In 2020, amidst all of the COVID-19 craziness, the Veterans Association of North County* (VANC) held their Inaugural Golf Tournament. I (Kim) was a part of that committee. Before the golf tournament, our family had been discussing a move out of California. I committed to Lori, the Executive Director of VANC, to remain on the golf committee and come back each month for meetings. Since I committed to the golf tournament, Lori planned all of our meetings for the second Thursday of each month. That way, I could also help with the food distribution on the second Friday.
4:00 AM – Meet a retired Colonel who can get us on Camp Pendleton for our golf tournament set-up
When we decided to live and travel in an RV, my commitment became a little more involved. Ok. Maybe a lot more involved. Either I would have to fly from wherever we were, OR the entire family would travel back to Oceanside, CA, each month for my volunteer commitments. Each month we all travel in our home back to Oceanside for the second week. Which has really limited our travels. There was only one month I had to fly back to California. Check out the blog post titled ____________ to find out why.
Registration table at the golf tournament
The golf tournament was incredibly successful on October 22, 2021. We raised over $40,000 for VANC. That was going to be my end commitment date, but things changed. When Lori mentioned the food distribution would end in December 2021, I committed to the last two food distributions. Tom and I ran the front gate since the first food distribution in April 2020; I wanted to see it out.
Front Gate at the VANC Food Distribution
*VANC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created and operated by Veterans as a one-stop resource center for all active-duty military, Veterans, and their families. We centralize services from diverse agencies to assist with jobs, education, finances, health, and wellness.
We started in Carlsbad, CA, at 2:50 PM on Thursday, January 14, 2021. We planned to drive straight through to Denver to drop off the dog with the adult children who lived there. Because we were moving into an RV we hadn’t yet purchased, we knew some hotels would be involved, and hotel living is much easier without a dog. And a lot easier on the dog. Coco, the dog, is in her 11th year, and old enough that she lived with the adult children in the house years ago, so she knew them. Somewhere between Carlsbad, CA, and Barstow, CA, we’d changed our minds and were going to take the scenic route. To take the scenic route, it needed to be light out. I booked the St George Inn and Suites for the night to take advantage of Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park on our way out the following day.
Zion National Park
After grabbing breakfast, by the time we arrived at the scenic drive of Zion, it was closed because they were at capacity. We still got to enjoy the beauty of the rocks at Zion and the Zion-Mt Carmel tunnel, which is such a cool tunnel if you’ve never experienced it. Cars and trucks are ok. Bigger RVs would need to get a permit, and they would close the tunnel so it can travel down the middle where the tunnel is at its tallest. One thing I found interesting, there are no pedestrians in the tunnel, but you may hitchhike through the tunnel. In case you need to do that. Next, we dipped down into Bryce Canyon National Park and experienced some of that park from the pull-offs. In the middle of January, it can get downright chilly with the wind blowing. I have Southern California girl blood at this point, and anything below 70 degrees is cold. We weren’t too disappointed with not spending much time in either park. We’d hiked both parks in August 2019 when we took a road trip to twelve parks/monuments in twelve days.
Bryce Canyon National Park
After a drive-by at both Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, I booked, and we headed for the OYO Hotel in Hanksville, UT. As we pulled into the parking lot, we were lamenting how it felt like we were pulling into a horror movie. The parking lot was dark, and so was the one-story motel beyond it. The OYO sign was the only thing lit. As our lights swept the parking lot, they came upon a large piece of plywood with the word Office spray-painted on it, with an arrow pointing at a motel room door. As we parked, a man exited the room next to the office and entered the office. We were ready to bolt but went in to check it out. It was definitely a room turned into a makeshift office. He had a dresser just inside the door with two upside-down bar stools on top. Atop the barstool legs was another piece of plywood holding the office computer. He told us he had just purchased the place and was working on fixing it up. When asked about our travel plans, we explained the adventure we were on, and he said he’d offer us the Bounder he was working on fixing up, but it was probably a little too Breaking Bad for us. It needed more work than we were willing to put in. Our room was newly remodeled and clean. We were only there overnight and had a nice stay.
Hanksville, UT
After waking up and seeing the place in the light, we decided it wasn’t so creepy, and away we went. We came upon a scenic turn-off, and of course, we had to see what magic it held. We were the only souls we saw, and the view was spectacular. The silence wrapped its arms around you in a calming peace. We saw shiny circular things and a long runway looking something below in the distance. Even trying to zoom in with the camera didn’t help us distinguish what it all was. A little farther into our journey, we came upon what we had seen from above. Hite Campground with round picnic tables and a boat ramp. A campground that used to exist on the shore of Lake Powell. There was no water in sight.
Hite Campground – Hite, UT
Our journey had us passing Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, so we swung in for a few scenic view-point stops and not much else. There was snow and ice on the ground, it was cold, plus we had the dog and National Parks are not very dog friendly. As the sun was setting, we traveled through Curecanti National Recreation Area, where we saw ice-fishing huts out on the lake. Hopefully, they were catching fish. We lay our heads on pillows in Gunnison, CO, for the night before continuing to Denver.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Ice Huts on the lake at Curecanti National Recreation Area
Keeping with our back roads theme, we traveled two-lane highways from Gunnison to Denver. We traveled through Woodland Park, where the Hayman Fire area is starting to regenerate and grow again, creating its own type of beauty. The dirt road from Deckers, CO, to Sedalia, CO, had just as many great views as it has always had. If you have never driven through this part of Colorado, we highly recommend you do. We avoided I-25 the entire way into Denver and traveled along Santa Fe for a less chaotic experience.
