinosaur tracks (estimated to be over 140 million years old), and displays about the Anasazi. There is also display about the Ancestral Puebloan and a gift shop. (ref: Wikipedia®)
The Moqui Cave was pretty cool and the entrance fee was a reasonable $5 per person. And – we got a $1 military discount off that. Worth the stop if you’re in the area. Stilla wasn’t even claustrophobic which is usually a concern at places like this.
We headed on up 89 (north) to the town of Orderville…
where we passed by the cool looking “Rock Stop”…
and then we found the German Bakery that a couple people told us about:
We enjoyed a quick lunch and Stilla stocked up on bread and a couple sweet treats. The lunch was good and I stole one of the kirsch tortes from the “to-go” bag before we left. No dessert for me later. 🙂
We decided to head back south so we wouldn’t be late for our 2:30 tour at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. But first, I wanted to check out Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park (←link).
View heading south on 89 going towards Kanab.
The sand dunes are about 15 miles off 89 west of Kanab. We figured we had enough time to check it out for future reference before our sanctuary tour. You never know – we might want to bring the ATV back here sometime in the future.
We found a large parking area just before the entrance to the state park with lots of rigs, ATV’s, and other off-road vehicles. We could see the beginning of the dunes in the distance. Since we were short on time and didn’t want to hassle with an entrance fee to just check out the park, I just snapped a couple pics:
We’ll definitely have to come back here with the ATV. The website says that 90% of the dunes are available for riding. Day use fees are only $8 and the main campground is $20.
We got back to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary just in time for the 2:30 tour and found out that our “standby” status was upgraded to “full-tour members” 🙂
Entrance to Best Friends off Hwy 89.Entrance to Best Friends off Hwy 89.
We had to wait for some wild turkeys to cross the road on the way to the Welcome Center.
The Best Friends Welcome Center.
We watched a documentary in the theatre with the other members of our tour group.
And then our group was split up into two shuttles.
This place is huge… our tour-guide/driver took us around the sanctuary and pointed out the many buildings. We stopped at one of the areas where they keep the cats:
In one of the mesh-enclosed outer rooms, the cats even had ramps so they could hang out in the rafters.
These cats are currently up for adoption.
The only other place we got to stop at was one of the nice octagon-shaped buildings to visit the older dogs:
We got to visit with a few of the dogs after a tour of the kennels.
There are lots of volunteer opportunities here. The sanctuary is home to around 1,700 animals. They even have guest cottages and an RV park for guests/volunteers. We toured the RV park on our way back out but only saw two sites along a dirt loop.
Some ponies.
They even have a couple nice pet cemeteries here for the animals that passed (due to sickness, accident, or other natural causes). They don’t put any animals to sleep here at the sanctuary unless it’s for humane reasons.
The canyons and area inside the sanctuary grounds have been used as the backdrop for some “B” western movies. “Headin’ ’em off at the pass!” was filmed at Ambush Pass on the dirt road through the sanctuary. The iconic scene, “Hi Ho Silver Away!” from “The Lone Ranger” was filmed here along with scenes from “One Little Indian” (The old barn still in use here is actually a movie set) and scenes from “The Outlaw Josey Wales.” (ref: TripAdvisor)
After our free ~90 minute tour of the animal sanctuary was concluded we headed back into the town of Kanab to check out the Little Hollywood Museum (←link).
We walked through the gift shop to take the free tour of the Western movie sets behind the building.
We watched some of the video presentation inside one of the buildings.
And then we walked through the movie sets as it started to drizzle again.
The “Outlaw Josey Wales” homestead set:
Barn used in the movie “Outlaw Josey Wales”:
Tack & Feed building from “Black Bart”:
And what tour is complete without a visit to the gift shop !?!:
We decided to call it a day and drove back through town to our site at the Hitch-N-Post RV Park.
Today (Sunday) we’ll head on over to Saint George, UT which brings us a little bit closer to Las Vegas, NV where we will meet our son William on the 22nd.
William just got in from Germany last night. Stilla’s excited! He arrived in Colorado Springs with his girlfriend Jasmine to stay at our daughter Joleen’s house for a few days. Then they’ll rent a car and drive out to Las Vegas to meet up with us later next week.
Also, my brother Steve, his girlfriend Cheryl, my Mom, and Stepdad Jim will come up from Casa Grande, AZ in week or so to meet us as well!
We’ve been to the Elks Lodge in Saint George before and are looking forward to a few days there. Stay tuned… don’t let all the pictures scare you away 🙂
On Friday the weather outlook called for rain later today, and the forecast doesn’t look good for the next three days 🙁
So much to see and do in and around Kanab, check out this website (←click here) that highlights three pages of attractions.
Here’s a brochure we got from the campground office:
We decided to start off by driving the Silverado over to the Grand Staircase-Escalante Visitors Center which is within eyesight of our campground. This is the place that holds the lottery for a 6-mile hike to see “The Wave“.(← click here).
