Today didn't turn out anything like we expected. And last night it rained so hard that I had to pull in the dining area slide because it was leaking water past the rubber gasket close to the driver's seat and we had to keep mopping up the puddles. Definitely a pain in the petootie. This morning when we ventured outside the rig at the camp in Seligman the skies were gray and foreboding and there seemed to be little hope of even a hint of sunshine for the day. So, resigned to yet another day cooped up inside the rig listening to our current murder mystery on the stereo, we set off in an easterly direction on Arizona Route 40. My hope was to catch route 64 once we reached Williams, Arizona, then head toward the Grand Canyon. At the time I didn't think we'd actually stop there other than to have lunch. I had hopes of skirting by that august attraction and heading still further east into New Mexico.
All went according to plan except we were warned as we approached the Canyon that there was no parking available and, we assumed, no camping there either. I was glad we weren't going to be trying to stay or even park. I hoped to just drive past the entrance and go our merry way. Hopefully, somewhere in a nice tree-shaded glen we'd pull over and have lunch before heading on to the land of Enchantment.
All the way to the Canyon, which lay about 95 miles from out last camping site in Seligman, Arizona, the skies remained gloomy and nothing promised to change. It was a perfect climate setting for the murder mystery on the stereo. But I had been wrong about being able to skirt by the Grand Canyon as Hwy 64 ran right up to the southern entrance and you had no chance to turn off and bypass. Resigned to the need to navigate the park amidst the already portended wall-to-wall cars and people, we rolled up to the entrance and presented our Senior Pass for National Parks.
"That will be no charge" the female ranger person said sweetly, and handed back our ten dollar bill that we thought we would be required to pay, at least according to the information on the entrance sign.
Right about then the sun suddenly burst through the cloud cover and lit up the cab of the truck. Concetta and I looked at each other and nodded. "Looks like this isn't going to be as painful as we thought," I said.
Okay, now we had to find a place to put a 31 foot rig so we could have lunch. Hopefully there was at least one space left somewhere. But as we approached the first parking area near the visitor center our hearts sank as nothing greeted us but a sea of cars and, off to one side, a solid block of motor homes with every single space filled. So off we went in search of something a little less popular. We finally found a little-used parking lot next to the park headquarters building which was so far from anything popular that no one wanted to park there. Good enough, we decided, since all we wanted to do was have lunch and be on our way.
Which is what we did, except once lunch was over we decided that wouldn't it be great to take a little walk since we'd been marooned in the RV for most of the day and all of the previous day. So, after lunch, off we went to find a shuttle that would deliver us to the visitor center. We thought that maybe we'd get some of our desired 10,000 steps if we just hoofed it around the visitor center grounds. That wouldn't take much time and we'd still have plenty of time to get on the road and find a nice campsite for the evening.
But once we got to the visitor center via the shuttle, the sun really began to shine in earnest and we decided, well heck, why not hoof it out to the edge of the canyon, grab a photo or two, and get a few more steps in. What's the harm? We could still be on our way soon enough.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the day got completely out of hand. Not only did we find the rim of the canyon totally irresistible, but with wild abandon decided on the spot to take the rim trail back to the rig instead of the shuttle. And naturally, I had to take half a hundred photos or so, we had to visit the geology center, chat with various fellow visitors, and just generally do the touristy thing like the rest of the multitudes.
So it was that quite late in the afternoon we finally got back to our home on wheels and tried to decide just what to do since all the camps were just too far away. We did try the in-park, full-service camp, but the nice lady told us in no uncertain terms that they were sold out and God himself wouldn't be able to get a spot this time of day. Fortunately, she suggested a small camp just outside the park's southern entrance, and we set our course in that direction.
Turned out the camp WAS quite easy to find and just a short distance away, which was the good part. The bad part was the place was 40% more money than it should have been and was basically falling apart at the seams since it had been sold (the desk clerk told me when I complained) to the Marriot, or someone similar, and was soon going to be ripped out for a nice new hotel. In the meantime the electrical panel looked like it had been vandalized sometime in the 1950s, the sewer connection pipe was so tall that no amount of elevating of the rig would gain me the necessary slope on the sewer pipe, and most of the campsites were muddy and bare-bones without any hint of amenities.
But on the positive side, the sun is STILL shining, the cocktails and hors d'oeuvres were heavenly, and the park store had a cool piece of electric cord that converts a 30amp rig to a 50amp connection should you need to do that when a 30amp is lacking at some future destination. The price was so cheap that I immediately bought it for my possibles box and made the pain of paying $51.00 for the camp site a little more bearable.
So even though we didn't set off this morning in very high hopes -- well except for the future of the cop in the murder mystery -- our day turned out to be absolutely wonderful. Even though we've been to the Grand Canyon on several occasions, and we really had no intention of going there this time, that magnificent window into time never fails to captivate us and make us glad to have the extreme privilege of visiting again.
Tomorrow, well we intend to head back into the park, and then seek out the eastern entrance so we might yet find our way into New Mexico. Not sure of the timing, the route, or the eventual destination, but stay tuned and you'll know about the same time we do. Until then, we wish you Happy Traveling.
No comments:
Post a Comment