Spectacular sunrise the day before Thanksgiving.

We typically stay in town for Thanksgiving. It was my mom’s favorite holiday. This year, six months before the trip, we made reservations for McDowell Mountain and Usery Mountain Regional Parks. That’s how it is nowadays, if you want to stay at either one of these Maricopa County Parks you need to book that far in advance.  Well, our niece Alex and her family recently moved to Prescott, so we canceled the Usery part of the trip and spent four nights with them.

Alex is my cousin Kahl’s daughter. Yeah, yeah, I know, that technically makes her my first cousin once removed. F that stuff, we are her uncle and aunt and she’s our niece. Her two brothers, Thomas and Chris, are our nephews. We are really close with all of them. Whenever we can spend time with them it’s a big treat. And now all three of them have kids. Being a grandparent must be really special, it’s special for us just being a great uncle and aunt.

Alex told us over and over that her horseshoe driveway was steep. She wasn’t kidding!

Miles and his great uncle

Alex and Amelia, happy together

Amelia, Miles, and Jackson. We all did one lap around the court house plaza before heading over to Bill’s for pizza on Wednesday night.

If you happen to find yourself in downtown Prescott you must go to Bill’s. The pizza was excellent.

Nice whimsical to go boxes

I squeezed in one ride on Wednesday while the girls and Miles hiked. This is the aptly named Tunnel Vision trail.

They adventured off the fire road and got on single track. I heard there were a few precarious moments.

Thanksgiving Day we all went out for a little fresh air stroll.

Grand Canyon Black Tarantula. It was a real surprise seeing him.

She’s still completely smitten with him.

Jackson, Miles, Amelia, and Alex on their big Christmas tree cutting day outside of Williams. I was a little under the weather and stayed home.

The perfect one

Amelia cut down a little one and we brought it back to San Diego.

What a great thing! A kid playing in the dirt.

Adios Prescott. I’m sure we’ll be back soon, now that we have family there.

Sonoran desert

Rain, rain, go away,
Come again another day.
Little Amy wants to play,
come again another day.

Sun, sun, out you stay,
Warm us up for all the day.
Little Amy wants to play,
Warm us up for all the day.

We left San Diego on Tuesday and it started raining before we left the county. Then it rained on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. A couple of days of rain is always nice, six days, not so much. I’m a blue sky, sunshine kinda guy. You can’t control the weather so you adjust and roll with it. We were still able to squeeze in rides and a hike between downpours.

On Monday, our last full day, we awoke to blue skies and sunshine. It was glorious.

This is our fifth stay at McDowell Mountain Regional Park. That says a lot about a lot of things, mostly though it says their E.I. Rowland campground is really nice. If you’ve camped here before and have a favorite site, beware, they have renumbered the south loop. So site #74 isn’t #74 anymore. They have added 14 new sites in the south loop. None of the new sites are open yet. Someone did a crappy job. The sites were raised then paved. The dirt underneath is collapsing. And if that’s not enough, the electricity to the sites isn’t working. There’s no telling when they will get it all squared away.

Somewhere on the US 95 on the way to Quartzite.

We spent Tuesday night at the Scaddan Wash in Quartzite.

Quartzite is busy this time of year, it’s “the season.” All the crowds are at the LTVA’s (Long Term Visitor Areas). No crowds at Scaddan!

Look at this beautiful bike! But where are the gears?

It’s pretty cool riding amongst the saguaros.

This is one of the trails at Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve. It’s a little more challenging than the tame trails at McDowell Mountain Regional Park.

Seems like we always get at least one incredible sunrise while we are here.

The biggest crested we’ve ever seen!

I tweaked my back a little so one day we hiked up to Tom’s Thumb instead of riding.

It’s a short steep 2.2 mile one way hike.

The serendipity of the universe! Half way up we saw this rock. It was the only painted rock on the entire trail. Amy and her dad…I’m tripping out about it.

When we reached the top it was reminiscent of Black Butte, Guadalupe Peak, and Table Mountain, our view shrouded by the clouds.

It’s a hike worth doing for sure if you’re in the Scottsdale area.

I sure miss my buddy Rheinhardt. He passed away on Christmas Day last year.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Hurricane, the last stop on our Utah ’25 Fall Tour.  After so many nice camping sites the last two weeks I was damn determined not to spend it in an RV park, elbow to elbow with a bunch of strangers. In my book, that would be ending the trip on a sour note.

