May 17th, 2021

Our first official day in Bryce Canyon

We left the KOA in Cannonville in our shorts and short sleeve shirts only to get about 8 miles down the road and find ourselves waiting for road construction. Be prepared to wait for road construction when you visit any of the National Parks out West. These are places that get snow in the winter or bad weather and road repairs can only be done in the summer months. Generally, traffic won't be held up for a long time but just know IT WILL HAPPEN! As we were waiting at the first road construction site it started raining, then it started sleeting and then finally we got a bit of mixed snow and sleet. It was the craziest thing we had ever seen...and we are from Texas where our weather can't make up its mind.

Because of the quick change in weather, we chose to head down to the end of the park and work our way back since most of the turnouts would be on the canyon viewing side. It worked out great and only had to wait for parking in one location for about 4 minutes. Not too bad!

The skies were pretty gray but it just added to the ambiance of the day.

After Robert ran in and got his Stamp for Bryce Canyon National Park, we headed back to Cannonville to get some lunch and then thought we would head over to Kodachrome Basin State Park. Instead, we found an OHV trail that took us to Willis Creek Slot Canyon on BLM land. BLM in this context means, Bureau of Land Management. On BLM land, you can camp for free. Just know that you will have no hook ups at all. But hey, for a couple of days, if a site is level enough, we are game to do it in the future.

Willis Creek Slot Canyon is a bit of a hike into from the unimproved parking lot. To get there you take Skagumpah Road. It's about 6.1 miles in. Make sure to check the road before you go for high water or flooding. It was very dry the day we did it and had no problems with our 2018 Jeep Wrangler. At that time, we just had the standard tires and I don't think we even aired them down.

Once you get to the parking lot, there is a little sign that sends you on your way. There is no other signage but it's a pretty clear path and you can't get lost. The other nice thing is that you can bring your dog on this kind of hike. Most of the time we kept Bruce Wayne on his leash but there were areas where he let him go "native". He had a blast!

Once you start heading back, make sure to stop at the top of the hill before you head back to the main road. You will get the most awesome picture of the valley!

Stay tuned for more adventures of "Grounded but Still Going!"

May 12, 2021-May 14, 2021

Cannonville, Utah

We made it! The drive up from Flagstaff was beautiful in a rocky sort of way. Once you get past the Grand Canyon area and start heading toward Kanab, the scenery begins to change. The earth tones become more prominent...reds seem redder due to the large deposits of iron in the ground. This area is called the Basin and Range and is characterized by rapid changes in elevation alternating from flat and dry basins to narrow, faulted mountains. This pattern of many parallel, north-south mountain ranges found throughout the region inspired geologist Clarence Dutton to famously observe that the topography of the Basin and range appeared “like an army of caterpillars crawling northward.” And it seriously does look like that. Our route took us on US 89 North through Page and Horseshoe Bend (which we didn't stop to view on this trip) We probably should have but I think I would love to stay in this area for a week and take it all in. That being said, we just past Page you enter into Utah and follow US 89 West this time as it  goes through the southern portion of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument! More about it later but just know that the views are spectacular. You never get bored with the rock formations and there is always something new around the corner. At Kanab, we stopped to get gas and eat at a Subway and then headed back north again. Zion National Park would be to the West of us, with Scenic 12 being our turn off point, sometime after you pass through Hatch, Utah.

Once we hit the Scenic 12 turn back to the east, I started getting really excited. It would still be at least another hour before we would get into Cannonville but Bryce Canyon National Park was getting closer. We would travel through the Dixie National Forest, Red Canyon, and a town named Tropic, to finally arrive at our destination at the Cannonville/Bryce Canyon KOA. Tropic is a cool little town that had several places to eat. Tropic can trace its heritage back to 1892 when 15 families showed up to settle the area. The population is around 500 now, with ranching and tourism being the big commodities. From our location in Cannonville, we would be able to go to Bryce Canyon National Park, Kodachrome Basin State Park, Grosvenor's Arch, and enjoy a hike through Creek Slot Canyon.

May 14-16, 2021

Remember that part about a Master's Degree?

