Tag Archives: Elks

Sunday Post 1 of 2 – Alcatraz Island Tour (Elks Lodge 522 – San Jose, CA)

2015/11/09 davidhobden@mac.com 2 Comments

Authors Note: Warning – Another great “tourist day” with lots of pictures … as a matter-of-fact I had to split Sunday up into two separate posts to accommodate all the pics. This is post 1 of 2.

We got up early (Sunday) to make sure we made it to San Francisco’s Pier 33 in time for our 10 AM ferry ride to Alcatraz. We gave ourselves a 2 -1/2 hour headstart in case we had trouble finding a parking spot. We left little “Coach” in the Coach for the day.

It was wet and drizzling by the time we completed the ~50 mile trip. We arrived with only a half hour to 45 minute cushion to board our ferry. We found a covered parking area just a block away from the pier but saw it was an outrageous $30 per day (Weekend Rate). So we drove around to find a cheaper parking lot. We found another lot that was farther away, but it was also $30 per day because we were “over-sized” per the attendant… so we went back to the first parking area and grudgingly paid the fee 🙁

We parked and made the short walk to the pier to pick up our tickets at ‘Will-Call’ that we had reserved before we left my brother’s house in Westley, CA last Thursday. The tickets for the tour were $31 per person.

I took pictures of the informational placards on the pier as we waited to board the ferry:

And here comes our ferry (below). We boarded and found a seat inside to stay dry.

Our first views of the Golden Gate Bridge. The clouds receded a bit and it quit drizzling. It looks like we got lucky for once with the weather 🙂

Our first view of “The Rock”.

Looking back at the San Francisco skyline.

Here’s a little history of Alcatraz Island that was posted on the wall in the ferry.

And here’s some info on the ferry itself that was displayed on the flat-screen TV.

We pulled into the dock and disembarked. The ferry ride was short and smooth. We were also able to get a quick breakfast onboard to help fuel our day.

Once on the island, we listened to a park ranger give us safety instructions and an introduction to the island. Then we headed over to the nearby theater for a short film.

There were several screens playing the film at the same time in order to accommodate large crowds.

Then we toured the lower part of the old fort. Learn more about that by clicking HERE.

This room (below) had information on the American Indian occupation of Alcatraz in the late ’60s to early ’70s. Click HERE for more information from Wikipedia® on that.

After touring the lower portion of the island, we walked up the walkway(s) to the main cell block building.

I have no idea what significance the old truck (below) has on the island of Alcatraz – but you know me… I just had to take a picture 🙂

View up to the main cell block building as we walked up the pathway.

The officers’ club is in need of serious repairs.

A lot of the old walkways and stairs were closed for safety reasons.

Many areas of the prison are in dire need of repairs:

View back down towards the dock (below) after we walked up the pathway to the upper levels and main cell block.

Once inside the main building we viewed the clothing and bedding issue area.

The communal showers.

And here’s where we got our headpieces and started the audio-tour (below). Follow along on our audio-tour with these silent pictures: 😉

Typical cell block with a copy of the stringent ‘Rules & Regulations’ booklet on the table.

We toured the cell blocks and listened to some of the inmates’ stories on our headphones.

We walked out into the recreation yard.

View of the Recreation Yard with Stilla in the foreground.

We took the steps back up to the cell blocks from the Recreation Yard for more audio-tour.

The infamous “D” Block – solitary confinement.

The prison library.

Cell re-creations with authentic personal items:

The Administrative area of the main cell block:

Check out the old ‘period-correct’ office equipment, i.e., phone, rolodex, typewriter, fan, etc.,

The visitation area.

Front door to the Admin area. This is where you had to go if you wanted to visit with an inmate.

Informational placard and island model in the administrative area:

Then the audio-tour talked us through the 1962 escape from Alcatraz… click HERE for more info on this infamous event.

The Anglin brothers’ cells (below).

More cell block pics:

How did she get out? 🙂

Entrance to the dining hall.

More dining hall pics:

View from dining hall window.

We finished the audio portion of the tour and headed down the stairs…

to turn in our headphones.

