Thanks for joining us, and welcome to Indiana as we explore the area for a couple of weeks. We are a husband-and-wife team that travels the country in our Keystone Cougar 2100 RKS, and we love to explore new places. The drive into Indianapolis was nuts because there was so much construction going on, but the skyline was nice.
Today we begin with visiting the RV Hall of Fame and museum in Elkhart, IN. My husband has been dying to come here!
Fun Fact: This is a Harvest Host. The only thing you pay for is your admission to the museum unless you want power which we did because it was hot.
It is a beautiful campus!
Their “mission is to recognize, preserve, and honor the history, pioneers, and individuals who have been instrumental in making the Recreational Vehicle and Manufactured Housing industries what they are today.” I think they have done a really good job in showcasing RV’s throughout the years. We spent about 3 hours walking around.
The highlight of the museum for Andrew was seeing the KYD bus. Backstory, we follow an RV couple call KYD (Keep Your Daydream) and they bought a 1984 Blue Bird Wanderlodge in 2021. In July of 21 they embarked on an epic adventure of traveling route 66 in the bird. They then ended in Santa Monica and drove back to Indiana and the bird was inducted in the RV Hall of Fame in March of 2022.
See the joy on this man’s face!!!
He was so giddy that he sat where Mark had sat.
They even have a model on how RV’s are made. This was really cool to see. Keep reading and you can see it in the Cougar manufacturing plant later in this blog.
So if you like RV’s and want to learn about the evolution of the RV industry, this is the place to go. I highly recommend it. Check out their website at https://www.rvmhhalloffame.org/
Keystone Cougar rally
The next day we headed over to Shipshewana, Indiana for our Cougar Rally. This was our first rally and didn’t quite know what to expect. It was a great experience even with about 125 rigs there.
Where the red arrow is where our rig is.We even had women’s driving school. It was such a good experience.
The rally had so many events scheduled, and we met so many people. We all met up for dinner each night and had a grand time. Each night was a theme with food and entertainment as well as a basket exchange for those that wanted to participate. During the day, we had class and events as well as a factory tour.
Here is one of the dinners.
Can you guess what the theme was this night?
Keystone Cougar Plant
This is one of the seminars at the Keystone Cougar assembly plants.We got to see how our rigs were made. I’m not gonna lie, this was soooo cool!!!
Shipshewana
We entered the city where the old and the new converge together. Where automobiles share the roads with Amish buggies. I have always loved the way of the Amish, so to get to experience a little touch of it was awesome.
The Amish working the fields without machinery.Beautiful pond in town outside the Blue Gate Restaurant and Bakery.The food was good but I was surprised by it. It didn’t taste fresh, but rather from a box or can.
We did go into the bakery after lunch and purchase some baked goods and some peanut butter.
Stay tuned as we venture into Ohio to visit with old friends and see the sights of Ohio.
After meeting with the Clydesdales, we ended up at the St. Louis /Granite City KOA in IL for a few nights on our way to Indiana hoping to avoid some of the weather. We stayed in site A4, and A5.
This is a nice little campground.
After a long day, it was nice to put our feet into the pool to cool off.
Andrew is goofing around on the bounce pillow.A nicer park for when it’s not hot outside since the other is all metal.
Well due to in climate weather, we decided to go east instead of north to try to avoid the nasty weather that was forecasted.
The city viewHome of the University of Louisville Athletics
We ended up going 4.5 hours out of the way staying at Louisville South KOA Holiday. We have stayed here a couple of times and stayed in sites 225 and 284. Then we headed to Indiana
The next morning, we headed to the RV Hall of Fame and Museum in Elkart In. which is a Harvest Host as well.
Stay tuned as we head to Amish area in Indiana and we tour the Keystone Cougar factory.
On our way to Illinois, we stoped for the night in Higginsville, MO off of highway 40 at a place called The Great Escape RV Park and Campground. This was quite a nice campground for only $49.
