Destination: The Grand Canyon (06-16-22)

 Our first destination is The North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

We have been trying to get to the north rim  for years but something has always gotten in the way. This year, we finally got there- but of course we had to make a few stops along the way.

We left Havasu late in the morning, on June 7th, but we knew our first stop would be Williams AZ, and its only 3 hours from us. Williams is much cooler than Havasu, which is great, because it was 105* when we left town.

There is plenty of Federal land for free camping in the Williams area, so we picked a spot and set up camp for one night.

We were originally going to travel in the Mobile Suite this summer but basically At the last minute decided to switch to the truck camper. Our destinations are up in the air and we aren't sure how the summer will go, which makes it easier to travel in the camper.

Williams is a really cool town, the gateway to the Grand Canyon, with interesting shopping, restaurants, and lots of cowboy stuff. Paul called around and found someone who could re-shape the straw Stetson hat he got from his father.

Buck Williams was the name we got, so off we went to see him. Buck is an old timer who loves to tell stories. He and his wife settled in Williams because he thought it would be cool to live in a town that had the same name as him.

Buck likes to chat, and spent the first few minutes talking about what a hat can tell you about a person. For example, this hat says the owner is Confederate, military, what branch of the military, right handed, lives in an area that gets rain and snow and a bunch of other things.

After chatting for a bit, we left with Paul's hat properly shaped and the information on how to keep it that way (never lay it down on the brim).

We wanted one of our stops on the way to the north rim to be White Pocket Canyon in the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument in northern Arizona, but before we went there, there was a hike I wanted to do near Lees Ferry, which was on the way. Unfortunately Lees Ferry was a step in the wrong direction in terms of weather. It was 106, and the campground there has no hook up. But, still we went.

After setting up, we left to explore and started with the indoor visitor center at the nearby Navajo Bridge, a bridge that crosses the Colorado River. The original bridge was built in 1929, and was the only bridge that crossed the Colorado River for 600 miles.  Its completion  was hailed as the biggest news in southwest history. When the new one was built 67 years later, some of the same methods were used.

Far below the bridges is the Colorado River.

Once we ran out of things to look at we headed back to camp to get our swimsuits. Just across the road from the campground is a small beach area on the Colorado River. The water was awesome, although frigid enough that Paul didn't go in.

Very early the next morning we were up and on the move to Cathedral Wash, the hike I wanted to do. This is a 4 mile hike that leads through a wash to the river. I didn't know much about the trail other than a lot of people said it was fun and sometimes you had to figure out where to put your feet.

Once we got thru the easy part and arrived at the "technical " section, my confidence waivered. For most of the trail you aren't walking in the bottom of the wash, you are walking along the ledges above it.  You can see my pink shirt in this picture.

Some were very narrow, some were pretty high up. And when we ran out of ledge on one side we had to cross the wash and walk on the ledge on the other side.

There were several times I sent Paul ahead to find the best route, or let me know if he didn't think I would be able to do it (but he never says that).

Luckily there were cairns marking the trail, and they were very helpful. Some were definitely on the small side, lol but they served their purpose.

Despite my wanting to turn back at least a half dozen times, we did make it to the river. It was already hot by the time we got there at 8:30 am, so I dunked my hat and shirt into the water before we started the trek back. It helped a lot- it was 93* by the time we got off the trail. (Thanks for the idea, Brad)

Since we were so close to Page, AZ,  we decided to go from the frying pan into the fire weather wise. Paul wanted to see Lake Powell, and all the differences in the lake from when he used to boat there.

Coming from immense heat we were happy to find a spot at the Elks lodge in Page . It has electric hook up, so we could shelter in the rig when it was really hot.

We spent the afternoon driving around in the air conditioned Jeep, stopping at some of the viewpoints overlooking the lake. Paul was saddened by the low level of the water.

By comparison, this is what it looked like years ago….

