Day # 49 - 4 Corners & Moab, UT

Well, given the fact that we were pretty tired and had lost an hour moving into the Mountain Time Zone from the Pacific Time Zone (well, technically Arizona is on Mountain Time, but since the entire state except one Indian Reservation does not observe Daylight Savings Time it is the same time there as Pacific time – too confusing if you ask me) we got a slower start than we had wanted. AJ’s asthma has really picked up. Fevers tend to have that affect on him. We had to hustle to get packed up before breakfast so we wouldn’t miss check-out. We made it with 10 minutes to spare!

There is a Denny’s next to the campground, so we figured we’d pop in for breakfast before heading out. Food was good, but service was slow. Given that fact that our waiter was sporting a blue Mohawk we were happy that it arrived at all and was surprisingly accurate. Sarah, our picky eater even tried something new and actually liked it, so I guess all in all things wound up in our favor. We headed out for Moab, Utah.

Before we left civilization (and lost Cell service), we called to check in on Tony’s mom. She gave us some pretty disturbing medical news. She had seen her doctor upon returning from her trip and he was pretty convinced that she had walking pneumonia – Yikes! Needless to say we were a bit worried not only for her, but for ourselves as well having been in such close proximity the last week. I put in a call to the pediatrician and he called in some additional medicine for AJ’s nebulizer so we could try to keep his chest clear. We are all coughing a bit, and will cross our fingers and hope for the best. Tony let me drive a little today so he could grab a rest. As I drove through no man’s land New Mexico, I was struck by the landscape. The terrain was a lot like the back drop for the Disney/Pixar movie Cars. This scenery gave way to desert landscape with huge rock formations in the distance that looked like the city of OZ (maybe I’ve been on this road trip a little too long). Tony and I were trying to decide if we should make a side trip to 4 Corners National Monument. We decided that we would push on. While I was snoozing, Tony decided, “what the heck” and detoured over to check it out.

Four Corners is located where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah intersect (sort of – it’s a really long story, but suffice it to say that is where the US geological survey marker is). It is the only place in the United States where 4 states come together. This land is owned by a local Native American tribe. Once again we had to shell out a few dollars a person to enter the land. Once again there were many stalls/booths set up displaying mostly handmade Native American jewelry and pottery. There were also a few t-shirt shops and concession stands. It was sort of like an Indian version of Trader’s World. In the center of all of this was the survey marker along with a small monument. People were waiting patiently to take their turn to sit or stand on confluence point of the four states. After we took our turn, we walked around a bit and checked out what the locals had to offer. The kids spotted snow cones at one of the concession trailers so went over to get some. While we were there, I decided to try Indian Fry Bread. It was sort of like a cross between a funnel cake and an elephant ear. I got mine topped with cinnamon and sugar. You could also get powdered sugar or honey. We enjoyed our treats and looked at the surrounding scenery before heading back out again.

Our route today took us through northern New Mexico, extreme south western Colorado and then into Utah. We would have liked to have had more time to stop in Cortez, Colorado and to visit Mesa Verde National Monument. I was there when I was a kid and I remember it being really cool. But hey, there’s only so much time so we pushed on.

We have traveled a pretty far piece this trip. We have encountered many different kinds of terrain and have even been on some desolate stretches of highway, but this drive truly took us out into the middle of nowhere! We were on some stretches of two lane road that felt like we had fallen off of the face of the earth. We went many miles without passing another car or a house or business. It felt a little odd that even with as crowded as our country has become, there are still places where you can really be that isolated. Living where we live you can’t throw a rock without hitting a Wal-Mart, McDonald’s or a Starbucks. Here, there isn’t anything around for hundreds of miles. I think it would drive me nuts to live that far away from what we call civilization.

The drive was taking its toll on Tony even with my help. It was getting very late and AJ was really starting to cough and wheeze and we were starting to re-think our decision to stop at 4 Corners on such a long driving day after getting a late start. As we approached Moab, the scenery started to change again. The rocky terrain changed back into red rock formations. There were a few formations that had been named. They were pretty cool looking. We were beginning to get pretty excited about what we were going to see. Then we spotted our first arch – Wilson Arch about 45 minutes south of our destination. We had never seen anything like it. An archway carved by wind and rain out of solid rock. Very impressive! We finally made it to Moab, but unfortunately the campground we had chosen (Archview RV Resort) was several miles north of the city. We had chosen it because it was the closest campground to Arches National Park as well as the northern entrance to Canyonlands National Park. The campground was nice looking, but the amenities were only OK and the sites are very small. The view however was amazing. You could see in the distance a large section of Arches NP along with north and south window arch. It was really neat and it made us even that more ready to explore the park tomorrow. We got set up and ready for bed so we can get ready for the parks in the morning.

Day # 48 – The Petrified Forest N.P.

Well, we have decided to extend our trip a little. I guess we figured that 52 days just wasn’t long enough. Actually what we discussed was that since we are all the way out here and the kids love spending time hiking around the national parks, why not stay a few extra days and see a few more parks. As a result, anyone who looked at one of our first posts where I described the route we were going to take will notice we have made some changes.

So today we are going to tow our camper from Williams, AZ to Gallup, NM. Along the way we are going to stop at “The Petrified Forest National Park” and check out some logs that had petrified and the petro glyphs on some of the pueblo ruins. After today, we are going to back track up into Utah and go to CanyonLands and Arches National parks. Then we will head over to Denver and Colorado Springs and do the Rockies before heading home. We will be adding 6 days to our trip to bring the total up to 58 days.

So today we left Williams (camper in tow) for the relativity easy drive over to the Petrified Forest NP. It took about 2 hours to get there after we stopped at Casa D’Ronald (My southwestern nickname for Mc Donald’s). Unfortunately, the fever that AJ had kicked by yesterday reared its ugly head again. Abby woke up feeling crappy and a check with the thermometer showed she had a 101 fever. She had no other symptoms other than a sinus headache, so we gave her some Tylenol for the fever and kiddie sudaphed for the sinus pressure. We had planned to augment the trips to the visitor centers and overlooks with a couple of neat trail hikes back into the petrified logs and the Painted Desert. Now we will just stick to the stuff that doesn’t require the kids to be out in the heat too long, because as we leave the higher elevations, we will also be leaving our cool temperatures.