Can’t believe how green it is.
Horsing Around!
Ever since 2015 when we visited the St. Luis Arch and went to the Budweiser factor tour, I have had a dream. You see, I learned about Warm Springs Ranch on this tour and fell in love with Budweiser Clydesdales, so I have since wanted to see them.
Andrew surprised me with a tour of Warm Springs Ranch, home of the Budweiser Clydesdales. Initially we looked at pricing for tours and they were very expensive, then later we looked and they were reasonably priced. We thought we would get an early tour because we were still traveling with our 5th wheel. So, our plan was to get there a little early, park the 5th wheel, open it up, enjoy the view, and have lunch. Well, they don’t open the gates until 20 minutes before your tour starts. So, we had to back out, go up the road, and find a place to turn around. That was no easy task since we are 45 feet long when hooked up. Andrew did an amazing job doing a 3–5-point turn with railroad track there also. We went into town to a gas station up the road and made our lunch since we had an hour to kill. So let our mistake help you in the future! They do tell you this in the email confirmations as well, but we didn’t see it.
When we were able, we got to the gate and they let us in. The tour, called Becoming a King; Hitch Journey, is a 1.5 hour long for $50 per person; “Immerse yourself in the extraordinary lives of these iconic hitch horses, tracing their journey from their early days at the ranch to the magnificence of being part of a world-renowned 8-horse hitch. Gain an exclusive, behind-the-scenes glimpse into the intricate training process that molds our Clydesdales into ambassadors of the Budweiser legacy on the road, serving on one of three elite hitch teams.” https://www.warmspringsranch.com/
Our tour guide met us in the parking lot with a golf cart and our tour started there because we were the only people on the tour, can you believe it?The famous wagon pulled by the Cyldesdales!Since we were alone, we got to go behind the scenes and see the new colts. What a treat this was!This little one was having a first bath. He wasn’t too excited for the bath, but the trainer was slow and patient and the little one came around to accept his fate.
Imagine trying to control all of these bikes at once. It is really hard!
A training modular. It is not as easy as they make it look. You have to hold the reins a certain way.
It takes a crew of 6 handlers and 4-5 hours to get the horses hitched up and ready for a show.
The harness weighs approximately 130 pounds and is handmade from patent leather and brass.The horses begin their training at 2 years old. They begin with a sleigh and harness to get use to the feel, then they graduate to this wagon. I am a 5 foot tall woman and to try to reach up to brush the horses mane was a tall reach. An adult weighs 2,000 pounds. They drink up to 30 gal. a day of water and eat 20 quarts of oats.The semi that drives the Clydsdale around the country.
At the end of our tour, our guide hung around while we shopped in the gift store and was gracious enough to take our picture in front of the building and then drove us back to our truck. This was a great experience, and I would highly recommend this!
Stayed tuned as we stopped for 2 nights in St. Louis/I-270/Granite City KOA Journey.
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Thank you for joining us as we are making our way to the midwest. We love having our daughter travel with us, but 2 weeks is a long time in a small 26 foot 5th wheel. After taking Autumn to the airport, we made our way to the Prairie Ridge Buffalo Ranch in Limon Co. It was a very nice Harvest Host.
We were able to walk around and look at the buffalo during our 1-night stay.
We even took some time to play ping pong and pool during a work break.
As we were leaving, we drove through town and saw that they have a museum. We didn’t have time to stop, but it may be a good place for a break if you like museums like we do.
This is a free museum, but check their hours before you visit.
Welcome to Kansas!
We stopped at the rest area on I-70 in Goodland, Kansas.
Had a little fun while we were here.
The next night we stopped inColby Kansas for the night. We stayed at Colby RV park for just $45 a night. We didn’t unhook, but it worked for us. We were able to walk across the street to a Walmart Supercenter to pick up a few groceries to continue on with our travels.
Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
Our next stop was the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas. We didn’t plan this, but it was along or close to our route. This seem to be a thing we have continued to do along our travels. We didn’t have a lot of time due to the weather, so we spent just over 2 hours here. You can definetly spend a lot more time here!
This is his boyhood home and you can take tours of it. Tickets have to be purchased and the tours are limited to 10 every half hour.
The Eisenhowers moved into the six-room home in late 1898 when Dwight was about 8 years old. The house remained with the family until 1946 and opened for tours in 1947. This is even before he became the 34th president of the United States. The family donated the house to the Eisenhower foundation in 1947 after Ida Eisenhower’s death in 1946.
Final Resting place for the 34th president
Here lies the President, First Lady, and their first born son who had passed at 3 years of age from scarlet fever.
The museum
The museum was quite inpressive and we learned a lot about our 34th President. There was a quote in the museum that seems to be a motto of our family as well.
All of his many pins that he earned in his career.
There was a little history of Mamie (Doud) Eisenhower.
So here is something new. This is an 1914 Rauch and Lang electric car. This car belongs to Mamie’s mother and was purchased for $4,300 brand new. It had a range of 13 miles per hour with roughly 100 miles before needing to be recharged. Its top speed was 20 miles per hour.
After leaving the presidential library we travel a couple more hours and we stopped for the night in MO.
Stayed tuned and hit the subscribe button as we make our way to IL to horse around.
If you have been following along with our travels, you know that some of my favorites places include red rocks. The red rock formations formed millions a years ago. Originally known as Red Rock Corral. In 1859, a surveyor thought the place would be a good “capital place for a beer garden.” His partner thought it was a good place for gods to gather. Later in 1893 Helen Hunt Jackson officially named the area Garden of the Gods.
Charles Elliot Perkins, established a home in this area with 480 acres. After his death, his family donated the land to the city of Colorado Springs in 1909 with the provision that it would be a free public park. In 1972, the park became a National Monument.
The park is popular for hiking, biking, rock climbing, and horseback riding. In the summer, there is a free shuttle service with 4 stops around the park. We had a family member who lives in the area drive us around, and even in the off season, parking was difficult.
This is a famous rock formation called balancing rock.
Siamese Twins trail was an easy 1-mile roundtrip with only 150-foot rise. The views were magnificent.
This is such a beautiful park, that I would definelty spend a day or two here to enjoy all parts of the park.
Because of parking, we decided to hike to the Visitor and Nature center to get our ride. It definitely was father than we thought. It never seems to be a straight line forward, but the views were great!
We were being watched!
The Royal Gorge Bridge
What is the Royal Gorge you ask? It is the canyon of the Arkansas River located near Canon City, Colorado. The bridge was built in 1929, and at the time, it was the longest suspension bridge in the country. It is 956 feet above the river and is 1,260 feet from rim to rim. It took about 7 months to build with the grand opening on Dec. 8, 1921.
I’ll be the first to admit that I was a bit nervous about walking across the bridge. Why? Because you could see through the wooden planks to the river below.
With gaps in the planks and small feet, I was nervous psychologically.
Gorge Fire
On Tuesday June 11, 2013, a fire erupted west of the royal gorge bridge in western Colorado. With high winds, the fire jumped the canyon walls and reached the Royal Gorge Bridge Park. The park was evacuated and everyone was safe, but the majority of the buildings were burned. Of the 360 acres, 90% of the park was destroyed including the playland rides and attractions. The bridge was spared with the exception of roughly 100 planks.
Fourteen months later, the park was reopened with new buildings and the Poma-Leitner Aerial Gondolas, zip-lining, and a sky coaster.
The views are breathtaking above and below the canyon rim.
There is a petting zoo for the kids.
You can spend the whole day here if you want. It is definitely a must see if you’re in the Colorado Springs area; it’s a short drive to see this fabulous canyon.
