Since Memorial Day, we’ve stayed in three different RV parks; Lakeside RV, KOA, and Mountain Valley. We are getting proficient in setting up and taking down to travel. Mike takes care of the outside while I do the inside.

Tip: I use large baskets that hold blankets or shoes while we are set up and reuse them to store things that need to come off the counters while we travel. It’s quick and keeps items such as the coffee maker, toaster, mixer, etc., safe and more accessible than finding room in a cupboard.

I find myself organizing and reorganizing. But, like any house, things placed initially don’t always work and need to find a new home. Mike laughs; he knows me well and says, “You’ll change that again.” I tell him, “No, I won’t.” And, I do, three times.

Mike’s busy with work during the week, so our exploring is limited. Once he retires, that’ll be better, and we both look forward to that.

We’ve made a few trips to the store, realizing something we sold we could now use. But we figured that would happen.

Right now, we’re at Mountain Valley RV Resort in Heber, UT. It’s genuinely a resort park, with a section for adults only. Sweet for us since all of our children are grown up. It has a swimming pool, hot tub, clubhouse, showers, and outdoor fire pit. The views are beautiful, and I wish we could check the area out more.

I’m posting the campgrounds we stay at for personal reference, using the asterisk symbol to rate them—for example, three is excellent, two good, and one okay. If there isn’t an asterisk, it means we would not return to that campground.

Friday, we leave for Idaho.

**Lakeside RV Campground
4000 W Center St, Provo, UT
84601
801-373-5267

*Springville/Provo KOA
1550 N 1750 W, Springville, UT
84663
801-491-0700

***Mountain Valley RV Resort
2120 US-40, Heber, UT
84032
855-901-6100

Provo, Heber, Park City, Utah

It was a beautiful weekend; Mike and I spent time in Provo, Heber, and Park City, Utah. There are beautiful lakes and waterfalls to explore. Provo has Bridal Veil Falls, which are gorgeous. You can hike a trail up to the falls, which we haven’t done yet, but I want to.

https://www.utahvalley.com/listing/bridal-veil-falls/41/

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/utah/bridal-veil-falls-and-upper-falls

The lakes enjoyed by boaters, kayakers, kite-surfers, children were splashing about, and those who wanted to relax gives us hope that things are trying to get back to normal after Covid. It’s exciting to see people out running and biking. This past weekend there was a marathon; no, I didn’t run in it.

https://www.halfmarathons.net/utah-valley-marathon-half-marathon-10k/

We had lunch in Park City at the Silver Star Cafe. The food was good, the service was excellent, but parking was a nightmare. For that reason, we wouldn’t go back. However, if you have a small compact car, you might
squeeze in somewhere.

https://www.thesilverstarcafe.com/

The best part of the weekend was spending some time with family, and of course, Boscoe!

The temperatures were close to a hundred degrees, our Yeti did it ‘s job keeping everything cold.

https://www.amazon.com/YETI-Tundra-45-Cooler-Navy/dp/B08VF6RPGC/ref=sr_1_44?dchild=1&keywords=yeti&qid=1623097548&sr=8-44&th=1

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The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines macerate to cause to become soft or separated into constituent elements by or as if by steeping in a fluid. So, I could have said, let’s talk poop. You might see macerators not only in RVs but in boats.

The macerator is a compact, electrically powered waste elimination system. It takes all the nasty stuff from your toilet that sits in your black tank (the black tank always holds the gross stuff) and grinds it up into small particles for more effortless dumping into the dumping station. Most RV parks have full hookups so you can have water, electricity and hook up to your dumping station to get rid of the fluids that sit in your tanks.

Remember, the black tank, gross, and gray tank is for kitchen sink water, and showers. Because of the size of our RV, we have one black and two gray tanks. One gray tank is for bathroom water and the washing machine. (Yes, we have a washer and dryer!) The other gray tank is for any kitchen sink water. So, when the gauge in your RV shows your tanks are full, you best dump that fluid, or it’s not going to pretty. And, let me tell you, the shower water smells worse than what comes out of the black tank. Go figure!

We had a macerator put in, and we’ve yet to get it to work right, but we’re not giving up. Possibly it’s installed wrong, and we need to have it looked at, so we are dumping the old fashion way with a regular sewer hose.

Well, that’s the poop on macerators!

Don’t put chocolate chips in the cupboard while traveling; they will melt. I filled up my container with chocolate chips before leaving Arizona; the temperature in the RV got up to eighty-five degrees while pulling it to our next destination. Yesterday I took the container down to make cookies, and it was one big glob. Lesson learned. Instead of making lemonade out of lemons, I made brownies out of melted chocolate chips; it works. Today I stayed with the B group of foods, brownies, and bread.

My first loaf of homemade white bread came out perfect in the new RV oven. The temperature was spot on, and the length of time to cook both was five minutes less than what the recipe said. Because the stove is small, I was worried they would cook much faster, so I kept a close eye on them. Both the oven and stovetop are gas; I’m happy about that; it’s what I usually use.

Mike’s day consisted of meeting after meeting. He’s looking forward to retirement at the end of December. With the internet, Mike’s able to work from the RV. The biggest hurdle is being quiet while he’s in teams meetings. I have a big smile on my face.

After driving five hours, we stopped to dry camp for the night. We stayed at Lone Rock Campground, Lake Powell, Utah. The campground is close to the border of Arizona.

We set up camp, and all was well until we went to use our generator. It wasn’t a severe problem, and eventually, it worked fine. I thought about Jim and Claudia, a couple we met in Arizona. They sold everything and have lived in an RV for seven years. They said, “We love it!”

I wished we could have spent some time with them; I’m sure they had gems of wisdom to bestow on us. Jim said, “There will be problems to solve along the way with your RV. It’s like any house; it needs maintenance.” Mike and I commented on how calm they seemed about everything. They had peace about their decision.

Sitting outside, we took in the view. Mike said, “It’s peaceful here.” Shortly after, we heard sirens and saw cruisers fly by, an ambulance, and later a rescue helicopter was hovering near the lake below us. I said a prayer, hoping everyone would be okay.

Isn’t that how life is? One minute it’s peaceful, and the next, it’s chaos. I need to remember to wrap my arms around those quiet times.