Nothing grander than the Grand Canyon

You may remember that Concetta and I decided to move south as the snow seemed to be threatening. Reversing our northerly direction, we moved south from Sedona to Prescott where we hoped to avoid the worst of the weather. The next morning we awoke to a blanket of the white stuff which, fortunately, turned out to be largely melted by the time we broke camp and headed for downtown Prescott for a little museum touring.

Since the weather continued to look threatening we decided to head west, out into the desert regions. We headed south out of Prescott, then circled around, grabbed highway 93, and landed in Kingman (photo left) where the desert skies were oh so blue and the weather warm. Our intention was to continue heading west.

However, reader Richard suggested a visit to Seligman just down the road to the east. Since the weather was so beautiful that next morning after our arrival in Kingman, we decided to take Richard's advice and fudge our decision to move west. The plus was that we'd get to travel a section of old Route 66 in the bargain. So it was Richard's fault that we ended up spending two days at the Grand Canyon.

What? Yes, the weather continued to improve and once we reached Seligman we decided that maybe we'd just keep heading east. Before we knew it, we'd reached Williams, Arizona. At Williams you could easily see that snow had been a recent visitor. Still, the skies were blue, the mountains to the north looked inviting, and we threw caution to the wind and jumped on highway 64 north toward the Grand Canyon.

My initial plan was to just skirt the south end of the park and head over to Cameron. At Cameron we could head north into Utah. We were certain that without reservations there would be no way to find a place to put the RV. That belief came from the last time we visited the Grand Canyon, our very first vacation together back in 1976. When we drove up to the gate we were stopped by a ranger who asked us if we had reservations. When we said no, he told us that the park camping spaces were sold out and we'd have to camp outside the park.

This time the ranger didn't ask if we had reservations so we just rolled right on into the park and, with a modicum of difficulty, wandered around until we came across a state-run dry-camping site called Mather. Not expecting much success, we approached the check-in window and a very pleasant ranger with the appropriate name of Angel asked, "how many nights would you like to stay?"

Well, that was a surprise. We told her just one. But once we paid our very reasonable (being seniors with a senior National Park senior pass card) fee and headed toward our camp site we saw that there were lots and lots of empty camp spots for RVs and we probably wouldn't have a problem changing our minds if we so wanted.

Let me just say, if you're coming to the Grand Canyon, or have just been thinking about coming, don't put it off. Coming in the off season is your best bet. It's cold, yes. There's still lots and lots of people, yes. Reservations are still a good idea, yes. But the experience is one of the grandest adventures you'll ever have.

As you might guess, we decided on the spot to spend a second night in the park. On a whim, we decided to inquire at the full-hookups facility known as "Trailer Village." I didn't hold out much hope, but since we had headed out for a walk and ended up walking right by the aforementioned Village, we stopped in at the office and asked if they had a spot for the next night. As it turned out, they did and we grabbed it right on the spot.

"Trailer Village" is where we'd stay the next time we come. The dry camping part of the experience is nice for its woodsy character, but the water and sewer hookups are so nice we'd just forgo the woodsy character and choose Trailer Village. They even have barbecues set up for the campers.

The next day, our RV set up in "Trailer Village," we set out for one of the very best days we've ever spent in a national park. We went on a ranger walk to discuss geology. We explored the visitor center and book store. We rode the absolutely fantastic bus system to all areas of the park, getting out whenever we wanted to, and visited many of the overlook areas where the scenery will just knock your socks off.

We took tons of photos which, at one point, resulted in Mr. Klutz here coming out second best in a confrontation with an ancient juniper tree. I was tip-toeing around the edge of the canyon, getting as close as possible to the cliff, when I turned smack dab into a low-hanging branch. This resulted in the sharp edge of the branch slicing across my ear and instantly giving me the look of a pirate who came out second best in a sword fight.

For the rest of the morning I had to hold a thoroughly blood-soaked handkerchief to my ear while I dashed from rest room to rest room to launder the handkerchief. I'm sure anyone who walked by me found themselves wondering if a slasher was wandering the park. We even tried putting snow on the cut to stem the flow of blood which worked to an extent but certainly felt weird. By the afternoon my blood had finally clotted and I was able to just occasionally dab the cut. Ever since we started taking the 81mg aspirin daily, as seniors are recommended to do, my blood flows like, well, water whenever I cut myself.

As you might have guessed when no blog entries showed up for several days, we've been unable to find any working WiFi, either at the RV park in Kingman, nor at the two parks in Grand Canyon Park. This morning we're sitting at a very nice RV park in Knabe, Utah. When we exited Grand Canyon Park we drove highway 64 east to Cameron, Arizon, then turned north on Highway 89 toward Utah.

Wow! What a drive! Although Highway 89 is neat for all the great geology you get to see along the way, taking Highway 89A between Bitter Springs and Knabe was the genius stroke. This highway takes you along a geologic feature known as the "Crimson Cliffs." This ruggedly beautiful part of Arizona is just absolutely wonderful. It's like something out of a technicolor TV western. The highway is little traveled, so be prepared. But if you want to see raw western beauty, you have to drive this road.

Once you leave the desert on Highway 89A you begin a climb into the forest that abuts the northern rim of the Grand Canyon, facilities for which are closed this time of year. Still, the view of the desert below from the snaking highway is to die for. This section of road certainly begs a return trip someday when the northern rim is open.

So, here we are in Utah. We're not exactly sure in which direction we're headed (surprise, surprise), but we'll think of something. I'll try and add photos for this blog come nightfall. Right now I've got to turn this computer off and get about my chores. Until we meet again, as Rick Steves would say, keep on travelin'.