And of course, the exit goes through the Museum Store.

Souvenirs anyone?

We went back outside the main cell block building after getting through the gift shop and wandered around the grounds:

I think this was the old Warden’s building:

The old lighthouse.

The old parade grounds:

Walkway down to the west side gardens.

A couple nice views of the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun peeked out a few times during our time on the island. No rain at all 🙂

The stairs (below) go up to the Recreation Yard.

Another Golden Gate Bridge picture with sailboat.

Dilapidated guard tower on the corner of the Recreation Yard.

View of the old lighthouse as we came back up the path from the gardens.

I zoomed in on the San Francisco skyline from the southwest-side of the island. I thought these pics came out pretty good:

We gathered back down at the dock with the other tourists and waited for the next ferry. They run every 30 minutes.

We were herded back onto the ferry for our return trip to Pier 33.

Sign near the dock:

The island receded into the distance as we cruised back to the mainland:

Views coming back into port:

Pier 33:

After we got off the ferry, we went to check out the picture they took of us as we boarded earlier in the day. Everyone’s picture was posted in order of departure time:

We decided to buy the cheapest photo package ($20) for a 6 X 8 in a frame:

Stock photo of the dock on Alcatraz (below) was provided with our picture (above).

We were hungry after our long walking tour, so we walked into the Alcatraz Landing Cafe that was located right next to the loading area on Pier 33.

We shared our lunch with a couple pigeons that seemed to be at home on the floor of the Cafe.

Hope you enjoyed our tour of Alcatraz Island. We thought it was great! It was well worth the $31 pp fee, I just wish parking in the area was more reasonable.

After our quick lunch at Alcatraz Landing Cafe, we decided to check out some more of the area, i.e., Fort Point and the Golden Gate Bridge. Check my next post for a recap of those attractions. We also had a dinner date with my cousins and Aunt Donna later in the evening. I’ll try to get it posted asap…

California

Through the Forest & To the Beach… (Elks Lodge 522 – San Jose, CA)

2015/11/08 davidhobden@mac.com

We started out our Saturday here at the San Jose Elks Lodge by going into the lodge because we were told by the camphost (Glenn) that there was a Veterans Fair and luncheon from 11 AM to 3 PM.

I talked to a Veterans Supportive Services Agency (VSSA) representative and got an appointment for Monday to review my disability rating. This is something I’ve been meaning to do for a while now. It was nice to get this unexpected opportunity.

Then we toured the lodge and checked out the pool…

Very nice pool… too bad it’s closed for the season.

A nice lunch spread was provided for the veterans.

After we enjoyed some lunch and checked out the Veterans Fair in the lodge, we jumped into the Silverado with our little dog ‘Coach’ to make the most out of the rest of the day. My cousin Phil told us about a nice route to take towards Santa Cruz.

We went south on scenic CA-9 through the hills (or should I call them mountains?) and turned west into Big Basin Redwoods State Park on CA-236 which was basically a loop that returned us to CA-9. (see GPS pic below).

What a beautiful drive. The road through most of the State Park was very winding and narrow, we often had to stop at wide spots to let oncoming traffic pass.

We stopped briefly at the Park Headquarters:

The park website tells us that Big Basin is California’s oldest State Park, established in 1902. Home to the largest continuous stand of Ancient Coast Redwoods south of San Francisco, the park consists of Old Growth and recovering Redwood Forest, with mixed conifer, oaks, chaparral, and riparian habitats. Elevations in the park vary from sea level to over 2,000 feet. The climate ranges from foggy and damp near the ocean to sunny, warm ridge tops.

After our stop at the Park Headquarters and Visitor Center, we continued south on CA-9 until we reached the beach in Santa Cruz… just in time for the sunset.

Nice looking beach… we’ll have to come back here when we have more time. People were firing up their campfires as dusk closed in on us.

This is the Santa Cruz pier in the background (below).

And this is the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park (below). Check out the link. Looks like a lot of fun. We drove by the other side of the park later but didn’t go in… parking looked dicey and we didn’t want to pay just for a quick look.

