Author: ushingi

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Previous pages are accessible via the menu.

Tomorrow, with a heavy heart we will head eastward. Bryce has been amazing, albeit the altitude, but tis time. Hope y’all enjoyed the photos and videos, apologies for having to wait a few minutes to load the blog before you start scrolling but so much content.

We will head for Moab and the Arches National Park and then New Mexico. So looking forward to the Texas temps of 104 to 106……

Another spectacular drive along Rte 89 N and 70E to Moab area. We had to limit ourselves to the number of vista view stops otherwise we wouldn’t have found our overnight stop on BLM land in the Moab desert.

We had a 11:00 am timed entry for Arches National park. It is a new system they are piloting to manage the huge increase in traffic. After driving through the park we totally get their motivation – what an inspiring place to hike, camp, ogle from vista views or just drive through. We took so many pictures – here are a few of our favorites.

We drove to Devils Garden campground in the park at 4:00pm on the off chance there was a last minute cancellation. The ranger (Paul) sympathized with us and said he had an “admin” site that may be available but to check back at 5:00pm. We hiked the Devils Garden for an hour and the gods smiled on us – we snagged a site for the night. ZuZu had a great adventure that evening on his stroll – check out his rock climbing skills in the videos below.

Taking advantage of our stay in the park I went for an early morning hike to visit the Broken Arch. With not a soul in sight it has to be the most blissful hour I have experienced in some time, sadly cut short by my encounter with “Skeletor”.

The Devils Garden campground is at the end of the park so we experienced a wondrous drive out in the morning light, so different from midday/afternoon.

We drove from Moab to Bernalillo NM. Coronado Campground was a bit dingy but there was the Bosque Brewery/Restaurant next door for dinner and a Starbucks across the road for the morning recharge.

After nearly 5,000 miles, Ushingi and its three occupants arrived home safely. It was an epic trip – Yosemite, Bryce and Arches National Parks blew us away with their individuality and beauty, one to remember. (Thank goodness for the blog to help our ageing memories).

Cheers – Bruce, Lynne and ZuZu.

I thought I would start a new blog for the remainder of our trip as the Yosemite blog was taking a long time to load with the videos.

Tip – when you first go to the Ushingi home page, wait a few minutes for everything to load before scrolling.

I have been feeling under the weather for the past 2 days. Good timing though, just taking it easy for a week in the Sierras, just outside Yosemite. I think I will get a COVID test tomorrow. 🤞🏻

I succumbed to my first COVID infection, had to happen sometime. It is now Wednesday, feeling better. Fortunately Lynne is fine; she had COVID a few months ago so hopefully immune. After a few days of doing nothing we are headed back into Yosemite for 2 nights as we managed to pick up a campsite. After that we will stop overnight at Twisted Oak winery before heading off to Lake Tahoe.

It was one of those mornings – knocked a full mug of tea into the CO detector, dropped my water bottle onto ZuZu’s water drinking station!! Fortunately I had a spare CO detector and super glue to fix ZuZu’s water station…..2 hours later all cleaned up.

We overnighted at Twisted Oak winery in Vallecito after leaving Yosemite. The drive out was amazing along the roaring Merced River.

The wine tasting was good – we ended up buying a bottle of red “The Spaniard” and a bottle of Port.

We took US 4 along Ebbetts Pass scenic byway. This section of Highway 4 is narrow with tight switchbacks and high snow banks on each side of the road. The precipitous drop offs and steep hills made for an interesting drive. The road’s wild and scenic qualities were worth it. We met another RV at the end and we just squeezed by. Fortunately it wasn’t any earlier – the road was way too narrow.

After our harrowing drive we stopped in Markleeville for lunch at Cutthroat Brewing Company. Chicken sandwich with delicious fries and malt vinegar, washed down with an amber ale…..life is good.

Our arrival at Fallen Leaf campground in South Lake Tahoe coincided with heavy rain, so we hunkered down in our heated van and avoided feeling too guilty watching the tent campers brave the elements.

A long drive ahead to Ward Mountain NV for a one night stopover before heading to Utah. Once again the drive contained spectacular views, especially from just across the border with Nevada, looking back towards Lake Tahoe.

We had an amazing day exploring the Kanab environs that were in our 30 minute radius limit of Umfana. We started out at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. If I ever come back as a horse/dog/cat this is the place. It is the largest in the nation and on any given day it is the healing home for 1,600 dogs, cats, birds, bunnies, hamsters, horses, pigs and other animals.

Next stop was the Moqui Cave – purchased by Grant Chamberlain. It has seen countless westerns filmed in the area.

The sand caves high above the Highway were worth the climb. For such a potentially dangerous climb, traversing sandy stone amazing that no warning signs posted.

A storm blew in very fast so we were pretty soaked on our ride home on Umfana. Fortunately it cleared in time for our ride back into Kanab for dinner at Sego – Chef Shon Foster was recently awarded top chef in Utah. Tapas type dishes were out of this world, our best meal in years.

Saturday was our day to visit the Peek-a-boo slot canyon. We rented a Polaris ATV from Kanab Tours and what a ride! Hurtling along the dirt tracks at 45 mph is not for the faint hearted. Lynne toughed it out for the ride to the canyon but rode with the guide on the way back. Just as well because the guide took a detour to “play” in the sand dunes on the return trip. Fun but terrifying to race up vertically and then over a blind peak. We returned to the trailhead in one piece but now waiting to see if Lynne shook any kidney stones loose.

