Van Trip #2 - Mesa to Park City

Thursday, 3/24/16

We left Mesa at 7 a.m. because workers were to arrive then to reseal the blacktop in our neighborhood.  We scrambled a bit; we changed sheets, wiped down our bathroom, got the garbage taken out to Tom’s across the street, so it wouldn’t stink up our backyard while we’re gone and got out the door.  I had an appointment with Dr. Stanley Graves, the podiatrist who did extensive surgery on Chris Zaharis’ foot last year.  My appointment with him wasn’t until 10:30 that morning, however, so we went to Crackers Café on Greenfield and had a relaxed breakfast.  Just after we ordered our food, we saw Kelly Morris walk in and sit down to eat.  We flagged him over and he had breakfast with us.  It was nice to chat with him. 

We then headed toward Phoenix, where my appointment was.  We arrived at 9:30 and, even though we were an hour early, Dr. Graves was able to see me early.  It worked out perfectly, timing-wise.  He was happy to know that we were friends of Chris and gave a hearty smile and laugh when he saw the picture of Chris skiing recently that Jim showed him from his phone.  He’s a good doctor and I felt happy with his instructions.

We left Dr. Graves’ office at 10 and went to La Grande Orange to get some food for lunch.  Jim dropped me off; I went inside and he then circled back around to pick me up because there were no places to park a 22” van anywhere in the area.  We then headed toward Flagstaff but, because Sean had classes that lasted until 2 and work at 3, we didn’t see him.  Eric was also going to Taos to ski, so we missed seeing him too!  There was an accident on I-17 that caused us to lose about an hour but, once we got going, it was no problem.

We continued on and decided to take the road that lead to Jacob Lake.  We got there at about 6 and parked the van outside.  The area is forested and beautiful in that Northern Arizona kind of way that reminds me of being at Camp Lomia during the summers when I was in Young Women’s.  We walked in and bellied up to the bar to get some dinner.  Jim had chicken and I had a bowl of broccoli cheese soup with a green salad.  There was a group of 5 older ladies there that were traveling together also seated at the bar.  We speculated that traveling with that group would probably be very entertaining.

This sign hangs in the restaurant at Jacob Lake.

After dinner, we drove for 5 minutes and found forest service road 248 where we found a nice, quiet spot to park for the night.  I figured out that, if I use spongy rollers, I can do my hair without electricity.  So, I can camp AND feel like a girl….yay!  We enjoyed the peaceful and beautiful surroundings and slept very well.

Friday, 3/25/16

On Friday morning, we woke up and brushed our teeth before heading toward Gooseberry Mesa.  We stopped at the Navajo Bridge and took pictures there.  It was quite lovely.  

I'm amazed that this bridge was built almost 100 years ago.  It is a engineering marvel!

I love the intricate red rocks of northern Arizona and southern Utah.

Jim taking a stroll along Navajo Bridge

Me and my favorite traveling companion

The Colorado River

Gemini looks pretty great up against the red rocks!

Afterward, we wanted to stop for breakfast in Fredonia.  However, there were no breakfast spots open in this sleepy, little town, so we stopped to get gas and kept going.  We then quickly drove through the FLDS town of Colorado City and kept going on Highway 59 toward the Gooseberry Mesa turnoff.

We had arranged in advance to meet Jeff and Kristen Sumsion at this turnoff so that Jeff, Kristen and Jim could ride the trail at Gooseberry Mesa and we could van camp with them because they have an Outsidevan too!  We arrived to the turnoff early, so we waited a while.  When they got there, we drove over the very bumpy dirt road and parked our vans side by side in the trail parking lot.  The three of them got suited up and readied their bikes.

We took a selfie with my selfie stick....not bad for a rookie!

They look like a bunch of pros, don't they?!

Then they took off down the trail and I relaxed in the van.  I did a little surfing of the web, a little reading of my scriptures and took some pictures of the beautiful red rock scenery.

Smithsonian Butte

Beautiful landscape

A few hours later, the riders returned.  The rear hub of Jim’s brand new bike blew out while they were riding the trail, so he was disappointed.  Jim had also fallen on the ride and had gotten some road rash on his right elbow.  Other than that, it was a successful ride.  We then headed down the dirt road to find a place to camp for the night.  It was pretty crowded, with vans, tents and RVs dotting the areas off the side of the road, but we found a great little spot where both our vans fit and parked there.  We were able to park close enough together with our large side doors facing each other that we were able to step from one van to the other without touching the ground.

After everyone got cleaned up, Jeff and Kristen decided to ride their bikes down the road to look at the yurts that can be rented.  They were gone about a half hour, during which time Jim and I pulled out our Kindles and began to read. 

We love reading in the van.

When Jeff and Kristen got back, we ate dinner and then set up the table in our van and talked for a while.  Kristen had brought some homemade chocolates that a friend of hers makes.  They were dark chocolate salted caramels….yum!  

Leafy Mama knows gourmet chocolate!

We decided that, since it was still light, to take a hike down the dirt road we’d parked on.  We walked for a while and then the road ended, so we walked back.  We then hung around our van for a while chatting and playing Spot It.  When Jeff and Kristen decided to go back to their van to get ready for bed, they stepped from our van to theirs (over the “hot lava”).  Kristen said the stars were especially clear and beautiful, so we put on our coats and beanies and got a lesson in astronomy from her.  She’s quite well-versed in the names and the history of the various constellations; I was seriously impressed.  I only know the Big Dipper, but she seemed to know every star cluster in the sky!  Jeff also had an app on his phone called Stargazer that can be held up to the sky.  It will then sense the constellations and tell which ones they are.  After that, we went back to our vans.  Jim did some reading and I went to bed. 

Saturday, 3/26/16

On Saturday morning, we headed back on the dirt road toward Highway 59 so that Jim, Jeff and Kristen could do the Jem Trail.  

What a lovely morning to wake up to!

Our fearless van-tripping companions

Jeff rode his bike instead of staying in the van, so Kristen drove and we met up with him a ways down the highway.  When we got to the trailhead, the three of them decided that, because it was 41 and VERY windy, they wouldn’t ride.  It was TOO COLD!!!  Jeff wanted to ride anyway, so he opted to do the Jem Trail in hopes that it would dump him out at Hurricane, the next town on the highway.  Kristen followed us in our van and we met her at the Over the Edge bike shop in Hurricane.  We looked around for a few minutes and then parted ways, knowing that Jeff was on his way and would be there soon.  It was a fun time van tripping with our friends!

We drove toward Park City.  The scenery was especially beautiful on our way in because of the snow that had fallen recently.

What a gorgeous drive!

Utah knows how to do mountains!

We stopped in Mona for an early dinner with Mom and Dad Wilson.  It was nice seeing them, as always, and Mom had made BBQ beef, potato salad and coleslaw for dinner.   We ate with them, chatted a bit and showed them the van.  While we were showing them the van, I looked at the hanging shelf unit and there, stuck at the back of the shelves tucked against the wall of the van was the Kindle that we spent an hour during our last trip searching the van for.  Seriously, if it had been a snake…..Then, tired from the road, we took our leave and finished our drive to Park City.  Thankfully, we didn’t have too much ice on our driveway, so we were able to drive all the way up, park the van by the front door, plug it in there and unload.  It was a short van trip, but we had fun!

My man can drive the van!