The sign (below) near the beach access says the area is closed. Looks like the locals didn’t think so. What a difference from our time at the “no fun” beach we visited near L.A. earlier this year. I wrote about Manhattan Beach in this post.

After a quick drive by the Santa Cruz pier and amusement park, we headed back north to San Jose through heavy traffic on CA-17 where we stopped at a Korean restaurant for dinner. Another great day 🙂

Check back tomorrow for a full recap of our Alcatraz tour. We locked in a 10 AM (Sunday) tour a few days ago. Hopefully the weather stays nice. The forecast calls for rain 🙁

California

Moving Day to San Jose (Elks Lodge 522 – San Jose, CA)

2015/11/07 davidhobden@mac.com 2 Comments

We said our sad goodbyes to my brother Ronald, his wife Terry, and son James on Friday morning in Westley, CA and hit the road by noon. It was an uneventful drive to San Jose with the exception of the bumpy pothole-ridden freeways. We pulled in to the San Jose Elks Lodge about an hour and a half later.

There was only one small hiccup – at our last exit, the GPS said to turn right at the intersection and the Lodge would be on the left in a couple hundred feet. It wasn’t there! We found out (later) that the entrance to the lodge was directly across the street at the intersection after our exit. We didn’t see the lodge sign; put our trust in the GPS; and turned right. Arrgh! We had to turn around in a shopping center parking lot.

The Urban Escape Vehicle packed in at the San Jose Elks Lodge.

Once we pulled into the lodge parking lot, we saw all the rigs and started wondering if there was an empty spot. It turns out that a large portion of the parking area is also storage. I called the lodge the day before but only got a recording that said “first come – first serve” for the 28 RV spots with electric and water.

As I was walking around the lot to see if there was an open site left, the camp-host walked up to help us out. What a nice guy… and very talkative too 🙂 I think he told us his name was Glenn. He directed us to the last 50 Amp spot that was open. It turns out that there was a 30 Amp spot on the back side of the row too. So, I guess we were lucky. The only problem is that they don’t have a dump station on site. We should have dumped on the way here, but wrongly assumed that the lodge would at least have one dump station. Oh well; Glenn gave us very detailed directions to a nearby dump station, and after another 10-15 minutes of conversation, we disconnected the Silverado, parked it in our new site, and drove over to the dump station to take care of the dirty deed. We only got lost one more time. 🙂

When we returned to the lodge, the camphost Glenn was there again to direct us into our site and then he waited to supervise our hooking up the electric and water to make sure everything was alright. Nice guy 🙂

We paid $110 for 5 nights ($22 per night) by putting a check into an envelope that is available at a pay station alongside the RV parking lot.

Sign in front of Elks Lodge 522 (San Jose). Notice that the exit from the freeway (on the right) is directly across from the entrance to the lodge (behind the sign).

Shortly after we got set up, my cousin Phil texted that he was on his way home from work and would stop by if that was OK. Of course, that was OK 🙂 We haven’t seen Phil since our campout together at Lake Tahoe in July of last year. This was before I was doing the blog, so unfortunately, I can’t paste a link here like I usually do.

Anyway, it was great to catch up with my cousin Phil – albeit briefly. He had previous plans to go camping with his son this weekend so we won’t see him again until Sunday. We hope to get together again then for dinner. His sister, (my other cousin), Beth and her family are also here in San Jose, so hopefully we can all get together with them as well.

Second row of RV sites (behind our row) at the San Jose Elks Lodge.

Vehicles in storage at the San Jose Elks Lodge.

Someone here at the lodge parking lot put out food for all the stray cats.

After Phil left, it was getting dark and we hadn’t eaten yet. So we jumped in the Silverado and headed around the corner to find a small Greek restaurant. There was also a hair stylist next door, so Stilla jumped at the opportunity to get a quick hair cut while we waited for our food.

Good haircut, good food! We relaxed in the Coach for the rest of the evening because we didn’t see much activity (very few cars) at the lodge. Maybe we’ll go inside tomorrow (Saturday).

