LOOP TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

WASHINGTON STATE TO TEXAS

Wednesday, May 4, 2022 - Port Angeles, WA, to Ferndale, WA

Alarm woke me a little after 6:00am and I was out of the campground at 7:15am for the drive to Port Townsend, leaving a good margin for the ferry sailing at 9:30am for which I had a reservation.

The unreasonably early start was due to the fact that sailings around midday had been fully booked, with stand-by only available.

And in any case advice read online - thank you, Google - suggested not trying to drive onto the Port Townsend ferry with an RV and tow vehicle anywhere around low tide as ramps would be uncomfortably steep.

My 9:30am reservation should be about mid-tide.

A straightforward - and quite scenic - drive from Port Angeles to Port Townsend, with no traffic delays encountered, so I pulled into the ferry terminal at 8:20am, with more than an hour before sailing and placed first in line for loading.

Spotted a single bald eagle sitting on the instrument masthead on a ferry at the docks, shortly joined by a second, and both stayed there for the duration of my wait to board.

The incoming ferry had a good-sized truck on board, which disembarked with no problem, making me a little more relaxed about my imminent loading.

Rolled onto the fairly spacious ferry auto deck at 9:20am, parking just short of the discharge opening at the far end of the deck, separated from a slip into the water by rather insubstantial netting.

Headed up onto the upper floors of the ferry to walk around a little, though not a great deal to see other than a better view of the bald eagles.

Off the ferry as the second vehicle on arrival at the Whidbey Island terminal and hooked a left once ashore, despite road signs encouraging me to turn right...

...and drove on to Coupeville on the northern shore where I found a side street parking spot to brew a coffee and then took a stroll down to the quiet town waterfront and out along the pier.

On the move again late morning, connecting with I-5 to head north, stopping for gas and a Subway sandwich one exit short of the day's destination at Ferndale and an attractive looking campground, evergreen hedges between every campsite, but with unviewable cable TV and appalling Internet...

...which wouldn't have been so bad except for the flakey cell connection, so use of the cell phone or iPad not the alternative it usually would be.

So attempts at forward planning for Glacier National Park were mostly unsuccessful, though one thing did seem clear from the scant weather and road condition reports I was able to access, and that was that I was really too early in the season for the park to be fully open.

Thursday, May 5, 2022 - Ferndale, WA

Rain overnight, pathways in the campground puddled and more rain forecast to arrive shortly... so any thoughts of a run abandoned in favor of a workout.

Then a little desk time trying to plot the forward itinerary - working with less than ideal National Park website data and long range weather forecasts, frustration exacerbated by poor WiFi.

But I'm increasingly of the view that the northern parks - Glacier and even North Cascades fairly close by - just won't be viable for weeks to come. Cold weather, roads not open, campgrounds not open... so I'm contemplating a Plan B itinerary, heading south to Utah, probably via Grand Teton.

Got the "ArriveCAN" app loaded and completed and set off at midday for a lunch rendezvous across the border in Vancouver. A 10-minute delay at Canadian Immigration, as it was on the way back at US Border Control.

A very pleasant 3-hour lunch with an old girlfriend, catching up on many years of news.

Back at the campground at 5:00pm, hoping to do a little more forward planning but continuing to be frustrated by the poor WiFi connection.

Friday, May 6, 2022 - Ferndale, WA, to Ellensburg, WA

Dry pavement for a morning run - four loops out and back on a quiet dead-end road opposite the campground.

10:00am by the time I had got cleaned up, flushed tanks, hitched up the Jeep and headed out of the campground for a short drive south on I-5 to Bellingham, pulling over there for a grocery top-up and a Starbucks coffee and WiFi - and at last a speedy connection instead of the lame campground one.

Some campsite availability discovered in Grand Teton National Park in the middle of next week, so maybe I will head there before going to Utah... and today's overnight options seem to be a KOA campground in Ellensburg or a free parking lot at a Cabela's store a little further on in Yakima.

Back on the road just before noon, the drive south on I-5 soon becoming damp and then very wet, with heavy traffic closer to Seattle.

Weather cleared somewhat once over Snoqualmie Pass, and eventually a rest area showed up around 3:00pm, so I pulled over for a bowl of fruit and to make a final decision about the overnight stop - which went in favor of a KOA campground rather than a parking lot... in order to be plugged in and have decent WiFi for some more detailed forward planning.

