Lake Powell; the really bad drive; and our time in Lehi, UT

Today is Thursday, June 6th and for those of you checking into the blog site – yes, I have been remiss in my updates. I can only say that quarter end at work really kicked my energy level the past few weeks. So I promise to update the blog daily until we are caught up!


So while in Lake Powell for a couple days, we decided to take a six and half hour boat ride to Rainbow Bridge, the world’s largest natural bridge. The boat ride was long with a lot of twists and turns through caverns and around cliffs. We did not realize that this man made wonder has more shoreline than the entire Pacific coast of the USA. During the ride we learned the difference between Bridges and Windows; between a Mesa and a Butte; and about the geologic history of this beautifully stark area. Rainbow Bridge National Monument is a natural arch-shaped formation created by water running through and eating away at the center of what now looks like a 300 foot tall archway of gorgeous red and yellow sandstone. Named after a rainbow, it spans 290 feet from its base to the top of its arch and spans 275 feet across the river. There are no words to describe the view of this Bridge. Pictures do not do it justice – you just have to take the trip yourself sometime!

Lake Powell is known for house boats . My darling fitness trainer husband decided that after we walked down to the shoreline (and I mean down and down and down to the shoreline) that we should check out the boat launch nearby. Now walking along this shoreline is not for the faint of heart. You sink into the sand quite a bit so walking is a struggle (which may be why no one else was down at the shoreline). Once we arrived at the launch we were amazed to see up to four vehicles launching boats at the same time. This was the widest boat ramp we have ever seen. While there, a 60 plus foot houseboat was being launched. We do not know how they managed to offload that puppy but at one point the entire stern was under water before the boat was safely floated away from the semi-truck that brought it to the lake.

Some people like the one we witnessed own houseboats and other people rent them at the marina. You have to really beware on the water - you can tell who rents the boats and has never driven one before – and they are everywhere. The erratic driving that happens out on the lake, PHEW! Drivers beware!

We decided to pack up and drive to Lehi UT on Sunday as I had several meetings and could work from the office. Well, what can I say about the drive between Lake Powell and access to Interstate 15? Death defying, snow squall, possible ruptured tire, calls to AAA roadside assistance, OH MY there is no guardrail, AHHHHHHH, climbing onto the roof during the snow squall in the middle of nowheresville; temperature change of more than 50 degrees drop from sunny Lake Powell ---and why did we decide to spend our Sunday doing this? I think that about covers a drive that I would rather forget.

We arrived amid a swarm of mosquitos at the East Bay RV park in Springville, UT grateful to have arrived in one piece. Other than covering off the basics, we high-tailed it into the RV and called it an early night. The week for me was filled with lots of work, so I will transfer the blog over to Gary to fill you in!

As you may have heard me say, RVing is always interesting and when you are driving your home down a highway (though I use that word, highway, loosely on that horrid trip from Lake Powell which may explain what is to come…) things break. It is interesting to see how you recognize every little sound your rig makes be it a squeak or a groan – you know when your rig is not operating in perfect condition. So when we arrived in Springville we noticed a strange noise in our water pump. Now in an RV you have two choices. You can attach a water hose to the bib and rely on the water pressure at the camp ground (which by the way has its own perils as campgrounds are notorious for pressure dips and spikes which can blow out water lines, an expensive proposition. Always attach a pressure regulator when taking this approach) or you can fill your tank, disconnect from the bib, and rely on the onboard water pump. This is the approach we generally use. Out into the mosquito swarm ran Gary (as I was willing to skip baths until they fell asleep but he was not) to hook up the water hose. Off went the water pump and we began to read about how to fix common issues. Well, when all the common ailments of water pumps were addressed and we still heard odd noises, we just decided to replace the thing. Gary took off the next AM after dropping me at the office, and found the nearest Camping World. He replaced the thing on his own and was quite proud of the effort (that’s my honey!!).

I continued to work while Gary hit the local Cabela’s store (isn’t it nice that the Cabelas is right next to the Adobe offices?) Gary certainly thought so. After extensive research he headed off for some trout fishing on the lower Provo river. Gary’s idea of the perfect day! Two rainbow trout caught and released. We did find some time for a little fun with our friends – dinner with Josh and Mindy at the foundry grill in Sundance before making dirt dessert with the five Dahmer children. A fun time was had by all!  We kept them up past their bed time, fed them sugar, and left their parents to deal with the fallout!  Josh and Mindy are some of our favorite people!!!

Well, not everything that goes wrong is related to the Rig. Our son called to say that Honda has a recall on our CRV – so off to the car dealer after explaining why we could not do this in 2 weeks or even next week – it had to be this week! A four hour repair later (poor Gary, no fishing that day) and we were ready to pull up stakes.

Several folks from the office wanted to see the Rig so we moved from the campground on Friday to the Cabela’s parking lot – set out the awnings and had 15 or so work colleagues up for a hot dog luncheon with tours of the bus. We decided to get a head start on the next leg of the journey – to Gold Country in California – so off we headed mid-Friday afternoon. Gary driving and I working. The drive west on route 80 through the salt flats was such a pleasure after the recent trip from Lake Powell. My nerves were much happier!

Photos added to flickr today. 
More to come tomorrow! Hope all of you are well and can’t wait to see you also…

On the Road Again,

Gary and Traci