January 2006
We arrived at the beginning of 2006 in Houston, from where we were planning our journey thru the States. We had planned to find and buy a motor home within a week or three. During that time we stayed in a rented motor home, we did not go to any campgrounds, but tried to stay as much in parking areas for the night to keep the cost down.
We used most of the month in finding a suitable motor home to buy and stock up with groceries and buy other things we needed for the rest of the year. Like buying a cell phone & bikes. But we did do some activities as well in the weekend to make things a little more pleasurable.
Galveston: On the Mexican Golf, we stayed here one of the first weekends, it was nice to go to the sea, but was way too cold to swim or sunbath. We went to see the Moody Gardens.
Brazos Bend State Park: this small state park is south of Houston, it is home to alligators. We cycled most of the park and we had very nice weather although it was in the middle of the winter. It is a busy little park, in that time of the year you need reservations which we did not have, but we were allowed to stay in the overflow campground.
Sam Houston National Forest: We went away for the weekend and ended up at this national forest, we found a campground that had Internet, and Wahid ended up internetting most of the time. The next day we visited a garage sale, but most of the stuff was junk. We did find a flee market as well and had a look down there, Wahid bought some stuff fro the motor home, also a clock that looks hideous, but was very cheap. But it just keeps falling of the wall…., never should have bought that.
We used most of the month in finding a suitable motor home to buy and stock up with groceries and buy other things we needed for the rest of the year. Like buying a cell phone & bikes. But we did do some activities as well in the weekend to make things a little more pleasurable.
Galveston: On the Mexican Golf, we stayed here one of the first weekends, it was nice to go to the sea, but was way too cold to swim or sunbath. We went to see the Moody Gardens.
Brazos Bend State Park: this small state park is south of Houston, it is home to alligators. We cycled most of the park and we had very nice weather although it was in the middle of the winter. It is a busy little park, in that time of the year you need reservations which we did not have, but we were allowed to stay in the overflow campground.
Sam Houston National Forest: We went away for the weekend and ended up at this national forest, we found a campground that had Internet, and Wahid ended up internetting most of the time. The next day we visited a garage sale, but most of the stuff was junk. We did find a flee market as well and had a look down there, Wahid bought some stuff fro the motor home, also a clock that looks hideous, but was very cheap. But it just keeps falling of the wall…., never should have bought that.
Big Bend National Park: this is one of the least visited parks in the US, just because it so much out of the way from everything. It borders Mexico with the Rio Grande; this park is excellent for hiking. Especially the Chisos Basin is very nice, but this time we did not 
go there. The road to the basin is very bendy and motor homes of certain length are not allowed there. We had our first mishap over there, the couch batteries would not charge and that left us with no power in the motor home. Which mend that we had no lights and the fridge would not work no more. So the next day we had to get a hook up to electricity for get everything started again. But getting a hook up is pretty expensive and not every park has got electricity, so we had to get that fixed a little in the journey. Hot Springs & Rio Grande River
February
go there. The road to the basin is very bendy and motor homes of certain length are not allowed there. We had our first mishap over there, the couch batteries would not charge and that left us with no power in the motor home. Which mend that we had no lights and the fridge would not work no more. So the next day we had to get a hook up to electricity for get everything started again. But getting a hook up is pretty expensive and not every park has got electricity, so we had to get that fixed a little in the journey. Hot Springs & Rio Grande RiverFebruary
Guadalupe Mountain National Park: is situated at the border with New Mexico, we have been here before and there is a lot of hiking to do. The best time to come to this park is in the fall, when the colors in the canyon change color. We hiked to Guadalupe Mountain Peak; it is the highest mountain in Texas. And at the top you have this wonderful 360 degrees view of the valley below. We also did a number of other hikes. We stayed here about 4 days, then the battery gave problems again and we had to go to Tucson.
Saguaro National Park: After spending a couple of nights in Tucson to get the motor home fixed we were ready to do some hiking and cycling again. We did a wonderful night hike, to Wasson Peak, and afterwards we had to cycle back in the dark as well on a dirt road and that was not that easy. But we made it in one piece. We also visited the Tucson Studio’s, which was a bit corny but fun nevertheless. Catalina State Park: Some people had told us that we could not miss this park on our way to Petrified Forest. It is a wonderful park for hiking and we did not spend enough time here. We wanted to do this long hike, but when we got to the Pools, we lost the trail and spend way too much time in finding the trail that we decided to go back.
Petrified Forest National Park: On the way to Holbrook, a little town, near the national park we got caught in the worst sand storm. It was pretty scary and it felt like the motor home was getting sand blasted. Petrified was one of the parks that we had never visited before. It is a small park and has not got any camping inside the park. There are a couple of nice hikes, my favorite one is the Blue Mesa; the colors of the mesa are just incredible. We saw a coyote crossing the road and he looked at the motor home for a short while and then went on his merry way. Later we drove to Gallup in New Mexico, because we wanted to go to Mesa Verde. After checking campgrounds on the Internet we changed our minds about this, because everything near that park was closed for the winter. Because of this we had to rearrange our travel schedule for the next parks as well. So we decided that a number of parks that we had scheduled for June and July we would do in February. We would visit Mesa Verde in the month of July.