We got to the Petrified Forest and decided to go through the town of Holbrook, AZ so we could go in the south entrance to the park. I wish we had an extra day to poke around Holbrook. It is another city that has Route 66 going through its downtown and there was some interesting looking museums and tourist crap that would be fun to see. Maybe the next time I get laid-off over the summer and we decide to take a ridiculously long camping trip I can check it out.
Our first stop in the Petrified Forest was at the Rainbow Forest Museum and visitor’s center. This is where you can tour a section of the hillside that contains hundreds of petrified logs. There was also some interesting stuff in the visitor’s center including 3 full skeletons of small dinosaurs. They also had some cool things for sale and I bought a neat tee-shirt with a design of the park on the back. Missy was able to get her National Parks Passport stamped here also. Then we headed out the back to the tour the petrified logs. Some of the logs are small, the diameter of your leg. But some are huge, several times larger around that an average mans waist. There were the really cool looking logs because they had so much variation in the colors and textures of the crystal and stone that had formed as the log petrified. There is a basic trail that takes you about 100 yards from the visitor’s center and there is also an extended trail. We had wanted to hike out on the extended trail, but Abby and AJ’s moods made it an easy decision to just do the shorter trail. After the Crystal House we stopped at the gift shop so the kids could make smashed pennies (and cool off - it was approaching 100 degrees by this time). Sarah was happy to inform us that her penny passport is now over 2/3 full and she only has room for 11 more smashed pennies.

Next we headed up to Agate Bridge. Some time ago one of the petrified logs fell across a ravine. As the soil and sand continued to erode, the log created a natural bridge. It was interesting, but the girls wanted to walk across or under the bridge. You are not allowed to walk across and getting underneath would be possible, but would make for a pretty difficult climb down the creek bed. So we decided to head to our next stop.

We stopped at Puerco Pueblo to check out the ruins and see the petro glyphs. The ruins were okay…just foundations were the building used to be. But the Petro glyphs were really cool. There was no sign that showed you where to look, just 3 overlooks of the hillside where the rocks with the drawings were located. So it was kind of like “discovering” them as you saw new drawings on the 50 or so rocks strewn about the hill. Abby and Sarah were really into looking for, and finding, the drawings. AJ was happy to sit in the middle of the trail with one of his toy cars and make crashing sounds. We stayed here for quite a while looking for new drawings and pointing them out to each other.

Our last stop was at the Painted Desert Inn. The Petrified Forest borders on the southern edge of “The Painted Desert” and some of the coloring on the hills and rock formation is really cool looking. We were able to stop and look around for a little while, but again given how the kids felt, we decided to skip the hike out behind the inn that goes into the hills. Instead Missy made some lunch in the camper while Sarah, Abby and I checked out the Inn (AJ was asleep in the truck at this point). Calling it an Inn is odd since it no longer accepts overnight guests. Instead the Park Service has turned it into a kind of mini-museum for the Petro glyphs and Indians believed to have lived here. As with all the other things Indian related on this trip, Sarah was very interested in looking at the information on display. And because Sarah was interested, Abby was interested too. It was a nice, but small, collection petro glyphs and information explaining the symbols.

After eating Missy’s yummy lunch in the car, we got back on I-40 for the trip over to Gallup, NM. Before we changed our plans we were going to drive through Gallup all the way to Albuquerque tonight. Now the drive is much shorter. Still, it was another 2 hours to Gallup.
The KOA campground here is pretty crappy and if we were staying any longer than a night, I would find someplace else. But for a place to park for 1-night, it is fine. We needed some supplies so we headed to the Gallup Wal-Mart. Along the way we found a Golden Corral restaurant. It was fast and easy and cheap, so we ate a quick dinner there. It was interesting to note the difference in the menu items from the Golden Corral’s at home to one in New Mexico. I don’t remember 4 different kinds of beans and Jalapeño Pork chops on the menu in Ohio. After Wal-Mart it was back to the camper. We have a long travel day tomorrow going into Utah and its all 2-lane backcountry roads. So I wanted to get a good night sleep.

Day # 47 - Sedona, AZ

It’s a great day for hiking! AJ was feeling better and fever free so we decided to head back into Sedona to do a little more hiking in the Red Rocks. We made breakfast then set out for Sedona.



We didn’t want to push too hard today given that we weren’t sure if AJ was 100% or how everyone else was feeling. We made our way over to Airport Mesa. There are several hiking trails there on and around the mesa and most of them are relatively easy with little elevation change. Everyone enjoyed stomping around in the red dirt, but Abby seemed the most excited (except for daddy). The views were nice and just the simple act of getting out on a trail and away from people changes your perspective.


The girls were having fun being our leaders and looking out for the cairns that marked our path. The biggest problem with this is that they can become a little over zealous and get too far ahead of us. This poses a couple of obvious problems. The first is that AJ can’t stand for his sisters to do anything that he can’t and so he tries to race ahead. He somehow isn’t as mindful of the drop offs as we are, so it’s a constant struggle to get him to stay beside you and hold your hand.



The other problem is that we are in a wild environment and the kids can’t seem to get it through their heads that there are actual things on these trails that can hurt them like cactus, rattle snakes (4 different varieties I’m told) and scorpions to name a few. Even still… we had a very enjoyable time.



It was in the upper 90’s so it was pretty warm out on the trail. We had plenty of water with us, but AJ was starting to get tired and started saying repeatedly that he wanted to go “back to the bye-bye” (that is what he has taken to calling the truck this trip). So he and I headed back to the car while Tony and the girls took another trail. The trails in this area are incredibly well marked with red rock cairns inside chicken wire baskets with wooden signs letting you know what trail you are on. Given my directionally challenged issues, I was still sure that we could find our way safely back and wasn’t worried about splitting up. AJ and I headed for the car, cranked up the AC and watched some of one of his current favorite movies, Air Buddies. The other half of the crew arrived after making a loop around one of the large rock formations. We headed back into town to walk the streets some more and grab a bite of lunch. Tony and I had sandwiches and adult beverages while the kids enjoyed standard kid cuisine (chicken strips and hot dogs). After lunch, we walked back up the strip to our car. It was getting to be late afternoon, so reluctantly we headed back to Williams to begin packing up for the next leg of our trip. The kids took care of the campsite KP while Tony tackled the outside duties. I buttoned up the inside. Everyone grabbed a much needed bath, then we hit the sheets early so we can try to get an early start in the morning on our drive to Gallup, New Mexico via the Petrified Forest.

