Grand Canyon

We arrived at the Grand Canyon on Tuesday, got set up at the RV park (Grand Canyon Camper Village), we wanted to stay in the park but they were full for the days we were going to be there.  We originally had reservations for 7 nights, but when we checked in they said most people don't stay that long because there isn't much to do after you've been to all the overlooks.  So we only paid for 3 nights and figured we'd go from there.  Turns out you don't really need a whole week here, in 3 days we went from Desert View to Hermits Rest.  We wanted to do the mule ride down in the canyon to Phantom Ranch but you have to reserve that well in advance, so maybe next time!

 This was our first time here, so when we got our first look all I could say was "OH MY GOD"!  We've seen plenty of pictures and watched the specials on The Travel Channel, but to see The Grand Canyon, well I have to admit I got a little misty eyed.  It is that beautiful, hard to put into words, and pictures just don't capture it like when your standing right there!

 

 

The first 2 days we started out at Yavapai Point, did some hiking on the Rim Trail.  Then we went by car toward Desert View stopping at all the overlooks.  We found a nice picnic area that we had all to ourselves and had lunch.  We made it to Desert View to see the historic Watchtower.  I didn't know you could go up in it, so we did.  It was like climbing a lighthouse except not as tall.  I was on my way to the restroom and was looking around trying to see where it was not paying attention were I was stepping, but I was still on the pavement and a small rattle snake crossed the path right in front of me.  I almost stepped on it, I heard a noise and looked down and there it was a foot or less from me, luckily it kept on going.  Scared the crap out of me though.   Here is a picture I took of it, not sure if you can see it good enough though, but if you look close you can make out the rattle.

Grand Canyon Rattle Snake I almost stepped on!

Watchtower at Desert View

The last day we started out at Bright Angel Trail.  We hiked down for a little ways, not so bad, but then we had to go back up, that was pretty rough!  Then we took off on the Rim Trail heading toward Hermits Rest.  Most of the Rim Trail is a paved path and level in parts but there was a bit of uphill.  I can't remember exactly where we got to before my legs and especially my knee said it was time to stop, but we hiked it for 5 hours then we cheated and took the shuttle bus to Hermits Rest.

Randy on Bright Angel Trail

Me on Bright Angel Trail

We seen every mile of the South Rim that's allowable without going down into the canyon all the way (I will do that next trip), so we decided to moved on the next morning.  All I can say is this is truly a beautiful place and we really enjoyed it here.

 

Sedona, AZ Area

I really wish we had more time to spend here, it is such a beautiful place.  I could do without the touristy part of town, but the surroundings are awesome!  We are staying at a Thousand Trails park called Valley Verde RV Resort.  It's a nice park with all the amenities which we have not taken advantage of because we've been busy sightseeing.  We just haven't taken the time to just hang out at the RV, but I guess that's because we spent 6 1/2 months hanging out at home all the time while we were gate guarding.  Things will settle down soon or I'll need another vacation to get over my vacation! 

We did our own tour of the Red Rocks and then took a jeep tour to places that we just can't get to in the Miata.  The jeep tour was just ok.  It would have been great if our guide would have slowed down a little so we could have gotten better pictures.  We'll make sure we have a 4 wheel drive next time we come back and take our time to see all the things our guide rushed through.  I still have some great pictures...

Bell Rock

The Chapel by Frank Lloyd Wright

 

 



Sunset on the Red Rock

 

Red Rocks at Sunset

 

Sunset

 Montezuma Castle National Monument was pretty cool.  Of course it doesn't take long to see it since you can't go up in there.  But they have a nice Ranger that tells the history behind it and it's interesting how people lived back then.

Montezuma Castle Cliff Dwellings

 

We also went to Tuzigoot National Monument.  Some of the walls were still there, but no roofs except in one section.  Each room was only about 200 square feet, not much room for a family.  There was a little more to see so we spent a little more time there, gt my National Park Passport stamp and my souvenir magnet and off to the next stop!

