You wouldn’t think you could set an inflatable raft on fire … twice.

A few weeks ago, Marg, Maija (the dog) and I took the raft out on the lake for the first time in three years (annual summer surgeries … you don’t wanna know). The 12’ raft has a trolling motor, so we don’t have to do any work (OK, Marg steers), just relax and float. A beautiful day. And, we almost made it. Until the dog started climbing around and maybe pulled on the wires that attach the motor to the 50 lb. battery in the raft. I see the smoke start pouring out. (I recognize this because it happened on the Colorado River a few years ago … the time we sunk our first raft.) I grab the wires off the battery. Marg tosses the wires into the lake to stop the fire. But they don’t quite make it into the water and we hear the “sssssssss” sound as the wire burns a hole in the vinyl raft. We make it to shore. Only a small hole this time, so we can repair the raft. Last time, the hot wires melted a giant gash in the side of the raft, we had to be carried ashore by the National Park Service boat, and there was nothing to do but drop the raft into a dumpster. This time we tried to focus on the lovely two hours before the accident. I’m beginning to understand why none of our family or friends will sail with us.

We’ve been living in the RV for almost two months and are truly appreciating being so close to the outdoors. Marg fixed up a nice patio for us (see photo below), so we threw a cocktail party for some of the other campground residents. We’ve had friends spend a weekend (yes, we do have room for guests). And we look at the stars at night.

Toby’s Best Bets: Thanks to my co-worker Chris, I have discovered the joy of the “Google Sky Map” app for my Droid. I just point my phone at the night sky and, magically (OK, it’s probably some kind of GPS coordinates), the stars and constellations in front of me appear in the phone window and tell me what they’re called. I’m in ecstasy!

Work trips have been keeping me busy. Montana, North Dakota, Bainbridge Island (across Puget Sound from Seattle).

Toby's Best Bets: If you're ever in Miles City, Montana, stop at The Cellar Casino (tell the owner, Denis Leidholt, I said hi!). Check out the huge collection of Jim Beam bottles. It's amazing.

This is just one section of the collection.

And then there's the fun stuff. Two recent trips have been highlights of our outdoor living …

LEAF-PEEPING FROM BRIAN HEAD TO LAKE PANGUITCH

The photos tell the entire story. Since I left New York in 1991, I’ve truly missed the fall colors. Colorado has aspen that turn yellow; Las Vegas has rocks. But after 10 years of camping in Southern Utah, we finally discovered that trees in the higher elevations DO wear all the colors of the autumns of my younger days back East. It was almost like taking a drive upstate NY on the Taconic Parkway.

MOAB, UTAH

Last weekend, after a 10-year absence, we returned to one of our very favorite haunts: Moab, Utah. We spent a day driving through and hiking in Arches National Park … as always, stopping to climb into Sand Dune Arch and taking the required photos of Delicate Arch (check out a Utah license plate) and Windows.

Marg under arch.




Sand Dune Arch. It's like a cool, red-sand beach under there.

 
The next day, we rented a Jeep and spent 8 hours 4-wheeling the back country on Chicken Corners Trail. Spectacular scenery and just plain fun climbing up the slickrock, driving around narrow curves overlooking scary drop-offs, and realigning every vertebrae over the rocky/sandy trail. Whoo-hoo!

Toby’s Best Bets: Since Marg is an Italian cook, we are often hesitant to eat at unfamiliar Italian restaurants. But when chicken parmigiana calls, it just does. Cassano’s, on the main drag in Moab, was outstanding! We shared the chicken parm and baked rigatoni … the sauce was delicious, they didn’t skimp on the mozzarella, and our waiter was charming. (The downside is that the chairs were super uncomfortable, but the tastiness of the food more than made up for the seating issues.)

On our last day, we were supposed to take a raft trip down the Colorado River. It was cancelled due to weather. The adventure outfitters must have heard that we are prone to setting rafts on fire.

Thanks for reading!

Toby

There’s No Place Like Home When It’s Colorful Utah!

