Utah and Colorado

We decided to go ahead and drive to Moab, but before we got there we changed our destination to Fruita. We camped further out than we have yet. We arrived at a dirt road (a trailhead parking area) and Greg explored on his bike to find a spot for the trailer. He came back and we S L O W L Y pulled the trailer up a rugged dirt road to the most beautiful spot yet. The trail was out our front door and on the other side was a cliff that dropped into a canyon and no words can describe the view. The other side was just as pretty. We stayed Tuesday and Wednesday night. There was a bathroom? a ways up the road at a viewpoint also indescribable and the trail from there headed to our site and past along the ridgeline (not too close to the ridge) following the other side of the canyon. Otto and Louis rode about 11 miles with Greg one of the days. Henry rode with Greg a little later and I rode maybe 5 the next day. The flowers are beginning to bloom. There are tiny little pink flowers that cover the ground when the sun first becomes bright and when it begins to get hot they close, like morning glories. When we left the area there we many people camped closer to the road we came in on, but we only saw one group of riders the days we were there. We left in the afternoon and went just a few miles down the road to exit #2 in Colorado. We pulled into a large parking lot at another trailhead and we stayed another couple of nights. It was fairly late in the afternoon when we pulled in, but we saw a lot of cows. They roam freely in the area and would even walk through the parking lot. The next morning Greg and Otto went out to explore some trails and came upon a large herd crossing the road. They rode through them, but I’m sure neither of them will forget the experience. Otto decided to head back after about 5 miles, they had passed us during that time and he was within sight when he turned back. Greg rode on and found a good 10 mile ride he had been looking to do. He came back and rested before going out again and riding an awesome 20 mile trail. You can find out more about those on his MTB site. The kids and I did school work, I cleaned and organized (it will never get done). On the other side of the parking lot was a cliff of boulders and dirt, not too steep, not too high. The kids had the best time climbing it (Olivia was unhappy to be too little). From the top you could see a fair distance in all directions and the kids found lizards, rabbits, a bird skeleton and saw cows fighting. On Saturday the parking lot filled with people, mostly motorcycles and ATVs and they were loud. Greg was taking a rest day from his 30 miles the day before and there must have been a lot of traffic on the trails. We had as much of the noise as we could take by the afternoon and left. We thought we would go to another parking lot at another trailhead, but we were going to dump the tanks in Fruita first. We went ahead and checked out the state park campground, also in Fruita, just to see if they might have a space for us, and they did. We got a site with full hook-ups and are sooooo enjoying the electricity and water, the showers and Laundromat. It is like reaching civilization after a journey into the wilderness. We even went out to dinner last night. Fruita is a great place, we would be happy to stay here a while.

Arizona, Nevada and Utah

We camped at the parking lot of the rodeo arena at Estrella Mountain Regional Park near Phoenix Arizona, two nights for $5 and the last free thanks to the kind park host. (Click on the above picture and we are this side of the arena, there are other trailers parked with hook-ups on the far side.) We didn’t have any hook-ups, but we were right outside the clean bathrooms. The trails were on the other side of the parking lot. We did see a lot of traffic during the day, but nothing intrusive and the view was beautiful, as has been the norm. I was a little over confident and went exploring the trails with Louis before Greg checked them out; it won’t happen again. We did see some beautiful views, but mostly walked the bikes up and down… loose rocks and cactus, I crashed twice. One evening we rode our bikes to the playground as the wind began to blow. It blew harder and harder and we took some pictures of the sand blowing through the trees behind us. When it headed our way, we headed back to the trailer. We intended to then stay at Sedona, our book said there was free camping, but it has been reassigned. We had to take a smaller two lane highway to the area and the construction started at least 5 miles before town. We turned and went the mile up the road to where the camping was suppose to be, but it is a small pay-to-park lot at a trailhead now. We took some pictures, it is an amazing place of red and purple rock walls rising above the contrasting green, though sparse, trees and bushes. We got back into the construction and had to continue the narrow roads through a deep canyon and out the other side. We arrived near Flagstaff and wider, faster freeway just in time to see the snow falling. We decided not to stay, but continue on toward Boulder City, our next destination. The most direct route was across Hoover Dam, but as we neared the junction we saw signs and heard traffic reports that stated we would not be allowed to cross with the trailer. That meant a longer route and we were getting really tired of driving. The kids are great and rarely complain, but pulling the trailer is stressful and we had been up and down a lot of hills. Thankfully, as we pulled into Nevada and got onto the road heading to our destination we spotted a gas station with some RV’s parking for the night. We joined them, ate a quick dinner and went to bed.