Pikes Peak
Pikes Peak, America’s Mountain, is named for Lt. Zebulon Pike who never reached the top. This mountain is 14,115 feet high and you can reach the top in a few ways. The most popular is taking the 3.5 hour round trip cog train ride. The cog train has been traveling up the mountain since 1891. This is the way Autmn and I traveled to the summit. Prices are around $70 to enjoy the ride that was well worth it.
Up toward the top, you have mountains of these rocks.The views up at the top of the mountain were amazing.
We were told that we have to have donuts up at the top of the mountain. So the first thing we did when we got off the train was go inside to beat the lines to get our donuts. You only have about 40 minutes before you have to get back on the train, and you don’t want to miss the train.
Coffee and the donuts were quite good!Here is a close up of the 9 mile cog railway.
The next time we go up to Pikes Peak, we will probably drive the 19 miles paved windy road, so we can spend more time up at the top.
After the cog train ride, we walked around Maintou Springs and took in the sites.
The Air Force Academy
We are lucky enough to have a retired Air Force family member to show us around the campus. If you are not as lucky as us, please research the process you have to go through to visit the campus. I don’t think you can just show up and go on the campus. At the entrance we started with some planes on display.
Thunderbird Overlook
We were able to see some glidder trainings. This was cool to see! This picture doesn’t show it very well though.
We also got to see some cadets from on top of the honor court overlook, and what is interesting is that when they are training, they can only walk on the white lines.
You can also watch the cadet noon formation where you watch the squadrons marching to lunch, weather permitting.
We made the long walk (1/3 mile, but it seemed longer) to the world-famous chapel, but it has been under construction for a few years now. It currently is encased in a box to allow workers to work on the chapel year-round since they get quite cold with snow. The chapel was built is 1962 with 17 spires that are 150 feet tall. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark and the most visited man-made structure in Colorado Springs.
I hope you enjoyed reading about the Colorado Springs area. Stayed tuned as we travel to Kansas and visit the Eisenhower Presidential Library.
Welcome back! We have been traveling with our daughter and last we left off, we were visiting Monument Valley. Now we are heading towards Colorado Springs. We have family in town that we enjoy spending time with, so we seem to visit every summer for the last 2 years.
Four Corners Monument
Our first stop was to Four Corners; our daughter has never been, and we felt that she needed to see it and she wanted to.
See the line of people waiting to take pictures?
This monument in the only place in the US where you can be in four states at the same time: Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. We have been here twice, once with each of our daughters. It is a must do if you’re in the area and expect a line for pictures. Plan to be here for at least an hour if you do want pictures.
Pagosa Springs
We decided to visit a Harvest Host in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Pagosa Springs Colorado. Last year we visited a winery with our daughter and she loved it, so this time, we decided to introduce her to farm life. And oh boy what an experience it was! We were first greeted by a herd of sows and piglets. We had some trouble parking in the pasture because they kept going under the rig and Andrew was trying to get us in a location that was somewhat level on the farm. It was quite the sight to see! I was out of the truck trying to wrangle these cuties out from under the rig.
They were not budging! I had to ask my city daughter to get out of the truck to help me get them moving. We finally got them to move along and we were able to park and we could relax for a bit after a long day of driving.
Then guess who showed up again? The sows seem to make the rounds, so as we were sitting outside, they came by to check on us.
The next morning, we met the owner Brian, and he gave us a tour of the farm. We met the pigs again, cattle, and the dogs. It was such a great experience; we even purchased some fresh pork to enjoy on our travels.
We got to feed the friendly cows.
This dog was so big and looked like a wolf.
The puppies were just getting weened.
Andrew is afraid of big dogs, so for him to pet this dog is a big deal.
Since Autumn enjoyed this Harvest Host so much, we took her to another Winery in Penrose, Colorado. Once again, this did not disappoint. We met the owner Sean who came out to meet us and invited us inside for wine tasting when we were set up.