To say I’m a stickler for beach vacations is an understatement. I like to save my time and fly to an outstanding beach where calm waters and snorkeling are the entertainment options. Like Hawaii, Belize, the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean, Maya Riviera in Mexico, the Florida Keys. All former choices. But with the recent RV purchase and all the downsizing and moving from house to RV over the past 5 months, it seemed that an austerity vacation was in order. So I swallowed hard, and my partner and I decided to stick close to home. Luckily, we were richly rewarded in so many ways beyond saving money!

I have never spent so little time planning a vacation. The only real choices we made were a couple of days in the Cedar City/Brian Head area (just 45 minutes from the campground) because we hoped to escape from the non-stop, over 105º weather we’d been experiencing, and a few days of tent camping at Lake Powell.

Day One:

With only one hotel night booked, we jumped in the truck (1996, 4-wheel drive, Dodge Ram Cummins Diesel, club cab, long bed, 20 foot monster with only 83,000 miles – Tim the Toolman, eat your heart out) and set out for Brian Head, planning to drive up to the ski resort and poke around. A stop for breakfast led us to …

Toby’s Best Bets: All American Diner, Cedar City. The prices were unbelievable, the portions huge, and the service outstanding! Good deals on the menu items for all meals, but we really enjoyed the breakfast experience.

We headed out, intending to drive the Parowan-Panguitch Scenic Byway, and took a short, recommended side trip to see the outstanding Parowan Gap Petroglyphs.

Back to the byway, we didn’t even make it to Brian Head (at least not right away); small, roadside signs on the right caught my eye. “Scenic Backway – Dry Lakes.” It was a beautiful, sunny morning, cool in the mountains and hey, we had a full tank of gas and 4-wheel drive. Three hours into the gravel and rock strewn, single lane, switchback laden, dirt road and we’d climbed to the top of the mountain (who knows what mountain?) for some breathtaking views.

Driving through aspen groves, past sheer cliff drop-offs, greeted by open range cows and sheep, and only two cars and three ATVs, not knowing what was around the next curve or what we’d do on the narrow road if someone approached in the opposite direction … I love that stuff!

We had one scary moment as we hit the downhill portion of the trip, when the brakes started to heat up and really smell. Thirty minutes on the side of the road for a cooling off period and we were good to go. (Plus, for the first time ever, Marg peed in the bushes. It was an emergency.)

We did finally pass the Brian Head ski area, but after that dramatic back-road adventure, it was hardly worth stopping. A must-not-be-missed overlook at Cedar Breaks National Monument (the mini Bryce Canyon) …

… and we ended the day with a fun, teppanyaki dinner in Cedar City at Ninja Japanese Steakhouse. Now they know how to make an erupting volcano out of an onion!

Day Two:

Today was all about kayaking. Although we planned to go to Panguitch Lake (to finish yesterday’s scenic byway), we happened upon Navajo Lake, perfectly pristine on a Monday morning. We “set sail” around 10:30 and somehow, between paddling and drifting and spacing out, it turned into 3:30 pm.

Gotta love a day like that where you just get lost in the serenity of the lake.

Day Three, Four, Five, Six …

Tent camping on Lake Powell for three nights just turns into one, long, continuous adventure.

The highlights:

·    The new tires got us safely on and off the beach at Lone Rock (the west end of Lake Powell nearest to the Wahweap Marina).

·    We found the most amazing spot on the beach, inches from the water, isolated from the crowds of RVers. Marg spread out our stuff so nobody else would even think of barging into our camping area (don’t mess with her when she’s staking out her territory). Tent over here, cook stove over here, chairs over here, campfire over here.

·    The “new” tent we bought three years ago but never used, went up in a flash. (Good thing, or we would have been sleeping in the truck.)

·   We brought our classy, old-lady lounge chairs with the cushions instead of the roll-em-up-in-their-own-bags beach chairs. Well worth it, especially with our never-fail sunshades.

