Telluride

Since we didn't want to stop, our next stop was Telluride. Unfortunately, Telluride was underwhelming. The town was beautiful, it as situated up a canyon with big mountains draping each side of the town. The ski resort was situated above the town, with an expansive village attached. But, there were some lifts that dropped down into town which provided for fun, easy access. We were unable to find ANYWHERE to park the camper overnight so we decided to give in and stay in a hotel outside of town, The Angler Inn. For all that ever decide to travel to Telluride, this is the place to stay. About 10 minutes outside of town, but much less expensive and super nice. They were also incredibly dog friendly which always give a place stars in my book.

We only skiied one day. It had not snowed much in Telluride so the skiing was subpar. And, it was mostly groomed runs. We enjoyed hanging out at the hotel bar, walking around town, and the dogs and I went on a nice hike in the town park. Definitely a place I would go again, only if I have a lot more money and it's good snow. We were slightly disappointed but our trip was topped off by finding a frozen pond we were able to mess around on. Probably the highlight of Telluride.

We decided to head back to SLC, wary that Aspen would be just the same, if not worse. So, we headed off to Salt Lake to watch the Superbowl and regroup in preparation of moving up to Bozeman. 

The Desert

While we were able to find some snow finally in Mammoth, we were ready for a change in scenery. We decided to head south, through Las Vegas, out to the desert in Southern Utah. We spent one cozy night in Las Vegas, in a hotel, with a warm shower. It was nice to get a good night of sleep and explore the tourist attraction that is Las Vegas. One night was enough for us, so we decided to get back into our comfort zone, on the road, to Zion National Park. We camped at the mouth of the park, and woke up to beautiful red rocks rising up on both sides of our campground. 

Zion National Park was beautiful. We even took the camper through a mile long tunnel! We drove through, not able to hike in the park because of the dogs, and headed toward Kanab, UT. We explored Grand Staircase Escalante, and finally felt the red sand between our toes. The dogs adapted to the warm weather by digging holes down to the cold sand. Stuart finally admitted that he should have brought his Chacos on our winter adventure. But, who could have anticipated we would have been taking on such a dramatic temperature change!

Deciding to embrace the momentum we had, we headed east towards Bears Ears. The drive was incredible, taking us through the Navajo Indian Reservation, up steep cliffs, and into the Bears Ears National Monument. With the snowy road in the high desert, the mud was treacherous. Even though we couldn't make it to the top of Bears Ears, we camped with an amazing view as far up as we could go. I finally felt like we were embracing the camping lifestyle. Little did we know, that night we were basking in the glow of the supermoon, in the most quiet place I'd ever been. Some of the best places we have gone have been on roads we don't see another car for hours. Bears Ears was one of those places. The appreciation I felt in that moment for where we were was overwhelming. I was sad to move on. The desert treated us well but we were ready to keep moving. 

California - Mammoth

The California adventure continues. From Squaw we headed down to Sacramento. The California Davies were as welcoming as ever, and with the gated driveway we were able to sleep in the most secure campsite of all. With the balmy 50 degree weather in Sacramento, we felt refreshed from the few days skiing in Squaw. 

The drive to Mammoth was nice and slow. The best kind of driving we have done throughout this trip has been slow and not stressed. We drove through the farm lands of outer Sacramento, the lush forest of eastern California (northern Yosemite), and made our way into snowy Mammoth. Upon arrival they looked to have a decent amount of snow. We were able to plug in at Mammoth RV. The heat source was nice, because throughout our stay the wind was whipping. We used the first day to explore Mammoth. The city was not very organized, and it took many attempts to finally find the main lodge of Mammoth. That night it snowed between 6 inches and a foot. We opened the camper door in the morning to ankle deep snow. We were stoked. Our first significant snow fall of the season!

The next few days we skied, using both our days at Mammoth. Because Mammoth was so big, we were able to find untouched powder most of the time. Best skiing yet. Ron and Moxie were the highlight of the lodge, and the temperature was windy, but bearable. We found good bars, good powder, and were able to make the most of Mammoth. With a good Mammoth trip under our belts we were ready for the next adventure!