The wine tasting was very good and complimented the charcuterie board that we got. I was introduced to a new cheese that has jalepenos in it, and it was so good, so I bought some as well. Sean the owner, gave us a tour of the wine process and really took his time explaining things to us. It was a great night and we would definelty go back!
From Pagosa, we traveled to Yoder, Colorado outside of Colorado Springs. We were thinking of staying 3 nights and Autumn and I could travel the 30 minutes into town to see the sights. Well we got there and it wasn’t quite what we expected or were used to. This was a Boondockers Welcome site which means you pay nothing for your stay except to use their electricity. We decided to only stay 1 night, because of several issues, but the main one was internet. The coverage was not good and Andrew needed to work. So we moved the next morning to a KOA in Colorado Springs.
Cracker Barrel
Since our living situation wasn’t ideal and we needed to kill some time, we went into town to introduce Autumn to Cracker Barrel. Once again, the food was amazing, and we walked away with leftovers.
I always get the fried chicken!
I’m not a meatloaf kind of person, but it is really good!
Another chicken fan.
While we were waiting for our food, Autumn was introduced to the Peg game. I don’t know how she never new about this travel game, but she was infatuated with the game. So what did she do? She bought the game to figure out how to win.
Of course, we all have to take a shot at the game.
KOA Colorado Springs
We had a nice 2 night visit here. This is a really nice park expecially for families. They have RV spots, tent sites as well as cabin sites. They have planned activities for the kids and a splash park. Autumn said she would have loved this place as a kid.
And just like that, Autumn’s trip was ending. She spent 2 weeks on the road with us and I think she had a blast. This is turning into a tradition of her traveling on the road with us for a few weeks and seeing new things in the country. We took her to the Denver airport and she flew home.
Stay connected as we discuss what to do in Colorado Springs in our next blog. Please hit the subscribe button to follow along.
Welcome to Monument Valley, one of the most beautiful places in the world! Thank you for joining us as we show our oldest daughter the valley.
Autumn had never been to Monument Valley, so of course we had to take her there. It is Andrew and my favorite place. This was my 4th time here in the last few years.
Before we begin our journey into the valley, some things to know about. There are 3 differnt kinds of rock formations.
A mesa, which is the biggest. I remember this because it looks like a table, and the Spanish word for table is mesa. It is wide and stable.
A Butte, a rock formation that has eroded from a mesa which makes it smaller.
A spire, which is the final form of erosion from a butte. It is tall, narrow and free standing.
You can’t go to Monument Valley and not do the 17-mile loop, but don’t plan to do it in your RV. You’re driving on dirt and sometimes it is very soft. In fact, busses, RVs, and motorcycles are not even allowed! Plan for a couple of hours to do the drive and enjoy the sights. There is an $8.00 fee, and they will give you a map as well.
Both of these buttes look like mittens which suggests spiritual beings watching over the valley.
Doesn’t this look like an elephant? You can’t see it? Use your imagination with the big hump.This is supposed to look like a catholic nun facing her two pupils. The middle one looks like it is leaning back and will fall one day.
The next stop was the John Ford point, which is named after Hollywood director John Ford who made John Wayne famous.
Sometimes you can pay to have your picture taken with a horse out on the point.
We took a break at the John Ford point and enjoyed some fry bread. It was so big that we couldn’t finish it. We had garlic and butter on it, and it was so rich, but so good. We had never had it before, have you? Here they also have Navajo vendors set up, so you can buy products from them.
Can you see the camel in this Butte?The hub symbolizes the hub of a wagon wheel. The Navajo see this as a fireplace in the center of a Hogan. Keep reading to find out what a Hogan is.
This spire monument is a good example of what erosion does to a butte. This is one of my favorite because you can see the totem poles.
The magnitude of these is massive.
I was excited for this because I had recently learned what code talkers were.
Code talkers in a nutshell were military members who used their knowledge of Native American languages to send secret messages during the war. They were vital to helping the US because nobody could translate what was being said.