Toby’s Best Bets: We bought these Undercover Sunshades at the Thursday night VillageFest in Palm Springs a few years ago. We think they're great – used them in sun and wind. Looked them up to share this and they aren’t getting good ratings, but I can’t help but think it’s about putting them on the right chairs in the right way.  Just bought six more, on sale at RV Wholesalers.com.

·    The water was warm, the air was HOT, HOT, HOT. Swimming and floating in our inflatable chairs was a delightful necessity.

·    Kayaking in the daytime and kayaking at sunset with the full moon rising over the lake.

 

·    Campfires reflecting in the water.

 

And lastly, going to sleep on the beach and waking up on the beach. Very good.

A Few Lessons Learned:

·    Don’t let food slip out of the cooler and under the seat. After four days in over 100º temperatures, we discovered the bag of salad on the floor of the truck. Which wasn’t half as bad as finding the bag of “fresh” mushrooms a week later under the truck seat. Still smells.

·    Learn how to use dry ice before attempting it. I think you’re supposed to separate the dry ice from the rest of the cooler contents with some kind of brown paper. We didn’t. So the hamburgers froze to the bottom of the cooler and the fruit tasted like “Fizzies” (comment below if you don’t know what “Fizzies” are – picture Tums, in beverage flavors, that you drop in water like Alka-Seltzer).

·     Bring something pre-cooked in case you ruin the rest of the food. We managed to make six meals out of two steaks and one chicken. And pretzels and potato chips.

The week wasn’t spent on a tropical beach. But it was spent close to nature, in beauty and in very good company!

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave comments about your summer vacations,

Toby

Canada and Colorado, Eh?

A slightly delayed blog, but chock full of travel experiences, so welcome back!

July ended with a work trip to Manitoba (with Raving President Dennis), culminating in a solo, whirlwind weekend in Denver and Colorado Springs.

The highlights in Canada:

An evening with the Manitoba Blue Bombers and BC Lions. That’s right, all you sports fans, I finally made it to a professional football game (albeit CFL, not NFL). Thanks Dave Z., from Manitoba Lotteries Corp, for the tickets. Two incredibly exciting Bomber plays (first a 200-yard, touchdown run, tightly along the sidelines, that had the crowd on their feet and banging on the metal bleachers; followed by a game-winning long pass, caught dramatically in the end zone) made up for the nosebleed climb up the circular, cement walkway to the top of the stadium. (Didn’t think the air was so thin in flat Manitoba.) A Smirnoff Ice and a hot dog (real football fare) clinched the deal, along with the touching chivalry displayed by Dennis when he made the guy behind me quit kicking me through the bleachers. Not so great was the TRAFFIC! Took almost 2 hours to get out of the nearby parking lot and complete the less than 20 mile drive through the city and back to the hotel.

A thousand steps. While we’re waxing athletic, thanks also to Dave Z. for his Jack Lalanne/Richard Simmons stair-climbing commitment. Our 3-day visit included two corporate buildings and two casinos around the city with offices on second and third floors. No elevators for Dave and his visitors … oh no. I haven’t climbed that many steps since I hiked up the Washington Monument about a million years ago (or maybe it was the ruins in Guatemala). Appreciate the workout. (?)

Toby’s Best Bets: When in Manitoba, plan lunch at Julia’s. It’s a Ukranian breakfast/lunch joint that Dennis and I ate at during our last Manitoba visit in 2004. (Being half Ukranian, Dennis wanted to eat there again, but it was closed for renovations when we arrived.) Luckily, it opened the morning of our departure, so we popped in for a quick pre-flight lunch – delicious cheddar cheese and potato pierogies with sour cream. Mmmmm.

The highlights in Colorado (what a fun-packed weekend!):

Friday night out: A visit with the boys in Denver. Michael and Jeremy took me for drinks with some friends at Kona Grill and then we had a tapas-style dinner (and more drinks) at a funky place called Root Down. Check out the room filled with old rotary phones (in every color imaginable) and the wall entirely made from the tops of cans.

