A short timelapse video of driving through Red Canyon, then around Kodachrome Basin State Park in Utah, including a dirt road portion.
truck
Video: timelapse of truck driving through Zion National Park
We drove our truck through Zion National Park (a second time). This is a timelapse from the dashcam of driving all the way through and back again, with some nice alpenglow.
Zion National Park again
We visited Zion National Park again, in the late afternoon and evening, and took several hundred more photos. Here are a bunch of the nice ones.
Heading through the mile-long tunnel:
A couple of the tunnel windows:
A fun game we play when visiting parks is to look for and pick up garbage. Because people suck, and we want to leave our parks better than we found them. This is my haul from one viewpoint:
We had dinner at a Thai restaurant just outside the park:
We’ve seen a couple of restaurants that have checkboxes for tips. I wish every restaurant would do this; it’s so much more convenient:
(Bringing an ApplePay terminal to the table is even nicer. Better yet, how about paying a living wage and getting rid of tipping, but this is an improvement over having to do the math.)
Back into the park:
Back through the tunnel:
The smaller tunnel:
Video: timelapse of truck driving in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument
We drove our truck in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, along Burr Trail Road to the Singing Canyon, a delightful little slot canyon that is easy to access from the road (most require a several mile hike to reach). This is a timelapse of driving to and from there, with lots of interesting rocks on the way. Plus a couple of cows.
Video: timelapse of truck driving through Cedar Breaks National Monument and Utah rocks
A timelapse video of driving our truck through snowy Cedar Breaks National Monument, then out and along highways towards Cedar City, enjoying the many interesting colors and shapes of Utah rocks and scenery.
Video: timelapse of truck driving through Saguaro National Park
A timelapse of driving our truck through the east and west parts of the Saguaro National Park.
Travel from Orange to Santa Barbara, CA
We departed Orangeland RV Park in Orange, California, and headed to a week at Ocean Mesa RV Resort in Santa Barbara, California. Or more specifically El Capitan beach, near Goleta.
Here’s the route map (right to left); 144 miles, a non-stop four hour drive in our coach:
Departing Orange:
As usual, Paladin wasn’t thrilled that his house was moving again, though only complained once:
Heading towards LA on I-5:
Fork to route 101:
Downtown LA:
A couple glimpses of the Hollywood sign:
Sign for Universal Studios etc:
Paladin loafing on the mat between us:
Suddenly we’re out of the city and into some hills:
Whenever Paladin was in the cockpit area I kept a close eye on him, to make sure he didn’t go by Jenn’s feet, and risk interfering with the pedals. When he showed interest in heading in that direction, I picked him up and put him on my lap. He wasn’t thrilled about that:
There were no rest stops on this route, so I grabbed some salami and a slice of cheese as a quick lunch (we had more food after we arrived):
7% grade downhill:
Continuing along 101:
Reached the coast:
Paladin on my lap again; still not too keen:
Countryside:
Our exit:
Arriving at Ocean Mesa RV Resort:
We followed another Tiffin in, a Phaeton:
Our coach when checking in, after unhooking our truck:
As usual, I’ll have a timelapse video of this drive tomorrow, and a post about our time here later.
Video: a timelapse drive through Joshua Tree National Park
We drove in the south entrance of Joshua Tree National Park in California, around a campground, to some possible hike locations, down a dirt road to a nice place for a walk, then out the west entrance. Enjoy this timelapse of the drive; the first half is less interesting, but wait for the interesting rocks and joshua trees.
A hike in Joshua Tree National Park
We visited Joshua Tree National Park when last in the Palm Springs area back in December, but decided to visit it a second time in early February, specifically to go for a short hike.
We went in the south entrance (where we exited last time), and stopped at the visitor center there. There was a singing park ranger:
After exploring a campground (too small for our coach), a picnic lunch, and considering a hike near the visitor center, we continued on towards the joshua tree part of the park. Passing some interesting rocks on the way:
Some joshua trees:
The parking areas were too full to do more popular hikes, so on a whim we turned down a dirt road:
Some interesting rocks by the road:
We stopped at an access point for rock climbers, and explored that area as an informal hike:
If you look closely, you may spot several rock climbers:
A selfie:
I’m valiantly holding up a rock:
A wave-shaped rock:
Young joshua tree:
Rocks:
Me taking a photo:
Of this:
Jenn and me:
Another rock climber:
More rocks:
A small cactus:
Joshua tree:
Rocks and joshua trees:
A bird:
I like the glowing effect of the sun behind the tip of the rock:
More lens flare with the sun touching the tip of the rock:
Joshua trees:
We’re liken the lichen:
Three colors:
Rocks and joshua trees:
Jenn on a rock:
Me joining her:
Jenn posing:
Me:
Shadows:
More interesting rocks:
Truck windshield rock chip repair
While driving on the aforementioned Dillon Road (on another occasion), another vehicle threw up some sand and rocks, and one hit the windshield of our truck, taking out a chunk of the glass. That’s the first time we’ve had that happen.
This isn’t a low-flying plane over the road, but the chip, soon after it happened:
Our insurance includes free rock chip repair, but (for some reason) we decided to fix it ourselves. So I bought a windscreen repair kit from Amazon.
The recently acquired step was useful to get easier access to the windshield:
The repair kit included a suction-cupped holder:
Inside view:
Adding resin:
The repair worked really well; one can hardly tell where the damage was.
The kit is good for more repairs, so a useful thing to have, should we get any more rock chips in our truck or coach windscreens.