Utah

Don’t tell Miss Piggy

by Ingrid

We ended up staying in Phoenix about 2 weeks longer than we originally planned.  That meant a slow lingering meander through Utah was shortened to a mere four days.  We had a reservation and appointment in Grand Junction, Colorado, that required us to maintain a travel schedule or I assure you we would have moved through Utah a lot slower.  I love this state.

Utah
driving through Monument Valley is always a treat
Utah
I never get tired of the scenery driving through Monument Valley, Utah

Al and I don’t usually like long travel days, but we were really looking forward to some time in Moab.  Therefore, we drove from Phoenix to Moab in one day…. one very long day.  After an eight and a half hour drive, we pulled into a boondock spot next to our friends Linda and Mike.  They were thankfully saving room for us.Moab Utah

Moab UtahEven though Al and I split the driving, we arrived tired and were grateful to be greeted with hugs and chilled margaritas.  Thanks guys.

But their hospitality didn’t end there.

When Al went to start the generator, Honda EU2000i Super Quiet Portable Gas Powered Generator Power Inverter 2000, 120V, the cord ended up in his hand.  Yikes, four days of boondocking with no power would definitely drain our batteries.  Thus, the generator would need to be repaired.  Sounds like a project for two strapping young men to tackle (can I hear a little Tim Allen grunting?)  Fortunately for us, last year Mike and Linda added a ton of solar to their RV …. so much so, that they not only powered their own RV, they powered ours as well.  Yes, wattage envy!

Moab Utah
note the orange electrical cord on the ground – we’re hooked up to the “Bear” for electric.

Our four day stay whizzed by and the weather was a mixed bag; cold, warm, cloudy, sunny, windy, calm.  We had a ton of fun on Mother’s Day starting with the guys serving their wives mimosa’s.mimosa

One mimosa down and another in hand, it was time for me to fix breakfast…. by choice, of course.  I wanted to fix everyone one of my nutritious skilletini’s, which I’ll feature on my Moab Utahfood blog in a couple of weeks.

We all got a big chuckle out of the fact Mike could not seem to remember the work skill-e-tini and instead referred to the breakfast as a spank-a-tini.

From that point on, the dish was referred to as a spankatini.

So what’s in the ‘spankatini’?  Italian pork sausage, butternut squash, mushrooms, peppers, onion, and cilantro…. topped with two eggs and a side of bacon.Moab UtahAs if sausage and bacon at breakfast wasn’t enough pork in our diet for the day, the guys took us out for a Mother’s Day dinner at the Blue Pig in Moab for some yummy barbeque.  I’m sure somewhere on our table was a slab of ribs 🙂  Please don’t tell Miss Piggy that we started and ended our day eating pork.  It’s certainly not something the four of us do regularly, but we were in a rather celebratory mood – it was Mother’s Day after all.  With the exception of the champagne, I’m sure it was all Paleo approved 😉

The next day, Al and I hit the road with Grand Junction, Colorado, as our destination.  But before we get to Grand Junction, we have a little dirt to share…..Moab Utah

Weber 50060001 Q 1000 Liquid Propane Grill

67 thoughts on “Don’t tell Miss Piggy”

  1. I am behind on my reading and I agree, I’d never tire of driving through Monument Valley. I’ve only driven in that part of the world twice once in ’89 going west and again the following year – headed east and I’ve been here ever since. Pork (and chicken) is always a good choice for breakfast and ribs for dinner – yum. Have a great week.

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  2. Sorry to hear about your generator but isn’t it great to have such great friends to help out in such situations? Glad to see you had a wonderful Mothers’ Day Ingrid.

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  3. Wow, that is some scenery. I’ve never been “out west” so it’s all new to me. Sounds like you lucked out, but paid them back splendidly with the spankatini!

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    1. Unfortunately, our time in Utah this season was very short. We have some new locations planned out for the summer that I hope the weather will be cooperative for us to explore. Hope the rains haven’t been too bad for you.

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  5. Utah is so gorgeous. I love the photo of your RV with the rainbow. Any thoughts of submitting some of your shots to Escapees for the magazine cover? I think they prefer the vertical format, but you may be able to do some creative cropping to make it work.

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  6. What fun with good friends. Sharing mimosas, power, laughs and delicious food. I want to run into you on the road. 😉 Ingrid I also loved the photo through your windshield. It left me feeling as though I was traveling with you.

