As we get ready to head out from Bryce Canyon, the kids help me check the torque on the lug nuts. A few years back, we had an incident with broken lug nuts when moving the trailer. Ever since then, I’ve made it part of my habit pattern to check them each time before we move the trailer.
While I proceeded to the next campground, Meagan and the kids went to the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park.
Jarek and Arya stand amongst the petrified logs.
They earned their Junior Ranger badges at the Interagency Visitor Center. Then it was off to the ‘Hole in the Rock.’
Hole in the Rock is the place where Mormon pioneers carved a passage through rock to a very steep descent.
Painting of the wagons going down through “the hole in the rock.”
“The Last Wagon”
Jarek and Evan pose for a picture with the Escalante Valley behind them.
A view of the Escalante Valley. You can see the road on the right.
Another view of the Escalante Valley.
Meanwhile, I arrived at our campsite outside of Capitol Reef National Park and set up. The views were not disappointing.
It was a little interesting getting situated, but I managed to get tucked in. The site was a bit narrower than I would have liked, but it was a quiet campground and the kids were happy to have lots of gravel to dig and play in. They are big on making roads and other vast construction projects at our sites!
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It’s been a little bit since my last update. A big part of that has been related to some Truck Troubles that we have had.
At the beginning of August, when we were in the Twin Falls area of Idaho, the truck threw some codes related to the Diesel Particulate Filter and was regenerating frequently. I was fortunate and able to find a shop close by (within walking distance!) to address the issues. They looked into it and resolved the issues, or so we thought.
Fast forward a bit later to the end of September, and the truck threw the same codes, but with an additional code pertaining to DPF soot build up. When we got to the Rapid City, SD area – we were staying in Custer, SD in the Black Hills, I had it looked at by a shop in Rapid City.
The shop found some of the same issues but indicated that the whole DPF assembly on the truck might need to be replaced, and that it would take 1) some time to get the parts and 2) take him about 3 weeks to get to the truck. Well, this didn’t work for a variety of reasons, the least of which was the campground we were staying at shuts down for the year on 4 Oct, and we couldn’t afford to hang out into late Oct waiting. Not to mention, the cold weather coming (eventually) – this time last year there was snow on the ground according to the locals.
So, we were at a decision point at what to do with the truck and the trip in general. Doing some research on available truck nearby, I was able to find one that met our needs at a reasonable price. So, we decided to purchase the new (to us) truck, a 2020 F350 dually, now christened Huginn, and send our (now) old truck, Fenrir, back to Florida to be repaired by the shop I use there.
Fenrir being loaded up on the trailer for transport back to Florida. Fortunately, the problem didn’t strand us on the road, but the assessment was that if the problems went unaddressed, that eventually it would lead to a force shutdown situation, stranding us. That is an unacceptable situation for us to be in.
Picking up Huginn at the dealership in Rapid City. The truck had all the add-ons that we would have added. It was perfect and ready to go!
Ready to go on the maiden voyage! Heading out of Custer, SD and down out of the Black Hills I got to learn how the new truck handled on the grades. Huginn did very well. I learned how to use the engine brake, which wasn’t available on Fenrir. With the trailer and the engine brake, I was able to maintain about a 42 mph descent on a 6% grade without touching the brakes, which was very nice.
I still have some learning to do on the newer truck and the various features it has, but that will come with time. The adventure continues!
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After Zion, we departed for Bryce Canyon National Park. We had some awesome views of arches along the way and wildlife.
There was a herd of Bison along the road.
After arriving at our camp site, I set up the RV and went to go fix the bathroom shower door. One of the screws had come out of the track wheels and it fell of the track. Fairly easy fix, but to do so involved lifting the heavy glass doors out and reseating them in the track.
We stayed at Ruby’s Inn and Campground, just outside the park. The site we had was very large and we had our own grassy area and fire pit area. The kids loved it as they could play in the grass near the RV.
Taking a break from the heat. The kids were coloring and journaling in the shade. The blue cube is a misting fan we picked up to help combat the heat in the dry air.
We went to the Visitor Center, which is just down the road from the campground. It was busy, but not as busy as Zion. The kids did their books and got their badges. We learned in the museum that the whole area of Utah and parts of Colorado and Arizona, referred to as the Grand Staircase, is connected through geology (NPS, Wiki).
A depiction of the layers and their ages. Best viewed enlarged.
I got Ducky his own Camelbak and his own Junior Ranger hat. He is very proud of them. This way he carries his own water, and if I need to put him in the pack, I can strap his water to it so it’s accessible.
Ready to head out on the Mossy Cave trail. Ducky wanted to walk. I’m getting the GoPro ready to record the hike (yet to be processed…). You can view the Mossy Cave hike log here.
After a short hike, we made it to Mossy Cave, which is more of a grotto. We also found our first Hoodoo medallion.
The kids look on at the cave and watch the water flow.
Victory shot – shenanigans may have been involved!
From there, we hiked over to the Tropic Ditch. The kids enjoyed putting their hands in the water and feeling the speed of the current.
From there, we could take a short walk and see the Tropic Ditch waterfall and see other visitors playing in the pool.
After the hike, we did the scenic drive and got some awesome views of the Bryce Canyon formations.