Seein’ the baby: On Saturday morning, I got to hold a 3-week old baby (gotta love that baby smell)! Congratulations Nicole, Dave and big sister Aly and thanks for sharing baby Ben! He’s beautiful.

A birthday party: Saturday afternoon, I surprised my Rotary buddy (Rotary the organization, not the phone) Scott at his 60^th Birthday Celebration in Monument, Colorado. Saw and met lots of family and friends (thanks for the hospitality and laughter Darlene, Brooke, Brady and all), plus a group from my old North Colorado Springs Rotary Club where I was President in 1996-1997. Haven’t seen them in 10 years and even Sherm Connolly was there (she’s 93!). Dinner with Scott’s family followed a side-trip to my old homestead in Colorado Springs (the first house I ever owned – 1992 to 1998). The “new” owners have done wonders with the property and I met their son, who wasn’t even born when they bought the house from us 13 years ago. A whole lifetime since then!

Toby’s Best Bets: Never miss a chance to start your morning (Sunday) with a visit to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. The crisp, cool air was a welcome change from the stifling heat of Las Vegas in the summer. I think the photos tell the story. It is a magnificent city park – free – with glorious scenery. 

My absolute favorite view.

Kissing Camels (although from this view, looks more like Kissing Sheep - top, just right of center).

Me!

Another of Toby’s Best Bets: Eat at La Baguette in Old Colorado City! They make the most delicious rolls, baked on-site in brick ovens – crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside. Breakfast was a roll with butter and a hot chocolate – sitting outside on a sidewalk bench, reading my Kindle. When my friends Lori and Tina arrived, I had to join them for lunch – yummy French onion soup and another roll (thank goodness I climbed all those stairs a few days earlier!). Marg is still thanking me for the half-dozen rolls I brought home to Las Vegas.

La Baguette, Old Colorado City

 Afternoon with Linda and Deb: Long-time Colorado Springs friends treated me to dinner after a visit with them and their dogs. Check out their beautifully landscaped backyard (take some tips, you do-it-yourselfers). I even got to bring home a garden-fresh zucchini!

Waterfall!

The crazy week ended with a traffic-less drive to the Denver airport (hooray!) and then, a 3-hour delayed flight (boo, hiss!) You just gotta love the airlines.

Tune in next week for my vacation blog: There’s No Place Like Home When It’s Colorful Utah!

Here's a preview photo ... and Thanks for Reading!

Toby

Scenic Backway near Brian Head

And then ... the fire

So, we're sitting in the rig, watching TV on Friday evening around 9 pm. Marg looks out the window and screams, "The mountain's on fire ... we have to call the police!"

For those of you who tend to worry about life's dramas, let me just say that everything is fine.

But we didn't know that at the time.

And I finally understood the concept of morbid fascination.

Our RV backs up to a small mountain, that ends, about one city block south, at a creek and a two-lane road. Cross the road and there's another ridge that's part of a mountain that goes on another 1/2 mile or so south. That mountain was completely on fire. In fact, by the time we saw it, the rest of the mountain had burnt to a crisp and only the ridge nearest us was on fire. And it was close. Separated from our part of the mountain, and therefore our home on wheels, by only a small country road, a creek, and some highly flammable tamarisk lining the shore.

Here's a photo:

Here's a video:

Note: The first rig in the video is ours.

The firefighters told us (and the group of campers that had gathered) that we had nothing to worry about, the fire wouldn't jump the road, and that they would be back-burning to stop the fire from advancing. Now I know what back-burning is about - the blaze suddenly tripled in size and looked twice as close (!). Yep, I learned about back-burning - starting another fire in front of the original fire so that they burn into each other and leave nothing for the fire to consume so it stops. Whatever, by morning, the fire was over, but for some isolated smoldering areas, nothing touched "our" mountain, and we didn't need to call the insurance company again.

So, we stood outside for a couple of hours and watched the burning, and worried, and inhaled enough smoke to cook a giant pork roast and a turkey. And, boy, did we smell.

