Day 4 - Arches National Park & Klondike Bluff Trail

Woke up and just enjoyed the early morning. Mama made some coffee and we both ventured out a bit to realize again how amazing our spot was that we found. We hung out at the site for about two hours before eventually heading back out to the main road and going to Arches National Park. Since we went to bed so dang early, we also woke up pretty early. We entered Arches a little after 9am and stopped in at the visitor center, only to buy a bunch of knick-knacks.

Back in our Revel Heaven and we were off to see the Arches. The neat thing about the park is that most of the Arches are visible from the vehicle. Most of the hikes or Arches are only a mile or less from the parking areas. Although there are several that have a several-mile hike, I think we managed to see quite a few. We took a hike to see two arches and found a nice nestled like enclave up in the rocks and drank a beer in celebration. We stayed in the Park until a little after 3pm and then headed to our new campsite, somewhere on Klondike Bluff Trail. All I can say is we landed in the middle of nowhere. Beautiful spot and limitless scenery.

Got in and drank some beers and tied one on. Didn’t make it too long this evening. Still can’t believe I’m here!

Day 3 - On to Moab & Willows Pass

Not sure I would call the sleep the most restful, but we were both pretty happy to get some shut-eye. We woke up to some pretty cold temps, but as the sun came up it warmed up quickly. Moab was still five and a half hours away, so we didn’t want to diddle around too much. We cleaned up a bit and both managed to take a nice hot shower before leaving. Figured we get a nice hot one while we could.

So we headed down the mountain, fueled the Revel, and grabbed some coffee and snacks at the gas station before we hit the interstate. I-70 through the Rocky Mountains is truly a wonderful ride. It takes past all the ski resorts, like Vail, Beaver Creek, Copper Mountain, along with a few others. The terrain and views are just beautiful.

When we hit the border of Utah, we had to stop and take a picture. Proof we were really here! A surge of energy pierced through my body and a deep breath was exhaled. Finally, after all that travel, we made it. Just a little further down the interstate and we turned onto Hwy 191 into Moab. We were still about 35 minutes out from Moab, so took the time to scout out campsites along the way. Our destination was Kings Bottom Campgrounds, a 12 site dispersed camping area right on the Colorado River, 3 miles out of town. We thought the sites would all be filled up but wanted to give it a try. As we rolled in, we noticed the place was pretty packed, except for one spot. We were elated but soon realized the spot was tagged and reserved.

Off to the Willows, a dispersed camping site outside of Moab which backed up to Arches National Park. You gotta love 4x4, as we headed to the back of the area and found what we thought was a gorgeous spot. I told Anna that it looked like we were in a place of three planets. In each direction you looked, the terrain was different. We pitched camp and settled in for the night. The wind was blowing and it was getting sand everywhere. We opted to cook inside and made sure the doors were closed. Neither of us managed to stay up past dark before laying down and going to sleep.

Day 1-2 - Whole Enchilada and then a Whole lot of driving

So much excitement when I woke up this morning but needed to complete one task first – The Whole Enchilada. Okay, actually only the Half Enchilada. It is a ride done annually at the White Water Center and I signed up for it earlier in the year and was bound and determined to beat my time from the previous one. I rode the race with Don. He, unfortunately, was doing the Whole – Poor Bastard!!

I met Adam and Dave prior to their start and wished them well. Saw Todd Mallet at the start as well and we chatted a bit until Don finally arrived. With water bottles filled, we were off. Wrecked once pretty hard, ran my hand into a tree, and nearly wrecked a dozen or so more times, but no major injury. Got to the split point and wished Don well. I felt bad, knowing how much time he still had left on the saddle until the finish. Oh well – better him than me!!

Got home, showered, threw the last bit of stuff in the van, and said our farewells to Olivia and little Willow. On the way out, we stopped by Sean’s to wish Mom and Dad a safe trip. With all the goodbyes behind us, we got on I-485 and started on our maiden voyage!

We got on the road right at 2:30pm and made a pretty good time. While heading up to Asheville on NC74, I decided we would have lunch at the Purple Onion in Saluda, right off of I-26. Had an amazing meal. I was so hungry after the ride and didn’t want to eat fast food, so I waited. Let me just say it was worth it.

Back on the road and Anna took over. For some reason, it seemed to take forever to get to Nashville. It was only six hours out from Charlotte, but I guess leaving late in the day and knowing the number of hours we had left just to get to Denver, it all seemed to be passing soooo slowwwww! Anna drove until around 9:30pm and then I took over. Managed to get to Sesser, Illinois at around 1:30am and pulled into a rest stop. Crawled in bed with Anna and tossed and turned for the next two plus hours.

Got up around 4:10am and started the old girl and headed further down I-57. Anna rolled out of bed and joined me in the front of the Revel around 8:30am and we rode for about another hour or so and I handed the reigns over to Mama. Stopped a little passed Topeka around 11:30am at JC’s BBQ & Grill and had a fantastic lunch. Boxed the remaining to have as a snack a little later in the day.

Off again and headed to Denver. The goal is to go to Feral, a camping outlet store in Denver. Hoping to grab some cooking items and some cleaning supplies. I dropped the ball on ordering some items before we left. There wasn’t enough time to get some of the items in from Amazon and a few of the items didn’t make it in time and got delayed somehow. Then off of our campsite for the night. We hope to find a spot.

We did make it to Feral and got more than we probably needed. However, we did get the pot I was looking for along with some bowls and plates we were in need of. Feral was located on a really cool little old town street and there was plenty of places to eat. Instead, we headed out and drove to the Denver West KOA. It was going to be dark soon and we were all ready to finally settle down.

Central City was where the campground was located near at an elevation of 8964 feet. We were going to be in for a cold night. After looking at the temps, the weather stated we would have high winds throughout the night with gusts up to 75mph. On boy!!