Escalante to Flagstaff, AZ
Saturday, October 23, 2021
Today we left our tiny house in Escalante and headed for home. We wanted to get an early start so we were up early this morning to do some final packing and getting ready to leave. Unlike the sunny skies we have been seeing all week, this morning was overcast and looked like rain so maybe that was an omen that it was indeed, our time to leave. We had our breakfast, did our final packing and loaded the car and were on the road at 9:00.
Out destination for the night was Flagstaff, Arizona and it was only 320 miles to get there, but it was all on two-lane, mountainous roads so the going would be a little slow in places. The good thing is that it's a very scenic drive.
We retraced our drive on highway 12 past Bryce and Red Canyon to US89 where we turned south. Utah SB12 has been designated an All-American Road and it certainly lives up to the honor; from beginning to end the scenery is amazing. It is not anywhere near a main route, but is well worth the time to get off the beaten path and enjoy this road.
We followed US89 all the way to Flagstaff and it was a pretty scenic drive in its own right. It steadily drops in elevation as it goes through forested high desert to red rock canyons. After going through Kanab, Utah, the road follows the Vermillion Cliffs to Page, Arizona where we had lunch. From Page south, the land became more of a desert, but still very interesting with many mountains and rock formations on the drive. We have driven 89 from Page to Flagstaff many times and always enjoy it.
Thanks to gaining an hour as we passed from Mountain Time to Pacific Time we arrived in Flagstaff around 4:00. We relaxed a bit, had some dinner and called it a night.
Flagstaff to Barstow, CA
Sunday, October 24, 2021
We would have liked to drive straight home today, but it is well over 600 miles and decided to split it up into a two day drive and spend tonight in Barstow. It is 360 miles to Barstow, but it is all on Interstate Highway so it should go pretty quickly. This will be the first time we have ever stayed in Barstow as it is usually not a destination spot, but it worked out best for us to stop there.
The drive was very uneventful and went by fairly quickly as we have been listening to David McCullough’s “1776” audiobook and it has been very interesting. We passed through Williams and Kingman, Arizona before crossing the Colorado River and back into California. We stopped in Needles, CA to buy gas and get some lunch and then drove the rest of the way into Barstow.
We arrived around 4:00 and settled into our hotel and started wondering what to do for dinner. We still had some lunch fixings left over from our Escalante outings and decided to have those for dinner and clean out the ice chest. That worked out fine as we were able to have a leisurely evening before our last day on the road before coming home.
Barstow to Home
Monday, October 25, 2021
Today is our last day of our trip and as always, we have mixed feeling about it. We are looking forward to being home again, but it is also sad that our trip is ending.
It was only a four hour drive home so we were in no hurry to get started. Our hotel was right next to the Barstow Outlet Stores so we decided to give them a look before we hit the road. There was a Columbia Sportswear Outlet that Val wanted to check out so we went there and surprisingly Val didn’t find anything she wanted, but I did. I have been looking for an everyday, lined rain jacket for several years and they had just what I wanted at a great price, so I bought it.
From Barstow, we took Highway 58 that, as I mentioned before, is now four-lane freeway all the way to Bakersfield. This weekend California has been having some very heavy rainstorms and although it was only partly cloudy in Barstow, we could see ominous rain clouds on the horizon.
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| It wasn't raining yet, but the clouds ahead were very ominous. |
As we got about halfway across the Mojave we started to get some light rain and by the time we headed up into the Tehachapi Mountains it was really coming down, so much so that is was making driving a little challenging.
It was still raining hard by the time we got to Tehachapi, but we had to get gas and some lunch so we got off and drove through Tehachapi, got our gas and then had a very good lunch at Kohnen's Country Bakery. After lunch it was time to get back on the road and brave the weather. Normally, we would take 58 into Bakersfield where we would get on Highway 99 headed north, but they are doing a lot of construction in Bakersfield and traffic is always bad anyway, so considering the heavy rain, we decided to take a route through some of the backroads to get to Interstate 5.
That worked out very well, as the heavy rain did continue, but there was very little traffic so it was relatively easy drive considering the conditions. The rain continued, but started to ease off as we reached San Luis Obispo County and by the time we were on Highway 46 headed for home the rain had stopped.
We got home around 4:00, unloaded the car and settled in for our first night home in over a week. What was supposed to be an easy drive today turned into be a bit of a challenge, but it all ended well. The good thing is we got almost 2 inches of badly needed rain in Atascadero. We had a great trip, but it felt good to be home.
Final Thoughts
It was great to get out on the road again and actually take a real trip. We had a wonderful time in an area we love. Southern Utah is such a great place to visit, there are the well-known national parks such as Zion, Bryce, Arches and Canyonlands, but there are so many other lesser known areas to visit. If you want to a get away from the crowds, try areas like Grand Staircase-Escalante where we went.
We had such a good time on this trip. The tiny homes of Escalante Escapes that Val found worked out so well for us that we will go back to them whenever we visit the area around Escalante. We had great weather and were able to do almost everything we wanted to do. Road conditions limited us on several of our planned day trips, but we wouldn’t have had time to do everything anyway.
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| A map of our travels while we were in Escalante. |
My favorite thing we did on the trip was to drive to the end of Hole-in-the-Rock Road; I have wanted to do that for such a long time. It’s not the most scenic drive in the area, but knowing the history of the road made it a very interesting drive.
One worry I had when we started the trip never came to fruition. We do most of our road trips in my 2008 Toyota 4-Runner and it’s getting a little long in tooth and I could just imagine us breaking down out in the middle of nowhere and having to figure out a way to get back. I am very happy to report that the 4-Runner performed flawlessly, not a hint of a problem so kudos to Toyota for building such a reliable truck.
So that about wraps it up, our plans for our future travels are a bit up in the air right now. We had planned taking a 30 day Panama Canal Cruise from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale and back, but we are having second thoughts and may cancel. Next fall we have our twice postponed, 74 day cruise around Africa so hopefully that isn't postponed again as we are really looking forward to that. I do think we have some more road trips in the future, but nothing definite yet. If you see a new post in the Blog, you’ll know we are traveling again so we’ll see you on down the road.
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