Fascination w bleached carcasses.

I think this is part spine and pelvis to a dear in Desert.

Mountain goats at Zion

I think there are 4 in this image but there must have been a dozen or
more in the area. A few babies too.

Zion - pix don't do it justice.

This picture is of a cliff that is probably 1500 feet down.

In Zion lodge

Elena worked on her Junior Ranger chores while Isaac and I played chess.

Jonah's ride in Zion - video

Jonah's day in the saddle

He and Deryl did a trail ride this morning in Zion. I'll also post a
short video.

Prairie Dogs

(three days ago)
Spotted a Prairie Dog town at Bryce Canyon. Commentary frombackseat
was amusing. At end i'm being scolded by worry- wart children to
leave the official access road we were on- about ten yards in. They
always fear retribution for the slightest rule infringement. Except at
home....hmmmm

Isaac's first ride!!

Bryce Canyon, three days ago.
He was so brave! ( And smashing inhis cowboy hat)
He rode a cute mule named "Crazy Alice". Guess she was quite a nut in
her younger years.

Robson's Runabout Map

A visual guide to where we've been. This took a while to put together but now that I've done it it should be pretty easy to maintain. Will update periodically. If you click on it you'll be able to see better details.

Elena's sand castle

Boats galore

Lots of ski boats here for the holiday weekend. We packed lunch and
Lots of snacks and towels. Water is refreshing but not too cold

Exploring our surroundings

At Sand Hollow SP. The combination of desert red sand and the
reservoir water makes for a perfect inland beach!

This is a great place to bring a huge group of friends for a long
weekend. Lots of space for camping and plenty of trails for 4-wheelers
and walks. Stellar weather too.

David's travel log

Some of you may be surprised to know that I have been keeping my own log of the trip (Elena 'sand Deryl's are more diary-like in format). I have been keeping it in an XL spreadsheet along with other stuff like budget estimating and such. Below are JPG images of what I've typed in so far. If you click on them they should open in a separate and you should be able to zoom up on them to read.

You'll notice that the first month was pretty cryptic and short and the later months I've gotten more wordy. Not sure that this is a good thing but at least is a sign that I'm relaxing and have more time to type.

So far we've stayed at 50 different camp sites and have travelled nearly 10,000 miles not counting miles in the car which are probably another 3000 or so. I'll have to figure out some more statistics and post them later (gallons of gas used, total hours driving, etc)

View from where I'm posting

Under the awning at 10AM and enjoying just sitting.

Latest stop - Sand Hollow SP

Very thankful to God for answering our prayers for a good place to
stay for awhile. We were concerned that everything would be full due
to holiday weekend.

Just pulled in here at 9AM after a sleepover at a nearby Walmart.
Decided to drive out of Page last evening once we got the levelers
fixed drove from 9 to midnight without trouble kids fell asleep in
their chairs and we transferred them to beds once we got parked.

There is a reservoir here so we should be going swimming later this
afternoon when the temp hits 90. We have full hookups which means we
can run the AC and take nice long showers.

Will probably hang here at the park today and then drive the minivan
to Zion tmrw for the day. Will be good to sit tight for 4 days or so.
Could even lengthen our stay on Monday if we dint feel like moving.
Don't need to be anywhere until my flight to NYC in 9 days.

Queen's Garden at Bryce

Isaac and Crazy Alice on the trail

Isaac's first trail ride

Isaac and I went on a two hour trail ride that took us down to the
bottom of the canyon. Perfect weather.

Deryl and Elena went on a three hour tour earlier in the morning while
the boys and I did laundry. She'll have to post her pix too.

Dinner at Bryce Lodge

A very good meal had by all. Very nice rustic atmosphere. I recommend
the Braised Bison!

More Bryce Canyon

Hard to take a bad photo at Bryce

Dudes waiting for a table

Had a bitvof a wait to get a table fir dinner at the lodge.

The lodge at Bryce Canyon

Arrived at Bryce yesterday afternoon and managed to get a great site
in the campground closest to the lodge. We walked over and had dinner
here as a special treat.

Newspaper Rock

This is near Needles area if Canyonlands NP. Dozens if petroglyphs
from lots of different ancient travelers.

Quick video of our walk in Sand Flats UT

A bend in the trail

At Capitol Reef

Capitol Reef NP

Took a short hike before dinner when we arrived at Capitol Reef. This
park is about half way between Moab and Bryce. Very nice campground
which was a farm and orchard til 1969.

More Capitol Reef scenery

Spire in Sand Flats

Kids and I walked to this on Sunday morning before church.

Elena says this is a desert orchid

She snapped this on th iPhone during our morning walk

Morning rock scramble before church

Still at Sand Flats

Better view of Delicate Arch

Delicate Arch

One of many that we saw but probably the most famous in Arches NP.
You can walk right up to it. No fences or guards or Anything.

At Delicate Arch for lunch

Had to hold tight on everything and everbody dur to high winds. Arch
is just out of frame to our right.

Building a cairn

We took a stop on our hike up to Delicate Arch in Arches NP. Isaac
was intent on making his own cairn to mark the trail.

More wildlife spotted cc ing those of you not regularly checking Runabout

Yellow- bellied Marmot, Mountain Cottontail, Gopher, ColoradoChipmunk,
Yellow Warblers, Hooded Oriole, Pinyon Jay, Wood Duck, American White
Pelican ( back on East/South Coast) Cliff Swallow, and did I add in
last list Mountain Goat( only spotted by Dave and boys on train to
Silverton) and Bighorn Sheep?

Deryl from iPhone.

Moab or Tatooine?