And although later on-line research did confirm availability of campsites in Grand Teton, the weather forecast there isn't good until the end of next week... rather too long a time to hang around for what appears to be a very brief one-day window of partly sunny weather, which could well disappear.

So my "sleep on it" plan is to meander down to Moab, Utah, to arrive around mid-week when the weather is forecast to clear up from the currently very windy weather - certainly don't need more of that.

Saturday, May 7, 2022 - Ellensburg, WA, to Pendleton, OR

Plan A still looking OK this morning, so usual routine of workout, shower, review the day's itinerary and overnight camping options, making the easy choice of an on-line reservation at a KOA campground just off the highway (where I might also be able to get in a run tomorrow morning).

The day's forecast is for strong winds, which would make for tiring driving and so encourages a shorter day. Stopped in Yakima for gas - easy in and out and (relatively) inexpensive at a Safeway store, from which I also snagged a couple of grocery items.

Then back onto I-82, winds certainly as strong as forecast, but more downwind than broadside for the first part of the day's drive.

Winds much more challenging on a southerly 25-mile stretch along I-82, so it was with relief that I turned onto I-84 and headed more westerly once again.

Arrived at the campground at 4:00pm, set up in my spot - probably the most level campsite I've ever been in - and settled in to some desk time, more productive than often is the case as the WiFi connection was strong and fast, also good news for my Saturday evening viewing of a movie on Netflix.

Sunday, May 8, 2022 - Pendleton, OR, to Caldwell, ID

Out for a run, on a different route than planned, instead making three loops on roads near the campground, all of which were quiet at 7:00am on a Sunday.

Still dithering about the overnight spot for tonight, but did at least call a campground in Moab that seemed the best option for later next week and got my reservation settled - taking a more expensive electric hook-up site so that I could wake up in warmth and come back to an RV that hadn't been turned into an oven during the day.

Out of the campground at 11:00am, for only a 15-mile drive, all uphill to 3,500ft and a rest area where I pulled over and finally booked campground for this evening - one not found during earlier research and which is over the state line into Idaho, so "losing" an hour today as I cross into the Mountain Time Zone.

Then three hours of solid driving down I-84, over several sets of mountain ridges and the valleys between (highest elevation reached at the pass over Blue Mountain at 4,200ft), dodging localized rainstorms caused by air being forced to rise over the mountainous terrain.

Passed over the 45th Parallel (marking the mid-way point between the equator and the North Pole) for the second time on this trip, heading south this time so hopefully the weather will become more equatorial and less arctic.

Although not judging by the sleet storm that blew through when I was stopped for a quick bite of lunch at a rest area, precipitation building up quickly on the wipers...

...and also back on a slippery highway, where a car had skidded off the road and into the ditch only 30 seconds before, judging from tire tracks in the snow and the driver getting out and putting his hand on his head in disbelief.

Weather showery off and on for the rest of the scenic drive - not sure of the mountain range I'm driving through, but the green rolling hills make me think they could be the Smoothies rather than the Rockies... hoho.

Increasingly dry and sunny towards the destination of the day, Country Corners RV Park just north of Caldwell, into which I pulled at 4:30pm Mountain Time.

---

A Word software update on the laptop caused me to overwrite my previously completed photo-journal for this trip (ending in two weeks' time on May 22) with an earlier version, only covering the trip to today, May 8.

So I've had to re-build the itinerary from here on in, so the narrative may be rather thin in places - possibly a good thing - due to my poor memory and limited enthusiasm for the task...

Monday, May 9, 2022 - Caldwell, ID, to Perry, UT

I don't recall much about today, several weeks later, other than knowing from checking on Google maps that it was a long day of driving - 315 miles - and a climb up from 2,500ft to 5,500ft just before the Utah state line.

The previous night's local TV station had suggested the possibility of snow for the early hours, and a few fat flakes did indeed drift down while I was finishing up a morning workout.

The light snow shower, however, left a trace amount on grassy surfaces and, in conjunction with the long day of driving that I knew was ahead, was enough to dissuade me from the thought of diverting to Boise to visit the State Capitol Building in cold and overcast weather.