We got on the road in record time the next morning and quickly made our way, only about 60 miles, to Boulder City. We were planning to stay at a campground just past, but Greg wanted to go and check out Bootleg Canyon first. We saw signs directing us as we came into town and drove straight there. It turned to a gravel road soon and up a hill we couldn’t see past. Greg turned the trailer around thinking it would be unwise to continue with it, but a man walking a dog came up to us and said that we would make it fine and directed us to a sizeable parking lot. We then walked to a beautifully set up area with covered tables, BBQ’s, map and clean bathrooms with showers. We were impressed. A young lady came up with her dog, emptying garbage cans and told us a little about the difficulty of some of the trails and let us know that we could stay in that parking lot for a few days without any difficulty. It was a great stay. Greg and Otto did a huge amount of riding. Louis and I both took a crash. Henry did some riding that pushed his limits, but he met the challenge and did well. It was, again, a beautiful spot to camp.

Sunday morning we began another drive to St. George, Utah. It wasn’t far and we stopped at Quail Creek State Park Campground. It rests between a tall rock cliff painted with the natural colors you see here in Utah and a small lake with Hurricane Cliffs and Zion National Park in the distance. We can only stay a couple of nights and we are not sure where we will be this next weekend. Finding a free place, hopefully, all the campgrounds seem to be full for Easter. We can’t seem to bring ourselves to make reservations anywhere. We are anxious to get to Moab and know where we will be for two whole weeks, with a Laundromat. Things have gone amazingly well and it is obvious how God is directing us to the right places at the right times. We will continue to trust in Him.

Big Laguna trail

Otto and Louis ripping it

Only one week?

The camp at Oak County Park in Simi Valley was quiet and it was probably nice in its day, but that day is past. We found out that they are closing April 1st so we just made it. The absolute best part of that stay for me was going to Keith and Christi’s for dinner on Saturday night. They were kind and gracious. It was wonderful fellowship with a sincere Christian family. They have two children, Nicole, who never seems to get girls her age as part of the guest list, and Kyle, who had a great time playing with the boys. They invited Gene, a friend who rode both days with Keith and Greg, and his family for dinner, also. Unfortunately, Gene was called in to work at the last minute, but his wife Sandra still came with their two boys. They have a pump track in their backyard which only Greg and Henry were willing to try of our family, but the other boys rode like crazy. Foosball was another favorite along with running, chasing, etc. Everyone was ready for sleep by the time we made it back to the trailer.

My cousin Leslie and her husband Chuck, with their two older children, Jackie and John, live in Southern California and invited us to stop by their home. They even offered us food and the opportunity of using their washer and dryer and their internet (that is how I posted the blog before this). They have a beautiful home and yummy food; we felt welcome. Thank you, Chuck, Leslie, Jackie and John!

We then continued our journey to Oak Grove Campground in the Cleveland National Forest. We arrived just as dark was setting in, but found a great site close to water and flush toilets, a luxury. We stayed there five nights. The place was alive with rabbits and squirrels. We had cool nights and a fair amount of rain, but Greg rode and Tuesday with Doug and Jeremy from the San Diego BOMB. He was scheduled to ride Thursday, but that was Louis’s eleventh birthday so he stayed with us and played. We were there long enough that I was able to get some more things settled in the trailer. It has been a challenge to figure out where to put everything (have I said that before?). There are still things that get moved around constantly, but it is getting better. We left on Friday (now March 23) and made our way to Laguna Campground in the same forest. It had obviously had a fair amount of rain and we wondered if they would be able to ride the trail they had planned, Nobel Canyon. A strange fog rolled in that night, but Saturday the sun rose bright and beautiful. I can not imagine more squirrels that they had at Laguna, and woodpeckers and blue jays. I hadn’t thought before about how much wildlife we would see. Louis was working on his math one afternoon and later told us how he had made up a story to go with the squirrel play he was watching out the window, full of names and all the movements of the squirrels.

Laguna Campground has several trails from the campground including Nobel Canyon, so after his ride Greg rode the Big Laguna trail back to camp. He said it would be great for the kids and me (we had ridden a little of it on Friday when we were just exploring around). Sunday morning Louis, Otto and I left camp, rode to the trailhead and followed the trail back to camp. It was such a surprise when we were getting close to find Greg, Henry, Solomon and Olivia had walked out to meet us. This trip is full of fun times, love and laughter. There is a lot of stress, too, and we are trying to let that bother us less and less. It will take time, but we are getting there.