Good grief! It has been supremely, inordinately windy here in Moab
since we arrived three days ago. Keeping door and windows shut from
sand and the RV occasionally shakes violently. outside we've been in
a few unpleasant gusts which allow us to experience sand in our eyes,
ears, teeth, nose, hair, clothes...on top of the very tall hill from
which we were able to view Delicate Arch, we held on to the boys for
fear they'd be whisked away.
It'd be nice to return here when kids can bike slickrock and are a
little more amenable to hiking more than three miles.
We are looking forward to rafting a Class 3 rapid now on the trip
since 2 plus was fine and almost too tame.

Deryl from iPhone.

Deryl's Runabout Blog update for last six weeks (yikes)

I think I was so concerned to get Elena updating relatively regularly, I neglected my own..
At this moment we are driving out of the taller Rockies through some passes from Southern Colorado up to visit our good friend, Evan, in Denver. It's a six plus hour drive from Durango to Denver, so on a drive day the usual routine is to do some school, lunch, and let kids watch a movie. The children are on our bed watching their show and we are driving down a loonng straight highway. Plains with cattle to the right, fields with cattle and some small mountains to our left then directly in front of us are snow capped mountains as far left and right as we can see, all fronted by low dark clouds. Ominous but interesting viewing. I have every confidence in our stellar RV pilot. I'm Cruise Director.

Soooo, it's been a while. Too much for chronological order. Highlights and interesting events:

Peter Robson family in Atlanta, Ga. Wonderful visit and Peter in aquarium tank w/ whale sharks, visiting museum where the Great Train Robbery train is on display, spending more time reading about Generals Lee and Grant and visiting Vicksburg Natl Park, site of monuments and battle discussions and info movie, watching Dave and kids truck down path to pond with fishing poles over their shoulders, spending time w/ Robbie in New Orleans- he played with a band on Bourbon Street which I wasn't around for, Dave taking apart and fixing toilet (!!!!), nice, Muslim, gas station owner who gave me some greeting cards because I was “cheerful”, Cirque du Soleil “Love” show from Beatles music (amazing and too much to absorb in one viewing), visiting with Katie and Erik in San Diego including but not limited to pizza and wine, ice cream, tapas and jazz band in Gaslamp, and the world famous San Diego Soap Co. tour and sampling. I love my/ our Kate and was truly saddened to leave her. Finally seeing inside a B 17 “Flying Fortress”, Palm Springs cactus garden -who knew there were such amazing variety of species?, hearing wild burros, meeting Carrie, Trevor, Kiah and Trae Allen from Calgary in Cottonwood RV park. We shared dinners, exercising (ran twice w/ her- super runner and actually lasted for an almost 2 hour run in the desert), a rodeo, and caught up with them again in Page, AZ. For more meals and canyon exploring. (we miss you guys!) Birdwatching: Yellow Warbler, Broad Tailed Hummingbirds, Great Blue Herons, Turkey Vultures, California Condors, Golden Eagles, Pheasants, Crows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Ravens, Canyon Wrens, and Animals: Desert Cottontail, Black tailed Jackrabbit, Red Squirrel, Rock Squirrel, Elk, Mountain sheep, Bison, Bats, Mule Deer and a lot of lizards., Platfrom boating through Lake Powell into slot canyons, the red rock against green golf course grass, tour of Glen Canyon Dam, reading Lord of the Rings with Dave and kids in evenings, walking through Lower Antelope slot canyone w/ Allens, dinner and lunch on floating restaurant at Antelope Point Marina, racing boys up hill and down to edge of Horseshoe canyon to beat sunset, up with sun to see Grand Canyon in the early light, sandstorm in desert driving to Mesa Verde, Mesa Verde cliff dwellings, esp ladders!!!, Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge RR trip., visitingMr. Johnny Seares goat farm complete with three recent moms with twins and triplets along Lightner Creek CO. And now, just enjoying time with my Honey up front seeing our country..

Loading up to go back to town

More from our rafting ride

Beauty Butte

Launching into the Colorado River

Spent the afternoon on the water. Rapids weren't too tough although
Jonah was pretty pale after the first set. Lots if fun.

Launching into the Colorado River

Spent the afternoon on the water. Rapids weren't too tough although
Jonah was pretty pale after the first set. Lots if fun.

A field of stone

Makes for very fun scrambling around. This is all sandstone that has
been worn smooth by centuries of wind and rain.

Sand Flats recreation area

Will be staying here for 4 nights DV. Took a quick hike up the rocks
as soon as we arrived.

Camper in middle left of picture

Trying to give a sense of scale for the stuff around us.

Rifle Falls state park

A photo for those who can't see the video I posted.

Rifle Falls state park

Just up the road from where we stayed.

Rifle State Park, CO

Stayed in this beautiful spot two nights. Drove 45 minutes from
Glenwood to get to this lake surrounded by the foothills if the
Rockies. Tons of hummingbirds!

Robson kids like diving boards!!

News Flash: The kids had their first try on a full size diving board
and liked it! No surprise there I suppose.

Don't forget Jonah

Jonah was diving right along w the other two.

Robson kids like diving boards!!

News Flash: The kids had their first try on a full size diving board
and liked it! No surprise there I suppose.

Shot of the pool at Glenwood Springs

One part was essentially a huge hot tub at 104f. The other part was
cooler at about 90. The diving pool was cooler but still very
comfortable.

Glenwood Hot Springs

We stopped for a dip in the BIG pools here.

Driving west thru the Rockies

We were treated to some great views on our way from Denver on I-70

Sweet Rocky Mountain Paradise

"It's a long way from LA to Denver...
I forgot what it's like to be home. Can't remember what it's like to
be home. "
JD RIP

Photo op at campground near Durango

Glad RV is an option.