The Airstream is not a Sportsmobile van. It doesn’t have high clearance and was not designed for rough roads. If you don’t know your limitations you are simply asking for trouble. Our goal was a spot off of Sheep Bridge Road. It runs between Utah Highways 59 and 9 at the base of Gooseberry Mesa. We’ve camped in that area twice before, the last time was in 2017. Back then it was a free for all, much like Beas Lewis Flat has become. People were camping where they shouldn’t, destroying vegetation, leaving trash, and generally being shitheads. The Bureau of Land Management temporary shut the place down and created designated sites. It’s still free to camp, but a lot harder now to get a spot. The same thing happened in West Sedona. That seems to be the trend now with all these really popular and easily accessible boondocking spots.

As soon as we turned on to Sheep Bridge Road we could see all the vans, campers, and trailers spread out. The road was in good shape except for being a really bad washboard. We traveled a half mile to the first spur road where some of the campsites are located. We were in total agreement that if we couldn’t get a spot there, we would turn around, the road was just too much.

Amelia parked the rig on the edge of occupied campsite #1. I got my bike out of the back of the truck and went scouting down the road. The road was in horrible shape. It had recently rained hard. There were deep ruts, mud, and standing water. I found a couple of open sites, but no way would we drag Opal through that mess. I was completely defeated and resigned to the fact we’d be heading to WillowWind RV Park.

Pedaling back I could see and then hear Amelia chatting up some girl in her twenties. In just in a matter of minutes they seemed all buddy, buddy. That’s my wife, always making friends. I don’t know who said what or how it was suggested, but the short story was she was willing to share her site with us. They were pulling out the next day anyways, and the site was spacious. It pays to have a friendly outgoing wife!

Kaitlyn was the chatty one just like Amelia. My favorite thing was when she said to Amelia, “My wife’s social battery isn’t as big as mine.” Amelia told her, “Oh, I know what that’s like!” Finally her wife came out of their Class A and she tried to be social, so I decided to get out of the Airstream and try to do the same. Kaitlyn and Marissa are a really nice couple with two rescue dogs. They are full timers on the road, working remotely. I’m bummed I didn’t get any pictures of them. Their backstory is super fascinating, but I’m afraid I’ve already lost your attention with the length of this post, so I’ll skip it. I hope all goes well for them and they stay safe.

Our wonderful site, courtesy of Kaitlyn and Marissa!

Amelia looking like a speck.

Virgin River

Molly’s nipple

The famous Dixie Pizza Wagon has moved to another location yet again. He’s now on the east side of town. I’ve blogged a lot about this place. It has the best wood fired pizza, ever.

So, we rode Little Creek Mesa for the first time in a few years. I don’t know if it’s my age, deteriorating skills, new bike, or the dynamic of only the two of us, but sadly it wasn’t as fun as I remembered it being.

It was still beautiful.

And breathtaking riding along the edge. That’s Gooseberry Mesa behind me.

Stunning

I was really surprised that the trail markers haven’t been upgraded. This is the same sign that was there 15 years ago. Cairns serve as trail guides, not painted dashes like elsewhere. The cairns were knocked down and hard to find. It’s a stressful place to ride, especially when we didn’t see anyone else on the trail. I’d like to try it again someday with a group.

A man in his element.

Tuesday night we were hemming and hawing about when to go home. Wednesday morning we woke up to dark clouds and sprinkles. Mother Nature decided it was time for us to leave. The last thing we needed was to get stuck out there when the spur road turned to shit. The drive home was a little over eight hours.

The third time’s a charm!

Our San Diego friends Brian and Pam are building a beautiful vacation home outside of the east entrance of Zion National Park in the Orderville community. The first two times we’ve driven through neither of them have been there. This trip Pam was there!

I love back stories, so here’s a condensed one. In a previous life, circa ’87, Amelia met Pam. I did not know Pam. I met Brian in ’89, Amelia did not know him. In the early days of Fins Rancho Bernardo, ’89-’91, when we only had one location it became sort of a clubhouse for locals and friends. Paths constantly crossed and long lasting friendships developed. Pam and Brian were a big part of that microcosm. They got married in ’95, the same year we started dating. They have three adult children. That’s all I’m telling!