As quickly as we got to Cannonville, we knew we would be turning around to head to St. George, Utah to catch a plane back to College Station, Texas. Our youngest daughter was getting her Master's degree from Lamar University in Counseling and while she chose not to walk the stage, we did have a nice party for her at my Mom and Dad's house in College Station and a great dinner at a new Italian restaurant. It would be a short trip back but we had said when we started this adventure that we would try to be at all the big events in our children's lives and in our grandchildren's lives. Bruce Wayne would go to a doggy day care at Dogtown Pet Spa in St. George. He must have had a great time playing with all the other doggies because he was exhausted when we picked him up. I just laughed at him as he slept for 4 hours on our way back to Cannonville.

On the 16th, we flew out of College Station back to St. George, got some A&W Rootbeer hamburgers and picked up Bruce Wayne! Then it was back to Cannonville but by way of Zion National Park this time. We had plans to visit Zion NP earlier but they fell through so Robert thought why not just drive through since it was kinda on the way home. I am so glad that we did. It would be shortly after our visit there, that they had the terrible flooding in Zion. Yikes! Anyway, we headed that direction and took our time driving through the park. 

Zion National Park is noted for its big wall climbs...with 2,000' sandstone wall cliffs it is a climber's dream playground. Zion's Angels Landing is also one of the most dramatic and most dangerous 2.2 mile long hikes. It is also home to The Narrows, a hike that will take you right down the Virgin River. Be prepared to get wet! I hope one day soon we will get back this way and hike The Narrows but till then, we will just have to be patient!

We hope you enjoy some images from our party and dinner that night!

May 6th, 2021

Heading to Wichita Falls, Texas

Wichita Falls RV Park

Our 43rd anniversary! Wow, what a milestone for us. We spent it doing what we wanted to do which was get on the road and start heading to Utah. We had reservations at the KOA in Cannonville to begin on May 11th so we gave ourselves 6 days to get there. Of course it takes at least two days to get out of Texas but first, we needed to head north to go West! My family lived in Burkburnett for over 20 years when I was in high school and college and it was where we would come back to visit until 1998 when my parents moved to College Station, Texas. I had lots of fond memories of friends in high school that I had connected with but with only one day I wasn't going to be able to see any of them. We did meet up with our friend from Texas A&M who was in Robert's Army outfit in the Corps of Cadets. Both of them are Class of '78. Scott met us at a Mexican food restaurant in Wichita Falls and we played catch up as much as we could. After dinner, I decided that we had time so we needed to run by our old place in Burk and see some of the old sights. It just wasn't enough time so I know we will head back again on another visit.

The RV park that we stayed out was very clean and we could walk down to a creek that was running alongside the park. We found out the next day after we had checked out that we had actually been checked in by a friend's mother who manages the park. What a small world!

May 7th, 2021

Amarillo KOA-Journey

Amarillo, Texas

Today would be our second day in Texas and we chose to stop in Amarillo. It was about a 4.5 hour drive in the RV but it was through a lot of towns that I knew about either through Girl Scout camping or we played football there. North Texas isn't the prettiest part of Texas but the roads were good and we made good time. After getting settled in to our FHU sight, we decided to eat dinner at the Big Texas Steakhouse Ranch. You know the one! Where if you order the 72oz steak and eat it within an hour, you get it free. We just had to check this place out, however, we were not going to "go big or go home". We had a nice dinner and just as we were walking out the rain started pouring down. I got some cool pictures of the cloud formations to the east of our campground. Our next day would be a really long one so we watched a little tv and headed to bed.

May 8th, 2021

Grants KOA Journey

Grants, New Mexico

Yikes, we had at least a 6 hour drive to our next location in Grants, New Mexico. While it's 571 miles, we generally average around 50-55 mph. So when we are looking at our Garmin or Google maps, we always add at least another hour to our day. Time for a 30 minute lunch and some potty stops for Bruce Wayne adds a little bit more time to our day. That being said, it's really nice because on travel days we try to have lunch in the rig. It's so easy to make a ham and cheese rollup when you have access to your refrigerator right in the Class A. Very rarely do we pull over for lunch at a restaurant and that's just because it can be a hassle finding a parking spot. Sometimes we have run into a truck stop and picked up Subway sandwiches if we want a break from a roll up or heated up leftovers but most of the time, we have lunch at a roadside park or rest area.