Day # 46 - Williams, AZ

Nana had to leave pretty early to drive the 3 hours to Phoenix. As I said earlier, we were supposed to leave early ourselves for Albuquerque, but since we opted for 2 more days here, we had the luxury of sleeping until everyone woke up! That was nice.

AJ was battling his asthma pretty bad and still had a fever in the morning. To top it all off, Abby started coughing too. We decided to make it another low key day in the hopes that everyone would be feeling better so we can head back to Sedona tomorrow. We ate breakfast at the camper and planned out our day. We had accumulated some laundry and I wanted to wash all of the linens so we headed into town to a local laundry-mat. The KOA we are staying at had limited laundry facilities compared to some of the others. The laundry mat in town was a nice clean facility – hard to find these days.

Right around the corner was a local doughnut shop with wi-fi access. Tony and Sarah headed over to upload some blog posts and photos while Abby and AJ and I stayed to keep an eye on the laundry. Abby is quite the budding home maker. She loves to help with the laundry (well at least she does at the laundry-may – it must be something about all of those quarters). She helped me move all of the clothes to the dryer (again, I think she has ulterior motives as she likes to roll the little laundry carts). I was on my own though when it came time to fold.

I called Tony and told him we were ready to go. He came back with Sarah and we loaded everything back into the car. We needed to go to the grocery for a few things, but we opted to all go back for a nap instead. After a much needed rest, we were a little groggy and decided to grab a quick bite of dinner and then hit the local Safeway for supplies. AJ was still running a low grade temp, but we are hopeful it will pass by morning. We are really hoping to get out and enjoy those beautiful red rocks one more time.

Day # 45 - Grand Canyon & Lighting

It was another beautiful day in Northern Arizona. We got up relatively early and decided that we would pick up some breakfast at McDonald’s in Tusayan on the way in to save a little time. We knew we would be paying tourist prices, but $40 bucks for a few breakfast sandwiches and hash browns is more than a bit steep.

Anyway, with full tummies we entered the park and located the red bus route that would take us out to the Hermit’s Rest overlook. We dropped Nana off at the bus stop so she could conserve her energy and went to find a parking place. The bus will only take as many riders as they have seats for when it departs from the 1st stop but after that you can ride standing room only from the rest of the stops – strange rule, but OK. We had to wait a few buses to be able to board. Fortunately, the buses run every 12 to 15 minutes so it didn’t take too long. We hopped off at one of the first overlooks to take a look. The National Park service limited traffic on this road to busses only a few years ago. While it makes getting to the view points a little more difficult, it limits the number of visitors to this area of the park and makes for a more enjoyable visit.

We hopped back on the bus to head to Hopi Point. This overlook is supposed to be one of the best in the canyon, especially for viewing the sunset. The views were once again breathtaking. We walked a short trail back from the stop along the rim. The day started off clear and bright. But we noticed some storm clouds off in the distance. That is one thing about the canyon, the weather can be unpredictable. Frequently there are afternoon thunderstorms, but it was still pretty early in the morning. We decided to head back to the bus stop to catch a bus out to the last stop, Hermit’s Rest, then to make extra stops on the way back as the weather allowed. As we were waiting for the bus, a bolt of lightning cut through the air above our heads along with a simultaneous and deafening crack of thunder. You know the rule about counting the seconds between the lightning and thunder to determine approximately how far away it is, we there was no time at all in between. It scared the crap out of all of us. Tony saw a blue spark on the toe of his tennis shoe. Abby and AJ started crying along with a teenage girl who was waiting with her family.

As we all started talking about how scary that was we struck up a conversation with her family. They were from Maryland and they too had Grandma traveling with them. Grandma was from England. There was so much static electricity in the air that people’s hair was sticking straight up in the air. The scariest part was there was no place to seek shelter. You are thousands of feet up in the air standing on the rim of a canyon watching storm clouds roll in and listening to thunder. There are little to no trees here so you are the tallest thing in the open. We just hoped that the bus would be along soon. To make matters worse, it started to rain...and rain hard. We hadn’t brought our ponchos or jackets. It started to rain harder and harder. We were soaked. The bus was late. It was going on 20 minutes since the last bus had come by and the group that was waiting was starting to get a little antsy.

Finally, a very full bus arrived and we all piled in anyway. He drove us to the next stop and a relatively empty bus that was making its way back to the bottom pulled in and those of us who were standing moved to the other bus. The rain got harder and harder with a lot of lighting and then it actually started to hail! Needless to say, our trip to Hermit’s Rest was going to be cut short. The bus drivers were picking up people along the way. Usually they won’t pick up passengers unless they are at a designated stop, but given the weather, they were authorized to pick up anywhere. It seems that a few years ago, a visitor was struck by lightning and died so they weren’t taking any chances. They wanted to get people down from the rim until the storm passed. We were a little disappointed, but no one can argue with Mother Nature (and after the scare we had we weren’t taking any chances either).

We got safely back to our car at about 2:00. Though the sun was coming out, we didn’t have time to go back out on the busses because we needed to have Alice in Flagstaff to pick up a rental car so she could drive herself to the airport in Phoenix in the morning. We decided to eat at one of the restaurants in the lodge before going back to the city. AJ’s asthma was flaring, so I took him to the restroom to change him and give him a breathing treatment. He was feeling a little warm. When we got seated at the table and I picked him up to put him in his seat, he felt really hot. Great – We made our asthmatic 3 year old stand out in a rainstorm with a fever. One of those parenting moments that make you feel awful. I grabbed the kiddie Tylenol out of the diaper bag and dosed him up.

We ate a nice lunch (thanks Nana) and then headed out back for one last look at the Grand Canyon. AJ was starting to cough quite a bit, so Tony dropped me and the kids off at the campground on his way to Flagstaff so I could give AJ another breathing treatment and put him down for a nap. I hope this is short lived, but I am worried he is getting what Alice had. When Tony got back it was getting late so we went into Williams to grab a quick dinner and then put everyone to bed early. Since we decided to stay an extra couple of days, we are looking forward to sleeping in in the morning.