The only firm plans we have right now are for a tour of Alcatraz. We got on the website yesterday and found out the tours fill up quickly, so we reserved a tour for this upcoming Sunday. I’ll let you know how that goes with lots of pictures… meanwhile, there’s lots of other things to see and do here. Cousin Phil gave us some tips, so stay tuned 🙂

Nevada, Utah

Yay! William and Jasmine are Here! (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/23 davidhobden@mac.com 2 Comments

We left the Elks Lodge in Saint George Utah a little later than expected on Thursday. But it was for a good reason… we heard through Facebook that good friends Orman and Susie Claxton were coming through town on their way back home to Gold Canyon AZ. We know Orman and Susie through the Alpine Coach Association and have met up with them a couple of times in our travels., e.g., Hwy-101 (Tillamook, OR); the FMCA Rally (Redmond, OR); and most recently in Yellowstone. Orman is a factory trained and certified Aqua-Hot technician… he serviced ours in Quartzsite earlier this year (link HERE).

The Urban Escape Vehicle at the Saint George UT Elks Lodge.

We waited a little after noon-time for Orman & Suzie to arrive at the Elks Lodge.

Orman & Suzie Claxton roll into the Saint George Elks Lodge.

Orman’s new truck.

We went inside the lodge to get them checked in and found out the lodge had hot dogs and sliders at a buffet table for donations.

After catching up with Orman & Suzie, we headed on down to Las Vegas. Safe travels Orman & Suzie! See you in Quartzsite next year 🙂

After an uneventful 120-mile drive and a quick fuel stop, we checked in at the Main Street Station RV Park in North Las Vegas. We’re packed in like sardines here, but it’s only $19 per night for 50 Amp full hook-ups and only a block or two from Fremont Street.

Our son William and his girlfriend Jasmine arrived around 8 PM after their 2-day road trip from Colorado Springs. They drove through 4-corners and spent the night in Blanding, UT. Then they visited Goosenecks State Park, Monument Valley, and then drove to Lake Powell (Page, AZ) where we just were for the Alpine Coach Rally. They visited Antelope Canyon and Glen Canyon Dam before driving through to Las Vegas.

After Will & Jasmine got refreshed from their long travel day(s), we walked over to Fremont Street.

It was a late night. We gave Will & Jasmine our bed and pulled out the couch for us. They’ll stay here in the Coach with us until Sunday. Then they’ll share a hotel room with our daughter Joleen and her boyfriend Dylan over at Treasure Island until the 29th.

Here’s a picture of our spot at the RV Park this morning (Friday):

Urban Escape Vehicle packed in at the Main Street Station RV Park. (Will & Jasmine’s rental car is parked next to the SIlverado)

View of the Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hotel from the RV Park.

Stay tuned… we’re looking forward to spending time with William & Jasmine while checking out all the sights here in LV 🙂

Utah

Hiking the Red Cliffs (Elks Lodge (Dixie) 1743 – Saint George, UT)

2015/10/22 davidhobden@mac.com

We’ve been at the Saint George Elks Lodge for 4 nights now. I took a break from the blog yesterday because there wasn’t much going on to write about unless you want to hear about me waxing the Coach and running around town to find parts.

I’m trying to get my break-away switch installed on the SIlverado. A break-away switch is the last line of defense to activate the brakes on the truck if the tow bar, safety cables, and the mounting plate safety cables all broke while towing. This is of course highly unlikely – but it is required by law in many states. I bought a (used) brake-buddy classic from a gentleman on the Escapees (For Sale) website three or four years ago. I got a pretty good deal but it didn’t come with the break-away switch, so I ordered a switch online and have been carrying it around with us all this time. Now I just have to mount it on the front of the Silverado somewhere; extend the electrical wires to feed through the firewall into the cab somehow; and put appropriate ‘bullet’ connectors on the ends that fit into the brake-buddy that sits on the drivers-side floorboard when we’re towing it. Click HERE for a picture. Check back later to see if I get all this accomplished 🙂

On Wednesday, we took a little hike and then enjoyed steak night at the lodge before turning in for the evening.

We started off at this parking lot (below) just around the corner from the Elks Lodge next to Utah-18 and N Snow Canyon Pkwy.

