Windy Hill Hike

Friday: (05/31) I met my hiking group for a hike at the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve.


We hiked 7.7 miles up to Skyline Boulevard, about a 1500 feet climb. Nice hike, clear skies but a really warm day for the bay in the mid 90's.

I relaxed when I got home but did get a little gardening don in the evening. Ham and cheese English muffin for breakfast. Lou and Dawn went out to a restaurant Dawn discovered that does gluten free. My lunch was a wet green burrito from El Grullense Restaurant. Lou made enchiladas for dinner.

Windy Hill OSP Hike

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Yard Duty

Tuesday: (05/28) Gardening today. I located a replacement mirror for the RV but since it isn't specifically for my year RV I'm trying to get some more specifics about it. Leftovers on the menu today.


Wednesday: (05/29) Gardening. In the shuffle of planters we found the salamander above. The arbor as it appear on our arrival. The plants havent been brought out yet and the lawn is looking brown..


Thursday: (05/30) We went to Home Depot to find some plants and get some bark for the garden. Lou placed some weed block down the other day. We covered it with some recycled tire rubber mulch (bark). Hopefully no weeds nor mud in the garden this year nor for years to come.

Memorial Day

Monday: (05/27) Memorial Day. Here is an interesting post related to the holiday. Fortunately I have few such personal memories. My father served during World War I and both my brothers served in Vietnam. All made it home safely. Many others who served didn't return or were injured and this is the day to remember them.

Leftover corned beef hash with eggs for breakfast. Our holiday dinner was early as are most of our holiday dinners. Hot dogs with all the fixings (sauerkraut, cheese, chili, grilled onions), potato salad, deviled eggs, a green salad, and fresh lemonade. Ernie and Courtney joined us with our neighbor Meili and her daughter Anan. Our planned outside dinner was rained in. Otherwise we relaxed today.

Carnival SF 2013

Sunday: (05/26) I was off early driving up to San Bruno to catch a ride on BART into San Francisco to watch the Carnival Parade. Breakfast was a couple of donuts.


They had some problems this year and the parade was almost canceled. The people who have been putting it on for the past few years went bankrupt and with only a very short notice the old regime organized the parade.


While the festival was much smaller the parade was still three hours long. It's good that they saved it.


After the parade I had a carnitas lunch at one of the restaurants in the Mission District where the parade was.  Lots of nice color at the parade.

After returning home I worked on some house cleaning and organizing in my office and completed going through all the junk mail that we received while we were gone. Lou and Dawn were busy with other cleaning. For dinner Lou and I shared our usual chow fun dinner and Dawn had some Pad Thai.

Hello Palo Alto

Friday: (05/24) Ernie and I went to Joanie's restaurant nearby for breakfast. They're somewhat a French restaurant so I had a crepe with cheese, ham, onions and peppers. Ernie had the standard, corned beef hash and eggs. Dawn and Lou had breakfast in Mountain View.



I visited the Highway Patrol office in Redwood City and filed an accident report for the Hit and run accident last night. Now I have to wait for an officer to contact me before I can repair the mirror. Fortunately just the mirror was knocked off, no damage to the arm, I think. Lou had a couple of appointments today. We didn't accomplish all that much today. Ernie joined us for dinner at the Crown Plaza (Cabanna) Hotel for their early bird dinner. We all had steak.

Saturday: (05/25) Corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. I worked in the yard weeding, cleaning and bringing plants out from the greenhouse. Lou and Dawn did the laundry. Our early dinner was BBQ ribs with baked potatoes and tomatoes.

Ely to Home

Thursday: (05/23) Cereal for breakfast. We left Ely just before 11am heading West on Highway 50. We stopped for gas in Austin and Fallon, had dinner at the Nugget in Sparks enjoying their buffet and made it to Fairfield by 1030. There, a semi truck tried to occupy our lane while we were already in it causing us to take evasive action to no avail and the rear of the trailer removed our right side mirror. The truck continued on down the road and we had to pull over due to the mirror banging our side window. We called the Highway Patrol and were advised to make a report tomorrow. We continued the rest of the way home with Lou acting as the right side mirror. Not a fun way to drive a motorhome. It really is like driving blindfolded when changing lanes to the right. We arrived home at 1230am and tucked the motorhome into the driveway. We just settled in and spent the night, as we have for the past few months, in the motorhome. Time enough tomorrow to move back in at home.