One small bit of excitement I do recall, late in the day's driving, with my monitor showing a warning that the auxiliary braking system in the Jeep had shut down.

A similar message on previous occasions merely signified a loss of Bluetooth communication with the braking unit, but when pulling over to check this time I discovered that there was a real problem - the Jeep's battery had been drained by several days of being towed without being driven in-between and the charging system from the RV to the Jeep had obviously quit at some point.

With only 25 miles to go, I decided to continue (gingerly, knowing there would be no braking in the Jeep) and put a battery charger on the Jeep as soon as I arrived at the KOA Perry campground at the end of the afternoon.

Tuesday, May 10, 2022 - Perry, UT, to Provo, UT

My planned overnight stop ahead in Provo didn't appear to offer any attractive options - or really any options at all, being right off the Interstate - for a morning run, so I decided to take advantage of relatively modest gradients and what I had expected would be a quiet back road for a run this morning.

Although the gradients weren't too bad, the quiet back road turned out to be the main route leading to a couple of local schools and the timing of my run just happened to coincide with the morning school run, so a little more traffic to contend with than expected.

With the Jeep battery fully charged overnight, and therefore the auxiliary braking system functioning again, I had a more relaxing - and short - day's drive of just 100 miles and with the return to better weather this was a chance to divert into Salt Lake City to visit the Capitol Building of The Beehive State, finding a very convenient parking spot for the RV on the street right next to the building.

Traditionally grand neo-classical exterior, colonnades extending right round the building. And plenty of marble columns inside, too, but a somewhat severe and largely unembellished interior for the most part. Also notably small Senate and Congress chambers, only one of which I got to view from the public gallery when I snuck in with a school party, the doors otherwise being locked.

A short 40-mile drive on the very busy multi-lane I-25 through Salt Lake City brought me to the KOA campground in Provo, conveniently - though slightly noisily - right off an exit, and only a couple of hundred feet beyond.

Relatively early arrival gave me time to get a load of laundry done in the campground.

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 - Provo, UT, to Moab, UT

A 200-mile drive for the day, the first part of which was a sustained climb up from 4,000ft to 7,500ft.

It was a more gentle descent from that high point down to the 4,000ft elevation of Moab, but a strong headwind (kicking up dust storms at times) had me "driving" downhill rather than enjoying the gas-saving cruise down I had been hoping for.

Arrived at the Seven Mile RV Park (7 miles north of Moab) around 3:00pm, settling quickly into my assigned campsite. Nothing fancy, with only an electric hook-up at the site, though not inexpensive at $80-$90 per night, but peaceful - being out of town - not crowded, with great views and very convenient for both Canyonlands and Arches National Parks.

The stiff wind from my drive over the mountains still blowing hard here, as it had been for several days and for which I had intentionally delayed my arrival in order to miss it.

So I debated with myself whether it would be worth driving up into Canyonlands for sunset photos, given how much dust was being kicked up, but decided to head up into the park anyway.

Not unexpectedly, the dust in the air made for very hazy sunset photos... but with a certain charm of their own.

With fuel in the Jeep getting low, the 40-mile drive back down from the Green River Overlook in Canyonlands (where I had gone for the sunset photos) was made with a light foot on the throttle, expecting that I would have to head into Moab to fill up but I had a pleasant surprise when I saw the lights of a gas station on the main highway to Moab right opposite the turning into Canyonlands.

So I was able to get the Jeep very conveniently topped up ready for the extended driving ahead over the next few days, and only had a short couple of miles to drive back to the campground for a late evening snack.

Thursday, May 12, 2022 - Moab, UT

Although keen to try to replicate a particular sunrise shot from my visit to Canyonlands in 2016, I decided to try Arches National Park this morning as I was concerned that yesterday's dust might still be in the air - not good for wide landscape photos but less of an issue for more close-up shots.

Only a short drive down to Arches, the entrance booth already manned at 5:30am, I guess in preparation for the start of reservations, required since the beginning of April for entry between 6:00am and 5:00pm every day.

Not many other cars around, and it felt slightly surreal but uplifting driving through the park past the silhouettes of the formations, many familiar from previous visits. I seem to see a lot of faces in the rock formations in Arches - like these two guys, the one on the right even with his mouth open saying something...

