Blog Update - May 14th, Ready for Work!

Well, it has been an interesting week and a half since I left my Good Friends in Salt Lake City, who by the way is heading to Dillon on Friday to fish the Beaverhead, wish I was going with them! But have plans to make the trip this fall!

I drove from Salt Lake to Torrey, Utah and had an easy drive. Stop at a nice RV Park and withstood the cold, rainy weather and spent time getting the trailer squared away for travel. Contacted my new job only to discover that my RV spot was not ready and I could not arrive until Sunday the 11th of May, so I had to regroup and find a place to stay a few more nights, the RV park was a little pricey and my budget dictated a more frugal existence. Did a little research and found a that Capitol Reef National Park had a wonderful campground within the park only about 12 miles away and I was happy to find out that with my Senior Pass the cost per night was only $5.00 per night, fit right into my budget. It is a dry campground with no electric or water or sewer, but it is beautiful. I had some gas for the generator and plenty of water and the waste tanks were empty, so on Tuesday I left in the morning from the RV park and got a good spot before it filled up (no reservations allowed).

So, I spent Tuesday through Saturday at the "Fruita" Campground in Capitol Reef NP and could not have been happier!

Here is a nice sunset picture from the RV Park in Torrey!



This was the morning I left the RV Park in Torrey and drove to Capitol Reef!



On the way to Capitol Reef I stopped and took this pic of the truck and trailer! I used this pic below for my new footer!



This is the campground in Capitol Reef (Fruita Campground)!



This is my neighbor behind me in a new Airstream - the "Bambi" the smallest model, real nice!



Every night a herd of small mule deer came down to the campground!



I took a couple drives in the park - wonderful scenery, but it was cold, windy and rainy most of the time. I still managed to get a few good pictures!



I also took a walk to see the petroglyhs! Amazing!





Also saw a nice robin!



On Thursday I drove to Goblin Valley State Park! This is a 10 shot panorama to show the size of the valley!



It is hard to describe Goblin Valley, but it is one of my favorite places in Utah - the Valley is full of these sandstone goblins which you can walk through and explore - must be 2 miles square! You can actually see a couple people in the above picture in the Valley!

Of course the other scenery is breathtaking as well!









On Sunday I drove from Capitol Reef to Bullfrog - met my new boss and found a temporary spot with electric for the night and took a little tour around the marina. Monday I moved the trailer to a more permanent location with full utilities. It is not very level so will be moving to the site next door when maintenance gets a bad circuit breaker replaced. Much nicer with some trees and a little larger site. Should get that done this week.

Tuesday I had HR and paperwork and orientation to go through. Then back to the site and set up my Sat Dish so I could watch my favorite shows - NCIS, NCIS Los Angeles and Person of Interest...love the tailgater by Dish - took about 5 minutes to set up.

Today I was required to attend more training - the Boater Safety Class! Interesting, but pretty much only a requirement as I think I knew everything! Then back to the trailer this evening for a nice ribeye steak and some sauteed onions and a salad!

First official day of work at 0800 in the morning, I am excited to get started. I have only taken a couple pictures around Bullfrog, hope to take more on the dock tomorrow and will get my spot shot when I move the trailer.

Like the location, it is amazing here and my boss is a real nice guy and this place is going to be very busy starting next week, so I anticipate an intense week of training getting ready for the Memorial Day Rush!


Stay Tuned for more updates in a couple days!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"




Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - Weeks highlights and on to Bullfrog today!

Interesting past few days...after Salt Lake I arrive in Torrey, Utah and stayed at my planned stop at Thousand Lakes RV Park. Nice campground although it was very windy and just hung out and got the trailer squared away after the trip. Before leaving I filled the water tanks and emptied the waste tanks knowing that I would be spending the rest of the week at the "Fruita" Campground in Capital Reef National Park. The campground at Fruita is a beautiful site, nestled along a river bottom with green trees and shade and grass between the sites. It is all dry camping with no hook-ups, but a wonderful campground. The cost is $10.00 per night but with a National Park Senior Pass it is only $5.00 per night, a real bargain.

I arrived in the Fruita campground about 1:00 pm on Tuesday and found a nice site right away, but within an hour or two the campground was full. This morning a few people left and within about an hour by 10:00 am as I was heading out to explore the campground was full again. So if yu are planning on this place, it is first come first serve and you need to get your site in the morning, the earlier the better.