This is the north window, where you can see the northern view of the valley.
Sometimes Navajo vendors are here, and you can buy Navajo products.
Hiking in Monument Valley
There is only 1 hike that you can do in the valley. It is 3.8 miles and you hike around a butte. I recommend in the warmer months to start early and take plenty of water. There is not much shade and only 1 bathroom half-way through the hike.
This was an April outing for us and you can see, we had jackets/ sweatshirts on.This was summer time as you can see.So much to see and learn along the way.
When we stayed here this past summer, it was the 4th of July and we got to experience a free 4th of July show that can compete with any 4th of July show. It was so cool to hear the blast off the canyon walls, it was so loud! Have you ever been here for the 4th of July?
This is definitely a 4th of July, we won’t forget!
What is a Hogan?
A hogan is a traditional ceremonious dwelling that is considered sacred for the Navajo. As you drive around the area, look on the land for these sacred sites. I think each family has one on their property.
I don’t know how many people can be in a Hogan at once, but if it’s a ceremonial location, I would imagine the whole family would go in.
The best place to stay
Everytime we have visited Monument Valley, we have always stayed at Gouldings. They have something for everyone. They have lodging accommodations, as well as an RV campground that you can tent camp at also. https://gouldings.com/.
This little guy scared Andrew as he hooked up our 5th wheel. I think he is so cute!
Many of the sites have these beautiful flowers.
The view of Monument Valley from the campground.
If you’re interested in taking a short little hike in the park, there is a gem within the park.
The hike to get there is short but sweet! And there are sooooo many picture opportunities!
Dinner at the lodge
We had soup with fry bread, a taco salad in fry bread as well as a steak. All entrees were very good and the views during dinner were really good. So have no fear, you will be fed while you’re here. There is something for everyone!
Hiking at the campground
There is a nice little hike within the campground that will take you into the canyon to see a little surprise of an arch bridge. You really can’t go on top of the arch, but you can definitely go underneath it and beside it. Each time, we have hiked back into the canyon and enjoyed this little gem.
Do you see it?????? The bridge?Is that better? It is very cool to walk to a natural bridge!
Thanks for traveling to Monument Valley with us. If you like what you see, please hit the subscribe button and continue to travel with us.
Hello there, thank you for joining us on our travels. The last we left off, we packed up our house and I was getting on a train to go pick up our daughter in the bay area. I spent the night with her and we caught the train and traveled to Bakersfield where Andrew was picking us up.
Bakersfield, California
We got groceries and stayed the night at the Orange Grove RV Park and Resort. click the link to read about our stay.
This time we stopped at Orange Grove RV Park and Resort in Bakersfield off of highway 58 over the Tehachapi’s.
Las Vegas
We surprised our daughter with a couple nights in Las Vegas and oh boy what a few nights it was. After we landed at Oasis RV park, we hit the pool because it was so hot, and it takes a while to cool the RV down. If you’re looking for a resort in the summer, this is definitely where everyone goes. They have an 18 hole putting green, as well as 2 pools, a kids and adult pool. They have an onsite cafe/bar as well. After we cooled down in the pool, we cleaned up and we hit the town. For more information, visit https://www.oasislasvegasrvresort.com/
Blue Man Group
Our first stop was going to the MGM hotel and saw the show of Blue Man group. The show was fun and entertaining and was about 90 minutes long. I have always wanted to see this group since we saw them on America’s Got Talent several years ago. We loved the show, and they get the audience involved in the show as well. They come up into the audience and interact with them. It is a fun show, and I think Autumn had a good time.
Other Shows in Vegas we have enjoyed
It’s so cool how they manipulate the lights
The Jabbawockeez was a great show that I took my daughter Topanga to the year before. Since she is a dancer, this was a perfect show for her to go see. They are a hip-hop dance crew that have high energy and very fun to watch. Tickets were a bit pricey but so is everything else in Vegas. The show definitely put a smile on her face.