My target spot was the east-facing side of North Window, which sunrise would light up and within which Turret Arch would be framed - a classic shot but one I hadn't tried before, requiring early arrival and a climb up to a rocky ledge.

Predictably, as sunrise drew nearer a crowd gathered around the bottom of the North Window opening, waiting for the sun to appear over the horizon.

But the sunrise was all they wanted to see... within 10 minutes they had all gone, as this sequence shows:

With the crowds gone I was able to climb down from my sunrise-picture-taking perch and mooch around in relative peace and quiet for a while in the warmth of the early morning sunlight.

I then drove up to the most northerly part of the park, the Devil's Garden area, where the parking lot was already filling up, drank the lukewarm coffee I had brewed before leaving the RV and headed out for a long hike to a number of the arch formations in that area - Navajo Arch shown here.

Stopped at Sand Dune Arch and Balanced Rock on the drive out of the park - both with relatively short walks from the parking areas - getting back to the campground at 12:30pm in time for a much-needed lunch.

Green River Overlook in Canyonlands was the sunset destination, as last night, but in place of dust clouds there was some building cloud cover early evening, so I took some "safety" shots an hour before sunset before heading off for some scouting for tomorrow morning's sunrise location.

Heading back to Green River Overlook I wasn't feeling too optimistic about sunset, with cloud cover having blocked the sun for a while on my scouting trip to other nearby locations.

But In the event a little spot of sunlight managed to break through and creep onto one section of the canyon rim just as the sun set.

Friday, May 13, 2022 - Moab, UT

Something of a scramble at sunrise this morning, as I had decided to explore a trail leading from the picnic area at White Rim Overlook but in the pre-dawn gloom and my hurry to find the trail I shot off too far to the south and only found the trail on retracing my steps, having stumbled around for a rather wasted mile or so.

I did, however, come across a discarded deer antler which I tucked into an inside pocket of my jacket, the tips digging into my chest and stomach as I scurried back searching for the trail.

And when I did follow the trail to the end, I wasn't too impressed with the views offered from that vantage point.

Once back near the trailhead (obvious when seen from the parking lot in daylight) I went scouting for the spot from which I had taken my best shots when here in 2016 and found it fairly easily just 50 yards beyond my search point yesterday evening - a wonderfully stark and graphic dead tree marking the spot.

Mesa Arch parking lot already had a dozen cars in it when I had driven past 45 minutes before sunrise, keen photographers getting there early to stake out a spot and plant their tripods for the classic shot of sunrise under the arch - a scene I had witnessed back in 2016, when I gave up on any attempt to shoulder my way in amongst them.

But in 2016 I also found that 90 minutes after sunrise there was still plenty of illumination of the underside of the arch and the sun could be positioned to sneak over the top of the arch.

A pretty acceptable substitute composition, in my humble opinion.

And then the big adventure of the day, taking the Jeep 2,000ft down the rough single track dirt road of the Shafer Trail, the first section of which featured tight twists and turns and heart-stopping drop-offs with no guard rails of any sort.

Some white-knuckle driving down to the canyon floor where the trail at times ran alongside the Colorado River, past the solar evaporation ponds of the potash plant and finally, after 20 miles of rough track, onto Route 129 into Moab.

Arrived in Moab in time for a late morning coffee, after which I took the Jeep to a car wash and picked up a couple of grocery items on the way back out to the campground.

Out to Dead Horse Point State Park for sunset (a state park adjacent to Canyonlands but which I had never visited) where the overlook at the south of the park offered panoramic views over the Colorado River and canyons below.

This was predominantly a scouting trip for sunrise tomorrow morning, where the shadow directions and definition would be more dramatic.

So no really stunning sunset pictures - and I rather missed an opportunity to make more of an interesting cloud formation over the La Sal Mountains while my attention was focused elsewhere - but the ideal spot for tomorrow morning's sunrise was clearly identified.

Saturday, May 14, 2022 - Moab, UT

Back out to Dead Horse Point State Park Overlook for sunrise, arriving earlier than purely necessary in the expectation that I would have to claim my spot in competition with others, judging by the large crowds from yesterday evening.

But in the event, only a handful of other people were in the vicinity the whole time I was there, and no-one seemed to want to be in the spot I had chosen (comfortably behind a stone wall rather than having to struggle against my increasingly gut-wrenching fear of approaching the edge of a cliff).

