october 7, 8, 9

Monday 10/7. The big adventure of today is driving 200 miles to Provo to the Mazda dealer L. Oh well, we’ll make the best of it. First Henk has some meetings over the phone while I pack up, then we get the RV on the road. As usual on a weekday/workday, I drive. We go north on 191 until we meet route 70, a little bit west, then we take route 6 diagonally to the Salt Lake City area, and end up on route 15 for the last stretch.

Once we leave Moab the red sandstone mesas start to make way for a greyer, more rounded look. Halfway route 6 it starts to feel different – the road swings left and right and goes up into a half mountain, half canyon landscape. I work my way up successfully, already a little stressful in the tighter curves on the two-lane road with plenty of trucks. Then three vehicles in front of me plus myself follow an asphalt truck with a following pickup into a town with road repairs. The truck and pickup swing through the red and white road markers to the work area, the three vehicles and I pass slowly and safely, and then the pickup driver decides to swing back into the driving lane without looking  – right next to our front door. Thank goodness I see him coming in the corner of my eye. I swing over just in time while lots of road crew members are yelling at the dimwitted driver. Phew…  It takes miles before my blood pressure returns to normal. After we have our lunch on a turnout suspended above a canyon/valley, Henk gives me a break and drives the last miles, through a mountain pass of sorts, into Provo and Orem.

After a visit with the dealer we head for the campground. A little tricky to find; it appears Utah’s cities use a grid system and they all call their streets W 700 S street, S 700 W street, etc. So we get a bit confused. But find it in the end.

Tuesday, again a day off, relaxing and working. We go for a walk to the lake late in the afternoon, but it’s windy and cold so we turn back soon. The phone call from the dealer is disappointing: parts need to get ordered (hmmm… where did I hear this before?), they won’t be here until Monday, then it will take three or four more days for the repairs. We’re looking at 9 or 10 days. Time to change the plans again! Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons were already very iffy, but now they’re definitely off the books for this year. I hear the weather isn’t great up there either, so that’s all good. I guess we’ll fully explore the Salt Lake area, maybe detour a little to Colorado. We’ll see. But first: a few days at Antelope Island State Park.

Wednesday we pack back up – there’s a routine building here: Opa Henk has one or two meetings on his phone, I get the inside of the RV organized, he takes a half hour off to disconnect us properly, and this time he fills the water tank to overflowing – there is no water for campers on Antelope Island. Then we’re off. Not far to the dealer where we get the loaner car, then I follow the RV for the hour it takes to get to the island.  We plan on one day first, we want to see what it’s like before we commit; we drive the long causeway, cruise around the prairie-like north end of the island, and find the campground. There are 25 sites, very far apart, all with full view of the little bay, the lake, the islands to the north of us, and far away, the other shore. When we trek to the Visitor Center later, we see bison far to the right. Thus Opa books us for a week or so ;). This is an awesome place!