Bicyclists on the ridge (below).

The scenery turned from red sandstone to lava rock at some points.

Little Coach poses for a pic.

We didn’t keep track of how far we hiked and simply turned around and headed back once we got tired.

After our little hike, we drove along the Red Hills Pkwy which skirts downtown on the north side. Here’s some scenic pull-out views of downtown Saint George, UT:

In the evening, we went into the lodge for steak night. The food was OK, but the experience was a little frustrating because we were first-timers and didn’t know the routine. First, we weren’t sure if we were supposed to sit down in the dining room or wait to be seated because there were a few people standing at the entrance to the dining area and there were slips of paper with the menu items listed at the counter. Finally, someone told us that you’re supposed to find a seat, reserve it by putting a jacket, hat or something at it and then come back to stand in line to give the girl your order. You can fill out the paper menu or give your order verbally. After a long wait in line, we ordered and paid for the ‘surf-n-turf’ which was salmon and a steak. We also ordered an extra salad bar. Then we sat down at our table which had a number on it and waited until someone came by and gave us a ticket. We were told to take the ticket outside to a covered patio where they had several grills fired up. We presented our ticket and got our food. And, oh by-the-way, we finally got an extra plate for the salad bar. The salad bar was rather disappointing… sure they had salad and baked potatoes with a few different dressings, but that was it. No croutons, bacon-bits, cheese, chives or anything other than butter and sour cream. Hardly made a baked potato worth it. At least we had salt & pepper at the table 🙂 Oh well, the surf-n-turf was only $13 and the salad bar $6 or so.

Anyway, enough of that… we’ll head on down to Las Vegas later today (Thursday) and wait for our son William and his girlfriend Jasmine to arrive in their rental car from Colorado Springs. I’ll keep you posted 🙂

Utah

Go outside and play :) (Elks Lodge (Dixie) 1743 – Saint George, UT)

2015/10/21 davidhobden@mac.com 2 Comments

No blog post today… Go outside and play 🙂

Utah

Shopping & New Friends (Elks Lodge (Dixie) 1743 – Saint George, UT)

2015/10/20 davidhobden@mac.com

After a night of rainstorms, we finally got through a whole day (Monday) with no rain. Funny, how after all the nice weather we’ve been lucky enough to enjoy since we left Colorado; that after only a couple/few days of scattered rainstorms we’re already complaining for a change… It’s like we’ve been spoiled or something 🙂

I washed the Coach down a bit in the morning after all the rain and then we ran around the scenic town of Saint George and did a little shopping; Camping World, Home Depot, Michael’s, WalMart.

In the evening, we went into the lodge for chili-dogs & wings night and met up with a couple of the other RV’ers that had pulled into the park today. Once again, we got to enjoy meeting and talking to some new-found friends.

Here’s a few pics I snapped this early morning on Tuesday while taking little “Coach” for his walk:

Side-view of Elks Lodge 1743 (Elks Care – Elks Share)

Views of the golf course that is adjacent to the Elks Lodge.

The RV parking area:

The camp host (John) has his Alpine Coach next to the garage on the left (below). Washers and Dryers are located in the garage which Stilla already tested out for our larger loads, i.e., bedding, sheets.

Here’s Don and Fannie France’s Heavy-Duty Truck (HDT) and 5th Wheel combo (below). We met Don & Fannie inside the lodge at chili-dog/wings night. They just returned from 4 months in Alaska and are heading back to their home base in Mesa, AZ. It was nice to meet them. Safe travels Don & Fannie!

And here’s a Beaver Coach (below left) that belongs to a nice gentleman from California (sorry, didn’t catch his name) that we also spent time with inside the lodge. Once again I have to say – we get to meet the nicest folks in our travels 🙂

Tonight is Tuesday Steak Night at the lodge. We’ll stay here until the 22nd and then head on down to Las Vegas NV to meet up with family. Stay tuned…

Arizona

Prelude to the Alpine Rally (Elks Lodge 2498 – Page, AZ)

2015/10/05 davidhobden@mac.com

I started off our Sunday here at the Elks Lodge in Page, AZ with an early morning walk with our little dog “Coach” around the neighborhood.

