So first thing in the morning I crawled back under the bus and put in the new starter. Had it down to a twenty minute switch now. I eagerly crawled into the driver’s seat and turned the key. Holy crap, I thought we were going to launch into outer space. I had no idea that an automobile could start so quickly. I’ve been driving around for months thinking that these old trucks just need a little time to fire up—boy was I wrong. I had begun to convince myself that maybe the fuel pump was shot and the engine just wasn’t getting fuel. Again, wrong. All that cranking and pedal pumping was due solely to an old starter motor—a part that I now know cost about fifty bucks and can be replaced with two bolts in twenty minutes. Makes me think that before I even try to start the Porsche next time I see her I’m going to replace the starter. It’s always been a little slow to fire up too.
When was the last time anybody was able to replace anything on a boat engine for fifty bucks? I have to remind myself sometimes that fixing up this motor really isn’t all that much work or that expensive.
Utah is no joke. We’re slowly making our way northwest, and today was one of those days where the only real obvious route was the interstate. I’ve always thought of interstates as the easy route. I-70 proved me wrong today. We climbed and we climbed. We pulled over, cooled off, pulled over, cooled off, and pulled over to cool off some more. It took us about five hours to cover a hundred miles. Sure was beautiful though.
When we were approaching the summit I fully expected the sign to say we were at 38,000 feet or so—it was a little disappointing to read 7,886. What? Someone must have scratched off the three. It made me grateful that we chose not to attempt the Colorado run this time around. Ten or eleven-thousand foot passes would not have been friendly.
Passing that summit marker was glorious. I left the hazard lights flashing, shifted into second, and rolled for miles and miles without touching the brakes, eventually bottoming out in Salina. There we found a nice little town and had lunner at Mom’s Cafe—famous as far as I could tell for having their picture in a 90s National Geographic Magazine, and for once serving lunch to Ashley Judd. Good enough for me.
We continued our slow trek today with pit-stops that turned into photo shoots. Utah has my vote at the moment as the most beautiful state.
Ouest nearly stepped on a snake as we climbed around on some rocks then promptly went back in the bus and pulled on the cowgirl boots. She’s no dummy.
Ouest asked me what this sign said and I told her, “No trespassing.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means that somebody doesn’t want us to go in there.”
“Are we gonna get in trouble?”
Me, looking closely at the sign next to it, “Nah. You only get in trouble if you’re doing something wrong. We weren’t doing anything but exploring. Come on, let’s go.”
Crayola washable crayons—best invention ever.
26 Comments on “Utah”
Glad to hear it was an easy fix. So do you think a bus unit is about one quarter of a boat unit??? I think it might be a little challenging to fix the bus while underway… Great pics. Thanks for sharing your awesome adventures. Tahoe???
Great shots Pat. National Geographic quality.
We are enjoying using our Canon DSLR too. Best toy we have invested in in years.
Kids look like their having a ball.
Regards
Garry and Wendy
Spirit of Sobraon
That’s a heartless land without water, but your photos are excellent. Boat and ancient RV. Where are you heading? 😀
I’m sure you noted, as you headed west out of Green River, the sign that reads “Next Services 108 Miles.” That’s a beautiful stretch through there, to be sure, but having your Verizon cell phone remind you every few minutes of “Loss of Service” certainly reinforces the point that maintaining one’s vehicle is a very good idea.
I pull my current RV with a C2500HD, 3/4 ton Chevy pickup with a 454 cu.in. gas engine. It has beaucoup power and I do all the tricks to keep the RV as light as possible. And I spend summers up in the Colorado Rockies.
While there’s never been anywhere that I wanted to go that I couldn’t manage, there are lots of sub-45mph stretches with the flashers going. But I also know where the places are that I won’t even try to tow the RV. Not because I don’t think I could make it – eventually – but because I could create a really irritating rolling block for the traffic I’d be impeding.
Growing up in Colorado, we always called the timid, slowly-moving drivers in cars “flatlanders” – but the ones in bigger, heavier vehicles that were barely moving we called, well, various things – none of which are appropriate to spell out here. 🙂
Enjoy the West, Bums!
Wow this picture gives me chills, the natural terrain in utah is
so different yet so similar to our natural terrain here in australia, the only place they are really preserved here is in national parks – thank god we all cherish them – without them there would be no native bushland at all, just a mass of concrete jungles in the entire landscape.
Trent.
Following your adventure with enthusiasm. Having travelled many of the same roadways with our children years ago your photos flood the mind….while you were in the West we spent several days in Crooked River State Park in St. Mary’s, Georgia in our RV and now back on the mystical and gloriously beautiful island called St. Simons….travel is so enriching….thanks for allowing us to follow your family adventure.
