Arizona to Nevada

We wanted to get to Lake Mead before dark so we continued on Route 66 from Flagstaff and drove through Williams, AZ, known as “A quaint small town with a western look”, a place our friend Brooke really liked when he was here several years ago. It looked like it has seen its better days like many of the small towns here.

We continued west to Ash Fork, on Route 66, “the scenic Route”, well…it wasn’t very scenic anymore, a dead town is more like it.

So we continued on through Seligman, AZ…now that was a quirky town…..Bill had to turn around and go back through this town to get a video.

 Then we continued on Route 66, with not much excitement but dry land, and not the prettiest landscape however just before “Grand Canyon Caverns”, there was a man on four foot tall stilts in 30 mile an hour winds going west on the side of the road…unfortunately we did not get a picture and we did not think about it until it was too late to turn around. We got to Kingman, AZ put air in the tires and headed North to Hoover Dam.  We approached Hoover Dam and there was a checkpoint. Bill had to get out and open the bottom doors of the RV and the inspector came inside to look around. After we got the okay, we started our drive over the Hoover Dam….it was quite impressive but the water was very low in the dam.

The new bridge will be complete in September 2010 and was did not look too bad after all. . We stopped at a lookout point across the Dam in Nevada to take pictures.

The wind was really strong at that point so we got in the car and continued on to Lake Mead. The sun was setting as we approached the first campground and saw it was really crowded so we continued several miles more where we pulled up to the Las Vegas Bay campground and found a site at the end of a point with nobody around us. It was after sunset at this point and the winds were 30-40 mph with gusts of 50 mph. We forgot to get change for a $20.00 and the camping was $10.00 (no hookups of course) so I had to scrounge all the loose change I could find to pay at the Kiosk. We heard a noise on top of the RV like a flapping that I though was a tree from the wind but Bill got up on top in the dark, in the wind and found it was the A/C cover was damaged so he had to tape it up…he had to brace himself several times from the strong winds.

The next morning we woke up at sunrise, 5:30 a.m. Our back window was facing east so it was quite bright when the sun came up over the mountains so I got up around 6:00 am as I could no longer sleep. This was a nice campground when we got out and looked around but Lake Mead was so low the water was not close at all. Even the nearby boat ramp was closed and dried up.

We left Lake Mead and continued northwest towards Las Vegas.  Bill was amazed at how big it had grown over the years and how nearby Henderson was no longer a sleepy little town.

We got off the exit that took us right through Las Vegas Boulevard. The first part was the old Las Vegas, not too many people milling about then we started getting to the newer section…holy moly what a sight! We were overwhelmed by the casinos, resorts and restaurants and of course the advertisements for the strip joints….nice…..

We drove up and then back down the strip for about an hour just taking in all that was there taking tons of pictures then we got back on the highway and headed towards California.

Arizona: Grand Canyon, Flagstaff and Sedona

We left Durango around 9 a.m. and headed west on Navajo Trail/US-160 on Monday May 3rd. Four Corners was closed due to construction on the monument but we stopped anyway and took some pictures.

We continued on to some very flat and dry areas of Arizona, not really too scenic until we turned on the road that would take us to the East Entrance of the Grand Canyon.   There was still snow on the ground.

 After about six hours of driving we  finally arrived! We stopped at one overlook and I was in awe...you could see the painted desert off to the east but the Canyon was stunning.  Of course I did not realize this was nothing compared to what was to come...

We continued on another 25 miles to the Mathers Campground where we had reservations for three nights...no hookups but you could run your generator from 8-10 am in the morning and 6-8 pm at night. These were not exactly the best times since we were usually out and about at those times. We had a great pull through spot though, lots of space.

 We had a lot of bird visitors and the Elk would come in the campsite every morning as long as we were not outside. They would rest in the shade of the pine trees very close by.

Over by the lodges they would cross the road and come very close to your car to get around you.                 

