Sanitation Rant #2

A while back, I don't remember when, I wrote a post or two on campground etiquette and how to stay healthy through proper sanitation procedures.

Now I don't want to get on a soapbox and I don't want this to be a lecture on proper RVing, but I have to get a few things off my chest!

When we go to Moab and Las Vegas, and even in Holbrook, Arizona, we see a LOT of RV rentals. Many are foreigners who are traveling the National Park circuit or just wanting to see the beauty of the United States.

Not all of these renters are foreigners though. And they all need about an hour course in:

1. RV Safety (and health safety)
2. Proper sanitation and waste handling procedures
3. Good ole RV etiquette!

I won't repeat the horror stories I've written about previously. Just scroll down and you'll find them. But, one of the biggest things I would like to see is good old respect. I've seen Bob Livingston write about this also. Do NOT walk through other people's campsites. Stay on the road. And please don't think I'd love to have your pooch leave me a gift on my postage stamp of a yard. When my dogs do something I have bags with me and I DO use them to pick up poop. P-l-e-a-s-e!

When we were at the Las Vegas KOA at Circus Circus last week, we had an upgraded site with a corner lot, grass, and a patio set. Jack & Jesse loved the grass! On our last morning, a renter couple decided they liked our upgraded site and brought over their coffee, cigarettes, and road map. They proceeded to plop down and make themselves at home, planning their next leg of their trip. We were parked right next to it and yes they did know we were home.

Excuse me, but this is our upgraded site. It does cost more money. If they wanted the patio site, all they had to do was to pay the upgrade charge and get one. I guess I was raised in a different era. My parents pounded it into me that we did not do things like that. Ever!

I saw something today that I had to marvel at (and I've seen this a lot with the renters which is why I think they need a course).

Picture this... the guy puts on his rubber gloves (not disposable, but hey, better than nothing) and proceeds to empty his sewer hose. Okay so far. Then he puts that hose on the ground with water dribbling out of it. Come on fella, someone will pull into that sight after you and step in that & not know it and track it in his rig. See where I'm going here???

Okay, so now he turns off his fresh, drinking water hose and unhooks it. He's still wearing the same gloves he just handled his sewage hose with. GROSS!!!

Next he puts the water hose away (at least he did not rinse his sewer hose with it... I've seen that more times than I want to say) and he's still wearing the nasty gloves and touching everything in sight.

Finally he takes the gloves off. He does this just in time to roll up the sewer hose and put it away... bare-handed. Then he wipes his hands on his jeans, grabs the door to enter his RV, puts his hands on the steering wheel and starts the engine.

That's why I get Bob disposable gloves. He handles the fresh water first--ALWAYS! And he always, always sprays Lysol on the water handle and all around the opening. You just never know what the person before you did.

In Utah, they are now cracking down on these sanitation issues. Backflow preventers have been installed. The police come through parks and if they see leaking or unsealed sewer hoses (ones not secured with a donut ring or screwed down into the outlet) they will issue tickets. And it is now against the law to use the fresh water faucet to rinse your sewer hose. Hallelujah!!!

So, in my opinion and in the interest of health safety, a quick, simple, yet thorough one-hour course would be a very good idea for RV rental customers.

Okay, I'll try not to get on this subject again... at least not for a long time anyway :-)

Till next time (and I will write more about the La Sals),

Happy Trails!

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!

From Rock Crawling to Mountain Climbing

We always have so much fun in Moab, Utah. This year is no exception. If you'll look at my post from October 3, 2010 you'll learn about our death-defying, rock-crawling adventure with Dan Mick in his Hemi-powered Jeep.

Every year I'm absolutely fascinated with my mountains... the La Sal Mountains that majestically overlook the Moab valley. I've always wanted to go and see them up close & personal... to explore them and marvel at their beauty. It's the second highest mountain range in Utah with six peaks over 12,000 feet. And the entire range is only 15 miles long by 6 miles wide. It is indeed small but mighty!

We knew we'd be taking another trip with Dan Mick again this year so when we got to town we called him and asked if he did Jeep tours of the La Sals? He did. Oh boy--were we in luck!

All aboard! Vicky getting into Dan's Jeep.