Then I gave Stilla a ride over to the nearby Catholic church where she attended morning services while I spent the rest of the morning washing the Urban Escape Vehicle and the Silverado. Which means it will probably rain later, right?

At lunchtime, Mary Ann made some awesome chili, complete with garlic bread to share with us. Yumm! Thanks Mary Ann 🙂

Alpine owners and neighbors here at the Page Elks Lodge (Orville McGee & Mary Ann Ratliff)

After our awesome lunch, we took off in the Silverado to check out the town and stock up on groceries at the local WalMart. But first, we wanted to drive over to the Lake Powell Resort & Marina (about 10 miles) to check out the campground we’ll be moving to tomorrow for the Alpine Coach Rally. I knew from correspondence, that the hosts for the Rally, David & Nicole Guhse, were supposed to be arriving today.

Before driving into the campground, we pulled off at a scenic viewpoint and looked down on Lake Powell from above.

From the scenic viewpoint we could see our future campground in the distance at the edge of the lake (below).

We drove through the North Entrance to get to the campground. We passed by another entrance road earlier, (I assume it’s called the south entrance) just after going over the bridge by the dam. Both entrances have manned check-points to pay your fees. I was able to show my Disabled Veterans Access Pass for free entry.

We drove around the campground and checked out several of the loops. This place is huge, with 139 Full Hook Up sites and another 112 tent or self-contained RV spots. Click HERE and HERE for links.

Since we didn’t see our Alpine Coach Rally “hosts” anywhere in the campground, I gave Dave Guhse a call to see where they were at… it turned out David & Nicole were just a few miles away on their way in to the campground. So we waited at the registration office / general store and greeted them as they pulled in.

David & Nicole Guhse pulling in to the registration area at Lake Powell Resorts & Marina – Wahweap CG.

It started raining just as they pulled into the parking lot… I think David & Nicole brought the rain with them 🙂

After hugs and handshakes, and a quick stop inside the registration office, we went over to Loop C to help David & Nicole claim a spot.

David & Nicole unhooked their nice, new Ford pickup and parked their Alpine in site 26. Since Stilla and I are co-hosting this rally with David & Nicole; we discussed the layout for the upcoming Rally and decided to use site 25 for our get-togethers. Stilla and I will take site 24 when we come back with our Coach tomorrow. This way, we’ll have the empty spot between our two rigs so it will be more convenient to move breakfast items over in the mornings, cater meals, set up the EZ-up tents, tables, chairs, etc.,

With that done… we followed David & Nicole back into Page to the WalMart so we could stock up. We exited Lake Powell Resorts & Marina on the entrance road that I passed up earlier and came out near the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge.

David & Nicole Guhse in front of us in their Ford pickup going across the Glen Canyon Dam bridge.

We parted ways with David & Nicole at WalMart. Stilla and I returned to the Elks Lodge with our groceries. We brought back some Granny Apples for Mary Ann Ratliff (per her earlier request) and she made an apple pie. She delivered half the pie to our Coach just in time for dessert. It was awesome 🙂 I can’t remember a better apple pie… Thanks Mary Ann!

Today (Monday) we pack up to make the short trip over to the Wahweap Campground to get ready for the Alpine Coach Rally which officially starts on the 7th, but I’m sure we’ll have some other early arrivals. Stay tuned for Alpine fun…

PS It’s rained off and on last night… nothing too hard, just infrequent showers and now it’s raining lightly again this morning as I go to publication with this posting. We’re supposed to have nice weather again beginning Wednesday according to my iPhone weather app… just in time for the Rally 🙂

Arizona, New Mexico

Travel Day to Lake Powell & New Alpine Friends (Elks Lodge 2498 – Page, AZ)

2015/10/04 davidhobden@mac.com 1 Comment

We left the Farmington, NM Elks Lodge by 11 AM to make our way to Page, AZ for the upcoming Lake Powell Alpine Coach Rally. We made it as far as Shiprock, NM and ended up spending the next two (2) hours in traffic 🙁 Our top speed through Shiprock was 3 mph.

