Day 40 and Day 41: and how we headed for home

Gallup, NM to Amarillo, TX

Trip Distance: 425 miles

Total Distance: 5,465 miles

Our Route:

East on I-40. 

We left out of Gallup, NM heading east on I-40. 

We came upon an interesting sandstone formation beside the interstate. Look at its size in comparison to that semi.

Along the way, we looked up the definition of a butte, a mesa and a plateau. 

Here it is:

butte: a small flat-topped hill with steeply sloped sides. no water

mesa: a medium flat-topped hill with steeply sloped sides. water can be found.

plateau: a very large flat-topped hill with steeply sloped sides. 

small = butte

medium = mesa

large = plateau

How about that, it's nice to be learning some geography on our road trip.

We thought this was interesting with the criss-crossing of the vapor trails

We ran into more lava flow. This didn't look like Pahoeoe, though.

There wasn't a place to pull off to take a closer look.

 More of it.

The closer we got to Albuquerque, NM  the more we climbed uphill. I think we climbed for more than 30 minutes. 

But we finally leveled out. 

Hurrah, for Texas! 

Adam was taking pictures at this time. 

This is what he found interesting. 

I was driving, so he occupied his time with using the camera and snapping pictures at whatever he could.

This is a great photo looking east at the clouds while the sun set in the west and reflected the colors onto them.

Don't you think he did a good job. 

This is looking through the back window in the magnifying inset.

And a view through the back window at the setting sun.

Despite Adam's reluctance, we slept in a Walmart parking lot in Amarillo, TX. There were lots of other RVs there, so we just parked next to the others and settled in for the night. 

We started the generator and had tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. 

Adam and I went into the store and picked up cupcakes for desert and more milk.

Although Walmart parking lots are not very relaxing or comfortable to stay overnight in, we did get an early start out in the morning.

Day 41:

Amarillo, TX to Checotah, OK

Trip Distance: 374 miles

Total Distance: 5,840 miles

Our Route:

East on I-40. again.

The landscape in rolling.

More trees and variety here in OK.

Through Oklahoma City, OK at about 3:30pm. 

Not too bad for traffic. 

Some construction. 

Roads, not too smooth for the RV.

We rolled into a KOA Campground in Checotah, OK for the night. Adam is one happy boy. The have a playground.

He thinks KOAs are the BEST!

The staff are very friendly. The campsites are level.

Bathrooms are clean. Water is hot. We give it a high rating.

Nana fixed chicken BBQ with baked potatoes for supper. 

Yum!

Showers, done.

Laundry, done.

Blog, done.

now for bed. 

Tomorrow, we conquer the rest of OK and most all of AR.

Our destination = Memphis, TN

(we hope)

Day 36 thru Day 39 Grand Canyon and Beyond

Page, AZ to Grand Canyon

Trip Distance: 140 miles

Total Distance: 4,775

Our Route: 

We left out of Page, AZ on Thursday morning, heading south on hwy. 89.  We traveled thru cities with names like Tuba City and Cameron. We turned onto hwy. 64 and headed toward the east entrance to the Grand Canyon. We weren't sure if the RV and towed car would be able to pull thru some of the scenic spots on the rim, so we drove straight to the Grand Canyon Trailer Village to settle in and meet up with Jessica and Ali. 

They had driven out from California on Tuesday and we waiting on us to join them. 

As soon as we got the RV unpacked, we met Ali and Jessica. We decided to ride the blue shuttle to the Visitor's Center. We watched the movie there and Adam picked up another Jr. Ranger Program booklet. 

We then changed buses for the orange line following Ali's directions. The bus system at Grand Canyon was a bit intimidating, but once we got the hang of it, it was time to leave. 

Anyway, we got off at Yaki Point and took in our first real views of the South Rim. 

Words can not express....

The Rose kids.

We took the rim trail at Pipe Creek Vista and walked back to the Visitor's Center and Mather Point.

A distant view of the switch backs on the South Kaibab Trail.

The Rose clan. 

"My group, this way!"

which were the words we would say when it was time to get off the shuttle bus. It was hard to keep all of us together. 

Nana and Paw. 

All of these buttes and points have names, but I can't remember any of them.

We ended the day eating back at the RV and hearing of Jessica's adventures around the world. 

