Travel – PhotoKent's Musings

Off to the Canyon

Yesterday, we headed out late morning after a 2 day dig in the snow. We made it to Orange Grove RV park just south of Bakersfield by 7 o’clock. Enroute to the Grand Canyon south rim where we plan to spend 4 days hiking down into (and out of).

This morning, we walked around the park picking oranges (yes, it isan Orange grove) with my cousin, who rendezvoused with us there on his route north. Fun to see them. Rving in their 80’s and had delicious oranges too

We proceeded east over Tehachapi via Barstow to Amboy crater.

We stopped in Barstow for fuel and had a “Barstow Walmart“ experience. Hard to describe that in an email, you had to be there.

Amboy crater is on the eastern side of the Mojave desert on the old route 66 highway,an old cinder cone from many eons ago. We shouldered our canyon backpacks as a little preliminary hike before heading out to the Grand Canyon. 4 miles later we felt pretty confident that we could do the canyon

That’s is that is assuming we could stay upright. Very steep and narrow. Easy without the packs, Treacherous (never again) with.

Now, as the evening sun sets over the Mojave desert, and the golden light illuminates the beautiful boulders and dry landscape, we proceed along the highway down the hill towards the Colorado river atNeedles, California (also known as to us as Noodles,California), where are we will encamp for the night

Tomorrow we head up to the Canyon. We will encamp I’m Trailer village. Hi temp is 40, low is 20 or well 🙈. From experience we think if we keep plugged in with heater on, we will be ok. Daytime above freezing and☀️☀️to warm the van.

Prayers willingly accepted. (Memo to Kent: “what were you thinking when you omitted to this?”)

More later, assuming we don’t get run off the road by sleepy truck drivers on I-40. Ah, the life.

Sraddha and Kent

March trip report

Change of plans last minute. Headed to Desth Vally first instead of coast.

Headed across Mojave to coast. Saw some wildflowers near a town called Arvin south on Bakersfield

Morro bay state park is becoming our go to place. Second visit this year. we rented Kayaks

Bluff trail at Montana del Oro state park near Los Osos

Had a couple nice bike rides including one with Sraddha. Forgot to take photos.

We head home Thursday via Central Valley. Saw this photo on one of my rv travel blog emails.

California Central Coast

We headed down to central coast camping at Morro Bay state park.

The marshes and bay are fertile areas for many bird species

We stayed one night up at the strand north of town then back to MBSP for the most amazing Sunday football games ever

Monday found us heading south to Pismo beach state park

A section of Grover besch is alloyed for drivi g on so we went down there, parked and walked the beach then had lunch watching the surf waves roll in.

We scored 2 nights in a wonderful spot in the north Pismo state park campground

Our campsite at North Pismo Beach state park

Next door to the campground inside the park is a butterfly grove. Thousands of Monarch butterfly’s hanging out. About 28,000 by last count. According to AP news, over 250,000 counted overwintering here in California. Way up from recent countd.

Monarch Butterfly haven. Last count was 22,000 and climbing.

We hiked down to Oceano campground via the beach then returned thru the dunes.

This was the easy 1/3 mile. The other 3/4 mile was a slog

Time for a nap

Next day, after 2 days in Pismo and a long discussion, we elected to head back to Morrow bay state park. I rode my bike up 33 miles on back roads while S drove the van. And I beat her! Haha. We knew, from looking at reservations site,there were dry sites available so when we arrived at the entrance the lady gave me several open sites to review and we rode our bikes around to check.

Decided on one with plenty of sun for solar and general warmth (it’s cool in winter here) then dumped waste tanks and have settled in.

Morning bird watching out on the bay. Morro Rock in the distance.

Early morning we made our coffee, dumped waste and headed home up the 101. Found a spot to wash the van in West Sacramento. IW for a little R&R at home.

Fun on the road last week

We pressed on. I-5 brought us sticker shock.

We scored a delightful site
at Morro Bay state park

Reserved 3 months in advance and it is a slow time of year. We lucked out in the weather this week with dry daytime temps in upper 60’s and low 70’s.