Screen Shot 2015-10-03 at 10.02.51 PM — 229 mile travel day from Farmington NM to Page AZ.

It seems that today was the big parade for the Northern Navajo Nation Fair which is an annual event. According to their website; “The Shiprock Northern Navajo Nation Fair is the the Oldest and Most Traditional of the Navajo Fairs. It is held each fall (1-4 October) in the Navajo Land where the Navajo people of the Four Corners come to celebrate the year’s harvest with a community celebration.”

Now, all this wouldn’t be so bad, except the nice bartender at the Farmington Elks Lodge even warned us about this event when we shared our travel plans the day before, but I figured; “How bad could it be?” And we didn’t try an alternate route. One of these days I’ll learn to listen to people 😐 Oh well, I just kept reminding myself that I was retired and that seemed to make it better 🙂

The traffic moved so slowly, that Stilla was even able to walk the dog while we rolled down the street.

Some of the local kids sold drinks to the grid-locked motorists.

Mural on the wall claiming Shiprock to be the Capital of the World.

We finally made it to the other side of town around 2 PM and were able to clear the traffic and head northwest out of town.

View of Shiprock. (Wikipedia link HERE and more Google Images HERE).

The route we took was simply awesome, with stunning views and rock formations galore. Follow along:

Here’s the view as we got closer to Page, AZ:

Lake Powell in the background (below):

When we finally pulled into Elks Lodge 2498 in Page, AZ we saw another Alpine Coach in the parking lot! Meet Orville McGee & Mary Ann Ratliff 🙂

They’ll be attending the Alpine Coach Rally as well 🙂 I took a picture of them in front of our Coaches after Stilla parked. Yup, that’s what I said – Stilla backed the Urban Escape Vehicle (UEV) into the open spot next to their Coach while I ground-guided. She did a great job! We strategically parked nose to nose so we could maximize the available space with the tight RV sites here.

Orville snapped a (rare) picture of the two of us in front of the UEV.

We got set up in our spot, you know – the usual stuff; jacks down, slides out, satellite dish up, rolled out the throw rugs, unfolded the coffee table, put out a couple lawn chairs, etc.,

Then we went into the lodge with Orville and Mary Ann. The Grand Exalted Ruler (GER) “Bill” greeted us at the door and introduced us to all the lodge members. He also presented us with a lodge pin. Pretty cool.

The lodge was having an auction and raffle. Lots of activity going on! We had a couple adult beverages. When we went back to the bar for our second drink, we found out this lodge doesn’t offer a free second drink to visiting members as is customary in most other lodges we’ve visited.

Also, The Elks website says the sites are $15 per night, but when we went to pay, we were told it’s $20 per night. And, oh by-the-way; we’re on 30 Amp, not 50 as the website touted. Oh well, at least it’s good 30 Amp power unlike our last spot at the Farmington Lodge where we had low voltage and couldn’t run one of the air conditioners.

Auction time at the Page AZ Elks Lodge. The picture the auctioneer is holding up is of Antelope Canyon (a local attraction).

Orville & Mary Ann at the Page, AZ Elks Lodge.

Here’s an early morning view of the Elks Lodge I took while walking little “Coach”:

This view (below) shows the RV parking spots next to the lodge:

And here’s our morning view from the (currently) empty spots next to us:

We’ll spend a couple nights here at the Elks Lodge and then move over (Monday) to the Lake Powell Alpine Coach Rally to the Wahweap RV Park & Campground. The Rally officially starts on Wednesday (7 Oct), but we reserved a couple days early so we can help (hosts) David & Nicole Guhse get everything set up.

Stay tuned…

PS The dash air conditioner is still working great. Thanks again Mike! And also, no more squeaks and rattles… it seems I got them all worked out (for now). I blogged about fixing the squeaks and rattles in previous posts; (HERE) and (HERE).

New Mexico

Angel Peak (Elks Lodge 1747 – Farmington, NM)

2015/10/03 davidhobden@mac.com

I said in my last post that we drove around town on Friday and then went south to check out another local scenic attraction; Angel Peak (←click link for google images).