Day # 44 - Grand Canyon

Alice was not quite feeling up to an outing today, so we left her to recuperate in hopes that she can enjoy her final day out west tomorrow. Tony and I and the kids decided to head back to the canyon to drive east along the rim from the south entrance to Desert View and to check out The Watch Tower. This was the same drive that Tony and I took probably a dozen years ago when we did the Grand Canyon in a 1 day side trip from Phoenix.

The views were as spectacular as we remembered. This drive also had the added benefit of being considerably less crowded. There were still other visitors at the overlooks, just not near as many as were at the main entrance. We met a nice woman who had come up from Phoenix with her dog Thor to take some photos. The kids loved the dog, who was more than happy to accept their attention. We managed to pry them away to look at the views and they really wanted to hike down into the canyon. We did not think that was a good idea given their ages. I was listening to “Canyon Dave the tour guide” tell his group how he had hiked down into the canyon a total of about 18 miles yesterday and had drank 16 liters of water along the way. The canyon floor is about 20 to 30 degrees hotter than the rim. Given that it was about 92 degrees on the rim, that’s pretty hot.

One of the scenic vistas we stopped at next, Grand View Point, was the sight of an old mining encampment. Because of this, the trail here is much wider and seemingly more accessible. We walked a little ways down the trail to get a sense of being "under the rim" of the canyon. It was pretty cool. I can only imagine what it must feel like to be down at the bottom of the canyon. We are looking forward to coming back when the kids are a bit older so that we can take a hike to really get down below the rim. It is something that I think would be worthwhile and would give you a different perspective on an incredibly amazing place. We pushed on and hit a few more vistas. We were again reminded how different the canyon looks at each view point. Every time we stopped we would ask the kids if they wanted to get out and "take a look" and the answer was always a resounding yes. The girls, especially Sarah, thought it was cool and I think AJ was just interested in getting dirtier.

We made it to Desert View and decided to stop at the snack bar for a bite to eat as a tour bus had just unloaded at the Watch Tower overlook. Abby kept asking when we were going to see the “Eiffel Tower.” That got quite a few laughs from the people around us. We enjoyed burgers and hot dogs to give us a little energy to explore Desert View. We smashed a few pennies in the gift shop and picked up a couple of t-shirts for Tony and me. We were kind of on a mission to replace a T-shirt that Tony had purchased on our last trip out that was on its last leg before being relegated to the rag pile. Sure enough Tony found what he was looking for in the Watch Tower gift shop. The Watch Tower (Cue the music….All along the Watch Tower…) is a 70 foot tall tower that was modeled after towers found in ancient pueblos. The Watch Tower is connected to a circular kiva that is decorated with art work by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie. The top of the tower stands at 7,522 feet above sea level making it the tallest point on the south rim. The view from the first floor viewing area is impressive. Sarah was impressed by a flat, mesa like hill called Cedar Mountain. She had taken to calling it a volcano. From this view point you can also see the edges of the painted desert. We just stood for a while taking it all in. The kids wanted to climb to the top (of course) so we started up the narrow, winding staircase. At each landing in the kiva (there are 3) there were more paintings. The top of the watchtower ends in s small landing that has an amazing view of the canyon through big glass windows. As I am not fond of tight spaces, I let Tony and the kids continue on to the top alone and I was left to quietly admire the art work below. When the gang climbed back down, we headed back outside to take one last look. On the way back to the car, we stopped in the general store for some ice cream (daddy had promised the kids ice cream earlier, and no matter how many other things they conveniently forget, my kids won’t forget the promise of ice cream). With popsicles in hand, we headed back the car as the sky was beginning to darken with rain clouds. We could see some pretty impressive flashes of lightning off in the distance.

We left the canyon via the East entrance and were headed back to Flagstaff through Cameron, Arizona. When Tony and I visited the canyon the last time, we stumbled upon a scenic view that led to a small but impressive canyon. The coolest part about this little canyon was that there was no sound at all other than the wind. No people, no cars, no buzzing electric lines -just quite. It was cool in a spooky, twilight zone kind of a way. We were happy to locate the overlook 8 miles from the canyon on State Route 64. The problem was that the minute we pulled off the road, it started pouring down rain. We waited it out for a few minutes, but conditions were not improving so reluctantly, we left. About 10 miles down the road we saw signs for another scenic overlook. Since it wasn’t raining there, we decided what the heck. This overlook was run by a local Native American tribe so we had to pay to enter, but it was only a few dollars. The overlook to the canyon was neat, and the best part was that you could climb way out on rocks near the edge (surrounded by railings of course) to get a closer look. It made the experience a little neater than the overlooks at the Grand Canyon because you actually felt like you were in part of the canyon as opposed to standing on pavement on a man-made overlook. Pretty cool! It was very windy and the storm was coming our way, so we headed back to the car. The drive back was fairly windy and everyone took a little snooze, except Tony of course. Tony and I began discussing our trip. We had been having such a good time and felt we wanted to see a little more before heading back home so we discussed extending our trip a few days. Tony really wanted to do some more hiking in Sedona and we thought that maybe instead of heading to Colorado Springs through Albuquerque we would cut back up through Utah and see a few additional National Parks before picking up I-70 and pulling the Rockies to get to Colorado Springs. Not an easy drive, but we I am confident that out truck (and my husband) can make it. After a few cell-phone calls we rearranged the necessary reservations. We got back to the camper and checked on Alice. She was feeling a bit better and was hopeful that maybe tomorrow she would be able to make a last trip back to the canyon. We are hoping to take the bus out to the west side of the canyon rim to check out Hermit’s Rest.

Day #43 - Montezuma's Castle

It’s official, Alice (Tony’s Mom) is sick. She called this morning to tell us she was feeling worse and to go on ahead without her. She put a call in to her doctor and they were going to call in an script that we could pick up at the Walgreen’s in Flagstaff on our way back. We felt bad to leave her at the campground, but the kids were looking forward to seeing the ruins at Montezuma’s Castle.

We had a little bit of a drive to reach the National Monument as it is located between Flagstaff and Phoenix. The cliff dwellings here are some of the best preserved in the country. The cost to get in was $6.00 for adults and free for children under 16. Once again, the America the Beautiful pass paid off! We got in for free.

The visitor’s center has a small display area/museum. There was also a small bookstore and I was able to purchase my sticker for my National Parks passport and get it stamped. Sarah and Abby have started asking for scrap pieces of paper from the rangers so they could add a stamp for their own scrapbooks. Frankly, I am not sure why we didn’t think of this earlier!

