5/5/2022:

Another day for  a beautiful drive. We start out on rt 50 (the “loneliest road in America”!) and eventually end up on rt 6 for most of the drive into Salt Lake City area. When we enter the small town of Delta Joanne sees a Tractor Supply that sells propane. Since we had been running our heat at night we think it would be a good idea to top off the propane tank as we will be in cold weather for quite awhile now it seems. Mike goes in to investigate but no one inside knows how to fill a motorhome! Joanne also saw a propane supplier right across the street (Lake Philas Gas). Mike walked over to investigate and that is a go! We drive across the street to find it is $1.00 cheaper per gallon and the people are extremely friendly! A great stop!

Next up is getting gas. We saw on Gas Buddy that there is a Sam’s Club in Provo right off rt 15. That is our plan. As usual, the Sam’s Club was easy in / easy out and we are again right on our way. From there we have about an hour drive to get to the state park we are staying at. Rockport State Park Peoa, UT (near Salt Lake City). We actually didn’t realize that this state park is about an hour away from the city where we will be doing some exploring, but as we pull in to our lake-front campsite we are OK with that!

While setting up Mike realizes that something is going on with the bikes; probably happened when we crossed a very rough RR crossing a hundred or so miles earlier in the day. Yikes! The vertical supports that actually hold the bikes completely snapped off on both sides! We are so lucky the bike cover held everything together! Without the cover the bikes would have fallen off and either landed on the car, or possibly injured a driver behind us. We were very lucky as it could have been much worse. Now what to do about this issue!

5/6/2022:

Mike spent time emailing and corresponding this morning with the manufacturer of the bike rack. He is able to get the cross bar drilled with new holes by the maintenance dept at the state park, as a temporary fix. We get the bar back on and it will have to do until we get to Yellowstone where the manufacturers are sending the new parts we need. The bike rack company could not believe the bar just snapped off! We have had this bike rack for almost 10 years. We got it when we got the Jayco Hybrid we had before this motorhome. It has always served us well even traveling through Alaska.

Now that the bike rack situation is solved and we know we will be able to depart on time so we decide to spend the day exploring Salt Lake City. Our first activity for the day is to climb Ensign Peak. Joanne had read about it as a short steep hike to be able to see all of Salt Lake City area. Ensign Peak has been a pilgrimage spot for many early settlers of this area. History says this is the place where Brigham Young stood and proclaimed to his people “This is the Place”.

The climb to the summit is strenuous but if you are not up to it there is a lookout a short distance from the parking area so you can still get a great view. We did climb to the summit and it was well worth the energy to get there! We got some awesome pictures of a fabulous view.

As we make our way down mountain we head into the city of Salt Lake. We see the tourist information center. This was across the street from the County Courthouse which made for a great picture itself!

There we found the best place for parking for the Tabernacle for later and to walk through Temple Square. After we parked (City Creek Parking level 1 East side) we begin to walk through the square. Although Joanne thought this would be much different than the usual retail stuff we see all over, Mike did find an Apple Store to have someone look at his phone! With that done we get directions to the Tabernacle for after dinner. Dinner we decide will be at  Red Rock Brewery a short walk form Temple Square.

A few days ago as Joanne was planning things to do in Salt Lake City  she investigated how much tickets to a performance to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir would be. Interesting coincidence,  the Famous and World Renown Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra has been closed for sometime, with Covid  restrictions, and just serendipitously was scheduled to open this day again for its first performance. Joanne was informed that tickets for tonights 1st performance were FREE! Thats right Free!

So not only were we there on just the right evening we also could see the convert for Free!  She reserved the tickets online with a plan to arrive early and pick them up at the “Will Call ” booth. Sounds like a plan for tonight!

Joanne had brought a change of clothes to easily change in the car before the performance, but Mike was happy to stay in his jeans. Either way is fine; we saw people dressed many different ways from tuxes to jeans! We arrived about 30 minutes prior to the beginning of the concert and got great seats (once inside the seating is open). The performance was awesome and to see the huge organ, the choir dressed in their best black and the orchestra up close and personal… was incredible! We had always wanted to attend a concert here and  some days the “Stars” just align on this Journey. WOW!

While we were waiting for the concert to begin Mike reached out to our old neighbor, and friend of Sean’s (and the rest of our family), Robbie Shiely who lives in Centerville, Utah.; Centerville is right outside Salt Lake City. We have known Robbie’s parents since before he was born and his parents are very good friends from Connecticut. It just happened Robbie had married his fiancé in a very small and private ceremony a few weeks earlier and we thought it would be such a treat to connect with them and also get a picture for his parents. As luck would have it both he and Rachel were available for tomorrow and the plans were set for dinner.  Robbie suggested a brewery to meet at  called  “The Bayou”  . We are so looking forward to seeing them, catching up , and to congratulate them on their marriage!

5/7/2022:

When we got home last night all of a sudden the wind kicked up and it got so bad that we actually pulled in the slide for the first time as long as I can remember! As soon as we pulled it in it got quiet and peaceful in the coach and we both slept very well. Mike had to go outside in the morning to chase down a chair bag he had left on the picnic table!! But by morning the wind had died down. After being up for a bit we looked at how far it was to get to Antelope Island (our original plan for the day). Nav said about 2 hours! One way! So we need to think about this! We have to be back in Salt Lake City for dinner with Robbie and Rachael so it would be cramming a lot in and would we be able to do justice to Antelope Island if we go today?