Before we went to Angel Peak, we spent a little time running around downtown Farmington looking for an ATM that didn’t charge fees and scouting out a couple potential dump stations to use on our way out of here. We were successful on the first mission (ATM) but not on the dump station because they all seemed to be in the wrong direction and/or they were not easily accessible. We decided to wait until we get to Page, AZ to dump unless something turns up along our route. Oh, and we also stopped at Burger King for a quick lunch and we went into a local RV supply store to see what they had. I’m running low on slide-out lubricant, but the store didn’t have anything that I liked.

Angel Peak is indicated on the map (below) by the yellow arrow. The turn-off is about 15 miles south of Bloomfield on US-550. We passed this attraction on our way here from Santa Fe last Wednesday but didn’t stop.

The BLM website says the following about Angel Peak Scenic Area: Angel Peak Scenic Area, located about 30 miles southeast of Farmington, offers more than 10,000 acres of rugged terrain recognized for its scenic and scientific wonders. The nearly 7,000-foot Angel Peak, a landmark composed of river deposited sandstone from the San Jose Formation, is visible for miles in any direction. However, the banded colors of the badlands and the deep sculpted fingers of the canyon at the base of Angel Peak are only fully revealed to those who make the short journey along the rim.

It’s only a short drive off US-550 on County Road 7175 on a well-maintained gravel road to the first scenic overlook. But you have to travel another 6 miles to get to the campground.

Here’s the view(s) from one of the viewpoints about halfway to the campground:

We made it to the campground loop. Great views but, wow – was it ever windy! We’ve had great weather every day since we left Colorado Springs… so one day with gusty winds won’t make us complain too much 🙂

We stopped at most of the scenic viewpoints. But sometimes we didn’t even get out of the truck due to the high winds.

This viewpoint is called Castle Rock Overlook…

There’s even a well-placed bench on a trail that can be used to sit and ponder the meaning of life or whatever while you enjoy the scenery… But for us, it was too windy – poor little Coach might get blown away 🙁

Here’s what the Rand McNally RVND™ 7720 GPS displayed after we turned around at the campground loop and headed back out.

We drove back to the Elks Lodge. Here’s a view of the steep entrance to the Farmington Elks Lodge.

And we’re back from another day’s adventure.

We enjoyed another great dinner (filet-mignon) at the well-appointed lodge dining room and then hung out in the bar area to use the free Wi-Fi to upload and edit all the pictures for my last post. My Verizon JetPack MiFi plan is 20GB for $100 and we had used it all up this month a couple days ago. It resets again on the 2nd, but I wanted to get the post done before we headed to Lake Powell so I took advantage of the Elks free WiFi. Thanks Elks Lodge 1747!

Time to close this post out and get packed up for travel to Page, AZ. We have our eye on the Elks Lodge there which is supposed to have 5 RV spots with full hook-ups (50 Amp). Hopefully there’s still one available, we didn’t call ahead yet. Their website says they have plenty of dry camping though. Check back soon… we’re looking forward to the Alpine Coach Rally which starts on the 7th. I’ll post again from Page, AZ 🙂

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Tag Archives: Elks

Sunday Post 1 of 2 – Alcatraz Island Tour (Elks Lodge 522 – San Jose, CA)

Through the Forest & To the Beach… (Elks Lodge 522 – San Jose, CA)

Moving Day to San Jose (Elks Lodge 522 – San Jose, CA)

Yay! William and Jasmine are Here! (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

Hiking the Red Cliffs (Elks Lodge (Dixie) 1743 – Saint George, UT)

Go outside and play :) (Elks Lodge (Dixie) 1743 – Saint George, UT)

Shopping & New Friends (Elks Lodge (Dixie) 1743 – Saint George, UT)

Prelude to the Alpine Rally (Elks Lodge 2498 – Page, AZ)

Travel Day to Lake Powell & New Alpine Friends (Elks Lodge 2498 – Page, AZ)

Angel Peak (Elks Lodge 1747 – Farmington, NM)

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