Days 2 & 3 of The Last Spring Break

At 5:30 am the alarm went off and we rolled out of bed.  Linda went directly to the shower and I waited for the camper to warm up before I dragged myself out.  The showers at this KOA were actually very clean and gave you a good covering of hot water.  We took our time in the warmth, who knew when we would get another hot shower, I didn’t.

After the cleanup we packed up the gear, walked Kobi and hit the road.  I filled the truck up with fuel as Linda walked over to Jack in the Box and got us a couple breakfast croissants. We were on the road again and I looked at my watch, 7:07 am, strange very strange.  We probably won’t do that again, two days in a row, on the road at the exact time.

Our site @ Wind Whistle Campground

Our trip was uneventful until we got close to our exit for Price Utah.  The traffic came to an almost tragic standstill.  I had to hit the brakes so hard and with the camper weight we just got stopped in the nick of time.  I actually heard breaks squeal behind us, but we got her stopped.  As we chugged along we passed three separate rear end collisions.  The police were there and it looked like everyone was ok.  The backup of traffic had caused a stop wave and that is where we almost bit it.

Once the traffic cleared out we started driving again but we noticed that the truck was acting funny.  I stepped on the throttle and the diesel would lug way down with no power.  If just stepped on the gas pedal and gave normal throttle then the truck would go through its gears like normal. As we hit the next long hill leading up the pass to Price the engine ran but had no acceleration.  We turned on our safety flashers and chugged on over the top.  Once we were on the downhill everything was fine as long as I didn’t step on the gas pedal.

View South from camp.

Linda got on the phone and called the Dodge dealership in Price and they said to come on in.  We were about 20 miles out and moving just fine.  We arrived and pulled the truck into their work area.  Things were slow for them and that was good for us.  The mechanic ran the diagnostic on the diesel and everything checked out ok.  He scratched his head and then reached over to the air filter and lifted the lid.  The air filter was gone!  Well it was not where it was meant to be, it was sucked up into the top of the filter housing.  That was the problem.  It turned out that the last time I had Dave Smith change the filter; they put in the wrong aftermarket filter.  When we stepped on the throttle it sucked the filter up and clogged the air intake and shut down the turbo.  Wow, I would have never guessed that.

View North from camp.

With the problem solved I had him put a new air filter in and while he was at it I had him change the fuel filter.  I figured why not get that done and keep the truck happy.  In all the project took about an hour and we were back on the road excited that when we wanted power, we got it.

We blasted through Moab; the town was packed from the remaining participants of the national Jeep Rally.  We were glad that we were not staying there, but it made us nervous about finding a spot at the Wind Whistle Campground. It was quite a drive back there from Moab and there was no guarantee we would get a spot. 

We arrived at the campground with our fingers crossed.  To our amazement there were only four sights taken and the best one (in our opinion) was open so we grabbed it.  We set up camp and took a short dog walk before dinner and then we hit the sack, excited to get going exploring this area.  Tomorrow we will decide where we are going hike, but to tell you the truth, I could spend the entire week right here.

Day 3

Linda was up and running early and I made the coffee and tea.  Kobi and I went for a walk and we met Linda as she returned.   We walked back to camp planning the day.

Linda and Kobi @ Needles Overlook.

After breakfast we loaded up the Jeep with Kobi and water and then headed out the road to the Needles Overlook.  What a view! We could see the Colorado River and the White Rim Trail above it.  About fifteen years ago we rode our mountain bikes along the White Rim.  It was an epic trip for us. Jason Luker was the Outdoor Program Coordinator at that time and he said “it will be easy-peasey!”  Needless to say that it was quite a journey for us.  The downhill runs were wild and exhilarating and it took everything I had to do some of the ridge crossings.

Looking over the area brought back great memories and I took as many pictures as I could.  Photos just don’t do justice to the vastness of this area; you really have to see it in person.

After walking the entire area we got back in the Jeep and headed back to camp.  As we drove we passed the road to the Hatch BLM Campground and I said to Linda that we should go at it, so we did.  I turned around and headed out the nine miles to the camp.  It was a dirt road and we were slowed to about 40 mph.  Linda didn’t like the speed, but we did just fine.

Hatch Campground is not a great destination place.  It overlooks the valley and has about eight sites.  Two of them have great views, but we both agreed that if give any choice we would not travel out this far for those spots.

Once we inspected the camp, we headed back.  At the T where you got off the main road to drive to the campground was a sign pointing on down the road to the Anticline Overlook.  I had read a little about this spot and I said “since we’re here, and we may never pass this way again.” We turned right and drove the nine miles out to the Anticline Overlook. 

This spot has more great vistas that include the Colorado River and some of the Pot Ash area. Pot Ash is just down river from Moab and as it indicates there is a big Pot Ash production plant next to the river. I once again took a batch of photos and once finished we loaded up and drove back to our camp at Wind Whistle.

We rested up by taking naps in the sun and then we went for a hike to explore around our camp area.  We walked over to the far cliff faces and then followed the stream bed back to our camp site. 

At about 4:30 pm we received a txt message that Darren and Marcy were on their way and would be to Wind Whistle if a couple of hours. That was a big surprise and we made sure the site next to us was reserved for them.

Darren and Marcy arrived and set up their trailer next to us.  We played a game of Qwirkel and talked.  We went to bed early so we could get an early start the next morning. Our plan was to drive back into Moab and look around.  The weather looked like it was not going to be the best and so it would be a good day to get some things at the store. 



View from the Anticline Overlook.

Our drive in was uneventful, we looked around a bit and decided that there was a bigger crowd then we wanted to deal with so we went to the store for our provisions.  As Linda shopped I uploaded the blog and photos to the web.  Once that was done and Linda was back we were out of that place.  Nice place to visit but…

We drove home and made plans for the next day. Once home we went on a walk behind our camp site.  The area is much bigger than we expected and once we got into the wash we wound around the entire basin.  It was just enough to get us hungry and tired.