Two years ago, we saw the freshly dug footing trenches on their lot. Last year we saw the rough-in, insulation, dry wall, and some of the exterior finishes were complete.

This visit, the ADU is now complete, meticulously designed, and generating revenue. The main residence is oh so close to being complete. It’s been really cool watching the progression. I can tell you one thing for sure, we won’t ever be building a home. We had a little taste of it when we remodeled my brother’s condo in Mammoth. The time and stress is overwhelming, especially if the home you’re building is 500 miles away! It’s just a ton of work.  The three couples that we have known who’ve done it say it’s a real test of a marriage. Like any herculean task, I’m sure when it’s complete there’s a lot of pride and satisfaction.

Opal parked at Brian and Pam’s! We got out of the Airstream and spent the night in a big bed.

Here’s the ADU last year…

…and Pam and Amelia standing in front of it now.

This is what it looked like when we arrived on Friday. Pam had a big list, broken into four days, of all the things she wanted to complete. We told her we were there to help. Put us to work!

Saturday we drove 20 minutes down the road to Best Friends RV Park in Kanab. There are only 18 sites, spread apart with full hook ups! Most full hook up places jam in as many customers as possible. Pam came down to our place for dinner on Saturday.

Tilted Mesa has some great local trails. I wouldn’t put it in the destination category, but if you’re driving through it’s worth the stop.

A look at the Tilted Mesa terrain.

It’s easy to tell who’s a mountain biker and who’s not. The folks that aren’t, think these scrapes and blood are a big deal. If you’re a mountain biker, this is nothing!

Nice No Kings Day turnout in Kanab! I was really surprised.

Sunday, things were really looking up!

There’s quite a story behind this table and the assembling of it! It was a proud moment for all of us to get it upright.

Upstairs view

Happy hour selfie from the upstairs deck with the Elkheart Cliffs in the background. It was such a delight to spend time with Pam.

Our sweet boondocking spot on Beas Lewis Flat, ten minutes outside of Capitol Reef National Park.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to construct a new campground on the famous Beas Lewis Flat dispersed camping site. Honestly, I hate to see this boondock spot come to an end, but it’s probably for the best. We were astonished to see how crowded it was compared to two years ago. It’s kind of out of control. The BLM document states: The need for this action has been identified due to high camping activity and sanitation concerns due to disposal of waste and gray water in the project area. Additionally, the desert environment has endured degradation due to user created camping and foot trails. People! People! People! What a continual source of disappointment.

When we pulled in, our original spot was taken, so we kept on driving until we felt it was an appropriate distance from the nearest unit. There’s an unwritten rule when boondocking about how close you should be to your neighbor. It’s not cool to horn in on a spot. Once we got set up in the wicked cold wind, a guy in a white truck and utility trailer drove by scouting spots. He left, but a few minutes later came back on his e-bike. He politely asked if it would be alright if he set up between us and the fifth wheel. We told him yes, and we all introduced ourselves. His name was Chad from West Virginia.

As dusk set in, a couple of girls and two dogs squeezed in between us and Chad.  And to our east, at least at an appropriate distance, a guy and his TikTok’n woman set up.

We ended up spending two really cold nights and one full day at Beas Lewis. The generator we’d been hauling around came to good use!

Capitol Reef is our favorite National Park in Utah, mostly because it’s the least crowded. It also has an incredible hike in Sulphur Creek. We skipped it this time because of the weather. Instead we opted for the Navajo Knobs hike. A ten mile, five hour hike. If you enjoy hiking, put this one on your list. It was magnificent!

The girls and their dogs who horned in on us.

Beautiful fall color at the Start of Navajo Knobs.

The ascent starts immediately. It ended up being nearly 2,4000 feet of climbing.

Awesome rock everywhere

It’s hard to see, but above the shadow in the middle of the picture is Hickman Bridge.

A video of the Rim Overlook narrated by yours truly. When I start loudly saying god no, god no it’s when the other couple asked us if we were full-timers!

The circled point is the Navajo Knob where we eventually summited.

Straight up

At the top, in the distance you can see the San Rafael Reef.

Relaxing at the peak. We were surprised how warm it got and we lucked out with no wind.

A silent video from the top.

A wardrobe change for the hike back.

And down we go!