But, our sincere thanks to the firefighters. I've never been that close to a wildfire, never worried about my property, and never truly appreciated the knowledge that professional (or volunteer) firefighters have that enables them to know when to spray water, or back-burn, or just wait it out. I feel safer knowing there's a fire truck just down the road.

Toby

On the lake ... before work!

I'm not missing another opportunity to enjoy the outdoors - this morning at 7:00 (6:00 Raving time), we dropped our kayak in Quail Lake for a pre-workday paddle.

Here are some pics I didn't get over the weekend; they tell their own story. And remember, this lake is 1/4 mile from our campground ... I was at my desk at 8 am Raving time, ready to call clients, respond to emails, and format my interview questions for my trip to Canada! Ya gotta love it!

The water is warm enough for swimming, calm enough before the water-skiers arrive, and it sure is tempting to stay here all day.

Toby

Toby's Best Bet ... A special deal and a hidden gem

This will be my first installment of "Toby's Best Bet." And, it's a two-parter.

Best Bet #1 - take advantage of our National Park system's deal for seniors as soon as you can. (I'm not old enough, but Marg is.) On her 62nd birthday in November, we arrived at Red Rock Canyon (a U.S. BLM area in Las Vegas) at the crack of 6am - the moment the toll booth opened. Really, she couldn't wait. For $10, Marg bought her Senior Pass (or her "Forever Pass," as she calls it). We have purchased the annual National Park Pass every year (costs about $80) so we can enjoy whatever parks we come across during our travels. But at 62, you only have to buy one more pass - pay $10 at the next park you visit and you can enter EVERY National Park and BLM property for free, as long as you live! It is THE most amazing deal you will EVER, EVER enjoy!


Best Bet #2

It seems that one of the challenges of "living with nature" is committing to getting off your butt and experiencing as much as possible. So this week we did it ... several times!

A short drive (about 20 minutes north) one evening brought us to the small, western outcrop of Zion National Park - Kolob Canyons. It's one of those less-visited areas - simply a 5-mile drive up a mountain into a contrast of beautiful red rock and a patchwork of greenery. Limited to driving and hiking, it's secluded and quiet.

The air was cooler, the sun was low ... bringing out the colors and sharpening the contrasts. We went up too late to hike, but the drive was stunning.

Watch for my next post: An early morning kayak paddle ... before work!

Toby

And that's why I moved to Utah.

Saturday was one of those perfect days. Up early before the sun started blazing. Packed up the kayak, threw some breakfast in the cooler, loaded the beach chairs and floats into the car, and drove the short 1/4 mile to Quail Creek State Park and its beautiful lake.

(Note: This IS the kayak, but not the lake ... this is the Colorado River near Willow Beach in Arizona. Another trip, another day.)

Marg and I were paddling our two-person, inflatable kayak by 8 am. Although most of the lake was already sunlit, the west end offered a small inlet surrounded by trees. It was silent and shady and we drifted under the branches. Then a robust paddle took us around the shoreline where the slickrock was baking, the fishermen were tossing their lines hopefully, and it was still early enough for the speed-boaters and water-skiers to be home tucked in their beds.

Back on the beach, we tossed our fabulous chair floats (thanks, Mom!) into the water and, holding onto the branches of a partially submerged tree so we didn't end up in the middle of the lake, we soaked up the sun in the cool water. A quick swim, a breakfast break, and then we settled into our chairs with our tunes for a few lazy hours.

When we returned to our rig, we experienced a nasty windstorm (not quite as bad as the one on July 3 that tore up our awnings). Although scary ... the RV was shaking and rattling and sand was flying ... no damage was done.

The wind finally dispersed and the evening was magnificent. Marg cooked us up some steaks and roasted corn on the grill. Our reclining lawn chairs were an excellent viewpoint for the fiery red and yellow sunset followed by the quarter moon and stars peeking through the clouds.

(Note: Yes, this IS the sunset!)

Quiet descended on the campground and it was good to remember exactly why we moved to an RV in Utah.

Thanks for tuning in!

Toby