Moab: This town in Utah is the center for all sorts’ activities, biking, hiking, rafting, shopping and it is also the gateway to the Canyon Lands and the Arches. It was pretty cold when we arrived and we bought a little electric heater for when we had a hook up. We went to the Brewery, we were sitting in the bar area and had something to eat. Wahid had a couple of beers, but I was not allowed to have a glass of wine, due to the drinking laws in Utah.
Capital Reef National Park: We have been in this park before, a couple of years ago. We biked to Pleasant Creek, this was over a dirt road, and the scenery was beautiful. We also did a couple of hikes: The Fremont River Trail and the Fremont Gorge Overlook. The fun thing of staying in the campground is that the deer come past twice a day. The campground is near the orchard and they tend to hang out there most of the year. It’s fun to watch them.
March
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park: This small state park is near a lake; unfortunately we were not able to rent canoes that they have there. We did the walk to the top of the mountain; along the trail we were able to see lots of petrified wood. The weather was gorgeous and in the late afternoon we were still able to sit outside enjoying the sun. And in the evening we had finally a hot shower.
Capital Reef National Park: We have been in this park before, a couple of years ago. We biked to Pleasant Creek, this was over a dirt road, and the scenery was beautiful. We also did a couple of hikes: The Fremont River Trail and the Fremont Gorge Overlook. The fun thing of staying in the campground is that the deer come past twice a day. The campground is near the orchard and they tend to hang out there most of the year. It’s fun to watch them.
March
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park: This small state park is near a lake; unfortunately we were not able to rent canoes that they have there. We did the walk to the top of the mountain; along the trail we were able to see lots of petrified wood. The weather was gorgeous and in the late afternoon we were still able to sit outside enjoying the sun. And in the evening we had finally a hot shower.
Kodachrome Basin State Park:
Wahid and I had a bit of a tiff and I went out to explore the park on my own. I biked the Panorama Trail, which was a bit tuff, because it was on a sandy trail. After that, I hiked up to the Eagles View. This is an incredibly steep trail, the park services do not recommend taking the trail, and it’s not maintained. But the view from up there is incredible ………..! Well, worth it.
The next morning we did the Grand Parade Trail and in the afternoon we biked to Chimney Rock and hiked the Sentinel Trail. For a moment we thought that we had lost the trail, and Wahid got a little upset. But luckily I have a reasonably good sense of direction and we got of the mountain OK.
The next morning we did the Grand Parade Trail and in the afternoon we biked to Chimney Rock and hiked the Sentinel Trail. For a moment we thought that we had lost the trail, and Wahid got a little upset. But luckily I have a reasonably good sense of direction and we got of the mountain OK.
Bryce Canyon National Park: This relatively small park is probably one of the most well known parks in the USA. Due to its high elevation it was pretty cold. We hiked on the first day into the canyon and did the Navajo Loop from Sunset Point. The next morning we hike up to Sunrise Point and walked to the Queens Garden and then back to Sunset Point. At this point there was some snow in the park, but not all that much; they were predicting lots of snow though. 
On the Tuesday we drove up along the scenic drive to do the Bristle cone Loop, but it was hard, there was a lot of snow there and a storm picked up. In the afternoon we went to Ruby’s and had a bite to eat there.
Wednesday was waking up in a winter wonderland; we got out straight away and were almost the first people to get to Sunrise Point. We walked into the canyon; nobody had gone into the canyon yet, so that was kind of cool to make the trail. We walked to Queens Garden again and came out of the canyon at Sunset Point. Later in the afternoon we walked the Fairyland Rim trail, we did not do the whole
hike that would have been too much. The snow was melting, but there was a very cold wind blowing. When we got back at the motor home we found out that the water pump had frozen up. Which mend no water, we had to get water from the toilets in some pots and pans.
Wednesday was waking up in a winter wonderland; we got out straight away and were almost the first people to get to Sunrise Point. We walked into the canyon; nobody had gone into the canyon yet, so that was kind of cool to make the trail. We walked to Queens Garden again and came out of the canyon at Sunset Point. Later in the afternoon we walked the Fairyland Rim trail, we did not do the whole
hike that would have been too much. The snow was melting, but there was a very cold wind blowing. When we got back at the motor home we found out that the water pump had frozen up. Which mend no water, we had to get water from the toilets in some pots and pans. On the Thursday we had planned to move out of the park and we were on our way to the Byway 89, when we started talking how nice it would be if we could see the park with a tick coat of snow. The prediction for that day was 70% change of snow, so we turned back and waited in Ruby’s. We had hot chocolate and did some internetting in the hotel lounge. But no snow came……..! Around seven o’clock in the evening it started snowing and it snowed all night. The next morning we were woken up by the plowing machine that was cleaning the 
parking lot. We quickly got up and drove back in the park. The campground was still not cleaned, but the road to Sunset Point was. We were not the first to arrive there, but we were the first to go into the canyon. We had a wonderful hike and after the hike we left the park. It is so stunning to see Bryce in the snow. The white against the red stone is something else though. Later in the morning it started snowing again and we got caught in a snowstorm all the way to Zion National Park, the drive was gorgeous, but very treasures.
parking lot. We quickly got up and drove back in the park. The campground was still not cleaned, but the road to Sunset Point was. We were not the first to arrive there, but we were the first to go into the canyon. We had a wonderful hike and after the hike we left the park. It is so stunning to see Bryce in the snow. The white against the red stone is something else though. Later in the morning it started snowing again and we got caught in a snowstorm all the way to Zion National Park, the drive was gorgeous, but very treasures.
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