After touring the GLEN CANYON DAM visitor center, however, I was interested to learn that the Lake, although low, is not at a Record Low. It was lower in 1969. Yes, a long time ago, but part of the purpose of the dam was to create Lake Powell as a storage basin for times of drought- and that's exactly what it's doing. It's storing the water so that people living downstream do not run out.

That’s the upside- the downside is that lake Powell is 163 feet below full pool.  If the water level goes down 35 more feet, they will be unable to generate electricity-which will affect millions of consumers.

[As a side note here, I have been amazed at how little thought residents of the desert, like those of us in Havasu, give to water, and the conservation of it. I myself try to pay attention, but I am sure I don't do near enough to conserve such a precious commodity. I am not sure what the answer is, but I am thinking that Americans are all about their pocketbook, so maybe increasing the price of water use is our best solution. Rant over]

Continuing our trend of getting up very early in the morning, the next day we got up and did the 1.5 mile walk to the iconic Horseshoe Bend.

And THEN we made it to the north rim.

The Rest of the Way Home (10-04-20)

It’s hard to believe the summer is over, and we spent the last few weeks making our way home. We had to take our planned stop in the Black Hills off the agenda, since we got delayed by almost a week with the truck issues.

The change allowed us to take 5 days and drove south to Abilene TX, where our friends Wil and Gayle recently relocated. After a fun filled two days with them we were on the move again.

Our next stop was a two day drive- El Paso TX to see Paul’s mom.  She is doing great, although like all of us, she is struggling a bit with the isolation these last few months. She is still working on her 90th birthday gift…a puzzle of her kids and grandkids.

It’s still quite hot in Havasu, so we didn’t want to rush home quite yet.  I had doctor appointments in Phoenix, so we worked our way there and found a place to stay that has a decent pool.

We sat down with a map and calendar to see if our thought about going to the north rim of the Grand Canyon was actually a good idea. We decided it wasn’t. Frustrating that we weren’t able to make it there this year, but I guess it gives us something to plan for next year.

We chose, instead, to drive to Williams AZ and spend a couple of days hanging out there.  Its only 2.5 hours from the house, but its at higher elevation, so its cooler. 

 

In theory we were going to do some hiking- in reality we went for a “Scenic Drive” – or, more accurately, a “bone jarring, teeth rattling drive down a dirt ‘road’”. 

 The views where we stopped to have lunch were pretty good but not worth the trip there and back. 

We took advantage of the great weather to eat out at a restaurant with outdoor seating and live music.

Now that we are home, we will spend a few days moving back into the house, and getting ready for a visit from our daughter and her friends in a week or so.

City of Angels and Bill Williams (08-19-15)

We’ve taken two trips in the last week.  The first one was up to Williams again, to escape the heat for the weekend. It’s so nice to sit outside and watch the wildlife, and maybe have a fire.  This particular campsite was near a prairie dog colony.

I also love that the temperatures are perfect- in the 50s at night-so we don’t need hook up to sleep comfortably.  That makes it easy to stay in the national forests, and pay nothing for our campsites.

One of our goals was to do some hiking.  Our first hike was along the Historic Overland Road.  It’s hard to believe that the Civil War reached all the way out here but Arizona was a route to California, and both sides wanted it.  Soon after the Union won it, gold was discovered in Prescott, and the Overland Road was built to access it.

Our second hike was more intimidating-the peak of Bill Williams Mountain, which turned out to be 9 miles round trip, and 2500 feet of elevation gain.  Although it is cooler than Havasu here, it was still in the 80s, making this a challenging day!

We finished off the trip with a stroll through downtown Williams.  They sure decorate their town different than most towns.  This is a gift shop/museum.  There are classic cars all throughout the town, which takes good advantage of its place on historic Route 66.




There are quite a few sets of these types of signs along Rte 66, and they are fun to read:

Our second trip of the week was to Los Angeles to act as moving van for our daughter.

It was a whirlwind two days of using the truck to move her and Kellan into their new apartment. I am glad she was able to retain her sense of humor with all the stress of moving. 