This is a picture of “The Wave” below: (photo courtesy of NationalParkTourz.com)
In order to hike “The Wave,’ you must have a permit. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) limits access to the North Coyote Buttes WIlderness Area to just twenty permits per day. Ten of the permits are available in advance by an on-line lottery that is conducted four months before the month for which the permit is sought. The remaining ten permits are made available by lottery the day before ones intended hike. Year round the lottery is held at the ranger station on the east end of Kanab. The lottery for the walk-in permits takes place at 9:00 in the morning. (ref: NationalParkTourz.com)
The lottery is held behind these doors (below), we were too late to try our luck. I don’t think my hip replacement would like a 6-mile hike anyway 😐
Here’s a few more photos inside the visitors center:
We decided, that since rain is imminent for the next few days, that we would try our luck at visiting the Grand Canyon North Rim while the sun was still shining (off and on). The other attractions that are nearer – or even in Kanab can wait until tomorrow or ?
So we put our little dog “Coach” into the Silverado and headed south to the North Rim (~80-90 miles one-way) to try and beat the rain.
Road sign (below) as we got closer to the North Rim.
We stopped at the North Rim Country Store to get some snacks because we heard the concessions at the North Rim were closed for the season and also, we forgot to pack lunch.
And finally we arrived at the park entrance. It was 80° when we left Kanab and is now in the mid-to-low 40’s.
Some of the leaves haven’t fallen off the trees yet.
One of the nice campground host(s) back at the Hitch-N-Post in Kanab told us that most people only go straight to the lodge and miss out on a lot of scenery. She recommended that once inside the park, we should take the road south to Cape Royal to see Angels Window. So we followed the tip and drove ~15 miles to the viewpoints.
Cape Royal is the southernmost viewpoint on the North Rim, and it has the widest panorama of any Grand Canyon overlook – the great gorge occupies about 270° of the horizon, from Marble Canyon in the north, south over Palisades of the Desert, and westwards for many miles towards the main South Rim visitor area around Garden Creek. (ref: AmericanSouthwest.net)
Our first view of the Grand Canyon from the North Rim:
We finally reached the parking lot and took the path(s) to the Cape Royal Pt. and Angels WIndow viewpoints:
No dogs allowed 🙁Angels Window. Notice the people on top – we’ll be up there soon.Stilla in front of Angels Window at the Grand Canyon North Rim.
We chose the path on the right first to see Cape Royal Pt. The sun was just starting to go behind some clouds…
Here you can see the clouds rolling in (below).
We walked back up the path after taking a lot of pictures and then went out on top of Angels Window for some more awesome views.
Stilla on top of Angels Window at the Grand Canyon North Rim.Rare photograph of myself – on top of Angels Window at the Grand Canyon North Rim.Stilla on top of Angels Window at the Grand Canyon North Rim.
We drove back to the main road and went down to the main North Rim Visitor Center where the lodge is located. It started raining on us 🙁
We toured the visitors center quickly… it was 15 minutes before closing time at 5 PM (Arizona time).
Whiteboard on the wall (below) at the Visitors Center with the weather outlook.
A shot of some of the cabins situated around the visitors center.
We didn’t go down to the lodge or any of the viewpoints here because it started raining heavily by now. Here’s an information board in front of the visitors center regarding the lodge.
We plugged our campground into the GPS that I remembered to take out of the RV for our trip today and headed back to Kanab through the rain. We ended up putting about 200 miles on the Silverado by the time we returned.
And that was our Friday… it’s still raining off and on this morning (Saturday) but the sun is trying to peek out. Maybe we’ll try to visit the Animal Sanctuary and Little Hollywood today… stay tuned 🙂
We took our time on Thursday leaving Wahweap RV Park & Campground. We loaded the Harley and bicycles, dumped and flushed the tanks, and raised the jacks to hit the road sometime between noon and 1 PM. We drove an uneventful 70 miles on US-89 to Kanab, Utah.
A few pictures along the route:
We pulled into the Hitch-N-Post RV Parkbecause our online campground searches indicated it was the most affordable of the several campgrounds in or near the town of Kanab.
The nice campground owner showed us a few spots that were still available for the next two nights. We chose one with the least amount of tree coverage so we might be able to get a satellite signal for the TV. We weren’t successful 🙁 Oh well, we have enough recorded shows on the DVR to keep us entertained anyway. We paid ~$65 for two nights with full hookups and 50 Amp power.
We drove the Silverado around town to familiarize ourselves with the area and saw another Alpine Coach towing a pickup in a grocery store parking lot. I pulled into the lot and introduced myself and Stilla. We met Van L. Dossey from Placerville, CA. He and his wife (who was inside shopping) have been touring the area. I told Van about our recent Lake Powell Rally and also about the upcoming Quartzsite and Lake Havasu rallies next year. He mentioned that they had recently met Mike & Michelle Collins who were just at the Alpine SoCal Rally. We exchanged cards. Hopefully they’ll be able to join us in the future.