As expected the weather took a turn for the worse today, so before the weather and rain hit, I did the 10 mile scenic drive right out of the campground and it was beautiful. This park lies off the beaten path and does not get the traffic it deserves, it is an amazing place, everywhere you turn is a georgeous view. I am glad I decided to delay my trip down to Bullfrog and spend a few days exploring the area.

Major mishap today, just as the rain hit I decided to drive the 10 miles bak in to Torrey and retrieve my emails and hit the ATM for a little cash. I was expecting a deposit and thanks to Kevin Hack it was there! Wonderful still doing work for the Lodge and earning a few extra bucks. However on the way back to the campground, I heard a loud screetching noise and looked in the rear view mirror and watched my bed cover lift up from the front and disintegrate before my eyes, before I could pull over and stop. So that will need to be replaced, will surely write the company a letter as one of the front hold-downs failed and once the wind at 55 mph got underneath it, it was toast!

On my early morning drive I attached my GoPro camera to the windshield with my new suction cup mount and took some pretty interesting video, will get it up and online as soon as I can get a WiFi signal. No cell phone service here or of course no wireless. So it may be a while before I post this and get the pictures uploaded and the video processed.

Tomorrow morning weather permitting, I am going to hike to the Hickman Bridge and hopefully get some good pictures in the morning light.

Right now it is raining pretty hard with a few snowflakes mixed in...little chilly, but not cold!

I spent the entire week at the Fruita campground and it rained almost every day - which made it bad for picture taking...it rained all last night pretty hard and it is still raining this morning on my drive down to Bullfrog. I am in Hanksville right now in the truck where I can get a WiFi signal and decided to get this uploaded!

More pics tomorrow after I get hooked to electric and can upload some pictures.

Note the new truck and trailer pic at the bottom!!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"




Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - Thankful for friends and the journey to my new summer job!

I departed my good friend Steve's house yesterday afternoon and arrived part way to my new summer job last evening, just in time to catch a very pretty sunset!



This is my view this morning!



Some thoughts and old memories!

I have long felt that you only meet a few lifetime friends and I am fortunate to have a couple in Salt Lake City! Ironically we all met and worked together over 26 years ago and have remained close after all this time, even with me leaving Utah in 1993 and not returning for a visit until about 2009 or so....and it seems we continue to grow even closer together with the passage of time.

Some history!

I left Florida and moved to Utah in 1988 and wound up getting a job at K/P Graphics a medium sized commercial printing company in Salt Lake. I started out as a temporary fill in estimator and wound up full time as the plant manager in short order. I was tasked with organizing the production team from the existing staff.

Recently while staying in my good friend Steve's driveway he and I spent an evening with our other co-worker and he mentioned he found some old slides from a photo shoot for a capabilities brochure from K/P. Steve volunteered to scan them and give us each copies which he did. So I have a few old pictures of my good friends to share!

First my "Camp Host" for the past several years while in Salt Lake and fishing buddy in Montana! Steve Carter!



Note the ancient old typesetting computer to Steve's right! Steve was our customer service rep, graphic designer and typesetter and also did some sales!

Next the production team!



L/R - me, Marie Diamond (Planner), seated my good friend Lynn Hewitt (Estimator) and standing right side Renee Gardner (Scheduler. It was a great production team and the basis for my long term friendship with Lynn and Steve!

And Renee and I at the scheduling board



So after all these years - my good friend Steve makes his driveway my home whenever I pass through Salt Lake which is at least twice a year for the past couple years - North and Southbound. The past two years we have also met up in Dillon Montana for a little trout fishing on the wonderful Beaverhead River!! Great Times.

He is such a gracious host, I can never thank him enough for his accommodations when I travel through, most recently with health issues and things to get done on the truck and trailer and my annual Doctors appointment I was there for 24 days!

So Steve Carter Thank you for your hospitality!

With the weather being a little funky, it looks like my visit to Capital Reef and Goblin Valley will be cut a little short, the wind is howling today and looks like some rainy dreary days are arriving tonight and tomorrow, so more than likely will drive through Capital Reef and head on down the "Trail of the Ancients" to Bullfrog in fairly short order! I am sure that there will be quite a few pictures along the way!!

Stay Tuned! Note new picture of truck and trailer in the footer!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"




Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Well it has been a busy week and yesterday was a pain in the ass!!! What should have been an exciting and rewarding day turned into a challenge!

Friday I hitched up and took the trailer to the waste dump and emptied the tanks and rinsed them out good. Sandy (City) has a wonderful clean and well designed dump station for RV's....as soon as I was done with that I headed to the tire place and got 5 new tires for the trailer, so it is now ready to travel.

