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Exploring Southern Utah, Engine Problems and Thanksgiving
After my fun times near Zion, I decided to head back to Albuquerque to spend Thanksgiving with friends.
Before leaving Utah, I stopped at a trail I had looked at hiking many times but never stopped in the past. Usually when I was in the area, it was way too hot to hike an open desert trail. But this time it was the perfect temperature for a nice long morning hike. The trail is called Toadstool Hoodoos and is between Kanab, Utah, and Page, Arizona. It’s literally right off the highway.
As usual with Maddie on a hike, she has to find a stick to carry around. Isn’t she getting big!?!
The trail starts off following a wash that slowly turns into an arroyo. Once you’re at the end of the arroyo, you climb up and see the next valley. This is where the main hoodoo is located.
Here’s the Toadstool Hoodo nestled in its valley.
Of course, I had to hike right up to the hoodoo. It’s actually quite large. I loved how the hoodoo was made of red sandstone while the surrounding terrain was made up of white tuft. The tuft is way softer than sandstone, so it erodes much more quickly than the sandstone. It’s amazing how nature’s elements can create such beauty with just wind and water.
It’s interesting to see how the tuft is being eroded out from under the hoodoo. One day that hoodoo will eventually collapse (but that could be hundreds of years from now).
This is another angle of the hoodoo. This view is looking back the way I came in to the valley.
I reached the hoodoo fairly soon after starting my hike. I wasn’t ready to stop hiking and I’m sure Maddie wasn’t either. So I noticed to the left the terrain looked really interesting. It took a little effort to climb up and over a ridge, but the effort was worth it. The next valley was really beautiful.
It’s interesting to see some harder material within the tuft and how it has been exposed by the erosion.
As I kept exploring the valley, I ended up at the dead end of another arroyo. This one was really unique with the red sandstone boulders scattered throughout the area below the top of the arroyo. I thought it was the perfect spot to try and get a selfie of Maddie and I. I think our photo turned out pretty good.
Maddie and Kelly
It took several tries to get Maddie to jump up on the big boulder and pose for me. But she eventually did it! She’s learning fast that Kelly wants her to pose for photo ops.
Isn’t she just adorable? What a good girl!
After taking several photos, we found a way to scramble up over this obstacle. It was worth the effort to keep going. The views were amazing. And I found a unique cove that was loaded with hoodoos. They were difficult to photograph because they blended in with the background and were close to the background as well.
I loved that a few thin clouds had developed during my hike. I think they really add to the photo.
Lots of hoodoos to explore!
After thoroughly exploring this area, I decided it was time to turn around and head back. By now we had been hiking over two hours. Of course, I was hiking slowly exploring all the nooks and crannies of this area and taking lots of photos. So I figured I would return back to the trailhead much more quickly.
My beautiful girl at 5 months old.
Once I was back at the Toadstool hoodoo, I decided to explore a little more the area behind the hoodoo. I’m glad I did because I happened to notice the unique formation of mushroom hoodoos trailing along the rock wall.
I love the trail of mushroom hoodoos trailing left to right from the larger hoodoo.
We had a wonderful morning hiking this trail. I highly recommend it if you’re in the area. I just love southern Utah!
Once back at the trailhead, I started working my way toward Albuquerque. I managed to make it to Winslow, Arizona, before I just got so tired I had to stop for the night. That was a long hike!
I didn’t know where to stay, so I just pulled in to a Truck/RV parking lot near a gas station right off of I25. When I first arrived, I found a place to park away from the trucks. After a few hours, the parking lot was full of trucks. I never realized how noisy they are! One truck pulled in next to me after Maddie and I had fallen asleep. The brakes on the truck made such a loud noise that it startled us both awake. I sat straight up in bed and Maddie started barking furiously! I decided not to park near trucks again unless I can’t find an alternative. Maddie was doing her job of defending the home!
I still had several days til I had planned on arriving in Albuquerque for Thanksgiving. I thought I could drive on to Holbrook where I could turn south and enjoy some mountains. I thought it would be nice to stay at Show Low, Arizona, and then work my way east from there. Lots of beautiful scenery to enjoy along the way to my friend’s house.
Unfortunately, about the time I got to Holbrook, I got a check engine light with a Blue Def error code. I pulled off the road when I could, and thought that maybe I needed to add Blue Def, even though I had just added some when I was in Virgin, Utah. I tried adding more, but it showed it was full.
When I went to start up the RV again, I got an error message that said I only had 10 more starts before my engine would lock up. Seriously!?! Of course, I’m silently panicking. I realized I had no business driving the route I had planned. I was only 90 minutes from Gallup. I went online and saw there was a diesel mechanic near the interstate. So I used one of my 10 starts to get me there.
I went to 505 Truck Service. They were sooooooo nice! I just showed up without making a call and they dropped everything to see what they could do for me. They hooked up their computer and it showed I had a buildup of particulates in my Blue Def system. They needed to make the engine idle very high to create heat to try and burn up those particulates. They had to do this several times. They worked on it for 5 hours! Thankfully because it was hooked up to a computer, they didn’t use any of my 9 starts left to me. They were unable to get the check engine light to go off but had improved things enough to get me to Albuquerque. They took such good care of me. They just asked me to write them a good review on Google. I did that right away. If you need help and you’re in their area, go see them!
While they worked on my RV, I toured their salvage yard. It had a few interesting vehicles to look at. I took a few pictures of the ones I liked.
I got to Albuquerque a couple of days before Thanksgiving. I called Mercedes and they were able to get me in to the service department early Wednesday morning. They called me around 11 am and told me they had done a full review of my vehicle and had the computer do a full check of all the systems. Thankfully my repair was included in the 5-year warranty I purchase with my RV. The cost to me would have been $2000! Yikes!!!! They found a few minor things to fix as well as recommended vermin proofing my engine. So I did have to pay some money to fix a few maintenance things, but I’m good to go for a good long time! Also, they got everything done that day! What a relief! After all, they had my entire home in their service shop.
I celebrated Thanksgiving with Dia and Scott and several of their friends. Dinner was wonderful. Sadly I had an asthma attack right before desert. I found out she had been house sitting a cat, and I’m severely allergic to cats. I was supposed to stay with them for a couple of nights, but obviously that wasn’t an option. I tried going back the next day to visit and had another attack that landed me in the ER.
Since I couldn’t stay with them, I spent a couple of nights in the Cracker Barrell parking lot and then spent the rest of my time in Cedar Crest at the RV park.
I had a friend come spend the night with me at the RV park. He had to get up early to go to work, so we both got up at first light to let Maddie out and say goodbye. Unfortunately, somehow the doors locked behind us!!! My phone was locked in the RV and his phone was lock in his car. He realized his keys were locked up on my RV along with mine. Embarrassingly I had to go to the RV park manager and wake him up. It was freezing outside too! He was great and let us use his phone to call a locksmith. It took almost an hour to find someone and have them come out to unlock my RV.
The next night I decided to cook a good meal. I put on some music and was enjoying a drink while I cooked me a steak dinner. I was really enjoying myself when I heard a knock at my door. When I answered, I saw it was one of the employees of the RV park. He said, “while we are all enjoying your choice of music, it’s late and some folks have had a long day of driving and are trying to get some sleep.”
I didn’t know my RV had outside speakers!!! How embarrassing!!!! Live and learn Kelly live and learn LOL!
Now I know what buttons to push for inside and outside speakers so I won’t embarrass myself again. But I’m wondering if I will be welcome there again………
Stay tuned for my next post. I will be exploring a state park in Southern California.
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