Freemont Street
We spent the night enjoying Freemont Street. This is absolutely our favorite place to go in Vegas. Here is a tip: Circus Circus has free parking and we Ubered over to Freemont Street and back. We spent several hours over there enjoying the live music of two different bands.
While visiting Freemont Street, I would highly recommend doing the ziplining. My daughter Topanga and I did the superman zipline across the length of Freemont Street and it was exhilarating. I was a bit nervous, but I’m so glad I did this! You do need a reservation so plan in advance. Plan to pay for the experience!
We even spent a little time checking out the casinos in Freemont Street. We didn’t win anything, but fun was had by all.
Circus Circus
So since we were parking at Circus Circus, we thought we would spend a little time here. When our kids were much younger, we spent time here to keep the kids entertained with the Adventuredome and the circus acts.
We revisited the Hoover Dam, and it has changed a lot since Autumn saw it last. When she saw it as a child, they were just building the bridge. We tend to visit the dam often, I think this was our third time to visit. The first time we did a dam tour, and that was amazing to go inside the dam and see how it all works. Tickets are not too expensive, check it out! https://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/
We spent 2 full days in Las Vegas and I think Autumn had a fabulous time. Stayed tuned as we take our daughter to adventure in Utah next.
Welcome back to our traveling blog. If you’re new here, we are a husband and wife team that travels the country and wants to share our travels with you. Last we left we were in Gilroy for a family friend wedding. We next head to Visailia for a special event.
Miss California
If you have been following us, you know our daughter competes in the Miss America scholarship program. As Miss Culver City, she is competing for the title of Miss California. She did a fabulous job, but it wasn’t her year.
This girl is going to do great things, she just doesn’t know when or how, but she is ready.
Visalia California
So while the competion was at night, we visited the city of Visalia during the day.
The displays were quite impressive and showed how life was.
So we had to have some fun with our oldest daughter Autumn. We asked her how to use this telephone and she was unsure. and then she wanted to sit at the old typewriter. She wasn’t quite sure what to do if you make a mistake. Modern technology is not like what we were raised with.
If you’re a big decathlete, you might be familiar with Bob Mathias. He was born in Tulare and they have a big section of the museum dedicated to him showing his awards and such. He went to the Olympics in 1948 and 1952 winning gold medals both times. At the time, he was the youngest person to win a gold medal in a track and field event.
If you have some time, I would highly recommend this museum.
Superior Dairy
If your at all familiar with the valley, you would know about Superior Dairy in Handford. This famous eatery has been open since 1929 and have delighted generations of families with mountain size sweetness. When you step inside, it’s like walking back in time to the 50’s with the soda fountain restaurant feel with pink barstools and cushions. Unfortunately, COVID killed this eatery and you have not been able to eat inside the restaurant since. They used to have sandwiches and salads as well and you could have lunch and dessert.
All these of my kids came here on the train as a 3rd grade fieldtrip. It was a great experience for them to ride the train. So we thought it was fitting to go back and visit.
We sat across the street in Courtyard square and enjoyed our ice cream.
A huge Change!
Our friends and family know that we have been living in our RV for two years. We moved out of our home in 2022. We packed everything into boxed and put everything except a few big pieces of furniture into our garage so our son and his new wife could move in. Well, this past February, our son got a transfer with his job and they were going to move our. We hadn’t decided what to do with the house, whether we wanted to sell it or rent it out. So while we were home, we decided to do some cleaning and eventually decided to put our house on the market. What this meant was to purge a lot of stuff and put a lot of stuff into storage. We rented a U-haul trailer for the weekend and and moved our life into storage units.
We had to clean things up, which meant taking all of our sons running numbers off his door and repaint his green room which he had since he was a child. As well as repaint Topanga’s childhood room which was a pink (think Pepto). Had to get some windows repaired. and cleared out our storage shed in the back yard. Needless to say, it was a lot more work than we planned. We had no idea how much stuff we had accumulated in our 20 years in this house.