When we finally pulled into the Grants KOA, we were exhausted. The area is filled with volcanic rock formations and it would have been fun to explore the area but it just wasn't in the stars to do that kind of thing. We were heading to Flagstaff the next day and decided that we needed to go to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest and we needed to figure out the logistics of doing that with the rig. The last time we were in Petrified Forest, our son was about 6 months old and we were driving to Robert's new duty station in Yuma, Arizona. Our son is almost 41 years old now. Crazy, how time flies!

May 9th, 2021

The Painted Desert, Petrified Forest and Flagstaff, Arizona

Woody Mountain Campground and RV Park

The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest are must sees in my book. After leaving out of Grants, NM, we headed West on I-40. At Gallup, NM we turned north and then you start heading west again on AZ-264. The Visitor Center has so much information for you to digest and I love that they give you maps. We determined that Hermione could make it all around the loop of the Painted Desert and then south again to the Petrified Forest. Did you know that the Painted Desert was named by the Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado in 1540 while he was looking for the city of Cibola, or the Lost Cities of Gold. The Spaniards named it El Desierto Pintado. So as not to bore you and keep you from learning more about the Painted Desert, know that there are some easy hikes that can be done in the area but you can drive through just as easily and get out at different stops to take pictures. Since it was a travel day, that is what we opted for.

Petrified Forest is amazing! All the pieces of petrified wood lying around are astonishing and so huge. How did they become petrified though? Over 200 million years ago, tall trees called conifers existed in the area. During the flooding periods, the water forced the trees to be pulled up from the ground. Then minerals, including silica from  volcanic ash absorbed into the wood over hundreds of thousand years, crystallizing within the cellular structure of the wood. This crystallization hardened the wood into a stony material that we now call petrified wood. So over 225 million years ago, the area that now is a desert was a lowland with a tropical environment. Then volcanoes erupted shooting ash and silica into the air and then over those 200 million years, voila! Petrified wood was made. If you want to learn more, here is a great Geology page to look at. 

The road that takes you through the Petrified Forest will wind up on AZ-180 and from there we were able to easily get back on I-40 and start heading to Flagstaff, AZ which was about 90 miles away.

The campsite was very nice and woody. We did have to watch out for some big rocks in the site where we were located but the temperature was pleasant and campground very clean.

May 10th, 2021

The Grand Canyon trip

Flagstaff, AZ

We were so close and honestly, it would be stupid for us not to at least try and see the Grand Canyon. It was a Sunday and it was also Mother's Day. It was pretty amazing though that we waited no longer than 5 minutes to get through the gate into the park. We were closest to the South Rim so we took the day and did a pretty long walk along the rim till we got to the El Tovar area. There we had lunch and called Mom to let her know we were in Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon and the El Tovar hotel are very special places for my parent's and I knew she would love the significance of us calling her from there. Again, the last time we were in the Grand Canyon was when our 41 year old son, Pat was 6 months old and we tent camped with a border collie and a baby in a two man tent. Never again!

We parked at the Grand Canyon village and started our walking tour there. We started at Mather Point and then started walking west along the South Rim. It was such a gorgeous day. It takes you over to Yavapai Point and Museum where you can still walk along the rim. Somewhere between the Yavapai Point and the Verkamp's Visitor center starts a new exhibit to us...the Trail of Time. It's a great walking and reading tour with pieces of rock from the different geological time periods. 

It's outside of El Tovar and the Verkamp's Visitor center that the Bright Angel trailhead starts. The Bright Angel trail is a 15.3 mile out and back trail that has an elevation gain of 4,478' and is rated as a Hard trail. With my Nikon D850 I was able to get images of the trail itself. We knew that we weren't up for this trail so we opted to take the Red route bus and head all the way over to Hermit's Point. It is a hop on, hop off bus so you can stop at any point, get out, look around and then wait for the next bus to come along and pick you up. We really enjoyed that! The bus then drops you back at the Verkamp's Visitor Center and then from there we had to walk the 3 miles back to the car. I racked up 6 miles of hiking that day, Robert did 8 miles, because he went for the car while I waited at the Yavapai Lodge parking lot. Man! What a day! We had so much fun and our expectations were met and exceeded at the Grand Canyon. 