We did a lot of local riding around the town. I went to liberty twice to use internet. And got a long ride to Avila beach 22 miles south near San Luis Obispo.

Along the harbor the Sea Otters rest and nurse their young.

Didn’t know there was such a wonderful marsh area across the road. Birds galore. Spouse in heaven. For the first time we saw a California Thrasher. Lotsa shore birds; white pelicans, egrets, amazing wildlife in the area.

Now time to move on. We have reservations for Arizona, however are going to remain on central coast for rest of week then head home. The weather has been amazing.

Finding places to camp

We are working on Arizona reservations for late January. Currently we are booked down in Morro Bay for my birthday and now working on a couple weeks over in the desert both in Maricopa county parks and in tucson if possible. Need cancellations at this point.

Of the many travel apps, we have come to rely upon a couple. AllStays Camp & RV app has been our go-to app for years in looking for public and private campgrounds in any specific geographic area. It links to directions in both google and Apple Maps along with phone numbers and website links. Details such as elevation and # of campsites are included along with amenities

Campendium website and app is wonderful to see recent reviews and also check strength of cell service. It links to Google map overlay for location and direction information. Also really good for finding dump stations. I get weekly emails from the website offering fun places all over.

The website has lots of good articles about different places and camping etc. Tremendous resource

We are going to use Harvest hosts this year more also since a lot of public campgrounds like national and state parks fill up faster and it sometimes is hard to make all the plans far in advance. It is a subscription app and has added Boondockers Welcome section as well as many golf course who will allow overnight stays. Wonderful places like wineries, museums, farms, private homes even. Reservations are required in advance thru phone or email.

For finding boondocking sites , we like Campendium and iOverlander which is crowd sourced and a favorite of the DIY van crowd. Campers leave comments on every site along with GPS so you can find them.

We use a cool website called Wanderinglabs to find last minute cancellations. Put in dates needed and a campground and it will regularly search for available reservations. When sites become available it will text and email me. The bad news is it doesn’t work for Arizona state parks or Maricopa County parks. Then we check each morning around 730-8 to see if anything opens up. It does work for California and Oregon State parks and the recreation.gov sites.

Last minute note as of publication today—We scored 12 nights at one of the Maricopa County parks so will see how it goes, still looking for a couple more days but we may just try some boondocking sites we haven’t tested before. YAY i think….

The end for today. Need to get back to finding sites for Summer and fall.

Welcome to Chez Swell. Sand is our specialty.

In Chez Swell, located in the the San Rafael Swell in central Utah, we have a smorgasbord of sand for your delight. You can look at it, walk on it, wipe it out of your eyes and ears, shake it out of shoes, clothing, car, van, bed, dishes, brush it off your phone, wash it off your bike.

Basically it is everywhere. And the wind tunnel that is central and southern utah ( and frankly most of western USA, delivers it in very fun ways.

Up near Temple Mountain in the San Rafael Swell, Utah

The flavors vary depending upon location. The whole Colorado plateau encompassing western Colorado, southern Wyoming, eastern Nevada, much of Utah, and northern Arizona is sand in various forms. It came from ancient seas and lakes and rivers formed by the various tectonic plates moving around.

Near Goblin Valley, Utah. San Rafael Reef in distance

How about some 2 billion year old Moenkopi sand on your plate found in Buckhorn draw?

What about Wingate sand from the majestic sandstone cliffs of the xxx period formed when seas rescinded forming a Sahara like desert in between the Rockies and what is now Nevada? These are seen everywhere.

Earlier in the week on Monday, we were encamped in a little hoodoo like alcove across from the San Rafael reef. (Beautiful isn’t it?)

Wind is blowing and we close our eyes, feeling like Lawrence of Ananda (haha). Such is life of the traveler. Like getting caught in a ice storm only it’s 80 outside and wind gusting to 30 as another front moves through. No wonder this place is only suitable for tourists!

Time to entreat to the safe confines of Mighty Wonder Van where it is not so sandy. Except for the thin layer of sand on everything.

Such Tapasaya! Om Guru.