There is a small paved walking trail that leads you out to the ruins. There were rangers on the trail to answer questions and one of them had a cart filled with specimens of snakes and spiders and other icky things that kids find so interesting. The perky ranger informed us that last week they had captured a 58 inch long rattle snake. Yikes! She said that when they capture a snake they radio chip them like people do to their house pets so that they can track their movements and what not. She said that this particular snake was one that they had originally captured 10 years ago. She seemed pretty excited about it – some people! I was just excited that they caught it last week and not the day of our visit. She was also kind enough to talk to the kids about the tarantula specimens. She informed them that just a few days ago they captured their first tarantula around the visitor’s center. I began to wonder if I was in a National Park Visitor’s center or an Indiana Jones movie. Anyway, we decided to brave it down the trail to see the ruins.

The Sinagua People built these cliff dwellings over 1,000 years ago. Because they built their homes sheltered high under limestone cliffs they were well protected from the elements and they have remained intact some 600 years after they were abandoned. Pretty impressive if you ask me. There were also some ruins of additional dwellings down below that were not as protected so all that remains is the outline. It is pretty cool to stand there and wonder what life must have been like for these early peoples. Once again I must come to the conclusion that I was born in the right century!

We spent some time walking down to the river to see the remains of the irrigation system the Sinagua created to water their crops. There was a lot of good information for Sarah (and me) as she studied about Native Americans this past year. It really brought it home for her how the different Indian tribes all used what was available to them to build their homes. It was also nice for her to see the permanent structures of a tribe who farmed after having seen the temporary tepees of the plains Indians when we were in South Dakota. Alright, enough of the geeky social studies teacher talk.

It was getting pretty hot and the crew was getting tired and hungry so we hopped in the car and went in search of a late lunch. The kids wanted McDonald’s and since that was pretty much the only game in town, we gave in. We headed back to Flagstaff to pick up Alice’s medicine and to hit a local used bookstore so Tony could pick up a few more books on CD for the remaining drive. I think the man could drive non-stop for days if he had something interesting to listen to on audio book. We stopped in Bookman’s Used books near the Northern Arizona University campus in Flagstaff. Tony sold them the three audio books he had brought with him and he picked up 3 new ones. The kids were thrilled to each pick out a new book for themselves. After we made our final selections, we stopped by Walgreen’s. As I was waiting in line to pay, the cashier was chatting with several people in front of me. They were all talking about how this weather was unseasonably hot for them. Apparently 90 degrees is unusual even for July. It must be us – everywhere we have been on this trip seems to be having unusual weather! We are giving serious thought to going home via Canada so we can cool down a bit.

We arrived back at the campground to find that Alice’s condition had not improved. In fact, she was now running a fever. Hopefully the antibiotics will help her get better soon. After dinner we took a quick dip in the pool, then got everyone bathed and ready for the Grand Canyon tomorrow

Day # 42 - Williams, AZ

Today was kind of an odd day. We had planned on going back to the Grand Canyon today, but everyone was pretty tired when we woke up this morning. Tony had not slept very well and neither had AJ. Since they both suffer from allergy related asthma maybe they both reacted to something yesterday that had gotten them both congested and made for a restless night. Then we got a call from Tony’s Mom saying that she had woken up feeling very bad.

We decided to take it easy and make a leisurely breakfast. After breakfast though the kids started to get a little antsy so we thought we would drive into Williams to check out the Route 66 Historic section. You find that as you travel throughout the southwest that many of the towns that were situated along Route 66 now have historic areas with diners and museums and other touristy things to help you spend your vacation dollars. Williams had a nice downtown area with a modern visitor’s center. We stopped in to make use of the facilities and ended up hanging out for a while checking out some of their regional displays and perusing the information. There were several restaurants that looked good, but Tony seemed partial to Pancho McGillicuddy’s – I think it had something to do with the name.

Anyway, we set out to walk around the town and to check out the sights. Alice realized very quickly that her chest was too tight and congested to be out walking around so we dropped her off in one of the diners to relax and read while we looked around a bit. We made a few smashed pennies and looked at some of the historical markers (“what’s a brothel, mommy?”) and stopped in the candy store for a sugar buzz. The girls were excited about all of the Route 66 signs (too many viewings of the Cars movie, boy are my children becoming the products of marketing). We picked Nana up and headed back to the campground for naps.

The laundry was starting to pile up so I headed over to the camp office and spent the better portion of my afternoon trying to do a few loads of laundry. This particular campground had only 4 washers for the whole camp. Needless to say it was a bit busy. After laundry we took the opportunity to take a hayride pulled by a team of beautiful horses while Tony finished up making dinner. They were pretty excited to take a ride pulled by horses instead of the usual tractors we had seen in some of the other campgrounds. After the ride, one of the handlers let the kids pet the horses. It was a big hit! We got everyone to bed in the hopes that Nana would be feeling better tomorrow for a visit to Montezuma’s Castle.

Day # 41 - Sedona, AZ

We woke up today with a plan to visit the red rocks of Sedona and try to get some red dirt on our shoes by finding a place to take a hike. We drove through Oak Creek Canyon from Flagstaff to get to Sedona and our first stop was the famous Oak Creek Canyon Visitors Center and Overlook. They were having a small fair with about 20 tables of Native American goods (some authentic and some not so much) for sale. Both Sarah and Abby wanted to buy some of the cheap jewelry, but I told them they had to use their money. So Missy went back to the truck and got their change purses and they each bought a necklace and bracelet combination. They both counted out the money and paid themselves. They were very proud of their purchases.

The view from the overlook is impressive. Oak Creek canyon is very beautiful, but lacks the grandeur of the Grand Canyon. Besides at this point, I was itching to get out “in” the rocks rather than just looking at them from afar.

So we pushed on to Sedona. Missy and I visited Sedona about 11 years ago. And it hasn’t gotten any less weird since then. Sedona had attracted a group of “new age” followers. The last time we were here it was crystals and their mystical powers that were all the rage. This time it is Vortexes. Apparently a well known “seer” was able to contact another dimension and determined that 4 locations around the city of Sedona have just the right invisible energy patterns to provide a healing boost to your body. Two of the vortexes have a feminine energy and will increase your ability to love and be understanding. One of the vortexes is masculine and will increase your strength and sharpen your senses. And one vortex has both masculine and feminine energies (I couldn’t make this crap up even if I wanted to) and will apparently tickle your chakra or align your chi or something. The funny part about this is that ALL of the tour companies in town offer tours to the vortexes. I find it interesting that the vortexes happen to be located in 4 of the most popular scenic destinations in the city. Strange how that worked out huh?