Highway 50 to Ely

Wednesday: (05/22) Steel Cut Oatmeal for breakfast. We decided to cut our Great Basin visit short and prepared to roll. We took Highway 50 West to Ely where we spent the day. Ely seems to be a really nice town. We had lunch at the local Ridley Market. I had a nice pastrami Pannini sandwich, Dawn had a Greek salad. Lou had a chicken salad. We visited three of the four thrift stores in town and their wonderful General Store like True Value Hardware store.
(GPS: 39.25440, -114.86223)

Great Basin NP

Monday: (05/20) We were up early to be ready for the mechanics whenever our parts arrive. Lou made scones with bacon for breakfast. Dawn and I visited the Thrift store and I got quite a few travel picture books and guides. Lou made Chinese chicken salad for lunch. Last time we were here when I was moving the RV onto the lift I hit the sewer drain pipe and broke a filling near the gray water tank. Fortunately the break is after the valve. It was a bit messy for the last two tank duties. Today I finally got out my rescue fusing tape and taped up the break until I get a chance to replace the piping. I have to replace several fittings and the valve to make the final repair. That can wait until we get home and I can fully drain and wash out the tanks. Our part arrived just after lunch so I prepared the RV to roll and moved it closer to the shop. The new dipstick and tube were installed and we were rolling out of town just after 2pm. We took Highway 89 North to Highway 20 the West on 20 to I15. Then North on I15 to Beaver. We filled up with gas there and also stopped at a local cheese factory, Cache Valley Creamery. We bought some cheese and some curds. We headed West from Beaver on Highway 21 to Baker, Nevada, then headed into Great Basin NP on Highway 488. We arrived after 5:30 and were lucky to find a site big enough for us.


Our site (#11) is nice and sunny and right between two streams. We may be staying here for a few days, possibly the week. Fish with rice for dinner.
(GPS:  39.0131, -114.2515)

Tuesday: (05/21) We toured the Visitor Center in the morning.


After that, I drove up the mountain and attempted a hike out to The Alpine Lakes and Bristle cone grove. There is a lot of snow remaining and the trail is mostly covered with snow. I made it up to Teresa Lake with a lot of post-holing through the snow.


I decided to return the way I came rather than make the entire loop by Stella Lake as well because the snow looked worst beyond Teresa Lake. The trail to the Bristlecone Grove was blocked by snow as well so I cancelled that. Speaking with a couple of other hikers I learned that most of the trail to the other lake was clear. I might have been able to do the whole hike but I really don't like snow. Just a little beyond the Bristlecone Grove is the only glacier in Nevada. In a couple of weeks, all these trails will be nice hikes.Right now there is too much snow for me.


On the way down the hill I stopped and took a short hike on the Osceola Ditch Trail. During their gold mining boom the water was diverted from the creek we are camped by to a mine about 18 miles away. This trail is down the mountain about 2500 feet at 8000 feet and was a nice hike. Oatmeal for breakfast. I had a Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch on the trail. Lou and Dawn had leftovers. Sausage salsa cornbread for dinner.

Zion NP

Sunday: (05/19) Oatmeal for breakfast. We headed on down highway 89 again today heading to Zion NP. We were there by 10:30. We spent the day looking around, visited the museum, visitor center, and stopped at all the scenic lookputs and shuttle stops.


Zion has some big rocks, so big they aren't good a posing for pictures. They don't alway fit.


Some nice flowers were out. Just how did that little river make that big deep gorge?


Everything is very tall.


I took a short hike out on the River Trail to the beginning of the Narrows and then returned. From there one must start wading in the river and I wasn't ready to do that. Lunch was our usual ham and cheese sandwiches. We stopped in Hatch, about 12 miles from Panguitch, at the Mountain Harvest Restaurant (above right) for dinner. Lou and Dawn shared a steak dinner and I had a pulled pork sandwich. Excellent dinner.