Does Ali help with the driving? I-70 was a surprise to us, too in our RV. Your pics are great!
Beautiful. You forgot the rule: “Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom’s.” But, glad it worked out.
Ah, heating problems, been there, done that. All of the following assumes your radiator is flowing properly & all the hoses are fresh. I have no way of knowing what your present set up is, so if you already know all of this, my apologies.
Some years ago we retrofitted a Ford 302 V8 into a Willys pickup, with a cab over camper on it. Long story short, the stock Willys radiator was marginal. I built a home made shroud of sheet metal, screws & duct tape around the fan. It solved the problem, no more heating.
Later, we had a Ford F250 Super Cab pickup with a larger cab over camper on it. We ordered it with all the heavy duty towing package features which included a viscous driven huge radiator fan and a tight fitting fan shroud. We traveled all over the western mountains and never had any cooling problems. The first time the fan engaged I thought we had just been strafed by a low flying jet, it made a huge roar.
There are all kinds of cooling aids on the after market, including large viscous fans, additional electric fans mounted in front of the existing radiator, shrouds, & so on:
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=RV+radiator+fans+%26+shrouds
Paul Thomas
Beautiful pictures!!! Reminds me why Utah is my favorite state!
As long as you have crayons pulling off to cool down is a positive 🙂
We have noticed that the children of sailors/cruisers tend to scout out other boats at anchorages and instantly make new friends. When we had an RV we hardly ever found anyone else under the age of 50 on a weekday. I am curious as to how Ouest and Lowe are adapting now they are in an RV compared to the boating life?
Mark and Cindy
PS – Really love the pics of the old gas station
Well, our kids were too little to be scouting out other kid boats at anchorage. Summer is upon us now and we’re seeing lots more kids. Ouest has no problem with walking right up to them, while Lowe really couldn’t care less if there was anyone else in the world outside of our family.
The photos of the old gas station remind me of the gas station my great grandfather owned in Tridell, UT. I think it was converted to a US post office. Great memories.
I lived in Utah for many years. There is a lot of relatively untouched beauty throughout the state. Enjoy!
Those pictures could have been taken when the bus was new. Was there anything in those photos that wouldn’t have been right for 1966?
I think we stopped in Salina on one of our trips too! huge city park (well it took up a whole block) in the middle of town, pulled the trailer in and made lunch. we were really taken with the town even back then.
keep on keepin on…
I’ve lived in and been exploring Utah for 21 years and every single day leaves me breathless. I LOVE seeing others fall in love with it also. I had the most awful chicken fried steak with gravy at Mom’s a million years ago – but I loved the sweetness of the town and Mom’s so much I didn’t even mind the awfulness of the meal. Still makes me smile when I think of it. I wish you all more great moments in Utah.
Pshaw..I thought you guys would be traveling into AZ..but you are right it’s hot down here. So are you heading to Idaho and the NW for the summer???
Isn’t it more fun to not know where we’re heading?
I think so. But I was happy that yesterday you gave enough clues so I could figure out where you’d been. At that point it’s fun to try to figure out where you’ll report from next. You guys do a much better job of wandering than I do. But that’s my goal for our upcoming Epic Road Trip. Just wander. Maybe I should get a WWBD tattoo to remind me.
Yes!
Hope you’re eventually heading to Oregon to see your mom. Haven’t seen any photos or heard any news about her for quite a while and hope she is OK. Lovely photos of Utah. Are you dropping back down into Colorado? Give us a shout if you’re in the Palmer Lake/Monument area and we’ll buy you a pizza! 🙂
Replacing our boat starter motor any day now here in Australia. Starter motor = $325.
Love the photos! Have you tried using HDR with you photos to get more contrast?
Yes!
Gorgeous pictures Bumfuzzles. Stunning.
On a side note: Didn’t know you guys kept your 356. Bravo. 🙂
We live in UT up close to the border of ID, in Cache Valley. You’re welcome to stop in for a BBQ at our place. Just email me.
Anyway, we just spent the weekend in Park City. Seems like you’re making your way up toward Island Park/Yellowstone. Having followed your writing, I strongly suggest you avoid the I-15 corridor. For your style of wandering, I stick to US89 north out of Salina. Making your way north, you’ll eventually find yourself in “Happy Valley” (Provo), but then I’d jump right back away from I-15 again and head toward Heber City and Park City. Yesterday the drive north through Wanship and Echo, and then up through Huntsville and Eden was absolutely beautiful. Some arid mountains like you’ve seen so far, but little oasis valleys and lakes everywhere with great camping/RV parks.