Check out some of the images we captured while visiting the Grand Canyon.

May 11th, 2021

Cannonville/Bryce Canyon KOA

Cannonville, Utah

To get to Cannonville, UT from Flagstaff, AZ you take 89N out of town. Not a bad drive because there is so much to see along the way. You go by the North Rim area of the Grand Canyon and past Navajo land. We saw the sign for Horseshoe Bend a little too late to make the stop and the hike to see it but decided on another trip we would make it a point to visit Page, Arizona. I think we knew it would be a long day...Google Maps said 5 hours but it would be more like 6 hours and that is a hard day for us. I don't drive the RV much on the open road so all the driving falls on Robert.

Once you get past Page, you can see the Glen Canyon Dam. It's a pretty impressive place and would love to spend some time camping there. Within a half an hour we were entering into Utah and how the terrain changed. It was still rocky, like the Grand Canyon area but the colors and rock formations became different in looks. I'm fascinated with the geology of the area and hope to one day get a book about that area but for now, pictures will have to be my reminders of what we experienced. It's also at the time that we officially entered the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument area. This is a vast area with three main regions...the Grand Staircase, the Kaiparowits, and the Canyons of the Escalante. Most of the acreage is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. You can find out more by going to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

At Kabab, we stopped to get gas and a Subway sandwich. It's at Kabab that you start heading north on 89 for quite a distance before you see the sign for Scenic 12. At that point, you make a right hand turn onto 12 and begin the journey through the Dixie Forest National Park, past the road that will take you into Bryce Canyon National Park and on into Tropic and finally into Cannonville, where we would stay for the next 9 nights. In reality, we would fly out of St. George, UT to come back to Texas for our daughter's graduation for her Master's Degree in Counseling.

The drive through the Dixie Forest was beautiful and once you got through Red Canyon, you could start seeing the unique red rock formations that Bryce is known for. It's about a 30 mile drive from Red Canyon to Cannonville, but it is really so beautiful. There is always construction on this road in the summer time due to the fact that spring and summer are when the roads can be repaired from the winter snows and frost heaves. Expect that you will be delayed every day of your visit so give yourself an extra 30 minutes to your drive time. 

After getting settled in our spot that we had for one night (we would have to move to another spot the next day due to a clerical error), we ran into Tropic to have dinner at Showdowns. It's a pretty nice steakhouse with live entertainment and outdoor eating area. We found Tropic to be one of the places we would eat at a lot while in Cannonville, as it doesn't have a restaurant one open at this time.

I think I'll end this post here. We are about to have an incredible experience in Bryce Canyon and I think it needs it's own post! Thanks for joining us on this journey!

So what is this thing called Texas School? Well, it's only the largest photographic school in the United States where students can come and study with one instructor for the entire week. Courses like learning about how to run your photography business, wedding photography, landscape photography, working with video, family portraiture, Photoshop, Lightroom and compositing classes are offered and the instructors really take their time to share their knowledge with you. I think I have attended every year since 2008, except for 2020 when the in-person school was cancelled due to COVID restrictions. In 2021, the school was able to be in person again at the Marriott Renaissance in Addison, TX. Generally the student population is around 1000-1100 people but with international travel at a standstill, there were still about 750 people who attended. We typically teach a one day class on "How to take the FAA's Part 107 test" and we had almost 40 students in our class this year.

Check out our friends home. Pam and Keith Kisielewski just moved back to Texas to their new home in Burleson, TX. They were in California all through the COVID lock down and we got to FaceTime them as often as we could. They are the best travel buddies and we've been so many places with them. They were also very kind to invite us to stay a night with them and leave Hermione plugged into electrical power so we could attend Texas School in Addison. The coolest thing about their house is that we got to stay in the GUEST QUARTERS! That's right, there was a beautiful one-bedroom furnished home behind their house that we had the privilege of staying in. Believe me when I say, we will mooch dock with them again. Moochdocking is when you stay in your friend's driveway for free but we actually stayed in their home so I guess Hermione was the one mooch docking!!

