Event Coverage B-bop's Laid off, make the most of it Solo road trip

Met up with Daddio211 in St George for lunch. He introduced my to Cafe Rio and bought me lunch, What a guy. I owe you one Eric, come on up to Kanuckistan, and I'll buy you lunch We talked cars and telecommunications, as we are both in that industry. Great conversation, great food, great friend. Eric gave me some good tips on what to see on the way back north so back on the highway for some more sights.

Again, kicking my ass for not taking a pic of the two of us so that in 30 years we can look back and laugh at how young we once were.

 

Great song and reference! My favourite movies as a kid.
Though, seems to me that given your location, something from the sequel might have been more appropriate. 'B-Bop goes West'...

 

My wife and I are looking at going out to the Zion area next year. I've enjoyed reading this part of your journey and may have to add some spots to our to do list. Thanks for the ride!
Tom

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this. Quite the adventure with great pics to boot. Where are we headed next?

 

Wow. I love this picture. Beautiful shot.

 

Those are some great stories and even better pics! Thanks for sharing your adventure, be safe out there.

 

great coverage, back to the top.Thanks

 

Lovin' the coverage !

 

b-bop,did you stop for pie in Julian?

 

One of the best of the best pics of your jouney. Thanks for the narrative of you travels.

 

Great thread!

 

I read this whole thread this morning.Your writing and photos are top notch and I can't begin to describe how much I enjoyed following along.
Thanks for posting and all the travel tips too.

 

Great article, must be more adventures to tell, keep up the good work.

ps another Albertan here.

 

Stay tuned, a couple of Zion pics coming up

Zion Canyon, Bryce Canyon, More UT, WY, ID, and MT

Thanks, got a couple more sunset pics before we wrap this up

Thanks, glad you are along for the ride

Nope, missed the pie. Because I did not have a plan etched in stone, I found out about some things that I should have stopped for after I left town. Pie in Julian was one of them. I guess I will need to go for a return trip.

Thanks, glad some of you enjoy my rambling.

Thanks Scott

Glad you are enjoying the trip, i.rant. Thanks for the compliment.

Hey Hogger, yes more adventures coming right up. Glad to see some Alberta boys along for the ride.

 

Back of post 180 I was rambling about sleeping in the desert and falling asleep under the stars. I forgot to mention that I was telling my wife about this night when I got home and how I fell asleep with my head hanging out the door of my trailer. I really don't know how long I was asleep with my head was hanging out the window. She was very concerned that I could have been attacked by something in the desert. I laughed with the thought and asked here what she thought could have attacked me. "A snake or a coyote, or a spider." I thought about each of these. Coyotes make too much noise, I doubt a spider would take the time to crawl up my trailer to bite me in the neck, and the thought of a snake trying to swallow this fat bastard, well, that would make great front line news everywhere. I can see it now........"A vintage hot rod, and teardrop trailer, found in the desert , with a snake that expired trying to digest too much fat in one meal"

 

OK, lets try to get back on track and finish this story. After having lunch in St George, I headed for Zion. Spent a day wandering around the park. Tried to go for a hike but my knee just wasn't willing to carry me. I tore up my ACL back in 1993, had reconstruction surgery in 1996 to replace the ACL but I think its like a really worn out ball joint. It's just too sloopy to hike on uneven ground. So I saw most of the sights from within 200 yards of the bus stops. For those of you that have never been to Zion, there are shuttle buses that take you up the main canyon. There was just too much gridlock before they instituted no cars on this road.
I had a chat with one of the bus driver and I mentioned that there were too many people around for my liking. He said I was lucky I did not come later in the season. I never had to wait for a bus, just get on and ride. He said in the busy season you may wait for 3 buses and it is jam packed standing room only. Glad I was early.

Here are a couple random pics. The pics really don't do it justice. It is a very beautiful place. And the colors of the rock change as the day goes on.

 

Your Model A is just right, the chop, the stance, the color, everything. It's enough to make me forget about A coupes, which I adore. Nice job.

 

Heading out of Zion on the east side there is a tunnel that takes you through the mountain. There are I think 3 vent holes into the tunnel to allow it to breathe. You can see one in this pic as seen from a lower elevation. I thought it was some type of cave before I drove through.



Are you tired of my fuzzy GPS shots yet? Ha ha, Sorry, I just love the anticipation
when I see this come up on the GPS


The tunnel entrance.


