That’s most definitely not a photo of Arizona. The Cowboy and I decided that the place we call “home” was the place we needed to be in all this upheavel. On Friday morning, April 3 we made the decision to head north to Montana. We packed the motorhome, finished last minute projects and were rolling before 7am on Monday morning. We landed in Blanding, Utah for the night at a RV park. I made the reservation, paid by credit card and asked to be assigned a spot so we didn’t have to go into the office. They were very obliging at Blue Mountain RV Park.
We traveled through the Salt River Canyon again–
And we traveled some awful, rough roads through Arizona and into Utah. It’s a wonder the cabinets are still hanging! It’s a might dangerous to travel through the Indian reservations in Arizona–cows and horses grazing alongside the road. It was sad to see the normally busy, vibrant Bluff, Utah almost totally empty. It was a long day, 523 miles.
Recognize those mountains Gay??
This guy was our only neighbor in the RV park and he was definitely social distancing!
On Tuesday we were up and on the road early. Moab was incredibly quiet–no traffic, no people. Interstate 70 was deserted, trucks but very few passenger vehicles–eerie! Once we left I-70 at Rifle, Colorado, our cellular service was non-existent and stayed that way until we reached Columbus, Montana on Wednesday. Northern Colorado and all of Wyoming must be customers of some service other than Verizon. We would occasionally receive a text but if I tried to place a phone call the service invariably dropped the call.
Riverton, Wyoming was our stopping spot Tuesday night and we stayed in the Walmart parking lot–a first for us. My dear husband chose the parking spot and at 2am we were awakened by a noisy forklift–very noisy. The forklift went away after about 30 minutes but it took much longer for the three of us to go back to sleep!
On the road again Wednesday early and after driving a total of 1409 miles on this trip we arrived at our Montana home. We interacted with no one, we stopped for gas only, no trips into the convenience stores for treats, no stops for meals, no rest area restrooms. We are a self contained RV and we took advantage of that way of travel. The Cowboy pumped gas wearing gloves, I wiped the credit card with a disinfecting wipe and he removed his gloves before getting back in the RV.
Montana residents returning from out of state are under a mandatory 14 day quarantine order. No going anywhere and no visitors. So, we are tucked away in our log cabin by the creek. We navigated the driveway with no snow issues, there are some drifts around the house and on the hillside but at least we didn’t have to plow snow to get up the driveway! We brought home lots of food, we should be fine for two weeks plus. Both of us know our weather isn’t going to be great until probably the first of June but it is good to be home. We have a nasty storm predicted for this coming weekend but we are safe and warm. Life is good.
In Big Timber, Montana–unreal!!
Restoration Cowboy Style 
Glad you made it home safely! There are beautiful sights along the way north. Stay safe!
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Yes, that route through Utah, Colorado and Wyoming is beautiful–awful roads but beautiful.
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Welcome back to the Northern Ranges
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Thanks John!
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Welcome home…. see you (maybe) in a couple weeks 🙂
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Wouldn’t that be great!!
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That was a quick decision and an even faster trip home. I was very surprised to see the winter pictures. Glad you made it safely.
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Thanks Vera–it was a quick decision and now that we are finally in Montana we feel it was a good decision.
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Beautiful scenery but a heck of a long drive! So glad you are home safely. There’s no place like home- spoken like a true Kansan! ❤️❤️
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The route we take is one of the most scenic, much more so that the freeways through either Las Vegas or Salt Lake City.
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Welcome home! It’s so nice to get home
and to leave the remodeling and building out
of sight for awhile.
You must of had this planned being your
self sufficient for 14 days.
Hopefully you found everything in good shape.
Would be nice for you both to have a rest,
if that’s possible. 🤗
( your pictures are so pretty)
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Thanks Linda–in spite of the cold, it’s good to be home. We didn’t really plan to come back to Montana, we thought we would just ride out the storm in Arizona and hopefully be able to come back to Montana in early May as we always do. Several news stories about lack of open camping spots and harassment by locals made us change our minds. We had been to Costco in Arizona about nine days before our Monday departure so we were well stocked with meat and that Costco romaine lettuce which lasts forever😀. I’ve always stocked my pantry well as we live remotely on both ends of the country–so we brought it all with us. That little RV was packed! Plus I have food in my Montana pantry–flour, toilet paper😁, canned goods, etc. So–I think we can ride out this 14 day quarantine with no problems–we might run out of stuff to make salads–we will see.
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I too am glad to read you made it home…..If I could travel I’d head your way for some cheap gas…
Be safe!
Upriver
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Thank you David–it’s good to be here. Those gas prices were amazing yet disconcerting!
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I had a feeling! Sure enough, there you are, safe on the boulder. Good to know. I can only imagine how eerie that trip felt, but glad you could get back quick and easy.
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Yes, we are very safe on the Boulder and glad to be here.
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So glad you made it “home”! And I must say I really enjoyed your pics on the route back. I do miss those wide-open spaces.
Nina
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Love those views in Utah–but not those roads–awful this year especially the ones on the Indian reservations.
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Welcome Home, neighbors!
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Thank you! Wish we could see you guys!
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There is no place like home be it #1 or #2. Those fourteen days will pass quickly. I decided more than a week ago to shelter in place. Of course, I sew, rug hook and play with the Paddington. The days pass quickly and on day eight I was still content with my decision. Stay safe.
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It’s not very different from our usual way of life buy it feels different–we will be fine and yes, the time will pass quickly.
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Montana–much better place to spend the summer.
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Yep, much better but we have some nasty winter weather to endure before summer comes!
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Cheap gas and nowhere to go! One of the ironies of life. Glad you made it safely home.
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Isn’t that the truth! Stay safe!
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This was a surprise. But a good idea to get going while you could and the roads are less traveled making your trip easier. Glad all went smoothly and you are safely back in Big Timber.
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We were both a bit edgy, kept reading all the blogs/news about fulltime RVers having trouble locating spots to shelter in place. Communities in Montana were getting cranky about their second home owners coming to shelter in place–potentially bringing the virus to those communities, cleaning out the small grocery stores, etc. Montana is our primary residence yet all the hoopla concerned us–so we came home.
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Always a pretty drive, even in these strange times. I bet it was even stranger with no one on the roads. But I’m very happy to hear that was the case, and that the townspeople are all staying home. Glad you made it safe and are prepared for a couple of weeks of down time. Our little independent station in Tombstone has gas for $1.99 but your diesel is still cheaper!
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Hasn’t been much down time but it’s coming! Weather has been great but that’s about to change drastically!
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