After we got back to camp I rode my bike a couple of miles (nearly all uphill) to a store to use the phone. Out in the forest our cell phones have no coverage and we wanted to call a couple of campsites to see where we might stay the night on our way to Arizona. We had hoped to get close to the border, but ended up extremely close to where we were. The decision was based completely on internet access. We want to keep our family and friends up to date with how and where we are, but time on the computer is a challenge. Actually, it’s not just internet access, but access to electricity. We opted not to get a generator because they are just so expensive and we haven’t needed it except when it comes to charging our batteries and using the computer. We will see how things continue. We are learning a lot. Tomorrow we will head for Arizona and some parks near Phoenix. We do not want to spend the majority of the day driving, but sometimes it seems the best option. We will let you know how it goes when we can.

Elk Grove to Simi Valley

I could have written more while we were at Rick and Kathy’s, but the stress of change is beginning to effect me and I don’t want to do anything. We had a great time in Elk Grove and Lodi visiting friends and family. Rick and Kathy fed us and took care of us the whole time we were at their home, it was like our home. It was hard to leave and we did leave later than expected, Wednesday (3-14-07) at about 1:00PM. We didn’t want to spend another whole day in the van, but we did want to get down to Ojai, so we drove the rest of the day arriving at the campground at 9:38PM. We pulled into the first pull-through site and went to sleep. In the morning we moved to a site further from the road and there were no other campers anywhere nearby. There was a creek and boulders and we even found a little single-track to ride. Greg went exploring on his bike while I was getting breakfast together, then Otto and I checked it out further after breakfast and Greg went back with Louis after that. We had a good day at camp, the kids played outside, although there was some complaining about the many small flies constantly in our faces, and after dinner we learned how to play Skip-Bo. Friday morning we got around as early as we could, maybe 7:30, and left camp by 8:30. Simi Valley was our next stop and unfortunately our directions were not as clear as they could have been and we spent an awful hour trying to find our campground, making two u-turns with our trailer and finally buying a map for $6 to find the road we needed. Next time we will be better prepared. We still made it to camp in time to set up before Keith came to pick up Greg and take him for a ride on some of the trails here. As usual you can check Greg’s MTB blog for his take on that and my Ramblings for my thoughts of late.

Greg and Marla Ride Alone

Kathy gave us another great day. She came home early from work on Friday and let Greg and I go riding while she and Rick stayed with the kids. Thursday Greg took Otto back to the trails he had ridden on Monday in Fairfield and Friday he took me. We know it will be rare for the two of us to ride together on this trip, one of us will need to be with the kids, so it was a special treat. The day had not started out well. During the night Rick and Kathy's cars were broken into and Greg's new cell phone, which he had unintentionally left in their car was stolen. We had just bought 1000 minutes, too. T-Mobile told us that we could transfer those minutes onto a new phone, which is a great relief and we will get one soon. Thankfully we bought the least expensive phones available.

I think it was after 11:00 before we finally got on the road, but it was a cooler and overcast day so we had no concerns of it getting too warm. The Rockville Hills trails are only about 70 miles away, and freeway miles, which go quickly. There were quite a few cars in the parking lot and we saw a few people riding, but usually going a different direction or from a distance. The landscape was so completely different from the trails I have ridden in Oregon and Washington. No close trees, green grassy meadows. It was dry, but moist in some areas, perfect. Large rocks firmly embedded in the path creating obstacles I had seen before in pictures, but never tried to ride on myself. Some I rode, some I walked. Having not been on singletrack trails for...8 months I knew it was important not to have any big crashes. I was on my new Haro, first trail ride with a full suspension bike and it was a good thing because my manauvering abilities were extremely rusty. I often saw a line to ride, but didn't make it that way, so I plowed through wherever. And, my legs were stronger than my lungs, but not by much. I hope to ride often enough on this trip to improve my endurance. I'm sure I will. Greg wants me to improve, as much as I do so that I can enjoy the long trails as he does.

Someplace Fun 3/6/2007

Kathy treated us to an afternoon at Someplace Fun. Only about 10 miles away, it is a large space with huge inflatable slides, scooters in little race tracks, video games, air hockey, and a big carousel, basketball hoops for all sizes, etc. The kids had a great time. I don't think Henry did anything except video games. Otto probably did the largest variety because he was the perfect size and age. Olivia was too little for many things and she was worn out by the time we left; just climbing those slides was a challenge for her. My cousin Pam and her daughter Jill met us there and Solomon and Olivia has an especially good time playing with her. We look forward to seeing her again while we are here. We all went to bed early, especially for not having to get up in the morning. I suspect I am still recovering from the stress of getting ready to leave and Greg from his Monday ride, though he said he wasn't sore at all. He is struggling with allergies. I should have posted our fun at the park on Monday on this site, but it is on my rambling page (see link), there is a great video there of Olivia going down a slide.