Another wonderful day, this one at Bryce Canyon

Hi there,

Well, we had another wonderful day checking out the south western part of Utah on Tuesday. This time, we went to Bryce Canyon. The big surprise to the trip to Bryce canyon was the little known Red Canyon. Red Canyon is an area you travel through on your way to Bryce canyon from the Glendale area. As you travel down Utah 12 from higway 89 on your way to Bryce canyon, you come across this amazing area of red rocks and Hoodoo's that make up Red canyon. We didn't stop and check this area out until we were on our way back from Bryce canyon, 'cause we didn't want to miss out on anything about Bryce canyon. But we did check it out on the way back. The only problem was, that when we got headed back, the Red Canyon visitors center was closed. So, if you are ever out this way, be sure to check out the Red Canyon visitors center on the way to Bryce canyon.

Bryce canyon is also a national park, like Zion is, and they have a bus system that takes you in and out of Bryce canyon. We found the area very interesting. The way the rangers explained it to us is, Bryce canyon is what Zion looked like hundreds of thousands of years ago. And Zion is what the Grand Canyon looked like hundreds of thousands of years ago. Or in other words, Bryce is the child to Zion and the Grand canyon is the parent to Zion so to speak. At Bryce canyon, all three points that look out over Bryce Canyon are all beautiful in their own right, but they all look down on the same area, so it's kind of like if you have seen one view point you have seen them all. However, if you are in really great shape, we would suggest you hike one of the trails down into the Hoodoo's.

However, if your shape could use some improvement, then hike around the Hoodoo's at Red canyon as Carol and I did. I think that is why Carol and I enjoyed Red canyon so much, it's because we could get right up among the Hoodoo's without killing our selves. Both canyons however should be on your 'Must see' list!

We had our first lousy meal on the trip. We at a place called Fosters Family resturaunt. There were a number of positive reviews on Yelp for this place, but we are thinking it was employees leaving those reviews. The food was edible, but not great.

Well, today, we are off to Best Friends animal Sanctuary for a tour around this facility.

Happy camping! - Eric and Carol -

Zion National Park - in a word WOW

Hi there everyone,

Well, we have completed our first full day here, based in Glendale Utah, and today we explored Zion National park. This is one of the many Jewels of the National park system. It cost $25 per car to enter the park, and it was a bargain! We spent from 11:00 AM to 8:30 PM exploring this valley of Sand stone. In order to get around in the busy season, your only option is the shuttle buses, which is really the only way to go as there is a narrative that plays while you are riding from stop to stop to explain what you are seeing in the area.

But the show begins even before you get to the visitor center as you pass by such icon's as Checkerboard mesa which looks just like a checkerboard. Once we got to the visitors center, we checked out the gift shop and then boarded the bus for the tour. There were so many wonderful sites to see, they are too numerous to mention, but some of our favorites were the Temple of Shinawava which is the entry point to the 'Narrows'. We hiked the one mile trail into the mouth of the Narrows, but lacked the preparedness to swim up the river to the Narrows them selves.

As we rode the bus back towards the Visitors center, we stopped at the Weeping Rock. This is an amazing location where you can see water filtering out of the sand stone above. The water pools at the top of the bluff and then filters down through the sand stone and falls out of the area above us.

Our next stop was the Zion lodge. This lodge was rebuilt some years ago after it had burned to the ground because of fire. They have done a wonderful job or restoring it to it's original grandeur.

Tune in tomorrow to see where we explore next.

Happy camping! Eric and Carol

We start our trip to Utah

Hi there everyone,

We have set out on our annual vacation, this year, we are headed out to the Zion/Bryce Canyon area of Utah. This trip is to a new place that neither of us have been too before. As part of the trip, we wanted to take a route we had never been on before. So, we took US 50 from Rancho Cordova east through Carson City to Fallon Nevada when I got off work on Friday night. We made it as far as Fallon Nevada for the night. We had dinner at 'The Steakhouse' inside a casino called Stockmans. Our expectations were for a sub par meal, but we were very surprised. Carol had a wonderful chicken meal and my prime rib was the best that I have had in maybe 7 years. After dinner, we boon docked at a Walmart in Fallon.