So I was able to enjoy watching - in peaceful solitude - the early sunlight fire up the sandstone of the distant cliff walls...

...before gradually working its way down the cliff faces and eventually reaching the Colorado River.

With the sun then getting higher in the sky (about 7:30am, an hour and a quarter after sunrise) and shadows shortening I drove back up the main park road to see if the Visitor Center might open at 8:00am, but apparently not until 9:00am.

So I found myself a quiet spot in the parking lot, changed into my mountain biking gear and headed off on the 14-mile loop around the park - a mixture of trails, some open and flowing, most relatively easy, though often rocky and rough and with some more technical sections towards the end.

Plenty of overlooks on the way around the loop, at a few of which I paused to take a quick snap with my iPhone.

I headed into the Visitor Center once back in the parking lot after a couple of hours of riding - fairly tired from the ride, the heat and lack of recent riding - and bought a t-shirt in celebration, as well as grabbing an ice-cream reward from the conveniently placed freezer near the cash desk.

Then the long drive back to the RV and a welcome shower, an easy afternoon (working through the building photo collection from this trip) and an evening off as the cloud cover that built up during the day made it clear there wouldn't be a sunset photo opportunity to head out for.

Sunday, May 15, 2022 - Moab, UT

Back to the White Rim Overlook for sunrise, though with the sun rising further round to the north compared to when I got my sunrise shot here back in 2016 there was rather too much light flare on the lens.

And no cloud formations to add visual interest to the sky as there had been for my 2016 sunrise photo.

So a repeat of that particular shot still proving elusive... though my tree silhouette still offering some photographic compensation.

As it was still relatively early, I decided to drive the mile or so further on to Grand View Point Overlook at the far southern end of the park.

I hadn't found that location very special on previous visits, but I had never walked the mile-long rim trail and so decided to explore a little...

...and was very glad I did. Not particularly for grand views over the canyons but for the smaller pleasures of the stone-topped flat section of cliff, laid out almost like a manicured garden with spaced out low trees, bushes and plants through which the path meandered out to the very end point of the mesa.

Another afternoon in the RV before heading out for sunset, stopping briefly at Mesa Arch out of curiosity to see how it might look at sunset rather than sunrise, then on to Green River Overlook once again.

A few light clouds gave a little interest to the sky and didn't obscure the sun initially, but rather thicker clouds down on the horizon somewhat spoiled the final minutes of sunset.

So I decided to head back to Mesa Arch once the sun was down behind the horizon... although I may have bailed out too early as once I reached the parking lot of Mesa Arch, only 5 minutes away, there was a brilliant red fire in the sky at the point where the sun had set - possibly illuminating the Green River canyon with reflected light, but I will never know...

Meanwhile, the evening's "Blood Moon" I had been hoping to see through the Mesa Arch had already risen some way into the sky, still appearing mostly normal-sized and white, though a lunar eclipse was already starting.

After a few photos taken of the moon through the arch, I headed back down to the campground by which time, only 45 minutes later, the full eclipse had occurred, and the "Blood Moon" was deeply colored (due to the shading effect of the earth between the sun and the moon) and hanging clearly in a black sky.

Maybe I should have waited at the Mesa Arch for that, too...

Monday, May 16, 2022 - Moab, UT, to Monument Valley, UT

Up to my favorite location for my last sunrise in Canyonlands, White Rim Overlook, having finally identified the spot I want to be in for photos, with a good idea of a "back-up" spot that will help minimize sun flare on the lens.

Unlikely to be needed this morning, however, as there's a good deal of cloud cover that appears to be drifting eastward, slowly closing in on the horizon.

So it looks like a race between the drifting clouds and the sun coming up behind the La Sal Mountains... and the cloud cover mostly won out, with only the briefest hint of clear light before the sun slipped behind the clouds, and not enough to illuminate the edges of the canyons below my vantage point.

I decided to wait around to see if a gap might open as the sun rose behind the clouds, exploring some way down the trail that leads down to the canyon floor.

The sun occasionally attempted to break through the cloud cover, but never strongly enough to provide the attractive contrasting shadows over the canyons below that my camera was hoping for.