Anyway, the new age wackiness is just a small part of Sedona. It is also filled with some nice art galleries in a very quaint downtown with some great shops and restaurants. You can also rent bikes, ATV, scooters, and several other vehicles that will get you into the red rocks.
I should probably explain for those who have never been to Sedona that the city sits right smack in the middle of several national & state parks and all of which have just breath-taking views of the many red rock formations. Many times you can drive to the end of a residential street and find a trailhead there with a trail that takes you out into one of the parks that surround the city. I had read several books and web pages that suggested a couple of trails and also a dirt road that I could drive on to get to one of the more scenic overlooks. The overlook I really wanted to go to was “Schnebly Hill Vista”. All of the jeep tour companies in Sedona include this vista in one of their tours and the only way you are getting there is with a 4x4. Well…it just so happens that I have a 4x4 truck. And a pretty good one at that! So, I figured that anything a 20 year old tour guide in an old Jeep could do…I could do too.

But before I could do that…the women wanted to have lunch. So we went to another place that was in the guide book called The Red Planet Café. The place really should have been over in Roswell,New Mexico given the alien, UFO, and space motif; but the food was good and there was plenty of interestng stuff for the kids to look at.

After lunch, I finally got to take my drive up Schnebly Hill road. I should mention that you will have to stop at the trailhead and buy a “red rocks pass” for $5.00 if you want to drive in any of the parks outside of the city limits. That is, unless your clever wife bought a National Parks pass that works in lieu of the red rocks pass. After about a mile the pavement on Schnebly Hill road stops and you are on a dirt/rock/gravel road. I have to say that being allowed to bounce around my wife, mother, and kids as we went up that road was a hell of a lot of fun! I stopped at a pull-off about 2 miles up the road (it is 8 miles to the overlook) and we got out and took one of the trails out into the red rocks. This is really beautiful scenery. The green cactus plants growing out of the red dirt and rocks make a nice contrast. The white flowers on the Yucca plants are also very vivid in all the red soil. We hiked for about 45 minutes until some dark clouds rolled in overhead. During our hike we saw all kinds of beautiful scenery, but there was one thing we did not see…any other people. We had the place to ourselves.

Once back in the car, I continued up the hill at a very bouncy 10-15 miles per hour. The higher we got the worse the road was. After the ground gave way to driving on carved rock, it really got fun. We stopped 2 more times on the way up. Once, I was the only one who wanted to get out of the car. I climbed to the top of an outcropping of rocks and just looked at the view. We were about 2/3 up the mountain we were climbing and I could look across the whole valley from my spot on the top of the rock. I could clearly see Steamboat rock and could just make out Snoopy rock as well. Beautiful.

It took up almost 2 hours, with all of our stops to look around, to make it up the 8-miles of road to the vista. Boy, was it was worth it! The vista is stunning. If you are visiting Sedona, I recommend the Schnebly Hill vista. Drive it yourself or take one of the jeep tours. It is worth the time and trouble.

Well…what goes up must come back down. We drove straight down the hill and were back at the trail head 40 minutes later. There is a bathroom there so we made a pit stop. While we werethere Abby was begging me to take another hike, so Abby, Sarah and I took 15 minutes and hiked out on a small trail that lead to a rock plateau. The view was still incredible. I find it amusing that a 10-minute walk from the bathroom can yield such beautiful views.

Having worn out the kids and Nana, we headed into town in search of some goodies. We found an ice cream parlor that also had real draught root beer. Ice cream for the women, girls, and AJ; and Root beer for me. Nice way to cool off and relax for a few minutes. Afterwards we wandered the town for a little while looking in a couple of the western wear shops for a cowboy hat for me or a tee-shirt shop for Missy and the kids. After an hour or so, it was getting late in the day so we headed back to Williams. AJ fell asleep during the drive and let us move him to his bed when we got back to the camper. So Sarah and I headed into the local Safeway for supplies. We brought back some fresh chicken and asparagus to grill for dinner. After dinner we went for a dip in the pool and then the kids got baths to wash all the red dirt off their little stinky bodies.

We were pretty tired, so after the kids were asleep and Missy and I had gotten my own baths, we fell into bed. This was one of the better days of this trip for me. Looking at the size of the Grand Canyon or the sparkle of the granite cliffs in Yosemite or hear the huge waterfalls of the Columbia gorge, seeing all the wildlife in Yellowstone is amazing. But being able to go out INTO nature and put my feet in the red soil was a different, and wonderful, experience.

Day # 40 - Grand Canyon

Woke up this morning in Willaims Arizona to a beautiful day with highs in the low 80’s. Ahhhh, that’s better! No more 110 degree days for me! We decided we would head up to the Grand Canyon to get Nana and the kids their first glimpse of it and to plan out what we want to do and see over the next few days. We slept in just a little as we were all tired from the drive and the heat of Vegas. The campground we are staying in has a good little café’ that serves breakfast daily. We enjoyed a good meal (prepared by someone else) and then loaded up the car for our 50 mile trek to the Canyon.

The drive to the canyon from Williams is unremarkable. As we approached the gate we were happy to show our America the Beautiful National Parks annual pass and bypass all of the cars waiting at the gate to pay. Membership has its privileges. Really, the annual pass was something I discovered on line in researching our trip. Many of the national parks have an entry fee of $20 to $25 per car. The pass costs $80 for a year and given the sheer number of parks we planned on visiting, we knew we would come out ahead. What we didn’t plan on was that the pass also has gotten us into numerous state parks and national monuments that carry entrance fees as well. It also got us into a lighthouse in Oregon, and took the place of a daily Red Rocks pass in Sedona. It is a really good investment for anyone planning on seeing several parks in one trip. That’s enough of my public service announcement.