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    1. Thanks Sue and we did have a great time despite some inclement weather. As we crossed Vail Pass yesterday, I had to inform hubby to slow down so I could get some shots out of the window. I no longer get the eye roll. Could that mean he’s finally trained? 😆

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    1. They had enough solar to power to RV’s… amazing. It was a great weekend filled with too much eating and drinking 😉

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  8. For some reason the NP has decided to have only one entrance line. This has been going on for quite awhile someone who lives here said. We were told the park closed mid-afternoon on Sat. and Sun. this past week-end because it was full!

    We love Moab too…maybe we will see you and Al here next spring. And I agree…Utah rocks!

    Nice rainbow!

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    1. Wow… that’s a lot of people. I wonder if they use one entrance line to space the people out. I definitely want to plan more time in Moab and Utah in general next spring and would love to meet. Right now we’re in Dillon, CO and it’s brrrrr…. cold.

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  10. Haven’t had a chance to check your food blog yet..but that Spankatini sounds fabulous!!

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  11. Ingrid, great post about Utah’s beauty and your good friends. Yeah, we’re envious of their solar too. Ours is much more modest, just two panels. Gets us by and really glad to have it but maybe some day, when we grow up, we can have a REAL system? Thanks for your pictures!

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    1. Two solar panels is exactly what we’re looking to add to our rig in the fall. Utah remains one of my favorite states and I’m hoping to spend more time there next spring 🙂

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      1. Great idea. Probably much better in the Spring than in mid July when we last visited. We found ourselves in Farmington NM, which was pretty nice still because of altitude, and wanted to get up to Olympia WA. There’s no good way to get your RV from NM to Seattle area in the middle of the summer, just too hot. Still, we agree — Utah in the Spring or Fall.

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  13. The long driving day was certainly worth it to be with friends in such a beautiful spot. And bacon, sausage, and ribs on Mother’s Day sound like a perfect way to celebrate!

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    1. If we couldn’t be with our children, then being with great friends was the next best thing and enjoying good food and drink.

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  17. Okay Sugar… I am going to tell Miss Piggy the scoop on all of ya! 😀
    Well, I’ll be good… I’ll wait to hear about the “dirt” you got.
    I have some thoughts pending in my brain as I type away to you!!
    😀 😀 😀 😀

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    1. And I just bought to more butternut squash 🙂 Next year, I plan on doing much better in my scheduling and give Utah the proper time it deserves.

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    1. We enjoyed our meal at the Blue Pig and would definitely go there again. I’m vowing to devote a whole month to Utah next spring…. that’s the plan anyway 🙂

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  20. We loved Utah as well, so many great rock formations !! that’s a place I would love to visit, at a very slow pace 🙂

    Spankatini… haha, love it !! and it sounds delicious as well 🙂

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  21. So glad you were able to get power from your friends! Yikes. Looks like a beautiful place there, for sure. Spankitini! 😀 Sounds like another winner on the food front.

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  22. Utah, Alaska and Hawaii the only states I haven’t been to yet. Gotta get to Utah! Those pics looked so great!

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    1. Wow, that is quite the impressive list of states visited. With only 3 left, you shouldn’t have any trouble seeing those this year 😉 At least Utah…. a lot easier to get to than Hawaii and Alaska!

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  23. How nice that your friends came to the rescue! I’d have to pass on all the pork, but I love Milt’s burgers. If you have a chance, could you e-mail me privately the GPS coordinates where you parked? I’m going through about three weeks or so on my way to Oregon and it looks like a great spot. I’m glad I’ve already visited Arches (more than once) – I hate lines.

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    1. Whenever we have visited Arches, we get off to an early start and it’s always amazing how many people have the same idea. I’ll email you shortly.

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  24. Full time RVing is something I have thought of doing. The trick of course is to have work that allows that, since I am unable to retire/too young/starting working later in life, ect. It really sounds like fun!

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    1. We don’t have pensions. So sometimes it takes a little thinking outside the box to embrace a mobile lifestyle. Doing this part-time and on occasion is still lots of fun. That’s how we started 🙂

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      1. I have thought about working as a travel nurse when my children are grown. I know of a family who does that. I couldn’t right now due to a shared custody agreement. Once my children are older, they could come with me on my travels if they wanted.

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  27. Looks like yo landed in a pretty spot. I haven’t been to Moab in years. That was a long day of driving for you guys, we try our best to avoid that too.

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    1. It gets really crowded around here especially on weekends. It’s not the Moab of years ago. Saturday there was a line of cars all the way out on the side of the road all trying to get into Arches NP. Probably an hour wait just to enter. The crowds kind of suck the joy out of the beauty. But like me, we’re all here to enjoy that beauty so I shouldn’t complain 😉

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      2. Wow. That probably has a lot to do with the holiday though. We stayed at the arch view campground a time or two when my kids were young. It was not in town and always nice.

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