You can see the separate rooms

One part of Tuzigoot that had walls and roof

The old mining town of Jerome was on my to do list.  It wasn't what I expected though.  I thought it was a ghost town and they call it that but it was anything but.  There were so many people there, it was very touristy.  We did enjoy the old buildings and such.  But we didn't spend much time there. 

Jerome, AZ

Another thing we really enjoyed was a drive we took out of Sedona to Flagstaff up 89A(Coconino National Forest), beautiful drive!  That was the last thing we did before coming home to get ready to pull out tomorrow.  Off to the Grand Canyon in the morning, we'll be there a week!  It is on top of my bucket list so I m very excited to be going there!

 

 

 

Texas to Arizona

The Pecos River in Texas

Finally the day we anticipated arrived, September 10th!  The new gate guards came to take our place a little after 9 am, we gave them the low down and hit the road.  We drove all day and still didn't make it out of Texas.  Of course, we had to stop at a Wally World to pick up some supplies, had to go through several Immigration check points, and finally stopped for the night in Ft. Stockton.  The RV park was a Passport America, some are nice parks and some are just a campsite for the night.  This was just a campsite for the night, no thrills or frills, but only $12 bucks a night and we didn't have to unhook the car and I was able to run my washer/dryer to get a load of laundry done.  Not a very exciting first day, but the main thing we were able to be together, we were never able to go any where together when we were at the gate.

The Guadalupe Mountain Range

Day two got us from Ft. Stockton, TX to Deming, NM, With a stop in between at a Sams Club for yet more supplies.  I think I have enough supplies now, I hope!  And dinner at Ruby Tuesday, because it was in the same parking lot as Sams and we were able to walk to it.  So, after a nice steak dinner we were on the road again.  We stayed at another PPA park in Deming (Low Hi RV Park) and this one was a nice one.  There was no grass on the sites but it had gravel and was very neatly done very level sites and landscaped really pretty.

Front view from our site in Deming



Another view from our site in Deming

 

View from our site in Tucson

Day Three we made it to Arizona!  Let the real vacationing begin!  This is our first time in Arizona, we have reservations for a park about a mile outside the entrance to Grand Canyon on the 18th so we have a little time to kill in some other areas.  Our first stop is where we are now, Tucson.  We are staying at yet another PPA park (we like the 50% discount we get) called Justin's Diamond J and it is a very nice park.  Beautiful views of the desert and mountains.  After getting set up there wasn't much time left in the day and the crank thingy on the fan in the bathroom stripped out and wouldn't stay closed so we had to find a Camping World to get the parts to fix it.  While we were out I spotted a Vanity Fair and had to make a quick stop.  We like going to restaurants we see on either The Travel Channel or Diners, Drive Ins and Dives soooo... we had dinner at a place we seen on Man vs. Food called Mi Nidito (My Little Nest, in English).  Very good Mexican food, President Clinton and Willie Nelson to name a few have eaten there also.


Today we went hiking in Saguaro National Park.  We only went on a few of the short trails, a mile or less each.  We wanted to go further but it was very hot today and according to the park ranger, unusually humid for the area.  I have to get me one of those funny looking hats people wear in the sun because I wore a ball cap and my head was soaking wet.  This part of the country is very unique I think with the desert surrounded by mountains.  The Saguaro Cactus are way bigger than I expected them to be.  Some of them I bet are 30 foot tall, maybe it's just me, because I've never been here before, but I was amazed by them and the desert itself.  We wanted to go to the Old Tucson Studio but they are closed this time of year.  Oh well, we are wanting to come back to tour the South part of Arizona during cooler months so I guess we'll see it then.  We had a great time in the park even though it was as hot as Texas was this Summer.  We move tomorrow further North to Cottonwood, AZ, plan is to see as much of the Sedona area as possible in the four days we will be there.  Here's some pics of Saguaro National Park...

Me and Randy on the hiking trail

Sunset from our campsite

Storm clouds behind us catching some of the color from the sunset