Oh – Happy Fathers Day y’all

Our drive through Zion National Park was overwhelming to our senses. The 2 hours to enter the park was soon forgotten, well until my interactions with the Zion park staff – what a bunch of morons. We had to pay $15 for a tunnel permit even though our van was under the width limit because the “Ranger” said our awning cover stuck out an extra inch. WTF! Petty bastards!

OK enough venting, here are some pictures of our drive. We couldn’t get a site in Zion but we found a great BLM site (free) by a river – the area is called the Belly of the Dragon.

This area is called Belly of the Dragon for the man made tunnel through a hill that is part of a short hike we sauntered along in the morning.

We were last at this diner 14 years ago with 5 other couples on our Harley bike tour: Fond memories with Tom & Cindy Lategan.

A short drive into Bryce National Park – home of the world’s finest collection of Hoodoo’s. Southern Paiutes call this place Unka-koh-vah-wong-weets, which means “Red Face Standing”

A Southern Paiute sacred oral tradition says the hoodoos are ancient Legend People turned to stone by the trickster god, Coyote, as a punishment for bad deeds.

We toured the entire park yesterday on Umfana. So many delightful stops along the way, rising up to 9,110 ft. Lynne and ZuZu both suffering from a little altitude sickness.

We walked the Rim Trail with ZuZu at sundown. He loves his evening walks now. We have to find out what makes a strange clicking sound in the trees. We think they are Crepitating Cicadas.

We ventured out at 11:00pm last night to see the stars. Bryce is one of the top dark sky viewing areas. So excited to see the Milky Way again though ZuZu woke us up too early.

We thought we should persevere with the altitude acclimation so extended our Bryce stay by a day. So glad we did, we both had the energy for a magnificent hike in the Hoodoos. The hike starts at Sunset Point and descends to the valley floor via “Wall Street” and then winds it way tortuously through the Queens Garden back to the top. Enjoy the pictures and videos.

We found the source of the clicking!! Turn on the volume…..

We walked our last hike with ZuZu as the sun was going down. Magical colors. Au revoir Bryce Canyon, till we meet again.

It took 2 days of driving to get out of Texas. We are spending a night at Oliver Lee Memorial park in New Mexico. We will then head off to Joshua Tree for a few nights before arriving in Yosemite National Park.

Thanks y’all for the comments already, feeling the pressure!

It’s Friday and we’ve crossed state line into California.

We had our first mooch docking experience (parking in friends driveway) in Phoenix Arizona.

We had hoped to spend some time with Di and Barry Scott but “somebody” forgot to let them know when we were coming and they were mooch docking in California !

They graciously made their home available.

We had a glorious afternoon in their garden swimming in the warm pool while ZuZu terrorized the local bird population .

We thought we were “Texas strong” heat resistant but hell NO Arizonians are tougher.

It’s HOT HOT HOT and summer is yet to come.

Joshua Tree National Park here we come !

No cell reception in the desert – so no comms for a couple of days.

We only managed to get 1 night in the National Park so we had to seek out a dispersed camping site on BLM land outside the boundary. Lynne found a place at Sheep’s Hole Crossing so off we went……

We drove until the road ended and then parked out in this beautifully desolate desert area.

We enjoyed the star gazing out in the desert. We thought we experienced a UAP sighting with a long line of 20 to 30 bright star-like lights in a straight line crossing overhead. Although it was silent, we concluded that it was large caliber tracer fire from the nearby Marine training base.

We returned to civilization in the morning and found a Starbucks in the town of Twentynine Palms. There was also this burger/music event place…..bizarre is an understatement.

A long day of driving from Joshua Tree to a Harvest Host overnight stop at a golf course in Dinuba, CA. ZuZu enjoyed his after dinner walk.

At long last; today we are headed to Yosemite where it will be a lot cooler than the desert.

The drive to Upper Pines campground from the park entrance was stunning. The views of Bridal Veil falls, numerous other falls due to the excessive snow melt and the imposing Half Dome were mind blowing.

Our plan to go with the flow of moving campsites every day is to hike in the morning, get back by 11:30 to move sites at noon, then tour the park on the scooter (Umfana) in the afternoon.

We could watch them climb through scopes on the ground. Depending on the route, it takes between 1 and 5 days to summit. Mind boggling

Sore legs after hiking ZuZu for 3 hours. Didn’t realize he was so heavy. When we returned and I unpacked his carrier I discovered that Lynne had sneaked a hot water bottle in to keep him warm….

Hiked part of the Upper Yosemite Falls trail to Columbia Point – hard going up but even more difficult descending with the sandy rock steps.

We spent the afternoon buzzing around on Umfana and visiting Bridal Veil Falls. Immense spray as a result of the record snow fall since 1930.

We have left Yosemite Park to stay in the Sierras for a week to catch up on much needed laundry and resupply. We do have another 2 nights at Lower Pines on Sunday and Monday but rethinking that because of huge crowds expected this weekend. We are considering Hodgdons Meadow campground which is further away from Yosemite Valley, and on our route to Lake Tahoe.