Home, Home on the Range

If you followed our last blog post, you’ll know that we were waiting for a new car rental in Moab, Utah.   It arrived at 6PM and the first thing we did was head to Arches National Park. If you want to see the sights in the park during the day (8-4), you must have a timed entry pass. The park is open 24 hours a day, so if you come in before 8 or after 4 there’s no ranger at the entry gate and no long lines of cars waiting to get in. We drove the loop around the park stopping first at Balanced Rock. Pretty amazing!

Then we tried to find the path to the Double Arches but couldn’t find the trail. Instead, we drove to Sand Dune Arch. It was a short hike along a path completely covered in sand. When we finally reached the arch, we found a lot of families. The kids were having a ball running barefoot and playing in the sand while the parents took in the view of the arch.

On the way back to the car we walked in some minor slot canyons.

It was getting late, so we headed into Moab for dinner. We ended up at a bar/restaurant where John decided to try one of the local beers on tap. Utah is known for its arcane alcohol laws; the last time John was in Utah, you had to get a membership to any place that served alcohol. Back then if you didn’t have a membership, someone would always sponsor you if you bought them a drink! They got rid of that law when the Olympics were held there.  Utah’s liquor laws allow beer up to 5% ABV (alcohol by volume) to be sold in grocery stores and poured on draft. Craft beers of any higher ABV can be purchased only in bars and only in bottles.

We arrived around 7:30 and ordered dinner. We had to hurry because the restaurant closed at 9:00 like many of the other restaurants in town. While we were eating one of the bartenders was mopping the floor…we ate fast! It’s a tourist town so we guess tourists eat early so they can get up early for the next day’s adventure.

The next morning, we took a hike recommended by our Airbnb host that wasn’t in the park but adjacent to it. Since we travel light, John had only one pair of comfortable but very porous shoes. This hike took us up a sandy path that was traversed periodically by a stream, which we had to wade through. Needless to say, we both got wet feet in the stream then sand covered on the path. At one point a group of scouts and their leaders caught up with us as we two “older folks” were gingerly crossing a stream trying to not get any wetter. As we watched, the scouts, many of whom were shoeless splashed through the steam with not a care. John was once a scout leader and recognized many of the scout types: the splasher, the kid walking slowly with a kazoo playing a toon, and the young kid who acted like us slow pokes, gingerly trying also to not get wet. Along the trail were many outcroppings, one of which Nancy playfully pretended to support.

Because we hadn’t seen the Double Arches on our first day in the park, our plan was to head back that afternoon after 4 PM again. Nancy had done some reading up on the park and figured out where we needed to go.

As it began to get dark, we headed back to our Airbnb and made a comfort food dinner, meatballs and pasta.

The next day we had a long ride to a small town near Bryce and Zion National Parks. We arrived in Glendale, UT in the afternoon. Our new place was a tiny house on the property (86 acres) of a nice couple. It was pretty much in the middle of nowhere!

We were told that if we wanted beer, we had to drive eight miles back and we better hurry because it was Saturday, and they were closed on Sunday. Instead, we opted to go to the local grocery store (12 miles the other direction) to get some steaks to grill for dinner. While there, Nancy asked a woman where she had found the strawberries, which were in her cart. Seems she had bought the last three containers for a dessert she was making but insisted Nancy take one of them. People we met were so pleasant and kind!

The tiny home was nice, but the VERY TINY bathroom was between the kitchen and the bedroom. There was a door between the kitchen and bathroom but only a curtain between the bathroom and bedroom. We have been together seven years now but still like our bathroom privacy and there was very little of that!  

The next day we decided to try our Arches trick and not arrive at Bryce National Park until 4 in the afternoon. Wow! The park is open 24 hours a day and it doesn’t get dark until near nine at night, so it turns out that going in the late afternoon is a great idea. We picked up a Seniors annual pass for just $20, which is good for entry into any national park for a year. Bryce Canyon has one main 18-mile road that runs north-south through the park, which we drove, stopping at many of the scenic vistas. One of the most striking features of the park are the hoodoos. Hoodoos are irregular columns of rock exist on every continent, but Bryce has the largest concentration found anywhere on Earth.