We arrived at the Canyon a little after 11:00. The place was packed. We had to scout around a bit for parking by the south entrance visitor center and eventually did what everyone else was doing and parked on the shoulder of the road. We had a little bit of a walk along the rim trail back to Mather Point and the visitor’s center. That was fine with us because the view was amazing. The Grand Canyon is truly one of those places that one must experience for themself. Words and pictures just do not do it justice. The views are breathtaking and Sarah’s first response to seeing it was simply “wow!” The colors and rock formations are so impressive, but it is also the size and the grandeur that cause you to stop and stare in wonder. The thing I can’t get over is how different the canyon looks from each of the many overlooks. Infact the same view will look remarkably different just a short time later as the light and clouds change. I honestly think that I could just park myself on a rock and stare in quiet solitude for hours. Since I am traveling with 3 small kids that is obviously not an option.

Visiting the Grand Canyon is not without its challenges though in the middle of summer. There are a lot of people to contend with (many of whom have chosen to bring Fido the yapping family dog along) and some of the overlooks have sheer drop offs without much in the way of walls or railings to keep little kids back from the edge. While I appreciate not having to look over a man made barrier to enjoy nature, I also worried about the kids and their safety. We instituted a strict hand holding rule. The girls didn’t mind it too much, but AJ was definitely not a fan. His grumping was a small price to pay for peace of mind. There are many points that do allow you to step out onto rocky outcroppings with the help of a small railing. This allows you amazing views of the canyon and all of its glory. What was crazy were all of the people who had climbed out past the railing onto cliffs and ledges to blaze their own trail in search of the perfect picture. Did these people miss the hundreds of signs warning you not to do that?

After we had our fill of the view for a while, we hopped a free shuttle bus over to the visitor’s center. We checked out the geological information on the canyon and also learned about the flora and fauna. We read up a little on the shuttle bus system in the park. There are 3 main bus loops in the Grand Canyon. You can drive one of them. You can also take the south rim drive out to the east entrance. If you want to get to any other points, you must park and ride the free shuttle busses which run every 10 to 15 minutes. After purchasing our Grand Canyon sticker and stamping our National Parks passport book, we headed back to the car to have our picnic lunch. On the way, Sarah and Tony spotted a deer in the underbrush on the rim. It was perched precariously eating the leaves of the scrub bushes there.

On our drive back to the campground, we made a quick stop in Tusayan (a very small town just south of the Grand Canyon) for ice and other needed supplies. Then we headed back to the campground for dinner and a swim. While we were making dinner, our wonderful, thoughtful eldest child decided it was ok to throw rocks at her brother. Rocks have been a bit of a problem throughout this trip and this was the straw that got her grounded from swimming. We didn’t want her to stay at the camper with Nana because that wouldn’t seem like a punishment. Instead, she had to watch from a chair poolside while the rest of us enjoyed a dip in the heated indoor pool. I am pretty sure she learned from her mistake! After swimming, we headed back to the camper for baths and bed. We are looking forward to exploring the red rocks of Sedona tomorrow.

Day # 39 - Hoover Dam

Another travel day. We are going from Las Vegas, NV to Williams, AZ. But a couple of things are different about today. First, we have my Mother with us. The second is that we are going by way of Hoover Dam. A good bit of our reasoning for the visit to Las Vegas was so that we could satisfy my jones to see Hoover Dam. So I am hopping today is a good Dam day.

We got out of Vegas without much trouble although having to get my Mom checked out of the casino and all of her luggage into our trailer (How long is her visit for? I didn’t bring this much clothes and I am going for 2-months?) slowed things down more than I had hoped. We arrived at the Security Checkpoint for the Dam crossing and I was prepared for the worst. But I was happily surprised. The officer did the usual small talk to make sure we were “normal” tourists and not someone he needed to be concerned about. I opened up the luggage case on top of the truck for him and he also made a brief inspection inside the trailer. Lastly he looked into all the exterior cargo compartments but did not make me open the totes that are stored on the luggage rack on the back of the camper. All told, we were done in under 15 minutes. Not to Dam bad.

However finding a place to park when you total over 40’ long is another story. Part of the reason to arrive early for a Dam visit is to avoid the overcrowded dam parking lots. So unless you want to pay $25.00 to park in the Dam VIP lot you are going to have to walk down from one of the Dam upper parking lots that are further away. We parked in the second to last lot and had a pretty far walk in the Dam heat. It was 9:30 and it was already 95 Dam degrees.

Once we got down the Dam hill and into the Dam lobby (getting tired of the Dam references yet?) we discovered that we had to pass through a metal detector to get into the Dam visitors center. For years I carried a very small pocket knife on my key chain. I used to use it for all kinds of things, especially when camping. I say I used to…because I don’t have my knife anymore. Apparently, using a 1” blade, I am capable of organizing a flood of Las Vegas or some such Dam thing. So my choices were to walk back up the Dam hill to put my knife in the car or throw it into the Dam trash. So that is twice now that the Dam security measures have hosed me. It’s too bad. I liked that knife.

The tour of the Dam was as interesting as I had hoped it would be. The tour guides were very knowledgeable and answered all of the questions I asked. One thing that I learned is that the Dam’s electricity generating turbines only run at about 30% capacity. That the main function of the Dam is to provide water and flood management and not to generate power. In fact due to the inefficient nature of hydro-electric power and the issues involved in putting drinking water through a turbine, the Dam was never expected to create that much power. Basically they create and sell enough electricity every year to pay for the upkeep of the Dam with no extra funding from the government. Pretty neat huh? The tour included a trip down into the power station to see some of the turbines. There are also several cool interactive displays in the information center including a full-sized cut out of a turbine that you can walk through. I thought this was cool and my Mom and Missy liked seeing for themselves what I had explained to them when we were in the power station.

After the tour we went to the snack bar for some cold treats. Then it was back up the hill to the truck. By this time AJ was very tired and I ended up carrying him up the hill. The temperature was over 100 degrees. Just food for thought: if you are considering a visit to the Hoover Dam in the summer - pay to park in the VIP lot.

After drinking a liter of water it was off to Arizona. It is a steady climb from Vegas to Arizona. I always think of Arizona as being hot and desert like. And Phoenix and the entire southern half of the state are like that. But the northern parts of Arizona are very hilly and the elevation is around 7000 feet so it is usually pretty cool even in July.

We arrived at the Circle Pines KOA in Williams, AZ around 5:00. It is a nice campground with lots of trees. Our site is small, but not much different from most other private campgrounds in resort areas. My Mom rented one of the small camping cabins for her stay. It is cute with a bed, fridge, fan/heater and not much else. I chose this campground because it is smack in the middle of the Grand Canyon and Sedona. Plus it is only 30 minutes to Flagstaff and the amenities of a big city.