On Saturday, before we headed off, we went into Walmart to do some shopping. We found the local dog adoption group, had set up a Kissing booth where you get a wet kiss from a dog after donating a dollar. It was a very cool set up, one that could be very productive for their fund raising efforts we are sure. Next, we continued east on US 50 through Austin and Ely Nevada. We found US 50 to be a beautiful route. It is very windy at times and had a number of steep grades to deal with, but as long as I kept an eye on the gauges, the Alegro bus did a wonderful job of handling the roads. US 50 is also known as the Lincoln Highway, we were so glad to be able to find one of the markers in Ely Nevada. Saturday night, we had dinner in Delta Utah at a little pizza place. Funny though, we didn't have pizza though. Carol had a tostada salad and I had a mushroom, onion, swiss burger. Both were excellent. After dinner, we had too long a run to Glendale, so we decided to spend the night at a KOA in Fillmore Utah. This was a great little KOA to spend the night. They are new owners and were very friendly and helpful.

On Sunday, we finished our run into Glendale Utah where we will stay at the Baurer Canyon Ranch RV park. This is a great little rustic location that is part of the Baurer Family ranch of 1500 acres. For lunch, we went to the Thunderbird Diner which was just 10 miles south of Glendale. Utah being what it is, many establishments in Utah roll up their doors on a Sunday. But we are glad that we got to have lunch at this place. The food was great. We are 3 for three on our meals so far.

We've got four full days here in the Zion/Bryce canyon area and a lot to see, but so far, we have a great start to the trip.

Happy camping! Eric and Carol!

I got a new job for 4th of July

Hi there everyone,

Well, this has been in the works since February, but I couldn't tell you until now. I've landed a new job working for the California Department of Social Services. I am so excited that I get this new opportunity. I've been with Volcano since 1999, but have wanted to move on for a while. I start my new job on the 25th of July. I found out about getting the job on Friday the 1st of July.

We got together with the family at Billy and Loretta's house in Pioneer for a bar-b-que. We had a great time hanging out with the family on Saturday night. Monday night, we went to a near-by Raileys parking lot to watch the Rancho Cordova fireworks display. The city of Rancho Cordova does it up right, but we didn't get to the event soon enough so we didn't get into the park to watch the fireworks, so we went to a Raileys that was about a mile away.

Also, I love getting my wife flowers when ever we have a few extra bucks. This week we had a couple extra bucks so I got my honey some beautiful flowers. I love my honey so very manies! :-)

We are leaving this Friday for a week long vacation to Zion national park in Utah. This is our first time to this part so we are both very excited to be heading out. Also, it may be the last time for a while before I can take a week off, since I am taking the new job. Ah, life is good.

Happy camping all! Eric and Carol

Brandons 27th birthday

Saturday the 25th of June was one of our busiest days to date. It started out with just a plan to go to a Rivercats game in the evening, but last week Loretta called and said they were having Brandson's 27th birthday party at a Pizza place in San Leandro. Also, Saturday is the day of the farmers market here in Rancho Cordova. So, being the ever intrepid full time RV'ers, we arose nice and early to go to the Farmers market. There must have been around 40 vendors there where we picked up Blue Berries, Straw Berries and apricots. All really tasty summer fruit. Yumm!

After we left the farmers market, we then went to the FedEx depot to ship the laptop off for repairs as the monitor has started to act flaky. :-( Then, we stopped at Kohls and picked up some new shoes for yours truly. We had some Kohls cash that was expiring on Saturday and we didn't want to let it get away from us. :-) After we finished with Kohls, we went over to WalMart to see if we could pick up a New printer for our rig. You see Rosie likes to walk across the printer as she makes her way from the floor to the kitchen counter and has trashed the old printer, so we needed to replace it. Now, we just gotta figure out how to protect the new printer so the safe fate doesn't happen to it. Un-fortunately, our local Warmart was out of stock on that printer. Oh well not a total wasted trip, we picked up some oatmeal for a morning snack. All this done by 11:15 AM. :-)

We then swung by the house and picked up Bill and Sandy to head out on the 2 hour trip to San Leandro for the Birthday party. With Brandon having M.D., we don't know how many more birthdays we will get to enjoy together, so we have to make the most of them! Once we arrived, I got to get a flavor of the area that Carol was raised in. It was so cool to see some of the old places that Carol went to every day as a kid, even the old grocery store.

