From Santa Barbara to Heber City, UT

On Tuesday, November 13, we set off to our winter home in Heber City, Utah. Even though I think we could have gone a more northern route that may have been shorter, we chose the southern route to be sure to not run into any weather issues in the mountains. This meant we drove south on the 101 some more through Ventura County which was really pretty. The highway is very easy to drive and hugs the coast providing beautiful views of the ocean along the way. The 101 turns into the 134 and then the 210, all while heading east toward San Bernadino.  Of course, I knew that being ringed by mountains is the source of the LA smog, I guess I didn’t really understand that a good part of the city is actually in these mountains, or at least in the foothills. This is the prettiest part of the city that I have seen. We eventually ran into the 15 which would take us all the way home – almost.


The entire journey was about 850 or so miles. Our first logical stop was back in Las Vegas. This time we stayed for free at a golf course in Henderson, NV, just south of the city. This was only our 2nd golf course stop and we are inspired to do more. Most of our travels have been short drives with a desire to explore once we arrived. This trek was altogether different since our real goal was just to get to Utah safely. Henderson was about 350 miles into the journey and included some LA traffic, so we were ready to pull over and rest. We enjoyed a great dinner at their clubhouse with amazing views of the city lights.

Since we were dry camping and protecting our batteries, we went to bed at 9:30 which allowed an early morning departure the next day a little after 7. You have to ‘climb’ out of Vegas which was a bit taxing, but we made it fine with all of the tractor trailers in the slow lane going about 35 mph with us.

Jeff had researched and found a farm for us to visit (again for free) on Wednesday night. This would be a 400 mile drive through Nevada, Arizona and Utah. The tiny corner of AZ that we cut through was really beautiful. As we got into Utah at St. George, we decided to do a driving trip down south while we are in Utah to visit Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. With Jeff only having 20 days of required work at Deer Valley, we should be able to fit this in.


The Rowling Farms Red Barn provided a simple gravel lot for overnight parking and lots of locally sourced farm products for stocking up our trailer. We bought steaks, peanut butter, ice cream and homemade jam – all things that at least one of us eats from time to time. I knew we were in Utah when I went into the store and overheard a young boy asking his mother “Is that Jesus?” referring to an elderly man with a white beard! It has been a long time since we lived in TN, but I think we will run into some similar points of view in Utah!

That night we experienced horrific wind which rocked and rolled Betty enough to wake me up several times. Jeff checked the forecast at 6:30 and decided that it was only going to get worse, so we ‘hopped to it’ and got our rig back on the road.

Both Jeff and I felt as if we were moving to Utah, even though this was only a 4+ month stop in our journey. We have only really been on the road a little over 4 months in total so far. We were going to have a mailing address, join a gym and Jeff was going to work, so slowing down for 4 months seemed like we were moving home!


We arrived early to the Mountain Valley RV Resort in Heber City, UT – two days early in fact, but that was just fine since no one was in our assigned spot. The weather predicted rain in addition to more wind, but luckily that held off until the afternoon so Jeff could get things organized outside. The resort is really wonderful, complete with a 21 and older section with clubhouse, lap pool, fire pit, workout facility and pool table! This is separate from the big clubhouse that accommodates families with a big screen TV, leather sofas and full kitchen. We are definitely going to like this place!

Surrounded by mountains
21 and older section is closed in winter
but the amenities are still open!

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