We saw lots of them in Yellowstone NP a few years back but I don't remember it being this close! Monday we set up camp and Wanda came over for dinner. Bill knew her from the Coast Guard back in Elizabeth City and she is now a Ranger at the Grand Canyon working in the backcountry office. She did the backcountry hikes for several years until her knees starting getting the best of her. We talked about doing the Bright Angel Trail, the whole 9 mile round trip and she made a face like we were crazy and said our lungs are probably not prepared for that. It made me think twice, but Bill still wanted to attempt it. The next day we did 2.2 miles of the south rim trail which round trip was 4.4 miles.

We took Ty with us and he loved it of course. He kept getting so close to the edge looking over for lizards or squirrels, we got worried that he would not think twice about jumping! 

The ravens there are as big as Lucky and are always soaring over the canyon and squawking loudly. There were two that soared right in front of us and one of them was flying upside down under the other one giving us a real show. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of it. We were constantly looking for the California Condors that are in the canyon, 75 of them between the Grand Canyon and Utah. I had spotted one the first day we were there but only briefly. Wednesday we decided to walk a portion of the Bright Angel Trail.

There were three rest stops where you could decide to continue on or turn back. The first one was 1.5 miles down 1,131 feet, the 2nd was 3 miles 2,112 feet and the third was 4.7 miles at 3,060 ft. It was after 10 a.m. before we got on the trail and by noon it was quite hot in the canyon.

 When we were at the first rest stop I decided I could probably go to the 2nd rest stop but no further than that. Bill tried to talk me into going back at that point for my own safety but I stubbornly said no and continued on for approximately another 1/4 mile. I then realized I was being unreasonable and we turned back. I am glad we did because I was exhausted and had to rest quite a bit on the way back up. When we first started going down, we came across two hikers that had started at 5:30 am and went all the way down to the Colorado River and made it back by 10:30 am. They were older than we were but since they started early, they did not suffer from the heat of the day. Anyway, it was still worth the 3.50 miles that we did do as the Canyon was awesome. We saw several of the California Condors flying over our heads, hummingbirds buzzing by us and bluebirds galore.

Everyone goes to see the sunset every night up on the Rim trail as it is a beautiful sight.  Our final night there it was windy but the sunset was great as usual.

The next morning we got up at 5 a.m. to see the sunrise for our last hours in the Grand Canyon.  It was still windy and cold,  Ty was shivering but we hid from the wind as much as we could until it came over the mountains. 

 We went back to the RV and I went back to sleep for a few hours before we left for Flagstaff.

It took a little over an hour to get to Flagstaff, going through the San Francisco Peaks. 

We stayed at Fort Tuthill Recreation Area south of downtown Flagstaff.  We put out the bird feeders and in no time the hummingbirds were coming around.   There were little bird houses all over the trees at the campground and right outside our RV there was a male white-chested nuthatch flying to the box, back and forth all day bringing food and nesting supplies to the female. 

We hiked a trail nearby and after doing our laundry the recreation center was having free hamburgers and hot dogs so we went over there for dinner.  They were also having a campfire and s'mores later on but we decided to opt out and watched the movie Crazy Heart instead. 

 Today, Saturday May 8th, we decided to take a drive through the scenic route of Oak Creek Canyon towards Sedona.  It was a lot prettier then we expected with the red rock formations and the creek running through it.  Our camera does not do these Red Rocks justice as they were a lot brighter than you see here.  

We visited the Chapel of the Holy Cross that was built back in 1956 with a great view of the valley. 

We stopped at a Tlaquepaque, Sedona's Arts & Crafts Village which also had the Oak Creek Brewery where we of course had to stop in for a beer.  There was a really neat wind art store and lots of native indian jewelry and clothes stores as well. 

Sedona had a really good chamber of commerce with all the information you needed for everything in the area.  Bill had driven through here in 1985 and of course it had changed quite a bit. 

                                                                                                                                                 

 We started back through the canyon and stopped to do a little hike which did not turn out to be much of one because we couldn't find the trailhead.   We stopped to talk to Roy, a photographer waiting for a couple that he had an appointment with to take pictures by Oak Creek and he ended up taking our picture and said he would email it to us.  We continued up the pass and came to a scenic view which turned out to be a nice park.  It was windy but the view was really nice down the canyon and of course Ty had to live dangerously on the edge.

We left the campsite the next day, driving through downtown Flagstaff…everyone was out and about as it was a perfect day for dining outside and sightseeing.