Bob next to Dan's Jeep.

We set a time for one week later and prayed the weather would hold. You see, Moab has been very wet this year. I couldn't believe all the green vegetation springing out of the slick rock and red rock surfaces when we arrived. This normally arid, high desert (about 4,000+ ft elevation) area was suddenly lush and actually had some humidity (not to rival Texas though).

Three days before our trip the La Sals were completely socked in with ominous clouds. I couldn't tell if it was snowing or just raining but it was dark up there. I just knew we were going to get soaked on our Jeep tour. Or worse yet, the trip would be cancelled. :-(

Mountain Man Dan Mick overlooking Castle Valley--it's about a 1000 ft drop--be careful Dan!!!

Our day came and the sun came out like a great big smile. It was a perfect day for our adventure! When we got underway, Dan said we'd take Scenic Route 128 to Onion Creek Road. As soon as we turned off 128 I knew this was no trip for our Saturn Vue :-)

The "Finger" spire.

The red rock scenery along Onion Creek.

With all the rain over the last three days, the washes we were driving through were wet enough that the tires kept kicking up red mud. Since I was sitting in the back seat with no cover behind my seat I was the depository for said mud. But, with the view we were getting it was a small price to pay!

The red rock formations along Onion Creek Road.

Bob & Dan chatting with a man & his boys as they fish in Hidden Lake. One of the many pristine lakes tucked up in the La Sals.

We were next to Castle Rock and the Priest & Nuns. We saw Round Mountain, which is about 6075 feet and is loaded with nickel. The scenery is so unique at every turn. Red rock canyons, slick rock, sandstone arches, mesas, spires, and then the Aspen forests. We went on this trip with Dan on September 12th. The Aspens were still pretty green.

Did you know that the Aspens are not individual trees at all? An aspen grove starts as suckers shoot off the roots of a mother tree. No wonder they are so close together! They are long and straight as they all fight for their share of sunshine.

Just past the trees is Paradox Valley, Colorado. Very faintly you can see Telluride in the background. It's pretty hazy though.

There are no guardrails on these back country trails. Heck, sometimes I had a hard time seeing the road when I looked down from my perch in the back of the Jeep. As we climbed on barely distinguished trails, the view became even more breathtaking. We got an awesome view of the Paradox Valley in Colorado since we could see for miles.

We could even see Telluride in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado!

As we made our way up to the mountains, we drove (or should I say slid sideways) through a road called Taylor Flats. This road is always a wet pit and with this year and the last three days in particular, it was extremely bad. When we got through I had mud all over me, my camera bag, seat, you name it! But it was worth it. Only one problem, there are cattle up there too and some of that mud was mixed with... well you get the idea. YUCK!

Finally, we got to Geyser Pass so we could cross the mountains (the saddle between Haystack Mountain & Mt. Mellenthin). Remember when I told you that three days before our adventure the mountains were socked in with a weather system? Well...

As we were entering Geyser pass, at 10,528 elevation, Dan did a double take. He saw snow! It was several weeks too early for snow. So we all piled out of the Jeep to take a closer look. To our surprise, it was pea-sized hail! Hail yes!!! (Sorry, got carried away.)

Bob & Dan playing in the hail. They formed snowballs and through them at me & hit me!

Bob holding a handful of the hail. We don't see this often in Texas!

Just as we got over Geyser Pass, we took another road, can't begin to tell you what it was, and BELIEVE IT OR NOT we met some people we knew. What were the odds since we only come once a year for a few weeks!

We stayed at the Moab KOA first (of our three parks). One of the workampers was named Brad and for the life of me I cannot remember his lovely wife's name. But they were great people. Anyway, we were going along the road and noticed a couple having a wiener roast about 100 yards away. How nice... they were waving at us. Then they were jumping up and down and waving us to come over???

Brad's wife is wrapped in a blanket because it's cool and when she opened the mustard it sprayed all over her at this elevation. Dan & Bob are cooking hot dogs.

We were all on the lookout for bears. They can smell this food for miles!