We found a chinese restaurant nearby for dinner and then walked around the campground and adjoining streets before turning in for the night.
This campground happens to be home to Utah’s rare white bees:
Cute, eh? 🙂
The town of Kanab is situated in the “Grand Circle” area, centrally located among Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, the Grand Canyon (North Rim), Zion National Park, and Lake Powell. Other nearby attractions include Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, the privately owned Moqui Cave, and the largest animal sanctuary in the United States, Best Friends Animal Society. (Ref. Wikipedia®)
Locals refer to Kanab as “Little Hollywood” due to its history as a filming location for mostly western movies and television series such as Stagecoach, The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Daniel Boone, El Dorado, Planet of the Apes, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Sergeants 3 and WindRunner: A Spirited Journey.
Hopefully, we can check out some of these attractions while we’re in the area… stay tuned to find out.
It’s been a busy few days since my last post. I’ll try to get caught up here.
We found a (somewhat) quiet corner of the truck stop in Barstow for Thursday evening as I mentioned in my last blog post. Here’s a picture I took Friday morning before we headed on up I-15 to Las Vegas.
About 150 miles later we passed the Welcome to Nevada sign:
We found a RV park by using the “Points of Interest” option on the Rand McNally GPS. Of course, I researched it quickly on the internet to validate it’s authenticity. It was a very reasonable $20 per night.
We ended up at the Main Street Station Casino, Brewery, Hotel & RV Park near the famous (or infamous) Fremont Street. That’s on the North side of Las Vegas. I called ahead to confirm a spot and they assigned me to site 200… and what are the odds – we were parked right next to another Alpine Coach! With only ~1,400 Coaches ever built between the years 1999 and 2009, that’s a somewhat rare occurrence. Unfortunately, we never got to meet the owners in the two days we were there. They were always seemed to be out and about at the times we were in the park.
It wasn’t long after we arrived that we were met by my brother Steve, his long-time girlfriend Cheryl along with my Mom and Stepdad in their chauffeured Escalade. They have a time-share of sorts with Wyndham Resorts which is where they were staying. The limousine service is courtesy of the resort.
They took us to Caesars Palace to enjoy the Bacchanal Buffet.
And then we supported the local economy by playing the slots.
Here’s an indication of how our evening went… notice that the “7’s” aren’t on the payline 🙁
Here’s my beautiful Ma and wonderful stepdad! Love ya mom & Jimmy.
Obligatory picture of one of the Las Vegas signs.
We spent the rest of the evening touring the Fremont Street Experience. For those of you that have never been, here’s a link: http://vegasexperience.com
The light show is pretty cool.
And there were lots of characters walking the street… many of whom I couldn’t post to this blog in order to maintain something less than an “R” rating.
This is the zip-line that runs above the street. You can see some people getting ready to go in the second picture below.
On Saturday morning, we said goodbye to my Mom, Stepdad, Steve & Cheryl after a hearty breakfast at the Plaza Hotel’s Hash-a-go-go http://www.plazahotelcasino.com/dining/hash_house_a_go_go They have to get back home to Las Cruces to go on diets 🙂
After breakfast and goodbye hugs… Stilla and I then spent the rest of our Saturday checking out a few local tourist attractions… the first was one of my favorite’s, the site of American Restoration.
The free guided tour through the shop was really neat, but they don’t allow photos inside because customers haven’t seen their finished restoration projects yet.
I pulled the truck up front for a photo-op. Rick didn’t come out to offer to restore the Harley for me 🙁
I did get the T-Shirt at the gift shop though.
Next, we went by the site of Pawn Stars. I honestly have only seen a few episodes… not one of my favorites, but it was cool to see.
This Elvis painting was for sale at some outrageous price.
We must have arrived at just the right time… there was quite a long line forming as we exited. Must be a popular site, or a tour bus might have shown up.
Then I tracked down where Counting Cars is filmed at Counts Kustomshttp://www.countskustoms.com was located and we headed over there. I bought the T-Shirt.
Stilla and I visited Fremont Street again to close out the evening and took in some of the street band music that plays in a few different spots along the covered street.
On Sunday, we hit the road again for Saint George Utah.
We continued on I-15 and went through the corner of Arizona after leaving Nevada.
It had clearly rained the day prior as evidenced by the very soggy desert.
Interstate 15 passes through a pretty cool canyon at one point.
And here’s the Saint George, UT Elk’s Lodge 1473. Now this has to be the most scenic Lodge we’ve stayed at to date. Travel distance for the day was around 120 miles.
We pretty much had the RV Park portion of the parking lot to ourselves. Only two or three other rigs there. We heard that we just missed a busy weekend, the lot was full this morning.
Here’s a couple pics of the lodge.
The view from their deck.
And this was our spot below the cliffs. It’s only $15. Electric hook-up only. Wish we could stay here longer, but son William is due in from Germany on the 5th of October, so we have to be back in Colorado Springs. Also, we have a small problem with the rent – we haven’t gotten any for the last month or so…
