UTAH PATHFINDERS
Eric & Gayle Bruce (24020)
Presidents
Wow! Utah’s crazy weather strikes again. One minute it’s autumn the next minute it’s winter. Lucky for us, the Utah Pathfinders were in Southern Utah’s cute little town of Kanab, no snow. Western history abounds here in Southern Utah. The Utah Pathfinders had another wonderful Rally, Kanab, Utah 2024. We stayed at a beautiful resort called The Grand Plateau RV Resort just outside Kanab, Utah. The view from our coaches was incredible. The colors of the plateau cliffs were captivating. The Grand Plateau staff was so kind and accommodating.
The first night, we had a Hot Dog Bar with all the fixins. Everyone enjoyed getting to know one another. Our theme this year was Utah Pathfinders Are Going to the Dogs (and cats). Which leads up to our next day! After a quick breakfast, we all piled into our cars to go to Best Friends Animal Sanctury in Kanab, Utah. We all enjoyed a special Guided Tour of the Best Friends Animal Sanctury. It is the largest no kill animal sanctuary in the United States. Our guides drove us in big vans. They were very knowledgeable and informative. We enjoyed stories about all the Wild West movies and television shows filmed on their 3,700 plus acres of property. They also lease another 30,000 acres from BLM. It’s HUGE and so beautiful. We were able to pet and see so many animals. Unfortunately, the rain and cold put a little damper on our outdoor picnic. That night we had catered BBQ from Giff’s BBQ and Grill in Kanab. It was delicious and everyone raved about it!
Next on the menu was breakfast burritos. They helped warm us up for our Jeeping Adventure. A special Thank You! to Jo Lewandowski for setting up the jeep tour with her club, “The St. George Jeepers’ Club.” The lead Guide, Mike, was so knowledgeable and patient with all us Newbies. The tail gunner Colin was equally as knowledgeable and kept a good eye on us all. All the sites to White Pocket were incredible. We even had snow in the surrounding mountains.
On Sunday, we had a free day, but everyone was sent off with a big hearty waffle breakfast. Some Pathfinders went to the caves, some went jeeping again, others went on a beautiful drive to see the beautiful fall colors. Our evening meal was Make Your Own Pizza Night! Everyone flipped and stretched their own dough, placed on their favorite toppings, and had it cooked in Chef Eric’s own pizza oven. It was a lot of fun! We also enjoyed campfire time especially listening to music by “Seattle goes South”, our own Walt & Teresa Huntsman. They are awesome!
Utah Pathfinder’s rally was filled with great food, friendship and fun activities which helped to make it a success. We want to thank everyone that helped prep, serve and clean up. Looking forward to our next rally in 2025. Watch for information in the spring. Have a safe and happy holiday season.
We can be reached at email eric.bruce@sbcglobal.net or cell 951-271-1345.
