From California to Wyoming

8/18/14
We left home on Mon August 18 at 7:30 AM. We were happy to get started on the trip and stop all the work in getting ready for it. We passed through Las Vegas when it was 102 degrees and decided to push on for Mesquite, NV. It's a small town that is located on the border of NV and AZ. We were pleasantly surprised with this small town and had a very nice dinner at the local casino. We had monsoonal thunderstorms and fairly high winds, but we were comfortably situation in our motorhome when the storm hit. They do have some exciting electrical storms.

8/19/14

We left Mesquite, NV and crossed the border into AZ. The drive up to this point had been typical desert terrain: flat and dry with scrub brush. However,entering into AZ we drove up the Virgin River Canyon. It's a deep gorge that is cut through majestic red rocks. We had encountered very strong winds coming through here on a previous visit, but not this time with this early morning start. The river flowing through the canyon was deep red.

We knew we were in AZ when we saw a sign saying “ leave your guns outside the store”. Also, another bumper sticker saying “This car protected by Smith and Wesson”.

We just passed through the NW corner of AZ and continued into Utah where the speed limit was posted at 80 mph. Thank goodness John is driving the motor home or he would have been tempted. It is fast and easy driving on I 15, so we made good time to Provo, Utah (the home of Brigham Young University).
We stayed outside Provo at an RV Park that was located in the countryside surrounded by farmland with horses, cows, etc. We had a great view of the Wasatch Mts. to the east. The mountain range is home to many famous ski areas such as Park City and ALTA.


8/20/14

Up and on our way through Salt Lake City and up and over the Wasatch Mts. to I 80. We will be on I 80 for many days to come. The area is rolling hills with what appears to be mountain and ski chalets.

Crossing into western Wyoming we were driving mainly through flat scrub bushes but no trees. However, as we traveled more easterly and gained more elevation, we came into rolling hills with green bushes and trees.

We decided to get off the beaten track and stay at a National Forest CG. They are more to our liking because you have larger spaces and more privacy. Plus, the $13 that included electricity is very nice. The Buckboard CG in the Ashley NF was particularly scenic. There were only a half a dozen people there. In fact, there were more antelope in the CG than people.

8/21/14

We headed back up to I 80 and continued east to Cheyenne, WY. We crossed the continental divide twice. You can see forever with log stretches of fairly flat land with some rolling hills. The winds must really blow here as there are warnings about high winds, wind socks on the side of the road, and snow fences all along the highway. The elevation at the pass was 8,900 feet.

Driving Wyoming

I-80 eastbound in southwest Wyoming yesterday.  We are on schedule!

The Beckmans East Coast Trip

The Beckmans are going on the road again.  As you may know, we have a new RV, a 36 foot Tiffin Phaeton. We spent the last year shaking it down and getting it ready for some serious dry camping.
We last did the east coast in the fall of 2006, just after John retired. So we decided it was time to go there again, spending the winter in Florida with friends and Gators!
We are leaving LA on August 18 and intend to get to Gettysburg Pa a week after labor day, spending labor day weekend with our friends the Janaks in Michigan.  Then it will be on to Washington DC to explore the capitol. We will leisurely drive down the coast to get to Jacksonville Fla in time for the Florida-Georgia football game in early November.  We will then take till December 15 to camp down the east coast to the Keys.  We will stay in an RV resort in central Florida from mid December to mid February, before heading back to the west coast.  We will arrive home late April or early May.

The following map shows our route for this trip.  To enlarge the image, double left click on it.  Click on the go-back arrow to return to the blog.

We expect to post on the blog about every 3 to 5 days.  We hope you enjoy this trip half as much as we do!