After an hour of watching a cloudy sky I decided to call it quits and changed into the running gear I had brought.

Although not feeling super-energized after another late night and early morning, I couldn't pass up the opportunity of making the most of the cooler air up at 6,000ft and the quietness of the spot I was in, and a run seemed like a fitting way to say farewell to Canyonlands.

Had coffee back in the RV after getting cleaned up from my run, pulling onto the highway and heading through Moab at 11:00am, parking in the street behind the grocery store for a quick top-up of perishables before heading on for the modest 150-mile run to Monument Valley, starting with a long drive uphill to Monticello at 7,000ft, where I stopped for gas and lunch, before heading back down again to a low point of 4,000ft when crossing the San Juan River at Mexican Hat.

And before long, the formations of Monument Valley appeared over the horizon ahead, and I pulled over to take the classic photo on Route 163 immortalized in the movie as the spot where Forest Gump stopped and decided to quit his run across America.

Into the campground not long thereafter, conveniently close to the heart of Monument Valley and offering a view of the sandstone formations at sunset right from my RV door.

Tuesday, May 17, 2022 - Monument Valley, UT

A welcome change to have only a 10-minute drive to a sunrise spot, at the Monument Valley Visitor Center, with the classic silhouette view over the valley and East and West Mitten and Merrick Butte.

Cloudless morning, the glow of the sun below the horizon contrasting with the deep blue of the receding night sky.

Walked around for about 30 minutes after sunrise, taking in a few different angles of the view as the sun rose higher, before driving back to the entrance booth to get my $8 entrance pass to Valley Drive (not driven on my previous visit here).

Although I had seen a few vehicles heading onto the drive earlier I encountered very few on my drive around the 15-mile loop through the formations that give Monument Valley its name.

Enjoyed a very peaceful pause in my drive at Artist Point Overlook, soaking in the grandeur and the calmness, and again at North Window Overlook where I sat and drank the coffee I had brought with me.

Some light clouds in the sky were enough to add a little visual interest to photos but did little to slow the build-up of the day's heat.

Fortunately, I had set the thermostat for the A/C in the RV to come on as the morning warmed up, so was greeted by a pleasantly cool interior for the coffee I brewed once back at the campground at 11:30am.

A pleasantly relaxed balance of the day, mainly working on photos - of which I'm collecting far too many, continually wondering how I used to manage in the days of limited rolls of 35mm film - and looking at campground options for the days ahead on my drive back to Texas.

A short drive back to the Visitor Center for sunset, the sandstone of the formations warming to a fiery red color as shadows lengthened and the moment of sunset approached.

Wednesday, May 18, 2022 - Monument Valley, UT, to Goose Neck State Park, UT

Up to Monument Valley Visitor Center for sunrise once again, still very few other people there.

Only waited for the first few minutes after sunrise today before heading to the entrance booth to pay my $8 for access to Valley Drive, hoping to get some different photos by heading there earlier than I did yesterday.

In the event, any time advantage was rather chewed up by a decision to hike across rough terrain and sand dunes to get closer to the Yei Bi Chei and Totem Pole formations, a long shot of which taken yesterday I had rather liked...

... and I'm not sure this morning's efforts from closer to the formation actually improved on it.

In fact I'm not sure any new views of the formations or any photos today were any better than yesterday.

A short drive back to the campground to download photos, brew coffee and consider the day's plan, deciding to go for a quiet evening at nearby Goosenecks State Park rather than a long day of driving.

Out of the campground at 11:00am for the 25-mile drive, stopping once again at the (in)famous "Forest Gump" spot on the way into Monument Valley.

Goosenecks State Park camping is all boondocking, with no facilities at all other than a couple of toilets - a number of sites have sheltered picnic tables and fire rings and many more bare spots are scattered along the edge of the canyon overlooking the "entrenched meander" of the San Juan River 1,500ft below.

I chose a north-facing campsite away from the edge, mainly in order to minimize heat build-up from the day's sun and to get away from other campsites that I might disturb with genset running.

After setting up, I took a few photos of the loops of the river deep in the canyon and then had a lazy afternoon, the RV predictably heating up but it was quite comfortable seated outside in the shade with a light breeze blowing, low humidity and no bugs.

Waited until after sunset before running the genset for an hour so that the A/C units could take most of the heat out of the RV to make for more a comfortable night's sleep.