 

California - Tahoe

Who knew that so many adventures could happen in such a short amount of time. Since leaving Salt Lake City so many cool things have happened! Well mostly cool. Upon leaving Salt Lake City, our check engine light in our trusty caboose went off. Being a fairly new truck I was pretty worried. We happened to be in Wendover, a small city right on the Nevada/Utah border. We plugged it in to a diagnostic machine and it didn't give us much information. But, it did turn the check engine light off. It stayed off for awhile until we got to Reno, where it flipped back on again. Long story short, and $300 later, the car is okay just needs a small repair that Stuart thinks he can do when we get to Bozeman. Silver lining, we were able to see a good amount of Reno, such a majestic and seedy town...

Our drive out to Reno included a sight Stuart has been wanting to see for awhile, the Bonneville Salt Flats. Even though I had driven past them before I had never stopped to really experience them. We were able to drive out onto the flats. It truly was an endless, expansive, white, salt field. It was hard to tell where it began and ended. Despite our desire to adventure further into the expanse, we continued on to Reno. 

Currently, we are in Truckee, CA. Everyone characterize this area as "Tahoe" but we are not very close to Lake Tahoe, about 20 minutes. Between Truckee and Lake Tahoe are two ski resorts, Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows. We have passes to both. Saturday we skied at Squaw and today we are at Alpine Meadows. Squaw Valley Resort was home to the first televised Olympics in 1960. A lot of the old infrastructure from the Olympics is still part of the resort. The tram, which heads up an incredibly steep rock face, summits at a large lodge. The lodge houses an ice rink (at the top of the mountain!), swimming pool, hot tub, restaurant, and Olympic museum. The mountain continues on past the summit of the tram and offers a variety of blue and green slopes. Getting back down is quite a ways, but is a nice blue run, so nothing too hard. The front of the hill, which we did not conquer, was riddled with black diamonds that looked very icy from afar. 

We spent most of the time up at the top. The snow was actually quite good, as a storm has blown through a few days before we had arrived. But man was it busy! We should have suspected in on a bluebird Saturday, but we weren't prepared for the massive lift lines. Its true that in the west doing 3 runs can take hours. Stuart kept snowboarding, and I spent some time with the dogs in Squaw village. It was nice to be around such a dog friendly area. Of course Ron got most of the attention.

Coachland RV Park gave us a home for two days, with ability to plug in, showers, and a water source. It was nice to not pull the camper up to the resort, and have a nice warm place to come home too. We spent Sunday watching football and hanging out at the local bars. 

Today we are at Alpine Meadows. It snowed overnight but it is a bit wet. We are headed towards Sacramento tonight to visit the California Davies :) Back on the road, headed through Yosemite National Park to Mammoth Lakes, CA tomorrow!

Salt Lake City

We ended back in Salt Lake City after Jackson. Not only was the weather only getting colder, but there was also no snow... anywhere! So, we decided to hang out in Salt Lake for the time being. Because of my family being there, it is a really easy place to spend some time. We used our days snowboarding/skiing, hiking, running errands, and of course going to the dog park. While we were able to have a nice warm bed, shower, and bathroom, we still worked on Ruby, to try and get her set up for the next voyage. We FINALLY plastic wrapped the windows around the bed. It was shocking the amount of air that was coming in through the windows. I was surprised by how much warmer it already was in the camper. We also installed a carbon monoxide detector. Since we may be using the propane heater more and more on the road, we wanted to make sure we didn't take any unnecessary risks. 

While in Salt Lake, Stuart and I ran into our first real trouble, sharing the truck. Even though we love doing things together it is nice to have our own time to fill, so we alternated using the truck, not always very smoothly, but made it work none the less. I decided to also spend this time studying for the GRE, one of the many hoops graduate school applications were making me jump through. While Stuart was snowboarding, I was memorizing words and re-learning special triangles. I ended up doing pretty well, and am now able to apply to grad school!

Right after I took the GRE, Stuart and I decided to head out again. This time the snow seemed to be accumulating in California (of all places!). So we are back on the road, ready for the next adventure!