So back to Texas School and what goes on. Robert usually is a helper and he was assigned to Doug and Laura Bennett's Landscape Photography class. You will meet them again later in our travels as we meet up with them in Capitol Reef, Utah. I wanted to up my game on how to do video and get a feel for how to put it together for using on our YouTube channel, Grounded but Still Going, so I took the video class taught by Mitch Daniels and Billy Welliver. I have to say, it's a pretty fun class. Our class project is to create a video for the entire school to enjoy on the last day of class. What a hoot! Hopefully, I can link that video to this blog.

 I'm still learning about how to use my DSLR for video and am much better incorporating my GoPro 9 Black video but it's a steep learning curve so a lot of time, I stick to my photography to get our blog out but I hope by 2022, I can up the caliber of our videos so we can get more subscribers. If you get a chance to click on the link above, please leave us some love and Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

After our last day of Texas School, we headed back to College Station to enjoy a great dinner with family to celebrate my Mom's birthday and do an impromptu Mother's Day celebration all rolled into one. 

Soon it would be time to get back on the road and officially start our "Going West" tour or as my husband likes to refer to it as "The West Coast Swing". 

Check back with us as we head to Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef, but not before we do a quick trip to the Grand Canyon!

Thanks again for following our adventures! Keep the blue side up and remember "Life is not about the destination, but about the journey!"

In February after the freeze hit Texas we knew we would be needing to head back to College Station to not only help out my parents but also get our house ready to go on the market. We still had a lovely family in our home and they were waiting to get into their new home in Bryan. Carpet cleanings needed to be scheduled, hard wood floors needed to be refinished, bathroom fixtures replaced, a new roof had to go on because of a stinking hail storm in April and so many other things. Not to mention my mom and dad were dealing with slow contractors and carpet to be ordered and installed in their home.

Heading home also gave us the opportunity to be with three of our grandchildren who were all born in April! Two of them share the same date!! Can you believe it?!!! It was good to spend time with at least 5 of the grandkids (we have 6) while we were in Texas. Plus we got to spend time with other family members too. So while getting our house ready to put on the market was a huge hassle, seeing family was well worth the trip home.

We also had an event to attend up in Addison, Texas. Our annual photography learning week is called Texas School and it is one of the largest professional photography schools in the country. We have attended for at least 12 years and last year it was cancelled due to COVID restrictions. But not this year! Everyone was great about wearing their masks and people were so excited about being back together again.

We are becoming seasoned RV'ers by this time...8 months in at the time but there are still things I forget to check-like making sure the desk cabinets are secured. My iPhone pictures tell of that disaster and we had just made the turn OUT of Palm Creek RV Resort in Casa Grande, AZ. I mean, like our very first left hand turn onto a major road, the desk drawer comes sliding out and stuff goes everywhere and the front of the drawer comes off. Dang it! What a mess! But, hey, my dad is a handy dandy kinda guy and sure enough he glued that front right back on the drawer when we got home and everything works great. Won't make that mistake again.

It would be May 6th before we could get on the road again. We spent our 43rd anniversary with Scott Weaver, a college friend from Robert's outfit in the Corps of Cadets, then a night in Amarillo where we checked out the famous steak place, 1 night in Grants, New Mexico and 2 nights in Flagstaff with an impromptu trip to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on Mother's Day and then finally got into Cannonville for our time in Bryce Canyon National Park and the Escalante area.

March 31st, 2021

Casa Grande, AZ to Las Cruces, NM

Outside of Tucson, heading east is a rest area that we have been to at least twice. It's called the Texas Canyon Rest Area and it's outside of Dragoon, AZ. The rock formations there are really unusual and I wanted to get a few more images there. Plus it is a great place to potty Bruce Wayne and check to make sure everything on the rig is working like it is supposed to. We usually stop about an hour after we get started on the road to make sure things are ok with the rig. But every time we stop, we still look around. Just in case.

Anyway, there is also a historical marker at this location. In October of 1872, General Howard of the US Army and Cochise, chief of the Chiricahua Apaches met for a peace treaty. It is said that Cochise had his stronghold around the area of Dragoon. Cool little historical fact.

