Trip Update April 2010 Part 1 Arizona

Walnut Canyon's Cave Dwellings, AZ

Ancient Dwellings at Wipatki, AZ

Grand Canyon

Arizona
This month we wandered our way through 4 states. From Flagstaff we visited Walnut Canyon to see the Cave Dwellings there. On our way to the Grand Canyon we visited Sunset Crater Volcano and the ancient dwellings at Wupatki. We stayed several nights on the south rim of the Grand Canyon NP (the north rim doesn’t open until May). This gave us time to see most of the viewpoints, and hike along the rim and into the canyon. We attended an excellent talk on the two Roosevelts (Teddy and FDR) and their impact on the park. Without them, the canyon could have become an amusement park, or the world’s largest landfill. No visit is complete without seeing the IMAX movie on the Grand Canyon. The first time we saw this movie was in 1984; we had taken a dory trip down the first half of the canyon and hiked out of the canyon at Phantom Ranch. Our dory oarsman was Kenton and he played one of Powell’s boatmen in the IMAX movie.

Trip Update April 2010 Part 2 Utah

Monument Valley

Pat and John in Monument Valley

Sand Art on a larg scale

Newspaper Rock

Utah
From the Grand Canyon we headed into Utah. We endured a dust storm as we toured Navajo National Monument and entered Monument Valley. At Monument Valley, we had the choice of taking a commercial tour (cost $100) or a self drive tour for $10. We were told the dirt road was passable for RVs, so being a cheap bas***, I chose the $10 option. The road was rougher than I expected, and at some point our bike rack bounced out of its bracket and we dragged the bikes across the rocks. The bikes were in a new bike cover. Now the cover was shredded and there was obvious damage to Pat’s bike. Suddenly my $90 savings didn’t seem too smart. In addition, our ‘Check Engine’ light came on and we had to replace some oxygen sensors.
We finally got to Canyonlands NP, Needles area. We got some hiking done here but were unable to find a campsite, so we headed into Moab. In addition to getting Pat’s bike fixed ($103), we spent a couple of days hiking and exploring Arches NP. Several more days were spent at the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands NP. One day we rented a four wheel drive Jeep and toured many of the canyons that would be inaccessible otherwise.
For the last six weeks we have been traveling in what is called Red Rock Country or Canyon Country; at least that what the tourist bureau calls it. I call it Wind, Thorn and Rock country. If it is not solid rock, it either has thorns or will be blown in your face by the wind. OK, I guess I’m getting a bit tired of 20 shades of red - I miss green. With this focus, we left the Moab area and headed for California. First I had to get some minor toe surgery done.

Trip Update April 2010 Part 3 Nevada

Delicate Arch (on Utah's vehicle tags) Arches NP, UT

Landscape Arch (One of the longest stone arches in the world, 306 feet long), Arches NP

View from Island in the Sky, Canyonlands NP, UT

View of Colorado River from Dead Horse SP, UT

Nevada
We stopped in Vegas for a weekend and caught the show “Defending the Caveman”. This show had been in Washington, DC for about 20 years, but we never got around to seeing it. It was a one man show and he attempted to disprove the theory that “All Men are A**holes”. It was a fun way to get relationship counseling. We went out to see Hoover Dam and toured the visitor center. We passed on the dam tour since we had taken a tour of the Glen Canyon Dam recently. Unfortunately, I decided to make the drive from Vegas to Bakersfield CA on a Sunday afternoon. After sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for over an hour, I felt like I was returning from Ocean City on Memorial Day.

Trip Update April 2010 part 4 California

Avalanche Lillies
Our 4 wheel adventure in Canyonlands NP
Wild flower
Mule Deer


California
After the heat of the desert, it was hard to imagine that we could not get into Sequoia NP due to snow. We were camped at 2000’ and waited for a chance to get up to 6500 feet, where the really big trees are, but we had neither chains nor snow tires with 4 wheel drive, and that’s what was required to climb the mountain. Maybe we could have made it, but after our Monument Valley fiasco, we were not feeling real adventurous with the RV.