We Made It!!

We pulled into Camptonville around 1:00PM and the wedding was at 5:00!! Our friend Tom had our spot all set (Thanks Tom!!), I backed the Magic Bus in with help,of course, and then we set up power, sewer and water. PERFECT!! It's a lovely spot in the mobile home park, we have a grassy area , trees, birds, etc! I love it.....we may stay longer than the one month!
The wedding was wonderful! We danced and talked with old friends. The bride was gorgeous and the groom handsome, indeed.
We have been having mail forwarded here, so Alan is off to get it and I should be starting breakfast, so I'll close. We have a cell phone, but, of course, it doesn't work here. When we are out and about or getting the Magic Bus repaired, we'll make our calls then!

Now in Ely, NV

Well,day before yesterday was very kick back......went to the park to let Irie run. Motel life does NOT agree with her! It's a nice big park and we couldn't figure out why no one is ever there. Now we know! They have the same nasty ass stickers they had back in Montana. Poor Irie got two in her foot. Lisa loved the swings. Then we came back and hung out in the pool. By then, Kanab had reached 99 degrees! While in the pool we discovered red spots on Lisa and me......turns out they have little bugs at that park! Irie had them all over her belly! No wonder no one goes there!
The best part of the day was finding out that the Magic Bus was FIXED!!! Yippee!! All we had to do was the paperwork yesterday AM and we could leave!! We thought.......
Everything moves slowly  in Kanab, but this was really awful! The guy had his paperwork together to submit to EasyCare (our extended service ins), so it started off in a timely manner, but the ins. said they wouldn't pay!!! Didn't cover that particular part!! OMG!! We were screwed!! The bill was almost $4,000! The owner yelled at them, then Alan went ballistic on them and nothing. OK, we changed gears and got a wire from our 401K (bummer!), but then our ATM/credit card wouldn't go thru. I called Ilene at Citizen's and she worked with me for at least 2 hours til we got it to work. I love small banks! Ilene is a wonderful lady anyway, but she saved us!!!
 OK, the Magic Bus is paid for (ouch!), it's 3:30, but we are determined to get a solid day in anyway. It was also really, really windy. I knew that part wasn't gonna be fun, but off we went. I hadn't driven even 35 miles when we hear a really loud, horrible sound. I pulled over, Alan looked around, but didn't see anything, so we took off both of us thinking "omg, what on earth?) Several hours later we stopped at a rest stop. Lisa and I hit the bathroom and Alan took Irie out. When I came out Alan said "I know where the sound came from" and from the look on his face I knew it was BAD! Our roof kinda folds over to a seam on the side of the coach and this seam had nearly entirely POPPED!! The roof is now peeled back like a banana!!! OMG!! I didn't know whether to laugh hysterically or scream or cry or what!! And Alan was the same way. We were just speechless.........what is the Universe trying to say to us? Is this a test of our desire to live the gypsy life? Neither one of us wants to quit, though we have had our moments of doubt (living 8 days in a hotel with Lisa = NO sleep for us!!). And I know Lisa misses school and can get pretty bored with us, even though she has seen and done some amazing things. WTF?????
After we got over the initial shock, we knew we just had to press on......we still had 160 miles to go, so we  took off. As I drove, we talked about it and came to the joint decision that yes, we love this, we'll get it fixed, and move on in our day. We still have our friends wedding and it's gonna be close time wise.
Finally got here in Ely, NV around 8:30PM. We got lucky.....with the time change, we had gained an hour! Didn't do much....Internet for Alan, bed for Lisa and nesting for me. SO nice to sleep in our comfortable Select Number bed (I sound like a commercial!! LOL!!). Lisa went out seconds after her little bald head hit the pillow. Aaaahhhh...no one waking her and changing her position to stop the snoring! I'm sure she liked that!

So, now, it's Friday morning. Alan is cutting strawberries for breakfast. We'll button up the Magic Bus and hit it. Another loooong day, but we will be near Reno tonight and that feels like we are getting close to home sweet home.

And we are STILL here!

We think we are making progress, tho. Alan talked to the mechanic today and the kid thinks that, with the parts he ordered today, he "should" be able to figure it out. IF we can get on the road by Thursday, and drive like bats outa hell, we will make Mark and Char's wedding. We REALLY don't want to miss it if we can help it. I talked with Char last night and it sounds like everything is set, including their honeymoon! We are so happy for them!!