We enjoyed Pizza with the entire Waite family. It was a great gathering, kind of like a mini-family reunion. Five of the six Waite kids were in attendance which was really great to see. We all so cherish the time we get to spend with Brandon. He is such a brave, smart and talented young man!

The pizza party was over around 4:30 and so then we headed back to Sacramento to the Rivercats game. We stopped at another Walmart along the way and picked up the new printer and then still made it to the game on time. :-) The cherry on top of this very busy day was that the 'Cats' won, 8 to 3 over the Reno Aces.

Well, that was a very busy day, but a good one none the less. Today, I'm going to pull the bumper off of the CRV and check the bolts for tightness on the tow bar. I haven't done that since we first put it on and the trip to Reno in May took us over I-80 where things were a little bumpy, so I think I'd better check it out before we head to Zion later in July!

Happy camping! - Eric and Carol -

Lovin' our new location and Benihana

Hi there everyone,

Time just always seems to be getting away from us. Our weekends, especially in the Summer Time are always seeming to be booked. Carol has been busy with a baby shower for one co-worker and a bridal shower for her boss.

We love our new location here in Rancho Cordova. This spot, we expect to be in for the foreseeable future. It is a great spot with a lot of shad and a fenced in yard. We really lucked out with this spot.

On the 11th of June, we went out to dinner with Katie and Russ at Benihana. It was a real splurge, but you gotta do that once a year or so. We all enjoyed the meal and the entertainment from the chef a lot. Carol and I always really enjoy getting together with Katie and Russ, they are just so grown up. We are so lucky to be a part of their lives. :-)

On June 19th, we got together with them again for dinner. This time for Fathers day. It was such a special outing for me. Goodness knows Katie and I have butted heads when she was growing up, but I am so lucky to be in her life as her step father. Thank you Katie and Russ for making this fathers day so very special too me. Earlier in the day, Carol was so kind as to take me to the Northern California Aerospace museum at McClellan field, an old Air Force base. I really enjoy these sorts of places and Carol does too. The only problem was Carol had gotten a bit sun-burned at the Pet-a-palooza the day before.

The Pet-a-palooza. It is a pet fair sponsored by the local CBS affiliates. We had a great time walking around with other dog owners taking in all of the vendors, listening to the music and getting our step count up. :-) They had these 'Hydration stations' where there were water bowls and small wading pools. We took Rosie to the event and we found out just how much she really likes water. Despite the water being filthy, she loves to get into the wading pools and cool off. So, later that weekend, we picked one up at our local Lowes and filled it with water at home. :-)

Happy camping! - Eric and Carol -

Carol and I have figured out that we are going to Zion and Bryce for our Vacation this year. Unfortunately, the monitor on the Laptop is poopin' out, so we are going to have to send it in for Warranty service. That may mean that we won't have it to update the blog while we are on the road. But, we will do our best to keep you posted.

Happy camping! Eric and Carol Anderson

Stanford house

Hi there everyone,

Well, we had another busy weekend. And though we never seem to get to spend as much time together as we would like, the time we did spend together was so precious to both of us. We are just so in love! :-) This weekend did get to go to the Leland Stanford mansion in Downtown Sacramento. It was a wonderful hour long tour that was very enjoyable and informative. Even though it rained this weekend, I got the Accord a bath. There was a fund raiser for a family that has a un-born baby who has reversed heart valves.The condition is only caught 15% of the time prior to birth, but their survival rate increases by 80% when the condition is caught before birth. The community support was very wonderful to see!

We've had a chance to get to know some of our neighbors now that we have moved to a new sight within the park. Their are some really wonderful folks that we have gotten to know. We continue to be very happy with our choice of our new home.

There is a white Dodge Neon that Scott and Cheryl gave us. This car is one they were going to have towed off by a non-profit 'cause the transmission was shot. After Carol and I put $2,500 into a tranny, gear shift lever, Tires, cooling system work and alignment, the car was good to go. I drove it to work for about 6 months and this week we gave it to Katie and Russ so they would have a second set of wheels. Katie and Russ just love it. The little car gets great gas mileage. We are hopeful that it will give the kids a reliable second car for a while.

Happy camping! Eric and Carol Anderson