Thursday, May 19, 2022 - Goose Neck State Park, UT, to Bernalillo, NM

Awake shortly before sunrise, having a debate with myself about going for a run but, predictably for me, decided that I should despite the rather hilly route I knew I would be running on the access road to the park.

No traffic, however, and the start to the day reasonably cool, so not such a bad run in the end.

Took a few photos of the San Juan river after my run, meandering far below the overlook, the sun by then beginning to light up the gorges.

Out of the campground just before 11:00am, crossing a corner of Arizona before entering New Mexico, "losing" an hour with the change to Mountain Time.

Stopped briefly in Farmington for a couple of grocery items and some gas, then on up and over the Continental Divide at 7,300ft before dropping back down to Bernalillo (just north of Albuquerque) at 5,000ft, arriving at the campground at the very end of the afternoon.

Friday, May 20, 2022 - Bernalillo, NM, to Lubbock, TX

On the road by 8:30am for the short drive south on I-25 into Albuquerque and then east on I-40, traffic lighter than I had expected.

Stopped at a rest area on I-40 after a couple of hours and just before exiting at Santa Rosa where I got gas and a Subway sandwich, eaten a little later when I pulled to the side of the road in Fort Sumner.

Not a lot else to report or remembered about the long day - 335 miles of driving - other than the very briefest of check-ins at the KOA campground in Lubbock by an older lady who decided it wasn't necessary to actually put her teeth in to welcome guests.

Saturday, May 21, 2022 - Lubbock, TX, to Brownwood, TX

An early start on the morning routine to get me out of the campground at 8:30am for the short drive to a truck wash in Lubbock, via a couple of wrong turns.

No-one waiting in line but pulling up to Bay #1, as directed by signage, I saw that not only was it a very narrow entrance but from the tall brushes inside it was clearly an oversized car wash rather than the pure handwash I had been expecting.

A little too late at this point, I decided to press on... squeezing in through the superstructure of the wash with only an inch or two to spare beyond the mirrors.

In the end, no damage to the RV paintwork as far as I can tell, and most of the grime now washed off the RV (and the Jeep) though the water inevitably laying on the roof and trapped in the seals around the slideouts was blown out once back on the highway and caused some superficial streaking on the RV paintwork.

Another very windy day in Lubbock, with at least some of the topsoil blown from west to east on my drive through 7 weeks ago now being blown back to the west, although the dust clouds were not nearly as thick as before.

A dreary day of driving, 250 miles mostly fighting a cross wind... and another dead battery incident in the Jeep, drained by the auxiliary braking system even though I had been religiously unplugging it overnight and checking the battery was sufficiently charged to start the Jeep before hooking it back up.

Pulled into the Riverside Park RV campground at 4:30pm, an easy set-up in the long pull-though site, air conditioning running, WiFi connection made and battery charger hooked up to the Jeep.

Sunday, May 22, 2022 - Brownwood, TX, to Navasota, TX

Took advantage of relatively cool weather and the park adjacent to the campground to go for a morning run, rewarded by a Starbucks coffee and breakfast sandwich from the franchise concession in a convenient grocery store just a few hundred yards from the campground.

On the road a little after 10:00am for the drive to Georgetown (North Austin) where an RV dealership had a Winnebago Ekko on display on their lot - having researched it fairly extensively on-line (as a potential replacement for the current RV) I wanted to see one in the flesh...

...which still didn't really resolve in my mind whether it might make a suitable alternative - in compact form - to my current set-up. Clearly has the "nimble" factor, and likely good performance, but very short on storage (other than the rear "garage" for my mountain bike) and it only has a cassette toilet.

Last stretch of driving for the day got me back onto familiar roads and finally to Navasota, where I filled up the tank before the last 5 miles back to Black Jack Springs and my old parking spot under the shed.

8 weeks and 6,000 miles - expensive miles, too, given the 8mpg I get on a good day and the escalating price of gas, particularly out west where it's over $5 a gallon: $3,250 in gas for the trip.

Another $2,500 for campgrounds and $250 for miscellaneous RV expenses, total trip cost $6,000.

6,250 miles total for the trip on the RV's odometer, with maybe another 1,000 covered in excursions in the Jeep.

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