Hello, welcome to our blog. If you’re new here, we are a husband and wife team that full times it in our Keystone Cougar 5th wheel. We travel the country and love sharing our travels with you. Last we left off with, we took our oldest daughter to Las Vegas. We then made our way to Zion National Park. This is one of my favorite National Parks to visit. Last time I was there, I did the park alone, but this time I got to show Autumn the park.
If you have the time, you definitely need to do the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel drive, especially if you’re planning to travel to Bryce Canyon. You can take your RV because rangers will stop traffic one way for you to drive down the middle of the tunnel. There is a $15 fee for large vehicles. It was just announced that if your large profile vehicle is more that 11ft. 4 inches tall, 7ft.10 in. wide or 35ft. 9 in. long than you will have to find an alternate route. This change will begin next year. It’s a 1.1 mile drive through the mountain and it is very cool!
Sorry about the dirty window, we had done a lot of driving!Driving highway 9, we encountered our first big horned sheep and goats. I was so excited to see them in person, I actually cried! Don’t judge, I’m a huge animal lover.Bison along highway 9 as well!If you like the red rocks like we do, there is a lot of it from Zion to Bryce!
There are so many hikes and trails to do. My first time there, I was alone and didn’t want to get in a long line for the shuttle. In my brilliance, I thought I would pick up the shuttle at station 2 after walking the Pa’rus Self-Guided Walk. It is a 1.25mile paved trail that travels along the Virgin River. It was a beautiful trail, and I highly recommend it. When I got to the shuttle, I learned that it only goes back down to the visitor center, so back to the visitor center I went. I got in line and took the shuttle to the last stop of Temple of Sinawava.
When you get off the shuttle at Temple of Sinawava, you take a few steps, and your view is breathtaking. You feel like you are at the end of the canyon; when you look up you’re surrounded by tall sandstone walls.
From here you do a 1 mile easy, paved Riverside Walk. My daughter and I actually hiked part of the Narrows and it was so much fun. If you plan to hike the Narrows, here are my tips: Start early and bring food and water to enjoy the beautiful views. Bring the proper shoes of hiking shoes and have a walking stick or two to help navigate through the rocky waters. I would also use a dry bag to keep your phone, wallet, and lunch dry. Plan to spend the day in the Narrows, it can take 1-8 hours depending how much time you want to spend in the water.
From the Narrows, I took the shuttle to Weeping Rock, which continuously has water seeping through the sandstone. It is a short walk to see the weeping rock and it was actually kind of cool to see.
From Weeping Rock, I caught the shuttle to Grotto Trail and walked to Zion Lodge where I sat, enjoyed the views, people watched, and enjoyed my lunch that I packed with me. You can buy lunch here if you so desire and it’s the only place to buy food in the park. The large grass area had wild turkeys lurking about looking for some handouts. You defintely have to go inside and check out the lodge. You also want to get your merchandise inside the gift shop here.
When Autumn was with me, we hiked the Lower Emerald Pool trail. The trail is rough and can be grueling in places, but not too bad if you’re in pretty good shape.
We then split up on the way back. Autumn went down, and I went up. It wasn’t an easy hike but so very worth it.
This was the middle pool falls. Nothing to really see. You just cross it on the way up. I hear there is water here after rains.
The hike up to the upper pools but tough. I had to stop many times to rest because it was so difficult and hot.
So, you can’t go into the water, which would have been nice to cool off in, but the hike was so worth it.
When I got back to Autumn, I felt bad because it took me an extra hour and a half to get back to her.
I had to rest for about 30 min. before we moved on. Have you ever been this tired after a hike?
We hope you enjoyed our trip to Zion National Park. Please hit the subscribe button to get notified when a new blog is posted. Stayed tuned for more when we head to Monument Valley.
