It’s Monday, it must be Utah

As many of you know, we spent the winter and spring (October through May) workamping at Up the Creek RV Camp in Pigeon Forge TN. That was a great experience at a great campground. Watch for a post sometime soon about our first workamping gig.

When we left TN, we went to KY to visit with our daughter and her family (husband and 3 grands) as well as bring our healthcare needs up to date. My cousin Kim came for a couple days and as always, it was good to visit with her. We planned to do some rock hunting, but the weather had other plans. So, I taught her to weave using my peg loom and between the two of us, we made a rug out of plastic bags!

Dave, Jon and Miles gave the 5th wheel a face lift by installing a new awning. We got to see Caroline’s dance recital on Mother’s Day and watched Miles practice hockey. It is unbelievable how the kids have grown every time we see them. Dexter is still making videos and from what I understand has quite the following!

After Kentucky, we drove down through TN, AL, MS and finally into Texas to see my mom, uncle and aunt. It was hot in May, but not nearly as hot as it has been recently. We had a good, though short, visit and it was time to move on through NM, where we saw dinosaur tracks and got caught in a thunderstorm (Clayton Lake State Park, NM). From there, up to Golden, CO to visit with Dave’s brother Chip and see his new home in Brighton. He and Dave went to Pike’s Peak; we visited Jurassic World – The Exhibit where we saw life-like dinosaurs and more. We had some good meals and good visits with Chip and a friend of his and then it was time to head towards CA to meet up with our Pacific Coast Caravan.

On the way to Fortuna CA (our rendezvous point), we stayed in Rawlins, WY. Rawlins is a sleepy little down that has been hit hard by the economy and I suspect Covid. Many businesses were closed and there was abundant disrepair all around. We counted about 14 hotels/motels – most closed – so believe it was a thriving area at one time. We walked about 1.5 miles downtown for dinner and that area was busy and interesting. As we approached town square there were 4 mule deer munching on grass at one of the homes. They casually watched us and continued eating. Across from “The Buckstop” where we had dinner, was a furniture store that had been there since the 1880s and still operational. Dinner was both delicious and more than we could eat. We took the town’s only taxi back to the campground as it was raining and all uphill on the way back.

The next day we drove through Salt Lake City where we saw the Great Salt Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats. We spent the night at Rockport State Park in Peoa UT. It was truly a beautiful place and reasonably priced.

The last night before arriving in CA, was spent at Battle Mountain, NV. Another very small town, but interesting fact, their industry is gold mining. Again, we walked to dinner and saw that the town was doing many improvements to roads and sidewalks.

Finally we arrived in California and stayed three days in Sacramento at Cal-Expo Campground at the Fairgrounds. It was hot, we were on gravel and unless it is all you can get, or you are only staying one night, I would not recommend it. We had our first “In and Out” burger there and (don’t hate me) Dave and I still prefer Five Guys.

One thing Dave and I have learned is that there is beauty everywhere. Whether it is a snow-covered mountain top, an alien-looking salt flat, a sparkling lake or someone sitting on a park bench enjoying the sunshine. Beauty is all around us and we have finally learned to slow down a bit and enjoy the daisies.

Enjoy the photos and watch for the RVing “Caravan” Style post coming soon.