It was too late for a run up to the canyon tonight. But that is our plan for first thing tomorrow morning.

Day # 38 - Las Vegas

After two pretty late nights in a row, we all wanted to sleep in a little. Once everyone was up and clean, we walked from our camp/parking lot site over to the Circus Circus buffet for breakfast. I probably mentioned before that Circus Circus is one of the older casinos on the strip. But it is really the only one that caters to families. And because it is older, and not as fancy and shiny as the new casinos, the prices for the restaurants and amusements are much more reasonable. And having turned the back parking lot into an RV campground makes it a good place for families with trailers to use as a “jumping off” place to see the strip.

Anyway, after breakfast we had told the kids that we would spend some time in the Circus Curcus “adventuredome”. The adventuredome is a large pink dome that has about 20 amusement park style rides including a large rollercoaster and log flume ride. We got a coupon that knocked 25% off the price of an all day pass for all the rides so we got each of the kids a pass and turned them loose. I followed AJ and Missy and Nana followed the girls. They all had a blast. And since it was still relativity early in the day (I think we got there around 10:30) the lines for the rides we short. They all rode the kiddy railroad rollercoaster five times in a row. Sarah was very understanding about limiting herself to the rides that her brother and sister could also ride. I was reminded that she can be a very considerate big sister when the mood strikes her. After 3 hours in the Adventuredome, the adults needed a break. AJ had been asking to go back and see more circus acts. Missy had checked out the schedule and seen that the high trapeze act was at 2:00. So we made our way over to the Midway to see the show. Again, it was a very good (albeit short) circus act. Afterwards we played some carnival games while we waited for the next show (they do them every 45 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes on weekends). Sarah managed to win several good sized stuffed animals. Sarah has a knack for the game where you throw the softball into the tilted apple basket. She nailed it on the first try. I was really impressed. However the fact that Sarah had several large animals and Abby only had one was causing some frustration and tears. So we headed over to the only game I can reliably win at, the “throw the dart and pop a balloon” game. Four bucks, four darts, four popped balloons got Abby a nice big stuffed animal. I was actually impressed that I didn’t miss. I guess the pressure of a crying 5-year old honed my dart throwing skills.

The next Circus act was also very good. It was a man and woman team. Basically she twisted herself into a pretzel while he lifted and threw her around. The kids really liked it. A quick tip for those considering a visit to Circus Circus: When watching a circus act on the Midway, stand in the back along the edge of the stage to watch the show. While the performers tend to face the bleachers across from you more often, you are much closer to the stage and have a better viewpoint than those sitting in the stands. The downside is you have to stand up. But the view is much better.
We headed back to the camper for naps. After a morning of rides and circus acts, Abby and AJ had no problem falling asleep even in the hot camper.

We decided to eat fast food for dinner because we wanted to go to Downtown Las Vegas and check out the “Freemont street experience”. For those who have not heard about this, I will try to briefly explain. Some of the older casinos in Downtown Vegas several years back banded together in an effort to lure people away from the glitz of “the strip” and built a 4 block long electronic canopy over Freemont Ave. They closed the 4 blocks to vehicles and now several times every night, they give a show on this enormous long video screen that is suspended over top of the street.

I had read about the “experience” and the reviews varied from amazing to hokey. But since I am into electronics and electronic controls, I wanted to check it out. So after eating dinner at the McDonald’s inside of Circus Circus, we piled into the truck to drive the 10-blocks or so north to Downtown Vegas. We found parking on the street one block away from Freemont Street. While it is true that Downtown Vegas is dirtier than The Strip, I didn’t think it any worse than walking through Chicago or another large city. And there was a TON of police and casino security in the several blocks around Freemont Ave. I saw several reviews that said downtown Las Vegas was unsafe, but that was not what I saw.
Now about the Freemont Street Experience…in a word….awesome! Really, really cool. I liked some the other Vegas attractions we saw like the Pirate ship show at Treasure Island and the erupting volcano at The Mirage. And the Bellagio’s fountains were very neat, but the Freemont Street Experience was easily my favorite Vegas attraction. When we arrived it was about 8:00. We knew that the first show was at 8:30 with a second show at 9:00 (they do them every hour after the 9:00 show until 3:00AM everynight). There was an Elvis Impersonator giving a show and the music was pretty good. The kids liked dancing to the music. We walked around a bit and then picked a pretty open spot to park our stroller to watch the show. The theme this summer for the Freemont Street Experience shows is “The Summer of 69”. So when all the casinos lights went off and the show started on that huge screen overhead it was really cool. The kids were enthralled. AJ stood still the entire time, with his mouth wide open, looking up at the 4-block long screen overhead. The video is coordinated to music they play and the effect is amazing. We all really liked it. The first show was a collection of early KISS songs called “signs of life”. After the 10 minute show, Sarah and Abby begged me to stay for the next show. We looked and saw the next show was Don McLean’s “American Pie” with a sing-along of 3 Dog Nights “Joy to the World” afterwards. These are great songs, and I was just as excited to see all the funky 60’s era flower power video and graphics that would accompany them as my kids were. So after dashing into one of the many souvenir shops, we took our spot and waited until 9:00. As much as I liked the first show, this one was even better. The video they played from 1969 of the Moon landings and Woodstock was really cool on the huge screen. And everyone on the street sang along to both songs. It was really fun and a very different “vibe” than you get on the Strip. It was more fun and relaxed.

The girls begged to stay for the next show, but 10:00 is past my comfort range for having them out, so we headed back to the car and then back to Circus Circus. Tomorrow is a travel day and we are squeezing in our trip to Hoover Dam. So I wanted to get them all to bed so I could rest up also. Travel days are hard on me since I do the bulk of the driving. And since we are towing the trailer over the dam, and it will have to be inspected before we can pass the check-point, I am hoping for an early start.

Our time in Vegas was good but I will not come back here in the summer until I can do it without my children or they are much older. The heat is too hard on them and, as a result, I have carried AJ on my shoulder so much the past 3-days my back is pretty sore. I am looking forward to getting back to National Parks and away from big cities. So right now, a week at the Grand Canyon with the cooler temperatures sounds very good.