I talked with my dear friend Jooge today to wish  her a Happy Birthday...sure do miss our friends! We will spend a weekend with her and her wonderful hubby, Kim.
But, even with this delay, we are having the time of our lives!
Yesterday, we took a tour of Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. It is about a 2 hour tour of  their 3,000 + acres. We got to pet some cats and feed treats to a beautiful 14 month Black Lab. He was just beautiful and reminded me of Monty in a lot of ways. It is a non-kill facility and you can stay there and volunteer, if you like. I'd love to do that with the birds or horses.....we'll see. Today, we went to Page, Arizona. The ride was really pretty. We went over the Dam at Lake Powell......most of you know of my fear of heights...and my dislike of bridges you can see thru. Well, this one had BOTH!! BAD bridge, BAD bridge!!

Stopped at Micky D's for lunch, but we ran into a problem. It was WAY too hot to leave Irie in the car (even if it was legal), no shade available there, so we went back to a park we had seen coming in. Really nice there...a nice breeze and shade. Then it was off to WalMart for a new coloring book for Lisa and then back to the RV to check on the progress and back to our Best Western hotel room. I will be VERY glad to see the last of this room!

Update on Breakdown

Hard to believe, but we are STILL in Kanab, Utah! The RV repair place is still not working on our RV "We'll get someone on it on Monday" Yeah, right! Meanwhile, our house batteries have completely died, the food in the freezer and reefer has gone bad, and we are living in a hotel! We were at the coach today and I took the spoiled food and put it in their garbage....should be nice and ripe by Monday in this heat!!! Better there than in the rig, though!

Today, we took a ride and thought we'd check Cedar Break. The trip was beautiful, climbing to 10,000 feet and we saw these elk just hanging out  and this creek that had, over many years, carved it's way thru rock to continue down the mountain. There was snow up there and a volcanic lake that was really pretty. The water had no natural outlet, so the water seeps down and comes out at a water fall. Unfortunately, at the last 5 miles or so...the road was closed! Bummer! So, we decided to take the long way back and that took us back thru Zion National Park! It's just as pretty the reverse way!
Back into Kanab, we took Irie to a park that Alan found and let her run. And run, she did!!! The little dog kinda lowers her body, puts her ears back and just takes off!! She circles us several times, going full bore and then finally collapses with an "almost smile" on her face! Then we took Lisa over to the swings....she loves them and counts her pumping "1,3,4,6,9,58,48,17, 5" SO cute!!
Tomorrow is Sunday and this town really closes down, so I'm not sure what we'll do, but we DID remember to get some wine and beer. You can NOT buy any alcohol on Sundays or after 7:00PM....scheeesh.....On the road into Zion National Park is the town of Virgin...ya gotta love it!!  We saw some people selling CHERRIES!!  The combo just brings all sorts of thoughts to mind.

Grand Canyon...North Rim

I have seen the South rim a few times, but never from this side....very beautiful!! In the past, it has been hot, hot, hot, but today we got 72 degrees and very blue skies...really lovely! There were cabins you could rent right on the edge of the canyon....don't know how much; I'm guessing about $200/night.

Still waiting on the Magic Bus... we went by today and I tried to persuade the owner to work on our coach. No dice. The guy has no heart at all...just sat there telling me he had others in front of us for 3 weeks!!! We are gonna take it easy tomorrow here in Best Western, Kanab, Utah, but we sure don't want to be here that long!! Gonna do laundry tomorrow and maybe play in the pool.

BREAKDOWN!!!

The day started off great! Alan found a dime in a parking lot. But we only made 30 miles before I literally had no power at all and the oil pressure gauge read zero. The Magic Bus acted up a bit with the oil gauge reading zero, so I pulled over and we waited. Alan checked the oil and it was low, so he added some. I started her up and the pressure was right back where it should be, so off we went....got about another 2 miles and I had no power, so I pulled over again. This time, we called Coach net and they sent a flatbed truck out within 30 minutes! Alan actually was steering the Bus backwards up the flatbed.We were only about 30 feet from entering Arizona.....so close I got a pic of the sign!! LOL!! And we got lucky! There was a diesel repair place only a mile back! They think it's an electrical/computer problem.
I don't know why, but the sight of the Magic Bus being pulled up ass first onto this flatbed truck made me want to cry. I know she can be fixed and we will soon be on our way again, but she is all we have in the world.....she has really become our home. A sometimes way too small, sometimes way too big home for us.
So.......tonight we are in a Best Western in Kanab, Utah. Lisa got to swim in the pool and we had a bottle of wine to share. Tomorrow, we'll go back and, hopefully shortly, be on our way.  Alan adds: Not totally happy with the repair shop. Very little communication with us about what was going on. Workers seemed to be spending a lot of time in the office talking about other things than work. They are a busy shop, but you would think that they would make an effort to get us back on the road knowing that we are full time RV'ers. At least if I owned the place, that would be my thought. The locals could wait a bit in order to help a stranger out a little. Patience is not one of my strongest points, so starting today, will be asking constant questions about what is going on and when the RV will be done.