April 1st-April 2, 2021

Las Cruces, NM to Big Spring, TX

The trip out of Las Cruces was pretty uneventful, but the night before we started talking about how close we would be to White Sands National Monument and made the decision to head for it and take about an hour and drive around. We were able to unhook the Jeep from Hermione because of the spacious parking that national parks offer around their visitor centers. Within 15 minutes, we were on our way through the park. I wish we had known we could have rented sleds to do some sledding down the dunes but we will keep that in mind for another time. The day was so beautiful and the skies were a bright, clear blue. The crystals in the sand were highly reflective and I love the images I took with my Nikon D850. The iPhone images aren't too bad either.

After leaving White Sands, we were heading toward Holleman AFB, when we accidentally ran over a huge plastic water container that had flown off a Sparkletts truck. The guy driving the truck was nice enough to turn back around when he saw what happened. The container was stuck under the rig and by putting the jacks down we were able to push the rig up enough to get the water container out. Thankfully, no damage was done to the rig! So, it was back on the road. 

Instead of going back south to get to Big Spring, we decided to go through the New Mexico mountains-through Cloudcroft on Hwy 82 east. What a beautiful drive through there. There was even snow on the side of the roads. Took us a little bit longer due to chugging up the hills but the ride was so much more interesting. The iPhone images I have are reminders that we were back in Texas...HEB, a Texas flag and a Snoopy (as my kids just to call them because outside of Burkburnett, Texas there was a pump jack and it had a wooden cutout of Snoopy on the frame going up and down).

New homes and Birthdays to Celebrate

April 2nd-April 4th, 2021

Lago Vista, Texas

We left Big Spring, Texas as soon as we could. The camping area was nothing special and honestly, except for the fact that my middle sister was born in Big Springs, I don't ever have to go back there. But it set us up perfectly for heading into Lago Vista, just west of Austin where our youngest daughter and her husband and their 4 children live. This would be the first time we had visited their new home since they moved in and it is just so awesome. Their view is spectacular and they can see part of Lake Travis when the water is up and with all the rain Texas has had now, the creek that runs by their place is much higher than it was at the beginning of April. Two of their children celebrate April birthdays so it was nice to be there with them. Their dog Maisel and Bruce Wayne get along beautifully and it's fun to watch them together.

We stayed at the Idyll Glen RV park which was about 10 minutes from their new home. The park is great but it is really hilly there and I worried a little bit about getting level. It's not easily marked when you are coming in from the west so watch your speed on the road or you will go right past it (just like we did)!

Bluebonnets, County Fairs and Renovations

12th Park RV Resort, College Station, TX

April 4th-April 21st, 2021

The Brazos Valley in the springtime is so amazing. The bluebonnets this year were everywhere and I am so glad that my mom and dad have them in their front yard and around their place. They live in the country right off of Hwy 60 heading to Snook, Texas and we stayed at the RV park that is within 5 minutes of their place. It was such a great setup. If we hadn't had so much running around to do we could have ridden our bikes to my parent's place! Of course, Mom and Dad were going through having their breakfast room painted and the ceiling and walls replaced due to the February freeze. I can tell you that it is no fun, especially when you are in your 80's and insurance gives you the run around. But while we were there, the room was completed. Unfortunately, the flooring didn't get finished until after we left but they have new carpet and the house is finally back in order. It was also during this time that we were working with our real estate agent to get our house ready to go on the market. We had a date of March 31st, then it changed to April 15th and in all reality, it was actually May before we got it listed but it didn't stay on the market long and now we are without a sticks and bricks and can full time to our hearts content or until something major happens and we need to come off the road. 

This is also the same time of year as the Montgomery County Fair is on! Our daughter in law, Kelley is on the board for the Fair so every year the entire week is jammed pack with things to do and see. In the past, I've judged the photography event and even the baked goods event but with us on the road now, we just go to watch the kid's events like the Calf Scramble and the Wooden Horse race and the Mutton Bustin' for the little ones and then we watch the rodeo. Typically we are too tired after all that to stay for the concerts but maybe one year we will.

Two of our grandchildren attend school in Conroe ISD and it's always fun to meet their friends and watch their baseball and softball games. This year was no different. We were able to get several games in and enjoyed ourselves immensely. We even get to park our RV in our son's backyard and hopefully when we return this year, it will be set up for 50amp service. We appreciate that they tolerate us living in their backyard and because we can do that, we get to see the grandchildren a lot more.