This entire corner of Utah is stunningly beautiful. We were in awe just driving anywhere in the area. Plus, when was the last time you saw a Sinclair Gas Station with the dinosaur?

Or a bar seat with a saddle as the cushion? Or a desperado or two?

Throughout the trip, Nancy had been looking for properties that met our ever-changing criteria. Basically, it’s come down to property on water (e.g., land near a lake or a floating home on a river.) While we were here, she found a home on Clearlake, California that matched our extended list of criteria. This place, located in a town called Nice (Née ce) was on the lake, had a dock, a great kitchen, three bedrooms, two and a half baths, with big windows looking out at the western sky (remember, Nancy likes a sunset view.) We both really liked the place, and it was in our price range. Nancy got in touch with the real estate agent, who turned out to be the daughter of the owners.  She told us to let her know when we wanted to see it. We got so excited that we decided to leave Bryce/Zion area a day early. So, last Monday, we left our tiny house and just drove through Zion on our next long trek across Nevada.

It’s a 12-hour drive from the Bryce/Zion area to Reno along Highway 50, known as the ‘Loneliest Highway in America.’  This road is little traveled and passes through sparsely settled land. It’s a great drive because you can cruise along at 80 without seeing another car for miles. But 12 hours was too much for us, so we split the distance and stayed overnight in Ely, Nevada at a place called Prospector Hotel and Gambling Hall. What a hoot! The interior was garishly decorated in bright pinks with all kinds of strange pictures and statues (kind of reminded us of the crazy hotel we stayed at in San Jose, Costa Rica.)

The next morning, we headed out to Reno. Though this area is really sparse, it is strangely beautiful.  As we were driving, John laughed because he had just seen a sign for a Naval Base….in the middle of this remote (and dry) desert.  Then we saw two helicopters…must have been a naval training base…who knew!

 When we reached Reno, we stayed at the same place we had a week before.  Dinner that night was at an Asian restaurant that holds a total of 32 people. We were lucky to even get a table. It was well worth it, the meal was fabulous! Everything is freshly made.  Even the dumplings we wanted took 20 minutes since they are all made when ordered. The son of the owner recommended a bottle of wine, then stopped by our table and told us about the winery where it was made.

Next day…. another 4 hours to Clearlake. Clearlake is the largest natural freshwater lake wholly within a single state, with 68 square miles of surface area. It is also one of the oldest lakes in North America. It ranges from 20 feet deep to only 60 feet at its deepest. It’s surrounded by beautiful mountains including a number of interesting wineries.

So today we went to look at the house. Since the agent (the owner’s daughter) lives three hours away, the owners met us at the door. They let us tour the house and the grounds. The house had been completely renovated and was beautiful. Plus, the outside had been professionally landscaped and included lemon, lime, apple and avocado trees along with an in ground sprinkler system. Of course, the deck facing the water was very nice.  Almost too good to be true.

 The dock needed a bit of work, but what really changed our mind was the water. We had done some research on Clearlake, and it seems that there are high concentrations of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which fuel large algal blooms and contribute to poor water quality in the lake. As a result, harmful phytoplankton known as cyanobacteriathrive here, some of which can produce toxins harmful to humans. 

John asked the owners about the algal blooms and the owners said they are mostly in the lower portion of the lake, but we had also found a state website that showed the blooms occurred in all parts of the lake and can cause anything from gastrointestinal to neurological issues. That pretty much put the kibosh on buying this property. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

The owner of our Airbnb just showed up to pick up a package and John got to talking to him. When John asked about the algal blooms, he said if you want to swim head up to Blue Lake or Lake Medicino, CA..."there you can swim, "he said." Maybe we'll head on up there.

Our next 'scheduled' stop is to visit a couple of John's friends who he met years ago on a trip to Costa Rica: Brian and Diane, they live in a beautiful community on Lake of the Pines, California. It's a really nice place with a lake stocked with smallmouth bass at the bottom of a series of hills with homes all around. It's kind of like "The Villages" without the politics.

After that we're off to visit John's grandkids (oh yea, and his sons and their beautiful spouses) before returning to the Philadelphia area and then on to Aruba for the summer.

It’s pretty much up in the air for awhile. We’ll keep you posted as we progress.

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Cheers,

Nancy and John