After thinking about it for awhile we decide to have a relaxing day at the campsite until we need to leave for the restaurant. Tomorrow we will pull out, dump and take on water, and try to get a campsite on Antelope Island since it is north of Salt Lake City and pretty much on our way to Craters of the Moon (our next stop). Once parked on Antelope Island we can explore knowing our motorhome is right there and this will put us at least an hour closer to Craters. We were supposed to be at Craters for three nights but looking at what there is to do there we think we can do just fine in 2 nights

5/8/2022

We haven’t seen Robbie (our old neighborhood kid and childhood friend of our son, Sean)  for years…

It is so good to see them and we actually spent 4 hours just sitting, sharing dinner and a few beers. They look awesome and we are so happy we did this. They had just gotten married at the courthouse the weekend before, so we feel like we are celebrating a little bit with them :-). We head home around 9:00pm which gets us back to the campground around 10:00pm. Super day!.

5/9/2022:

We do get an early start as we have no reservations on Antelope Island and we have no idea how crowded it might be. It is Mother’s Day so no telling if people will stay longer or an additional day…. We pull in before noon and no problem getting a campsite. There are several campgrounds on the island and we were looking to get in to the Bridger Bay

Campground if possible.

It seems closer to the visitor center and seemed to be the most improved campground- although all of the campgrounds are primitive. We do end up getting an awesome site overlooking the Great Salt Lake. The only thing to be aware of is even number sites park you with your door on the picnic table / fire pit side and odd numbers park you with our door on the opposite side. We are on site 23 so as we get close we see that we can loop through some other vacant sites in order to pull in backwards and have our door facing the lake and picnic table. We have fingers crossed that there will still some vacant sites we can loop through to get out!

Once parked we make our way to the visitor center to get the lay of the land. The “ranger” is great and we make a plan. We begin with the scenic drive. Not far but we see the island and are able to see from a distance some wild bison (that roam freely on the island) and some pronghorn antelope.

At the end of the island before we turn around we tour the Fielding Garr Ranch. There is no fee and it is interesting to see what ranch life was like way back when!

Once we finish the tour we head back towards the campground and find the trail head for Buffalo Point Trail. It is pretty close to our campground and we can actually see our camper from the point at the very top of the trail! The trail is not long but there is a lot of elevation in a short period of time so it is a little strenuous. We get some great shots and begin to head back down. On the way back down Mike see’s that Joanne has just stepped on a snake!! Joanne doesn’t even realize it! It looks to Mike like a rattlesnake, so he takes some pics to do some research when we get back. The research shows that there are actually no venomous snakes on Antelope Island and this snake is a Bull Snake. Although it was about 3’ long, it was a skinny little thing!

Just as we get back to the camper the wind picks up something fierce so any thoughts we had of sitting outside, enjoying the view are done! Mike puts the chairs back in the car and we have a relaxing late afternoon playing a game then some dinner. Sean gives a call for Mother’s Day and we organize things for the drive to Craters of the Moon tomorrow! Again no reservations there; too early in the season; so plan is to arrive early enough to procure a site.

5/9/2022:

The wind has died down by morning so we are hoping for a nice drive day (or so we thought!). We get a good start and we had looked ahead to the Craters of the Moon website to check on things. After we drive for awhile (a gorgeous drive) the wind picks up again and we hit some snow squalls over the passes; it makes for brutal driving for Mike. We get gas in Blackfoot, ID because we don’t know what the gas situation will be as we get closer. The drive from Blackfoot to Craters of the Moon is horrible with wind. Definitely one of the highest cross winds we have encountered in years… Between the Snow squalls and the wind Mike was doing everything he could to stay on the road and arrive at Craters of the Moon safely…

As we pull in to the “Craters of the Moon” parking area Joanne see’s a CLOSED sign on the visitor center window. Wondering what is going on we pull in but have to call the park officer only to find out that a huge snowstorm which we had just driven through had forced closure of the park down including the campground. Bummer!

We had driven so far to get here (with record gas prices…). But we know we can’t dwell on it. We take some photo’s of anything we can see then begin to make a plan for the night.

There are a few campgrounds in Arco, Idaho but they are each over $40.00 and the only thing we are going to do is sleep there. The park ranger could not guarantee that the park would open the next day so we nix any plan to go back. With that in mind Joanne starts to look for boondocking spots. There is a rest area on 26 after Arco that might work but if we are willing to drive further as there is a Cabela’s in Idaho Falls. That would probably be perfect. It is right on our way to Teton NP which is our next destination. We would be pulling into Teton a day early so we check the website for Gros Ventre CG to see if our site is open a day early and (luck would have it) it is! So now we have a plan.

Although the drive from Craters to Idaho Falls is windy and feels long since we drove out of our way to Craters.  We feel good about the Cabela’s. It is easy in /easy out and quiet. Mike goes in to ask if we can stay the night and the manager welcomed us. We eat dinner then wander through the store and also through Hobby Lobby which is right next door. There are plenty of eateries walkable from Cabela’s if someone needed that. A bakery and a Starbucks right next to the parking lot. We are all set so do not take advantage of any of the surrounding businesses. Fortunately even though the wind has subsided we are able to park so as our slide toppers are protected some..

We get a great night sleep and up and at ‘em next day bound for Teton NP!