Back at the campground, Ducky asked me to take him for a walk. So, we went on a walk around the campground and he told me all about the ghosts in the campground. Ducky is apparently very into ghosts right now. But we did meet another little boy, who was camping with his family that was an only child and was very excited to share his toys and have someone to play with.
Randal enjoys dinner in the cool evening. The building behind him is the Inn across the lake.
Everyone has a good time catching up with friends back home via video chat!
Evan takes Randal out for bike rids on Garrett’s bike. Randal really enjoys the rides!
Meagan, Jarek, and Randal went out for the Bristlecone Loop trail one morning and found their Hoodoo medallion.
Views from Bristlecone.
Views from Bristlecone.
Afterward, they went to check out the nearby town of Tropic.
Do you ever feel that you are having trouble navigating life?
Queens Garden – Navajo Loop Hike
We mounted up the family for a big hike to do the Queens Garden – Thor’s hammer – Navajo Loop Hike. You can view the GPS log of the hike.
So this was how it started…
The trail started off with a decent descent down the sandstone slope into the canyon.
We were rewarded with numerous spectacular formations along the trail.
Family shot at the bottom!
There were several places where the trail was carved through the rocks. Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as Carlsbad Caverns where I had to crawl on my hands and knees.
The “Queen Victoria” Hoodoo.
Documenting the Hoodoo for the quest!
The Navajo Loop Hoodoo!
Taking a break on the way up.
Wait, you mean we have to back up all that?
How it ended… Family portrait at the (almost top) with Thor’s Hammer off to the left.
As we were headed out, we passed the start of the Wall Street trail, which we elected to not do, as we were all pretty tired after this hike.
Ducky and Randal enjoyed some playtime after the hike.
We made it back to the Visitor Center in time to get our Hoodoo stickers!
After the hike, we took a rest day.
I’d like to speak to the manager about my milk rations….
Meagan and the kids baked cookies for a treat.
Jarek get some cuddle time with Firefly and Gambit snoozes in his favorite spot on my chair.
Getting into the site was a bit of an adventure. The sites were all back in and not aligned to be friendly for bigger rigs. They also had metal poles at the corners of each site so, no cheating. I ended up getting the rig backed in, although not straight in. The site was also only 1 foot longer than the RV, so that was additional fun.
As we were getting ready to head out, a thunder storm was approaching. Some of the most severe storms that we encountered on the trip happened here at Fredonia.
The power was out when we arrived at the Pipe Springs NM Visitor Center. We didn’t take a lot of photos, but we did take a decent amount of video. Additionally, I was able to record the volunteer’s talk on Windsor Castle’s history.
After our visit to Pipe Springs, Arya and Randal play in the living room.
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We got to the visitor center, but it was closed. We were able to get our passport stamp from a folder on the door. You could tell that they didn’t get a lot of visitors there. The campground was open and there were a few other people there.
We decided to do the scenic drive and see what there was to see. There were a few short hikes off the drive to a couple overlooks.
The first bridge was Sipapu bridge.
Arya was very excited to get out and look at it, having been cooped up in the car for the last few hours.
A view of the bridge from the overlook.
The hooligans at the overlook.
Our next stop was the Horsecollar House overlook. There is a pueblo ruins visible across the valley after a short hike. We took turns hiking out, leaving the babies in the car.
Horsecollar House
Horsecollar House
Randal enjoyed his time in the driver’s seat.
The next stop was Kachina Bridge.
Kachina Bridge as seen from the overlook.
Randal being difficult for his photo shoot.
Successfully wrangled, Randal poses for a happy picture.
The last bridge is Owachomo Bridge.
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We did the long drive out to the Glen Canyon Visitor Center. It was a bit of a hike from the campground, but it was about as close as we were going to get to it on our trip.
We had a nice lunch picnic on the grass outside the visitor center.
A view of the dam from the visitor center.
The kids were very interested in the dam and the bridge construction.
Garrett examines a relief terrain model of the area.
This was as close to the Rainbow Bridge. It was only accessible via boat, and while we looked into a tour, we were not keen on paying the redonculous sums required to get the family out there. The Rainbow Bridge NM Visitor Center is co-located with the Glen Canyon Dam Vvisitor Center.
In the Junior Ranger area, they had a mock up of a speed boat. Garrett and the other kids had a great time playing with it.
One of the other displays was an area where the kids could build with foam blocks. Randal was very interested in the foam blocks.
Evan joins some other kids at the area to see how tall of a tower they could build.
After they finished their Junior Ranger books, we drove out to Horseshoe Bend. This was a short hike from the parking area, about a mile or so. It was very hot and we took our time. It was a nice view of the river and the Bend. We were able to see some kayakers or rafters setting up camp on the beach below us.
Jarek and Evan came with me, and we swapped out with Meagan and Arya so the littles could stay in the car and the air conditioning.
A view of the trail. It was quite busy with a steady stream of people making the journey to check it out.
After Horseshoe Bend, we drove over to the Lake Powell Rec Area and found the swimming area. It was late by the time we got there, but the kids did enjoy putting their toes in the water and playing in the sand a little bit before a storm came in and we headed back for the 2 hour drive back to our campground.
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