     
Having an F450 is both a blessing and a curse.  Its large size is helpful when you need to move something, but a detriment in a city like Los Angeles, where a 4 door car is considered large. The narrow driveway into the new apartment complex parking lot was nerve-wracking, and not quite wide enough for us.  Luckily the hedges were soft.  We only attempted it once.

Parking is a nightmare for a truck and in fact we had to park several blocks away, and shuttle her belongings to her apartment using her car.

Once the move was complete, the building of some new bureaus took up our time.

  Some helped more than others….

After a crazy two days, Paul and I booked it back to Havasu.  It’s really nice only being four and a half hours from Jess!

House Update

We actually have a front door now!  Well, at least part of a door.

The window won’t be placed until later.

The inside is now full of electrical outlets and plumbing.

And the Lathers are working on wrapping the house before putting on the stucco.

It is totally closed in now- no more walking through walls!  It’s also getting dark inside!  

The latest advancement is the placement of the roof tiles on the roof.  They will stay like this until the exterior stucco is finished, so that the stucco color won’t splatter onto the roof.  At least we’re getting watertight!

Kaibab National Forest (06-07-15)

Kaibab National Forest, in the Flagstaff area of Arizona, also sits at an elevation of about 6500-7500 feet, and when we arrived, it was a brisk 54*- quite a bit cooler than the 93* in Havasu. The section of forest we headed towards is the Bill Williams area, near the historic town of Williams, AZ. If we had more time we would be blowing through Williams and driving just a little further- Williams is a major jumping off point for The Grand Canyon.  Some other time.




  The route we chose to get there took us along parts of historic Route 66, and through the town of Seligman.  We have fond memories of this town- we stopped here with the kids on our vacation way back in 2002.

We actually ate with the kids, at this Snow Cap, where the owners are known for their sense of humor. 

Do you want ice in your drink?

I made the mistake of asking for a small cone. 

The signs on the building say things like “sorry, we’re open” and “ we serve cheeseburgers…with cheese”

My favorite (ok, not favorite, but strongest) memory of this place is the outhouse.  Back in 2002 I asked if they had  a ladies room and I was directed to the Outhouse- a fully functioning bathroom, set up as an outhouse. It wasn’t until afterwards that I realized that there is, indeed, a regular bathroom attached to the building.  Oh well, the kids thought it was funny.








Once we arrived in Williams, we stopped at the Forest Service Visitor Center to find out about local hiking and dispersed camping.  Dispersed camping is when you are (usually) alone, and not in a campground.  It’s usually either free or very low cost.


  We got some intel on some good spots, and headed out to the forest to find a place to park.

Paul immediately went on the hunt for firewood, but as it turns out, it was too chilly and too windy, to have a fire that first night.

We were moving pretty slow the next day, but we had already decided which trail we were going to hike.



  There is an 11 mile trail called the Sycamore Canyon Rim Trail. At this elevation we had no intentions of attempting the whole trail, so we started at the most interesting point, and walked till we didn’t feel like walking anymore.









The first point of interest was the Pomeroy Tanks.  These are natural reservoirs that provide water to the local wildlife.














Next up was Sycamore Falls.  Unfortunately there is no water falling right now.  We did get to watch some kids zip line across the chasm.

Further down the way, we watched some people do some rock climbing, and about that time we thought we had hiked enough and turned around.

The closest thing to wildlife that we saw was a HUGE flock of sheep being herded by both a shepherd and a dog.  The dog blended in quite nicely with the sheep.












  The following day we hiked another….um…..uninspiring….section of trail, and found another pretty neat place to spend the night.












As we sat around the fire looking at the sky, we started wondering what we were looking at, so it was time to get out the smart phone Apps that are so amazing, all you have to do is hold it up to the sky and it shows you what is up there.












After three nights in the National Forest, we headed into Williams for the night so we could recharge the batteries and empty the tanks..
Of course, we were hungry, so we stopped at the Grand Canyon Brewery, where we ate outside while listening to some really good live music.







It is really different traveling with absolutely no destination in mind except someplace cool.  Soon enough we were ready to move on……