Thursday morning dawned sunny and windy. Bob and I made it up by 6:00 and were ready to leave the park by 7:30. After dumping grey and black water, filling fresh water, and hooking up the car, we were on the road by 7:55. We knew we would have to arrive at Arches National Park early to get one of the non-reservable campsites.
We made it to I-70 without much delay, but then the wind started. We could feel the rv sway occasionally and we could hear the whistle of the wind all around us. We stopped in Green River to fill the rv tank even though we weren't down more than 1/4 of a tank. With gas prices rising daily, we top off the tank whenever we see gas at a lower price than we expect.
We continued on to Arches and pulled in the entrance between 10 and 10:30. The sign in the window at the check-in station read: "Campground Full!" We asked the ranger on duty how that could be and she happily explained to us that it was a great weekend at the national park and the antique car show was in Moab! All the sites were filled and had been filled for days! Bob was not a happy camper. He had been looking forward to camping at Devil's Garden campground for quite some time! The ranger told us the visitor center had a list of campgrounds in the area, so we went in to check it out.
We parked next to another motorhome and went in to talk to the rangers. They were very helpful and gave us a list of private and public campgrounds. We chose to pursue the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) campgrounds along the Colorado River.
The first two that took rvs were filled so we continued on along the river until we came to Big Bend BLM campground. It looked promising, but it was a cruel joke. Tenters had taken the big sites and there was nothing that would fit our rig. We drove down the last 'loop' and found it wasn't a loop at all, but a dead end! We had to unhook the CRV so Bob could turn the rv around to head back to the entrance! We were not happy campers for the second time in one day!
We stopped at the group camping site to regroup, call some private campgrounds, and eat lunch. Joyce used her cell phone to call private campgrounds and found they were full. People were coming in for the car show from all over the country. We finished lunch, rehooked the CRV to the rv and continued on the road next to the Colorado River. The wind was still howling all around us through the canyon.
We came to a campground near the Old Dewey Bridge (also BLM campground), but the wind was so bad and the river so high that we decided to keep moving. As Bob drove, Joyce searched the atlas to find a place to go. We decided on Colorado National Monument near Fruita, Colorado. We hoped the campground would have sites available since it did not take reservations.
As Joyce looked at our street atlas on computer, she noticed 2 tunnels leading to the campground. She tried several times to call the national monument to find out about the tunnels, but no one answered the phone.
As we exited Interstate 70 at Fruita, the road ended--the ramp was not paved, but was being redone by a road crew. What a mess!
We finally approached the west entrance to Colorado National Monument--HOORAY!! But wait! There was a sign that said "Clearance 10' 6"....oh no! Our rig is 11' 6" ! The entrance kiosk was empty--no ranger! We had to turn around...but wait, was there room? Bob started his u-turn around the ranger station and realized the pavement was too short! We had to unhook again, this time blocking the entrance and exit. The CRV was at a terrible angle to unhook. A man approached in a vehicle behind us and said he thought we could make it through the tunnels--we said no, our height is 11'6". He gave us directions to the east entrance and said big trucks go through that tunnel all the time. We thanked him and headed for the east entrance.
Bob drove the rv and Joyce drove the CRV. Bob pulled over in a parking lot to get in with Joyce. He didn't want to waste gas if we couldn't get into the park and had to go someplace else. We drove to the east entrance which was manned with 2 rangers! They assured us we could get through the tunnels at either entrance as the sign didn't mean total height! A bus went through last year and scraped the side, so the signs went up, confusing many people. The rangers were also kind enough to call the visitor center (near the campground) to find out if there were sites available and yes, there were!
We drove back to the parking lot, Bob drove the rv to the west entrance and Joyce followed. The reason we went to the west entrance was that the campground was only 4 miles from that entrance and 23 miles from the east entrance--and it was a curvy, narrow road.
We finally made it to the the campground and found a site. We were exhausted and frustrated. After winding down for a while, we decided to drive the 23 miles to the east entrance to check the road. It was just as curvy and white knuckle as the west entrance road, but much longer! As we made it to the entrance, we decided to eat at the restaurant where we had parked the rv! It was a Mexican restaurant (Dos Hombres) and the food was very good AND it was HAPPY HOUR! Bob and I each had one drink with dinner, then went in search of Wal-Mart to stock up for the next week. We returned through the west entrance and made it to the rv for the night. What a day!
To top it off, Bob lost his cell phone. Thanks to Beverly we were able to find it through this link:
http://www.satellite-gps-locator.com/ Bob was glad to find his cell phone! It's amazing how it works--just enter any cell phone number and it shows you on Google Earth where the phone is located! Hope it works for you, too! Maybe you could track us with it!
Tomorrow should be a better day! It couldn't be much worse!
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