Saturday was a shopping day with a trip to Costco for some bulk meat for at least part of my summer at Lake Powell. Got that accomplished and then it was time for my reward! I have been saving for a portable satellite system and camping world had them on sale, however they were out of the receivers, so I had found one for the same price from Amazon and it was delivered on Friday...so Saturday I only had to get the antenna (Dish), the model is called a Tailgater and is totally portable and automatic to find the satellites! I also wanted to pick up some tank cleaner for the waste tanks as my gauges were gunked up and not reading correctly.

So after returning to Steve's I unpacked the Tailgater and was anxious to get it set up and contact Dish Network and get the unit functional....but decided to add the tank cleaner first - dumped half the bottle down the kitchen sink and then headed for the toilet, while filling the bowl I discovered that the water fill valve was spraying water from the back of the toilet...retreated to my toolbox for a mirror so I could see where the water was coming from and lo and behold the plastic intake valve had a pretty serious crack in it...slip joint pliers and removed the water connection and the valve literally fell apart in my hand - so much for longevity the thing is only 20 years old???

Pulled the toilet and then off to camping world to see if they had a new valve although it was questionable on being able to repair since the place the valve mounted was also broken so a little over a hundred dollars later, I left with a new toilet, a taller one which would be more comfortable.

Returned to the trailer and proceeded to attempt to install and lo and behold the footprint is a little larger so got the sawsall out and removed a small partition behind the toilet which covered the pipes and it fit, this also allowed me to pull the water pipe up to compensate for the higher toilet. After some deliberating and time on my hands and knees, soon the new toilet was installed and functional, right in time for Happy Hour!! And it was needed! So a couple cocktails then some nice grilled Alaska Halibut for my going away dinner with Steve! All is Good - albeit a little behind schedule, but Good!

However my goal of hooking up the sat dish and testing its operation was delayed until today! This morning early I un-packaged all the meat I bought yesterday and Steve broke out his food saver vacuum packer and I individually broke the large Costco packages into reasonable portions and vacuum sealed them all for the freezer!

Now a few more things on my to do list and hopefully on the road by mid-day or so! Still wanting to do the dish before I leave!

Heading to a town near Capital Reef NP for a couple days of exploring and taking some pictures, then by Friday I will be at Bullfrog ready to start my summer job!

Here is the route - shortened to to delays!



I want to spend a couple days exploring Capital Reef and then hit Goblin Valley for at least a day or so then head down to Bullfrog! Plan to be in Bullfrog by Friday end of day!

Stay Tuned for my travel updates!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - Salt Lake City and Chores! May 1st, 2014

I am still in Salt Lake City getting some issues with the truck and trailer resolved, now that all my health issues are over, I can finally make some headway on lowering th front of the truck and getting new tires on the trailer.

Last week I located some new shackles for the front leaf springs on the truck, they got ordered and I received them straight away with free shipping! So yesterday I went to the place where I am buying my tires for the trailer and they removed the 4 inch lift shackles and shocks and installed the new stock shackles and new shocks and now the truck is sitting level and it even rides a little better without the springs being stretched the extra 4 inches! They also managed to fix the electrical issue I had with the plug-in for the trailer and I now have taillights and running lights, on the trip up I had brake lights and turn signals but the wire for the taillights and running lights did not work, so could only drive in daylight!

Here is how she sits now!



I have listed the 4 inch lift components on a Ford Truck forum and hopefully will get that sold soon, before I leave here with a little luck, if not by the time I get to Bullfrog!

Here are all the components ready to pack and ship!



Tomorrow I am scheduled to hitch up and head to the local dump station and empty my waste tanks and then take the truck and trailer down to have 5 new tires put on the trailer!

I am still working on my route South and will more than likely shorten my trip a little due to the delay in getting things accomplished here in Salt Lake. I will keep everyone updated and post my route in a day or so, weather is supposed to change early in the week when I plan to leave, may leave on Sunday, not sure yet!

Stay Tuned!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - Enjoying Salt Lake and problem solving! April 24, 2014

Since the good news from my Doctor and no additional adverse symptoms since turning the propane off in my trailer, I have been on a mission to solve several issues.