Glendale, Utah

We had a short hop of less than 100 miles to get here. Utah is definitely a beautiful state!! I love all the red rock, rivers and pines! Got here 2 days ago and it is a nice, small, slightly rustic kind of place. Being small, everyone watches your coming and going, but in a friendly kind of way. There was a huge mix up on our reservation so the first night we spent in a pull thru site, which is easy...you just line yourself up and pull in. But, because of the mix up, we had to move into a back in site the next day. We had never done this, but felt pretty sure we could pull it off. There is a big tree on the side of the site and we are tall (over 13 feet), so that had to be avoided, plus the site themselves are narrow. With Alan giving me excellent direction, I backed this puppy in like I'd done it all my life.Of course, the driver is only as good as her direction-giver! I just love driving our Magic Bus!
Now, here is how you know people are watching....... I had four different people come up to me to tell me how impressed they were. Believe it or not, there are still men out there that are astounded that women can drive these beasts! Don't get me started!! LOL!! There are 4 women that travel together with their Westies and Irie had great fun running around with them last night. She's really getting that other dogs and people are usually a good thing. And I enjoyed hanging out with them and talking to women.
Ok, so all moved in, we took off to see Zion National Park. We couldn't take Irie, so we left her in the bedroom with her baby and put the air conditioner on at 80. We tried leaving her with a bony (supposed to help digestion) before, but she gets the runs from them. Her little system is SO picky!!
On the way to Zion, there is a turn where you just merge to the right, but as Alan entered that, we see a charter bus, driven by a professional driver, going the WRONG way!! It just floored us! And scared us, too!!! Coming back we checked and sure enough.....there was a large WRONG WAY sign!
I have no words to describe the beauty of Zion. I know that whenever I wasn't smiling, my mouth was hanging open!! I loved this place!! Even more than Bryce!! The rock formations are stunning and you are in the bottom of the canyons looking up.......makes you feel like an ant! Some rocks were a cream color, some dark red and all with this ripple affect across them and towering above you. See? I told ya...there are no real words! LOL! I'll load a ton of pics; some taken from the car and some from the shuttle that you have to take for part of it.
By the time we got back we were hot ( 95) dirty and tired but had had such an amazing day! Of course, we collected our Passport stamp while there and that is proving to be a ton of fun. You buy the picture stamp and then they have a date stamp and sometimes another rubber stamp with a picture of wherever you are. Fun stuff for geeks like us.
Lisa, of course, wants to buy T shirts, games, etc., but has been ok with listening to the music they sell.....they provide headphones. She'd stand there all day, I swear!! She liked the shuttle a lot, too. It had no air conditioning so all the windows were open with some even in the roof. At one point, I pointed out a rock to her that I thought was amazingly cool and she looked up and said "yeah, cute" and went right back to her game!! That's our Lisa ...we had to laugh! Her "job" is to take the binoculars and she loves it.....you can tell it makes her feel important and we are careful to thank her and tell her what a good job she's doing.

Today is a laid back day.....laundry, housekeeping, getting groceries and tomorrow we take off for Pahrump, Nevada. It's gonna be a long, hot day, but we have no choice. Nevada has very few campgrounds available. And Alan adds:  Went today to Kanab, UT in search of adult beverages. Very strange liquor laws in this state. Grocery stores don't all sell it, but some gas stations do. I went to a grocery store today and they sold beer, but not wine. Guess it is their choice.  Had to go to a Utah State Liquor store down the street. Felt kind of weird because it was right next door to the town City Attorney, the Police Department office and the Utah Highway Patrol office!! The back in space we were "demoted" to has a tree next to it that really screws up the satellite signal. So, hardly any tv the last two days. This really lowers this parks rating in my book. They supposedly are going to bill us for only two nights instead of three because of having to move. Won't hold my breath. Going to get a chain saw so I can solve these problems myself!!