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Showing posts with label Utah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Utah. Show all posts

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Have you heard of the Frugal RV Guides for boondocking?

I've spoken about Frugal RV guides in past posts as we had these four guides for our Maiden Voyage.
source Frugal RV
Since we purchased our guides they have written a California guide which had to be broken into two guides as the State was too vast to cram all the info into one guide. While purchasing these two guides the other day I noticed they had an affiliate program for recommending sales of their guides.

So please click on the link in my side bar or here:
 Click here to visit Frugal Shunpikers Guides to RV Boondocking. Half size banner Frugal Shunpiker's RV Boondocking Guides
and see what you think. If you are at all interested in boondocking in California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah or Arizona these guides will be a wealth of information and savings on camping fees. I haven't read through the California guides yet but if they are anything like the previous four they will be an amazing too!

Your purchase will benefit me but I offer it to you as an amazing resource. We have used these guides in the past. We will use them again in the future and I highly recommend them to anyone looking for wonderful bookdocking ideas as well as information on attractions, hikes etc near these boondocking areas.

Happy Travels everyone!

Don't forget to click the link to go to Frugal RV's site and learn more information about these wonderful guides. They also provide lots of other information on their site.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Boondocking near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks

We spent 3 nights on Willow Springs Rd. To get here head South on 191 from I70. Look for a small sign for Willow Springs and turn left. This road is about 1 1/2 miles BEFORE highway 313 to Canyonlands. So if you hit 313 head back, but you shouldn't miss it. There are many sites on both sides of the road. After the rain this road can get mucky so becareful.

Value 5/5
FREE

Site Quality 4/5
We had a large spot which could accomodate a few large RV's if you had a group. It was pretty much level ground. No services. Fire rings at sites.

Facility Fun 3.5/5
There were trails nearby for hiking, ATV's, mounain biking or horseback riding with a great view of Arches in the distance. (just over the hill from where we were)

Natural Surroundings 4/5
Beauiful views on all sides. A short walk from our site to see he Arches in the distance. Many sites had a view of the Arches all the time.

Bathrooms N/A

Saff N/A

Location 4/5
Only minutes from Arches National Park and very close to the turn off to Canyonlands National Park as well. About 15 minutes from downtown Moab where there is lots to do. Many trails are nearby for hiking, ATV'ing, mountain biking etc.

Overall 3.5/5
This was a great location with beautiful views with distance between neighbours but when we were here it was VERY windy. Everyone in town said the wind was abnormal but the wind howled one night so bad both Ian and I couldn't sleep. I felt like Dorothy from the Wizard of OZ and expected our railer to just float away. Too windy for a campfire too. Without the wind this site would have scored much higher. The scenery was stunning all around and so close to so much.
west of our campsite

Southwest of our campsite
View coming in from the 191 of the dirt road
Fire pit
Norh east view
The view just behind us over the hill. Mant sites had a clear view
of these Arches in the distance

Rainy Canyonlands and a day turned upside down

This morning we got up early and dropped Ian off at his rafting place and we headed to Canyonlands National Park. (admission is $10 per car but it was covered with our America the Beautiful pass)


On the way the sky got very dark and we ran into thunder, lightning and hail. We continued on not sure what to expect with the weather, as today was the only day we could go.It poured and poured and the rain blew off the hills.







And made dry rock beds, flood with small streams.


The furher we drove, the more the sky began to clear.













The girls were not interested in getting out to walk to anything in the rain so most of the photos are taken from the dry truck and they certainly don't portrait how wet it really was.

I have heard mixed reviews of this park. Some say once you see the Grand Canyon, the little canyons don't really matter. I must say I disagree. Canyonlands is very different from the Grand Canyon. It is not as big, as deep, as long, or even as grand overall but it has a smaller, more cozy feel. My favourite look off was Green River without a doubt. On a sunny day it would be absolutely amazing. I stayed for a bit, hoping the sun and the rain would create a rainbow over Green River but no such luck. It was beautiful none the less.




As we left he park the sun began to shine



and we came to a small dirt road so I turned off to ge some photos of the sun on the mountains and the glorious colour the orange sand turned. Truly beautiful!



I decided to go back to the RV and get my sunglasses since the sun was shining again and then I was going to go to the raft place to make sure Ian's trip wasn't cancelled due to the lightning. I pulled up to the trailer and the outdoor kitchen was open...

I pulled up further and the door was swung wide open. My heart leapt...we've been vandilized!!!

Luckily no we weren't. The rafting trip was cancelled and someone drove Ian to the trailer. I had his keys though so he got into an unlocked window. Note to self...make sure the windows are locked properly before leaving the trailer.

After Canyonlands we were supposed to go to the playground and outdoor pool however it was still raining in Moab so we went to The Rock Shop.


The girls are really into rocks lately so we got a book on rock types and another on fossils. The power went off in the store so it was hard to see but this little store is packed full with rocks, meteors, fossils and much more. A very interesting store for sure.

Since it was sill raining we headed back to the trailer and on the way we stopped at his big sand dune right across from Arches National Park. The sand was still wet but it wasn't raining here (10 minutes from town where it was pouring!) so they ventured up he hill as far as hey dared go.






We then wen back to he trailer, had lunch and a nap. When we woke up we went back to the park and yes it was dry. The girls had a blast playing and making friends.





Sierra with her new friends Jack and George
There was a really neat indoor/outdoor pool there that Sierra really wanted to go in...maybe next time as we leave in the morning.

So even though the rain turned our day upside down and we couldn't do everything we wanted to, we managed to have fun anyway. The rafting being cancelled was a disappointment but I am sure that somewhere on this trip Ian will find a place to go...and if not...we have some great rafting at home.

Tomorrow we head out to Mesa Verde but before signing off I want to answer a question for a follower. They asked about our internet connection and how I post so many pictures. I thought I would post it here incase anyone else is wondering.

We bought a device from Millenicom. (click their name to go to their website)
We got the:
Advanced Plan $59.99 per month
The advanced Millenicom Mobile Wireless Broadband account is a 20 gigabyte usage cap service for $59.99/month. It requires the purchase of the mobile broadband device for $99.99 and you do not need to return the device when you close your account. There is a one-time set up fee of $49.99 and a $15.00 shipping fee to get the account started.
 
(We received a promotion which gave us the device for FREE and didn't have to pay for the device as mentioned above. No sure how long that is or was on for.)

Key Features
  • 20 Gigabyte Data
  • Novatel U760 Device
  • No Contract or Taxes


We can only use it in the States as to use it in Canada is VERY exspensive. It has NO contract and we can start it and stop it whenever we like with NO fees. So we will use it in the States and cancel it when we cross back into Canada to go to Nova Scotia and Ontario, then start it back up again when we return to the States. I keep asking Ian if we will go over with the pictures but he assures me 20GB is alot so I will keep adding pictures until we get billed otherwise.

FYI they have problems shipping to Canada sometimes and our original one, after 2 weeks still hadn't arrived and we needed to leave so we called them and they shipped another one to us in Las Vegas when we were there and it arrived in about 6 days. When we get home we will return one of them.

Also the plan we got works on Verizon cell phone towers and our coverage has been great. We get the occasional boondocking spot in the middle of no where and get only one bar but generally it has had good reception and fast service. They do have an unlimted plan for $70 a month but that plan runs on Sprint which has way less coverage so beware of a plan that sounds too good to be true.

Right after we signed up for this I saw THIS POST (click on it) which has another option. When I asked the Bayfield Bunch what they use (as they post many wonderful picures...go check them out if you haven't already)...they recommended the Mifi as well. So if you are on the hunt for internet there are a couple of options.