1. Find and solve the propane issue.
2. Find new tires for the trailer
3. Find front spring shackles to lower the front of the truck
4. Plan a fun trip through Utah to head to Bullfrog for the summer


So - First and foremost was to resolve the propane leak? Well I bought a new combination propane/LPG - Carbon Monoxide detector - got that and installed and set about with my trusty spray bottle of soapy water to find the propane leak...to no avail. Went to the local propane store and asked their advice - was admonished by the owner who called me stupid and suggested that I had wasted my time on the dual detector since it is mounted at floor level to detect propane and the carbon monoxide side will never go off since it is typically lighter than air and needs to be at head height. So I went and bought another Carbon Monoxide detector and put it up near the bed, turned on the propane lit the pilot light and left the trailer buttoned up and sure enough in about 6 hours - the alarm sounded. The pilot light on the stove generated enough carbon monoxide to set off the alarm. So turned the pilot light off and now no issues - slept in cold weather with the trailer all buttoned up the past two nights and no issues. So the reality is I was being poisoned by Carbon Monoxide and not propane!! I am really relieved to make this discovery!

Shopped trailer tires until I am blue in the face, but have located a great place who can not only supply decent tires at a fair price but can also lower the truck. However - the rear shackles on the front leaf springs are on permanent back-order from Ford - but on a truck forum I found a supplier and ordered them and they will be here by Saturday, so hopefully can get that done early next week. Truck first then trailer tires!

In my spare time I have been working on a route South to Bullfrog which will encompass a few areas of Southern Utah I have been wanting to explore.

Not sure this will be the exact route but it is a plan.



So here is the rundown!

1. My starting point in Salt Lake City
2. Scipio - great fuel stop, I always stop here for a rest and to top off!
3. Cedar City - will probably overnight here!
4. & 5. Cedar breaks National Monument - have not been here in years!
6. Panguich Lake - will over night here after exploring Cedar breaks!
7. Town of Panguich - just explore on my way on the highway towards Bryce Canyon
8. Town of Tropic - may spend the night here!
9. Escalante - on the fabulous Route RT 12 this will be an all day trip with plenty of stops for photos
10. Boulder - on RT 12 more exploring.
11. Torrey - on the route to number 12 which is an RV Park where I will overnight
12. Thousand Lakes V Park - overnight
13. Goblin Valley State Park - will arrive here after exploring Capital Reef NP from Torrey! Will spend at least one night in Goblin Valley
14. Bullfrog - after leaving Goblin may stop along the way to Bullfrog depending on the sites to see! Pretty desolate road!


Need to arrive at Bullfrog around the 10th or 11th of May to start work on the 13th!

Should be a great adventure with a ton of pictures. I drove route 12 once before it is known as Utah's Journey through Time Scenic Byway and is an exhilarating drive through some amazing scenery! I have been wanting to do this trip ever since I got the RV.

Stay Tuned for further details!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Easter Sunday 2014 - 4-20-2014 A Day with Friends!

Finally feeling better and thankfully got an invite from some dear friends in Salt Lake for a wonderful Easter Brunch! So off Steve and I went to enjoy the day with friends.

I arrived in Salt Lake last Friday and was feeling great....got parked in the "NO CAMPING" area of my good friends driveway and settled in. All was well, however on Sunday the weather turned cold and I closed the windows on the trailer and fired up the heat...well back to the propane issue again, seems there is still a leak, took me a couple days and a trip to the Doctor on Tuesday...I was prepared to go to the emergency room had a bag packed and everything, figured I was hours away from another stroke...Doc assured me that was not the issue so went back to Steve's and after some serious thinking decided to rule out the propane and turn the propane tank off and sure enough woke up the next day and felt fine, went for my annual sonogram required by the USCG for my license on Friday and passed with flying colors - so now my project before leaving Salt Lake is to find the leak, get new tires for the trailer and maybe get the front of the truck lowered to match the back.

I am very relieved that I was not experiencing another health issue!!

When I pulled in to Salt Lake and my good friends house the first thing I noticed is a sign firmly planted on his garage door which says NO CAMPING!!! After a short gun fight, I got the trailer parked and unhitched!!

Note the yellow sign affixed to the garage door!



Today we went to my good friends daughters house for a first communion party for their grand daughter and I managed to grab a shot of Mom and her new baby boy!!



Then before loading up the pictures - decided a walk with my macro lens in the back yard was in order!

Spring has SPRUNG!!













No real final plans for my trip South to my new job but working on it and will be in Salt Lake for another week or so to get the tires on the trailer, fix the propane leak and a few other errands and visit a few more friends!

The trip South is planned to be an adventure with stops in Capital Reef NP, Cedar Breaks NP, Goblin Valley and Bryce Canyon NP and points in between...so stay tuned for the adventure!