If you have a fear of heights you might not want to do this hike, a lot of the trail was on the edge.

Fremont River

Wild Horse Window in the San Rafael Reef

We left Moab on Sunday and drove the short distance to Green River for an overnight stay at the KOA. We did laundry (I guess I should say Amelia did laundry while I rode my bike on Athena Trail), dumped the tanks, filled up on fresh water, took long showers, and had dinner at Ray’s Tavern.

Amelia had been carrying a postcard around she wanted to mail to her mom. It was Columbus Day, and we knew the post office was closed, but on our way out of town we stopped anyways. We were hoping the lobby would be open with a machine selling stamps. We parked across the street in front of the Green River Park. I stayed there and read about the Athena and Pershing missiles they used to launch at the test site outside of town. The target was White Sands Missile Range. This was between 1964-75. It’s quite fascinating.

Anywho, Amelia had a moment that rekindles your faith in mankind. Of course the lobby didn’t sell stamps, but on her way out two ladies were parked outside, clearly traveling. One was at the steering wheel writing.

So Amelia asked, “Would you by chance have a stamp I could buy?”

They laughed, “The post office doesn’t sell stamps?”

Once they realized it was closed, and Amelia said she just wanted to mail a postcard to her mom. The lady held up her writing and told her, “I send postcards to my grandma.” So they gave her a stamp and wouldn’t take money. Maybe there is hope.

This was the hiking portion of our trip. We hiked up to Wild Horse Window, which we did two years ago. Plus two new hikes: Wild Horse Canyon and Bell Canyon…all located in Goblin Valley.

Green River KOA. The weather wasn’t as ominous as it looked.

Goblin Valley State Park dispersed camping area is becoming more popular, but still a great spot to boondock.

A little over a mile from our campsite up steep rock. This is a new sign. The window wasn’t really a secret, more like relatively unknown. Now the cat’s out of the bag!

The first section within the park boundary now has cairns wrapped in chicken wire.

After that there are various cairns all over as you hike up the slab.

Still a few water pockets from all the rain.

Eventually you arrive at this. The window is in the right arch. The picture makes it look small, it isn’t!

The window

Sometime around 2004 some shitbird drew these fake pictographs.

People being people, have carved the floor with names and dates.

Perspective shot, Amelia standing right outside the arch. We shared the window with another couple for a few minutes then had it all to ourselves. It’s a great place to sit and reflect.

Heading back down

Me and my obsession with reflections.

The next day we drove twenty minutes to the Bell Canyon and Little Wild Horse Trailhead. The two can be combined for an eight mile loop. When we were out here two years ago for the Ring of Fire sun eclipse event the area was packed. It was the busiest day ever for Goblin Valley State Park. I don’t think we were thinking clearly that day, because we thought we would try the Little Wild Horse slot canyon. Big mistake! It was packed with people going both directions, creating multiple log jams. I was still recovering from my Spooky Slot experience and just couldn’t do it. We ended up only doing a small bit of Little Wild Horse.

Two years later, Amelia, in all her wisdom, thought we should do Bell Canyon first because it isn’t a slot, then decide if we wanted to loop it. At the end of Bell I decided I wasn’t up for it. That turned out it was a great decision. At the trailhead when we were leaving people were talking about how there was still ankle deep water in Little Wild Horse that they had to wade through.

The sole remaining Prince’s Plume flower

After going through a wide open wash the landscape began to change.

There were a couple of short slots to walk through…

…they were never long, tight, or scary.

It was a pleasant, uncrowded, five mile hike in Bell Canyon.

This was the surprise hike! Brand new sign, so soon the masses will be on it.

Beautiful little dune at our entry point

Weather changes quickly around these parts. Thankfully we didn’t get rained on.

Tall walls

About as slotty as it got.

Juniper berries and pine nuts at the bottom of a plunge pool.

We turned around a little less than three miles in. It sure seemed like we could have continued forever. We finally saw another couple up high on the rocks. The dude was so geeked! So we went up there too…

Barrier canyon style pictographs! This is the Ochre Alcove, and from what I could ascertain on the internets at least 3,000 years old.😳

Some of the panel was fading.

Some eroding

We were so lucky to see that dude! What an amazing experience.

Panoramic view looking out from the Ochre Alcove.

Up next, the short drive to Capitol Reef!