Grand Canyon North Rim

Saturday: (05/18) Lou made sausage and cheese omelets for breakfast. We were then off early toward the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.


We stopped at a Farmers Market in Kanab. They had a very good musical group playing, called the Tumbleweedz. After a little rest, a look around , and a few tunes we were back on the road.


We visited all the scenic lookouts on the North Rim and checked out the lodge. Lunch was ham and cheese sandwiches at the Bright Angel Point overlook.


The North side is not as devloped as the South. Far fewer trails and lookouts. The view from wat there is is pretty good.


Some views from the Cape Royal area.


The weather wasn't great. We had some rain and wind.

We stopped on the way home in Kanab again at the Three Little Pigs restaurant. Dawn found it online when searching for a gluten free restaurant. Lou and I enjoyed tortilla soup and I had a half tuna sandwich. Dawn had a ruben sandwich. For desert they shared a bread pudding a-la-mode and I had a rhubarb, strawberry and other mixed fruit pie a-la-mode. Everything was excellent. We were back home in Panguitch about 10pm. When we crossed in to Arizona we stopped and bought a PowerBall ticket. Another interesting thing was meeting the same person at the farmers market, as our waitress for dinner and at the market after dinner. Kanab is a small town.

Back In Panguitch Again

Friday: (05/17) When we got ready to roll this morning I found I couldn't check the oil due to the dipstick being too tight in the tube. We retunred to the garage in Panguitch to have it looked at. It turns out the tube was damaged by the manifold exhaust gases blowing on it. A new one is on it's way from Chicago. They are no longer made nor stocked by GM so we were lucky to find one. It should be here on Monday. So we are settled in behind the garage again for the weekend. We'll probably take a couple of day trips from here in the Jeep to the North Rim and to Zion NP. Then we can leave from here into Nevada.

On our way to Panguitch we did our tank duty at Red Canyon again. The dump at Bryce is still closed. When we got into town we did our shopping. Breakfast was sausage gravy on bread. Lou made super nachos chips for lunch. Leftovers for dinner.
(GPS: 37.828725, -112.436412)

Bryce Canyon NP, Fairyland Trail

Thursday: (05/16) Sausage gravy on baked potatoes for breakfast. I took a hike on the Fairyland Loop Trail. It's an 8.6 mile hike down into a nicely decorated area and then a return on the rim trail back to Sunrise Point. About a 2000 foot climb along the trail. Above left is the Chinese Wall and on the right is the Tower Bridge.


A lot of big red rocks.


In large quantities.

Bryce Canyon, Fairyland Loop

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Lou and Dawn were busy doing our laundry while I was on the hike. For dinner Lou made grilled cheese sandwiches with a fruit salad. In the evening we attended the Ranger talk at the lodge.

Bryce Canyon, Bryce Point To Sunrise Point

Wednesday: (05/15) Eggs and ham with hash browned potatoes for breakfast. After breakfast I was off on a hike. I caught the shuttle bus out to Bryce Point and hiked down into the amphitheater (pretty rock area.) You start with a nice high view.


I made the Peek-a-boo Trail loop and then had to repeat my hike for about 1.5 miles until I connected with the Queens Garden Trail and hiked up the hill to Sunrise Point.


The total hike distance was about 7.5 miles with a 2687 foot climb. 643 foot elevation change climbing out to Sunrise point, a 926 foot drop to the bottom from Bryce Point. Some great views along the trail.


Above left I'm relaxing in one of the tunnels. Some of the pinacles on the right.


A look at the trail, above left and right.


A couple of holes in the rock on the left. The trail leads under a wall of spires.


When I got Up I rewarded myself with an ice cream bar from the General Store. I caught the shuttle home and Lou prepared banana peanut butter milk shakes. I failed to mention the ice cream bar. My lunch along the trail was tuna salad and crackers. Lou and Dawn did some exploration on the rim trail, visited the Lodge and Visitor Center and visited Ruby's just outside the Park. They had lunch at Ruby's Cafe. I took a nice afternoon nap. For dinner, Lou made a Chinese concoction with sprouts, broccoli, onions, baby corn, carrots and chicken.

Bryce Canyon, Bryce Point To Sunrise Point

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