It was Brad and his wife having a wiener roast complete with marshmallows. It just so happens we were all just remarking how good a wiener roast sounded and voila... here it was. They had plenty of food left so we all got our loaded forks in the fire and feasted on roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. We shared our Rice Krispie treats we had in our backpack.

In our travels, we are often struck by how small the world can be. This was one of those moments. Who knew we'd meet people we knew way up here on these remote trails. Yes, Brad and his wife drive a Jeep too... that's why they could be up there. Moab is Jeep haven!

On the way back we took Sand Flats Road and stopped by a great lookout place. It was where Curly (Jack Palance) and Billy Crystal camped out one night in the movie City Slickers II. Speaking of camping out, remember on my last post about the burned cans on the trail and that they are considered artifacts from the old wagon train & cattle drive days... we saw some of those artifacts on the mountain trip also.

In the weeks remaining in our trip, we took two more trips into the La Sals on our own. We had to stay pretty close to the La Sal Mountain Loop Road because our Saturn Vue does not have the clearance or the kahunas a tripped out Jeep has.

I'll tell you more about these trips in my next post!

Till next time...

Happy Trails!

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!

Riding a bicycle is not the only thing you never forget how to do!

We're in Moab, Utah and as usual, we're having a blast. Recently we decided to go on a horseback ride. The riding trail skirts the Arches National Park and 7-Mile Canyon.

I'm getting ready to get on top of Elliott.

Bob is getting to know his horse Sam.

Our little wagonmaster was Audry. She was a jolly young lady and put our fears and reservations at ease immediately. I remember thinking, as we were walking up to the horses... Gee, I don't remember them being that big!

Fortunately, these horses were gelded males and were 17-20 years old. So they were very tame and easy-going.

When I was a kid we had an Arabian horse named Saru. He was MEAN. He'd try to bite you while you were on top and he was forever trying to throw his riders off. The older he got the more successful he became in this feat. We finally had to sell him because he was so high spirited.

Hence my trepidation at my decision to ride a horse again. But these horses were entirely different from Saru.

And you know you've gotten older when you need to use a stool to get in the saddle. That sure is a long way up! So once we were perched safely in our saddles, we were off on our nose-to-tail, 2-hour trailride. As our horses trod over the slick rock valley, it was a little unnerving to hear the sound of horse-hooves stepping on hollow rock. You see, many of the rock formations used to be full of salt. That's when these rocks were actually part of a seabed. Now these rocks are not even close to any sea and are empty of the salt. So when the horses walk across them they sound hollow. I kept praying we would not find a weak one and fall down to China... think I watch too much TV!

One thing I particularly enjoyed was the familiarity of rocking in the saddle. It was oddly comforting that something I had not done for more years than I care to admit was so familiar that I felt that I had done it just last week. I'd forgotten just how much I enjoyed riding horses. (Tame ones that is...)

My poor, dear husband, Bob, was a real trooper. He has a stenosis in his back so this was a new adventure in PAIN for him. Plus, his horse had a voracious appetite so Bob was always having to pull his head up. It's amazing what these creatures can find to eat in the desert.

Did you know trash can eventually be known as an "artifact?" It's true. Along the trail Audry pointed out burned cans half buried in the ground. These were leftovers from the old cattle drives. I can't imagine how those guys did what they did in that rugged countryside. We were warned that it is against the law to pick these artifacts up. Note to self--look up that law. Hehehe!

At the end of two hours on the trail, Bob and I had a real fear... how were we going to move our legs and get down off these creatures? I just knew my legs would never be straight again and I could not feel several of my toes.

I bit the bullet, so to speak, and threw one leg in the air, brought it down and thankfully found the ground. To my surprise, I could actually still walk. Poor Bob on the other hand, with his stenosis, could hardly tumble off even with the stool to aid him. Thank you Bob for joining me and humoring my adventurous nature... even when it causes you pain.


Audry up front on Pickles, followed by Me & Elliott

Just like the old saying, "It's like riding a bike, you never forget how." This applies to riding horses as well. When we were finished, we gave Audry a big tip and told her how great she had been to keep us safe and entertained. Her response, "I don't get to say this very often, but I really had fun with you two today. And that's rare!"

Nuff said! Thank you Audry.

Till next time,

Happy Trails!

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!