Who says there is not a light at the end of the tunnel?


The east side of the tunnel, the rock here is completely different from the other side of the tunnel.

 

Whoops, almost forgot to post my favorite pic from Zion.....

 

Just outside of the park I found a great boondocking campsite. Posted for those that are looking for a free camp spot with incredible views. I had dinner and then took some pics of the deer wandering through my site, but it was starting to get dark so pics are a little fuzzy. GPS co-ordinates 37.251235, -112.797215

 

Headed east on Hwy 9 to the Carmel Junction, then turned north on Hwy 89, hung a right on Hwy 12 to head for Bryce. I saw a couple cabovers on the side of the road. I have seen these posted a couple times on different boards. Now I know why they are posted everywhere and are still sitting there. $7k for one and $6k for the other. A little pricey. When I got to the town of Bryce, it was raining pretty hard, almost snowing, so I decided I could come back and see it another day.

Pricey COE's


Heading towards Bryce Canyon


Hoodoo's on the hill.



Oh Oh....getting back into the white stuff.

 

I stayed on Hwy 12 heading through Escalante. If you ever get a chance, you have to drive this road. What a cool drive, even though I did a bunch of it in the rain.

Some of the vista's here are amazing. That little white truck going down the road is about a 38 foot fifth wheel.


More cool rock formations.


A couple of really straight sections........



Followed by a bunch of hairpin turns.


Wish it wasn't raining here. This section of road runs along the very top of the mountain. Drops on either side are about 600 feet before your first bounce. Oh yeah, guard rails not required on most sections.


The sign is a little fuzzy but it says 9600 feet of elevation at the summit. That's getting up there, but I found one more higher pass later in my journey.



Somehow it just feels like the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote should blast by me around here.

 

I wasn't paying attention to my map, and had intended to turn west on 24 and then hookup to 72 going north, but missed my turn and ended up going east on 24 from Torrey and then north through Price UT, and then north on 191 to Dushene, UT.
I left Price UT a little late, and really did not study the map well. This road climbs high over a mountain range on the way to Duchesne. The summit is at 9900 feet and because it was nearing the bambi hours I figured I might as well stop for the night. You know when you pull out to stop and there is snow banks that it may be a little chilly over night. At about 2 in the morning I wake up to hear rain falling on the roof of the teardrop. As I start to drift back into sleep, I suddenly notice that the sound is changing. Now its not so heavy on the roof. I grab my flashlight and open the door and scan the parking area to see a major snow fall starting to come down. I wonder how stupid the drive is going to be in the morning.
When I wake up, I look outside and its not as bad as I thought, but there is still slush on the road, so I grab a couple granola bars, an apple, and some OJ and crawl back into bed and read a book for a couple hours. The joys of having no destination and no time table to stick to.

 

Good Pics B-Bop, I'll be checking out that area.

 

What's your fuel capacity? Average mpg?

We all know your "smiles per gallon" are off the chart.

 

I hear ya. Far as I know the bridge is still closed...

 

A man was walking along a beach and stumbled across an old lamp. He picked it up and rubbed it, and out popped a genie.

The genie said, "OK, You released me from the lamp, blah blah blah. This is the fourth time this month, and I'm getting a little sick of these wishes so you can forget about three... You only get one wish!"

The man sat, and thought about it for a while and said, "I've always wanted to go to Hawaii, but I'm scared to fly, and I get very seasick. Could you build me a bridge to Hawaii so I can drive over there to visit?"

The genie laughed and said, "That's impossible!!! Think of the logistics of that! How would the supports ever reach the bottom of the Pacific? Think of how much concrete -- how much steel!! No, think of another wish."

The man said, "OK, I'll try to think of a really good wish. Let me think..."

"I wish that I could understand women, know how they feel inside, and what they're thinking when they give me the silent treatment. Know why they're crying, know what they really want when they say "nothing,", know how to make them truly happy."

The genie paused, sighed, and said, "Do you want that bridge to be two lanes or four?"

 

HA...HA...!!! Eli, you nailed it! Well done!

 

This is cool! I'm leaving in 2 days for a 3500 mile round trip (central Illinois to Vegas and back) in my 79 f150 4x4. I'm running interstate there but 2 lane road back. Reading thru this just got me even more excited than I already was!