We're signed up for two volunteer opportunities this year - at Bear River National Migratory Bird Sanctuary near Brigham City, Utah from now until mid august, and at Aztec Ruins National Monument in Aztec New Mexico for September and October.
We were due at Bear River on May 1st but had to delay for medical - and RV repair issues. They were OK with this since our job will be to man the Visitor Center, and said Visitor Center is closed indefinitely due to the pandemic. They said we're still welcome to come - we get a free hookup for the RV in return for 20 hours per week of service. Until it does open, we'll be doing other, as yet unspecified tasks - stay tuned to this blog.
This is our third night out of Cottonwood. On Friday we were ready to go about 10am and hooked up the tow car. We were doing our routine check of the lights - brake lights and turn signals on the car - when Vicky heard a strange rhythmic noise from the car - in sync with the flashing of the turn signals. After various unsuccessful unpluggings and repluggings, and consultation of the not very helpful user's manual, Vicky had a brainwave.
The noise was coming from a gadget we had installed inside the car, which operates the car brakes in conjunction with the RV brakes. We'd already tried adjusting the sensitivity of this device, as suggested by the manual, to no avail. Since the car is doubly hard-connected to the RV with the hitch, this is not absolutely necessary. We turned off that gadget and checked that the lights (turn and brake) on the car still worked in tandem with the RV - they did! So we set off, planning to contact the shop who installed the gadget for us on Tuesday (this is the Memorial Day long weekend!)
So at 11:30 we were on the road. Destination tonight - Page AZ, a 200 or so mile drive we've done vefore in both directions with the RV. No traffic or road conditions stopped us as we drove up I-17 to Flagstaff and briefly along the poorly maintained I-40, to reach US Route 89, which we would follow for the next 3 days. We made it to Page in a little over 4 hours and checked into the Page-Lake Powell campground, where we've stayed before.
On our previous visit, we checked in, went for a cruise on Lake Powell, ate dinner in town, slept and left early for a long trip to Gallup NM. So we really didn't see much of the campground. This time we took time to look around. Not only is the campground well maintained, it's right up against some red rocks, and has great views. We walked along a so-called nature trail which took us right up against the rocks, which have irregular striations. It was a beautiful warm evening and as the sun set, we were able to watch the changing of colors on the red rocks - a magical experience!
Saturday morning and we're back on US89. we cross the Colorado River close to the Glen Canyon dam, passing the Karl Hayden Visitor Center, which triggers a discussion about who Karl Hayden is/was! I later discover he was the first Representative in Congress after Arizona became a State in 2012, and later served 7 terms (42 years) as a Senator for AZ,rising to President Pro Tempore of the US Senate (third in line for the Presidency after the VP and the Speaker of the House) and being revered as an elder statesman . . . and neither Vicky nor I had ever heard of him!
It's a beautiful morning and after stopping in Kanab Utah to fill the RV, we head thru familiar country, at first red rocks and later ranchland, until we reach the turnoff of Utah Route 14 to Cedar City. Not going there this time! We continue north on US89 enjoying the ranch country, stopping the RV to make lunch in a little town called Hatch. Unlike its New Mexico counterpart, this one has no chilis. But it does have a little café just up the road from where we parked, and we're able to cap off the meal with scrumptious straight-out-of-the-over chocolate chip cookies.
From Hatch it's only 49 miles to Junction, UT, the 177-person county seat of Paiute County, where we spend the night at a delightful, and inexpensive RV park with lots of shade trees. We thought at first they were cedars, but finally decided they were cottonwoods. On Sunday morning we decide to explore the town - as the camp host said, it didn't take long. We did discover that the original 1903 courthouse is for sale for $469,000. Remembering our time in Thames, New Zealand, where the courthouse has become the Baha'i Center, we thought this would also serve the Faith well, but in a town this small it wouldn't be economically viable.
journey is a relatively short 115 miles to Springville, a suburb of Provo, UT, where we're staying at a KOA. But for that you'll need to read the next post.
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