The resident gourmet chef prepares sautéed Napa cabbage with Ginger and the dishwasher pulls out his mundane Walmart macaroni salad. A few slices of pre baked protein round it out. Remember to eat your veggies while traveling. They help with regularity.

Tuesday, the wind died down to a low comfortable breeze. Daytime Temps in 70’s. Night mid 40’s. We hiked Little Wild Horse slot canyon which is arguably the most popular hike in the swell. Two canyons go clear thru the reef the you hike in between in back side. 9 miles.
Here is link to video of the hike

Wednesday, we headed towards Capital Reef just south of the Swell. More reefs, more sand. Avast yea mateys.

We had considered heading to Bryce but decided to remain in Capital Reef. The park campground, Fruita was full of course but we did managed to dump tanks and take on fresh water for $5. Such blessings🙏🏻
We also did one brief hike of 2 hours 3 miles

Driving thru the reef in early morning to refuel in Torrey.

Now we are encamped in a BLM area east of park up on a bluff where we have an amazing view of the east side of the reef. With its Navaho Sandstone sticking up like worn off teeth.

No cell so will send this Thursday then route back to the Swell sandbox for some more gourmet sand.
{LATE BREAKING NEWS!}— after morning meditation and caffeine it was decided we will drive south down the Eastern back side of capital reef to Bullfrog, Utah where the Lake Powell ferry will take us across then on to Natural Bridges and Valley of the Gods in SE AZ. 😳
Not sure of cell service but will check in sometime and we will still be home on or before Tuesday. 🙄🤞🏻

Camping in Valley of the Gods near Bluff, Utah (founded in 650 A.D.)

Swimming in Lake Powell Upper end. Bullfrog, Utah

🙏🏻Blessing from the sand pile
Sraddha and Kent

The Last Travel Pod Post

If you have never seen our old travelpod blog which is shutting down, here is the last post in it’s entirety:

Star Date Sunday, June 11, 9:15 AM PDT

This is the last post from Travelpod to you for three reasons. I thought the last post might be it but this is definitely the last post. We so much enjoyed this phase of travel and are now happily “home” at Ananda Village, fully engaged in community life, and many volunteer projects as well as cycling, railfanning and working in garden and yard (yes yard, heh heh).

First off: Blog shutting down

The Travelpod blogging system we were using got bought out by a bigger “borg” and they are shutting it down June 18 so I need to send this to you before they do.
Screen Shot 2017-06-11 at 9.17.41 AM
HOWEVER – An enterprising young soul has undertaken the task of providing archive space for the history and I have migrated a copy over there. If you want to see any of our travels you can find them at the following link: http://bit.ly/PhotoKent_TravelArk I hope to resurrect them elsewhere so we will see.

Secondly: We sold CharLi

We sold CharLi, our RV to a wonderful couple in Oakdale, Ca, about 3 hours south of here. They have been looking for a long time for this model and were thrilled to be able to buy it. The added bonus for us was his willingness to buy the tow package also. And he was able to uninstall it so I hitched up Mr. Toad one last time to CharLi and drove both down to his home where we spent all day removing the system. He will install on his jeep. So we are done. See photos below of CharLi with new owners, and a photo of Jim under the Jeep removing the tow bar. Not an easy task!

The Happy new Owners

Removing tow system

Lastly: I have a new blog

I have begun a new blog called “PhotoKent’s Musings” which I am just beginning to use. It will feature some photos I take and also some photos I may have shot in previous years but I will talk about how I made the photo. So it will be less of a travel blog and more of a creative process blog. You can click on this link to find the blog: https://photokent.blog. (oh wait, you are here already)

If you wish to subscribe to updates when I do make a post go to the bottom of the home page and add your email address then you will get an email notification when I post which is usually weekly or so. It will also appear on my Facebook page when I post too.

It has been a wonderful journey and now a new phase opens up. Please consider subscribing to my new blog. And above all, be filled with joy in your life!

Kent

PS here are some additional photos I posted all from iPhone

Sraddha & Kent at Luau

Working in the yard

Cycling with my buddy