Thanks everyone for the emails and concerns over my health!!!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - Traveling 4-8-2014 and 4-9-2014

Well, I finally left 29 Palms RV Resort mid-morning on Tuesday and headed North across the Mojave Desert towards Las Vegas and ultimately one of my favorite places - Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada!

The truck ran fine and pulled the trailer with ease, not quite as easily as I thought it might, but way better than the old truck - mileage was over 9 almost 10 but it was real hilly country and once on the highway I suspect it got quite a bit better, will know more tomorrow as I will be on all interstate highway.

The drive from 29 Palms to Amboy and then on to I-15 is about as boring as can be...it is nothing but desert and nothing, guess that's why they call it the Mojave National Preserve. There is literally about 2 small settlements and no services on rough 2 lane road for several hundred miles.

I did manage a couple shots along the way - in Amboy where I ran on Rt 66 for a few miles!







Valley of Fire was as expected, it is always beautiful and the sky was a perfect blue with some nice clouds to good for picture taking...my goal was to get a good shot of the truck and trailer to use on the blog at the bottom with some nice red rocks in the background, of course I shot some other pictures as well.

These were taken in the campground! Wildflowers are starting to bloom in spite of the drought!





A wonderful Beaver Tail Cactus with numerous blossoms!



I went to bed early last night - internet was sporadic and no TV, so decided to get some rest and have a nice breakfast and take a nice walk in the morning with my coffee. Then I broke camp and took a very leisurely drive through the park stopping at numerous places to walk and explore and take some more pictures...

More Wildflowers!





Then a few shots of the truck and trailer in the Red Rock!







Stay tuned I am now in Mesquite Nevada and will work my way towards Salt Lake City tomorrow, understand there is highway construction between here and Utah, so will be a slow go...not sure where I will stop tomorrow, but traveling through some beautiful country so will take some pics and pull over and sleep when I get tired!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Finally - Getting Ready to Travel!!

I have a very busy few days ahead of me...finally got the rear of the truck lowered and did a hitch-up to make sure everything would work alright - hitched just fine and have plenty of clearance on the truck bed...or at least as much as I need for most travel!

So now comes the planning to leave part! I have altered my trip plans to Salt Lake for a number of reasons, one is finances and the other was some suspected health issues, which seem to be gone now. For a few days I was feeling very bad in the mornings, could not figure it out, but got very concerned - was dizzy, confused and had a very hard time concentrating...I had fear I was leading to another stroke...however when I would spend time out away from the trailer in the fresh air or up at the clubhouse withing about 30 minutes I felt great again...couldn't figure it out?? Then while heating some dinner up the other evening I ran out of propane...my propane usage had gone up considerably. But used the microwave to heat dinner and went to bed. The next morning when for the past several days I had been feeling very bad, however this morning I felt great again...Googled the symptoms for breathing propane and quickly realized I had a propane leak someplace and the reason I was feeling so bad, I was poisoning myself!!

So went down and filled the propane tank and got a small spray bottle of soapy water and traced the propane lines and found two cracked fittings. The fittings were on a line that I ran to attach my outside BBQ Grill. So I disconnected that line, put a plug in and end of leak. I also discovered that my propane leak detector in the RV was not working, tore that apart and found a broken wire...fixed that and have not had any issues at all the past few days since Monday when I made the repairs.

So here is the truck hitched up to the trailer with the lift removed.



Now to get the trailer ready to travel - this is the longest I have ever remained in one place and the trailer is a mess. When it is not moving, things get taken out to use and not put away properly, so it will take a day or so to get everything stowed away properly for the trip. Plus laundry to do and some other maintenance items - like getting things that were in the old truck put away properly in the new truck. It is amazing how much stuff moves around in the trailer when underway.

So today is a laundry day and a few other projects. Right now my plan is to leave on Monday the 7th and drive from here to Fire Valley State Park in Nevada, I love that place, spend a night there and maybe two. One of the reasons I am not leaving before Monday is that park fills almost every weekend, so will miss the crowds by arriving on Monday. Then drive from there to Zions National Park and spend a night or two there. Then from there head straight up to my good friend Steve's house in Salt Lake City and prepare for my Doctors appointment on the 21st...then get ready to head down to Lake Powell for my summer job. More details on that trip when it happens.

Here is my route starting Monday!



In many ways I am anxious to get on the road again, seems as though it has been too long. However, I have had a fantastic winter with great weather a great location and met some wonderful people. Have been invited back to work again doing the same thing next winter and right now that is the plan...so I will be back here in November!

Stay tuned for updates on the road!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!