Oh beautiful for spacious skies

Today we traveled thru some of the most beautiful scenery I have every seen.  The colors so bright, the mountains so orange and the sky so blue, I wanted to just bust out in song, "America the Beautiful", for it truly is!

It seemed every turn we made, gave us a new sight to behold. I loved them all.

 The Virgin River was one of the muddiest, I have ever seen but the mountains that towered straight up over it, made you ignore the mud.

We found us a spot to stay at Arizona Charlie's.  Since we never know how long we are going to be somewhere, we don't look for a spot to stay until the day before we leave.  It can be a pain sometimes but I don't like having a set schedule.  I like to go with the flow.  LOL  Most of the time that works out well for us, sometimes, not so much.  We didn't get the RV park we wanted this time, but this one is nice and quiet.

No shade, but level sites with all the amenities that we have gotten so use to.

After we got settled in, we headed out to see Hoover Dam.  It's only about 22 miles from where we are staying.

The first thing we saw was the Hoover Dam Bypass.  This bridge is huge.  it spans 2,000 ft with a 1,060 ft. arch.  Underneath is the Colorado River.

Then there is the Hoover Dam.  I walked across it taking these pictures as I went.

                                       I looked straight down... that was scary for me.

                                                         There's that bridge again.

On the other side of the dam is Lake Mead.  That white "bath tub ring" is left from minerals in the water and shows how much the water level has dropped over the years.

                        Those white islands were underwater before the 14 year drought.

                                   This is a close up of that red mountain near Lake Mead.

The more I see of this beautiful country of ours, the more I want to see.   From sea to shining sea!

Rain, Rain and more Rain

We left Brigham City this morning around 8:00.  I know, why would anyone get up that early if they didn't have to and  the guys said we had to.  It was one of those days you should just stay in bed and read a book.  It rained all day today.  The further south we got the colder it got.  Isn't there something wrong with that?  Of course, they were calling for snow at the Tetons for Sunday.  At least it didn't snow on us.  By sunset I could see snow on the mountain tops.

I forgot to get a picture of the campground yesterday, so I grabbed this one on our way out.  It's a terrible picture but at least you can see how the trees seem to wrap it up into its on little world.  It sits right in the middle of town but yo would never know it while you are parked there.  They even have a small garden that they encourage you to take what you want.  They also have apple trees that were loaded with apples.  I did pick one of those and it was so good.  Golden Spike RV Resort is the name and Brigham City, UT. is the place.

The drive thru Salt Lake City was really pretty in places.  Even though it rained and the clouds were so dark, it still looked pretty there.

Provo, UT. looked nice too.  Almost the same terrain.  The first thing I noticed about these two cities in Utah was that fall hadn't seemed to arrive yet.  There was green everywhere.

By the time we settled in at Beaver Campground, we were cold and Doug was soaked.  We wore shorts yesterday and now we are in our sweats trying to get warm.
I didn't get a picture of the campground because of the rain, but I can tell you it's nothing special. So if I don't get one in the morning you won't miss anything.  The sites are very close together but they are set up so that our doors face each other.
We decided to go to a small place with good ratings , named Maria's Cocina.  It is located in an RV Campground.  Kind of odd, but the food was wonderful.  The log cabin was built 50 years ago and Maria has owned it for over 30.  The salsa is very good also.  But don't fill up on it because there is more to come.  I ordered the 2 enchilada plate.  (beef and pork) The waitress had mentioned here very different take on a tamale so I decided to order one on the side.

                                       The plate I have the fork in was my actual dinner.

This was the hot tamale.  It was huge!  It had everything in it but the kitchen sink!  There was shredded pork, ok that is usually in a tamale.  There was also, black olives, peas, beans, onions, zucchini,  and potatoes.  All of this wrapped in a thin layer of masa, rolled up in a corn husk.  This thing was delicious!  Of course it didn't taste like your usual tamale, but it was very good.  Everyone tried it and it was a winner.   Buddy got lots of leftovers tonight.  So he was happy too.  The funny thing was,  Libbie or Doug asked for cheese dip and they didn't know what that was.  Some things are just regional, I guess.
It has finally stopped raining.  Hope it stays that way for travel tomorrow.
Las Vegas here we come!

On the Road Again

Today was a travel day.  We reluctantly said goodbye to the Tetons.  I have to say that really enjoyed them a lot more than Yellowstone.  Because of the long drives from one thing to the next and the road closing that causes you to back track were just not fun for me.  I wouldn't ever say don't go see YNP, but I would say, check the road conditions first.

The Tetons were my favorite.  I loved everything about the area and would love to go back sometime.

We traveled through parts of Idaho before stopping for the night in Brigham City, UT.  We ate at a wonderful place called Maddox Ranch House Restaurant.  It is two places in one.  On one side of the building is a 50's style drive-in with car hops and window trays.  They have your usual burgers, fries and other kinds of sandwiches.  They have beef and bison burgers.  On the other side is a nice building with a nice restaurant.  We ordered steak.  In fact, we ordered the big porterhouse and shared it and still brought home left overs.  Buddy was very happy!

The pictures in todays post are just random shots from todays travel.

 time for a break and more importantly let the brakes cool down  lol

Snake River Rafting

Today Libbie and I decided to take the float trip on the Snake River.

We arrived a little early, so we stopped at one of the little shops and had a sandwich for lunch.  This was our view.

Our guide for the day was very good and pointed out several points of interest to us. He is playing king of the raft here.

Our group before we left.  Just in case some of us didn't make it back, we could identify the missing.

Snake river was really beautiful.  He said the water was low.  They stop rafting on Monday.

Our first sighting was an eagle.  She/he was eating a fish.

 The beaver had been busy.  I learned that they like a substance just under the bark (kind of like a vein).  It supplies the nutrition they need.  So they only chew on live trees.

                                             Just more beauty along the river

 A young adult eagle.  Waiting on food from mama.

                                                    She flies by on the way to the nest.

                                                             Oh boy lunch time.

                                           Second young adult comes flying in to the nest.   It didn't take long for word to get out that food was on the table.

You have to look real close and use your imagination but that brown in that tree is a nest.

We came across a baby moose lying in the shade.  Mom was lying close by in the brush.  Couldn't get a shot of her.

                              Another adult eagle drying its wings high up in a tree.

                                                           Last eagle seen for the day.

When we got off the raft, the rangers had blocked off part of the parking area because of a bear.  Earlier before we left it was a mother and two cubs playing in a tree.  Don't know if this was one of those or not.  All I could get from where they had us walk, was a but shot.  Look close at middle of pic.  There is a small limb in front of it.

We finished off the day at Jenny Lake.  On the road we saw a female moose with her baby and a Bull nearby.  I was hoping to see one close up and these were right at the road.  Unfortunately it was dusk and the pictures just didn't turn out. Bummer!  Tomorrow we head south, towards Salt Lake City.