Adam spent the night with Ali and Jessica in their tent in the Mather Campground, where the temperatures dropped down to 32. It was cold. 

Day 37:

Hike the South Kaibab Trail.

We started out Friday morning as a group, hiking the South Kaibab Trail. It starts out with a series of 4 or 5 switchbacks and descends rapidly. 

You can see what a view there is.

When we got to Ooh Aah Point, Nana, Paw and Adam went back up the trail. They ate their lunch somewhere at the top and Adam was able to take in a Jr. Ranger talk on the California Condors. 

What he learned:

They are endangererd. 

There are only about 400 right now. 

They took their eggs and hatched them in captivity.

They didn't know the condors were visual imprinters. 

They used Condor mama hand puppets to imprint the young birds.

They drop their eggs in cracks where mountain lions won't get to them. They don't use nests.

The condors use thermals to help them rise up from the canyons. 

They go to streams and wash their beaks after eating. 

Natalie, Jessica, Ali and I hiked on down the trail to Skeleton Point, where we had our lunch and took in the views.

It was a long walk back up!

That night, we headed over to Ali and Jessica's campsite for Jeffy Pop and a few roasted marshmallows after supper.

Natalie was able to spend the night with her sisters in the tent that night. 

The temperature dropped to 30. 

Another cold night.

Day 38: Hermits Rest Route

After saying our good byes to Ali and Jessica, we took the red shuttle buses to the Trail Overlook, Maricopa Point, Powell Point, Hopi Point, and Mohave Point. Sometimes, we walked along the Rim. We had our lunch. 

We are all very tired of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Here is the Bright Angel Trail. We didn't have the energy to do this hike. So we just looked at it from the rim.

We also took in the Abyss and Pima Point. 

Here is where we got into problems with the shuttle bus. 

It seemed everyone was trying to get back to the Village Route Transfer and so were we. It was very crowded and hard to get onto a bus. I think it too an hour or so to get back to the campsite. 

Another day completed. 

Day 39: 

Grand Canyon to Gallup NM

Trip Distance: 265 miles

Total Distance: 5,040 miles

Our Route:

On Sunday, we left Grand Canyon early and drove to the south entrance on hwy 64, where we meet with I-40 east. 

We had lunch at Winslow, AZ. 

It reminded me of the song, 

"Take It Easy" 

by the Eagles.

I guess we are pretty tired, because we talked about touring the Petrified Forest National Park. 

We stopped at the Visitor's Center. But when we heard that we were really at the Painted Desert, and that we would have to drive about 20 miles south or so to see the Petrified Forest, we decided to get back on the interstate and keep going. 

We stopped for the night at Gallup, NM at USA RV Park. 

We had dinner at Cracker Barrell and picked up some groceries at Walmart. 

Day 35: How we floated down the Colorado River

Colorado River Float Trip

Glen Canyon Dam to Lee's Ferry

We signed up for the Colorado River Float Trip. It was not a white water trip. It was a leisurely float down 15 miles of the Colorado River from the Glen Canyon Dam access to Lee's Ferry. 

It was beautiful.

You should have seen Nana going down the 2 mile tunnel access to get to the bottom of the Glen Canyon Dam, where the boats were located. 

She had her eyes closed.

We took a tour bus from the parking lot of the Colorado River Rafting Co. to the tunnel access rd. It was a steep 6% grade downhill in the dark. Like a roller coaster. Except in slow motion.

Every 500 feet there were side tunnels that entered the canyon walls. 

Pretty amazing. 

When they were constructing this tunnel access, they had 2 groups working on it 24 hours per day. One group at the top, while the other group worked from the bottom and were lowered down with ropes. Instead of hauling all the debris to the top, they built these side tunnels and dumped the dirt and rocks out the side. 

We counted 18.

Here's Nana and Paw. She looks relieved to be out of the tunnel. 

We're settled into our raft. It has a motor, so now oars.

Here's a look down the canyon.

Here's a look back at the Dam.

The happy couple with Adam in the background.

He was pretty happy. He met a friend, from Kentucky, who was out on fall break. They hung out together the whole time.

The sides of the canyon.

Natalie looking happy too.

Our only white rapids. Class .05!

Meaning not much there.

The black sides of the canyon are called desert varnish. It's the oldest part that has been baked in the sun. The newer parts are more tan colored.