Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

We slept well with no disturbances throughout the night. After breakfast we head to a nearby (different) mall to hide from the day’s heat. Nearly 100! Wandered through both floors, bought some tea for Ashley, soaked up wifi at Starbucks and hit up happy hour at the Cheesecake Factory.

Eventually we headed to the lot near tomorrow’s meeting place. 3 other RVs are there. We pull in and get settled before going to chat with Mike and Bonnie, who will be managing this lot. They have been working here for 13 years now. Mel, the owner, is there as well so we get to meet him before he heads on home. Another couple came to chat, also.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

After a morning close to home (Ashley yogas and bicycle rides a bit while I work on a web business idea) we hop on the motorcycle for a ride over the mountains to Jerome. It’s an old ghost mining community turned artist town and our cashier and man behind us in line yesterday at Trader’s Joe said it was well worth the trip.

The ride over the mountains is a lot of fun and it’s a nice little town. We walk around and stop for a snack with a beautiful view over the valley.

Then we ride back toward home, returning and picking up a couple more movies for the night. What luxury!

We wonder if some of the well-known motorcycle rides will be a dissapointment. We’ve been on a lot of spectacular roads here recently, whether great views or just really twisty as they work their way up or down a mountain range, or both at the same time. Guess we’ll find out when we get to some of them.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

Decided to head west to Prescott for a few days. So we packed up and headed that way. Drove past our campground and on into town for Trader Joe’s and RedBox. It’s raining steadily when we finish. Backtrack to the campground and move into our spot, which we’ve booked for two nights.

We top off propane and I hook up in the rain. Horray for rain gear! Great afternoon to enjoy some movie watching, so we do. We haven’t watched a rented movie in forever, what a treat!

Supper is finished as the sun is setting. We go outside for a better view.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

Last night we headed to bed early, so we both woke well before the alarm this morning. After breakfast we hooked up the trailer and hit the road. Out of the mountains we coasted, though the rest of the day was a long roller coaster of ups and downs as we head south.

Gas dropped from $3.19 to $2.44 in about 80 miles. It almost felt like there had to be a catch, besides the very slow pumps. But we were happy to see the change!

We have 6 days to make a 6 hour drive into Phoenix, so we stop in Flagstaff for wifi and coffee. I get some journal entries ready for Ash to review.

We mosey along and find a Passport America RV park and snag the last spot for the night. We throw our laundry in to wash and go jump in the pool for a few laps before warming up in the hot tub. Then luxuriously long/hot showers before switching the laundry out.

Big ole salads for supper. Apparently we’ve been craving some fresh greens as they were delicious! We finish laundry and then it’s movie time before bed.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

Not interested in the 15 mile ride in to the park, we decide to hike locally. Just down the road from us is Forest Trail #4, which T’s into the Arizona trail. We head south, toward the Grand Canyon.

It’s beautiful country, not what we expected to see in Arizona. Pine and Aspen forests interspersed with mountain meadows.

Only 6ish miles to the park border, but we didn’t make it (1.5 miles short)- pushed back by dark clouds and suddenly cool winds. A few drops of rain caught us but we mostly made it home dry.

After discussing waiting out 2 days of rain we decide to head out in the morning, looking for warmer weather or hook-ups to wait out the storm. Plus, with the possibility of storms we can’t get more than a day hike in to the Canyon, anyway.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

Time to go check out the Grand Canyon! After breakfast we hop on the motorbike and head into the park. We go straight to the Visitor Center/Lodge and hike out to Bright Angel Point and look down into the Canyon. Way down!

We worked our way back to the Lodge, where we picked up some coffees and headed out to the patio to enjoy the view. For being a 1-mile deep ditch, words just can’t express how beautiful the place is. I sketched a bit, as I’m not a good “sitter”.

After finally finishing our coffees we headed back to the motorcycle to explore out to Cape Royal. We headed out to the cliff’s edge and found a delightful step in the rocks where we sat and enjoyed lunch while on the edge of the world.

Then we walked over to the interpretive hiking trails and explored, checking out even more spectacular views, including seeing the Colorado River through the Angels’ Window arch. Ashley really enjoyed learning about the different plants that we passed from the signs. “Cliffrose, pinyon pine, juniper, sagebrush, fernbush” she would yell out as we passed by and she identified them. 

More motoring around lead us to Point Imperial. It’s pretty amazing to see past the Canyon(7 miles to the river from here, the highest viewpoint in the park) and on into flat lands. The contrast betwen the landscapes is fascinating!

We headed back toward home, stopping to top off the motorcycle gas – $3.19 a gallon. Not going to fill up the RV here!

I gather wood and prep a fire, but we end up not lighting it. It’s ready for tomorrow, then.

Supper, reading, and then bed.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

After a bit of a lazy morning we decide not to head up to the Kolob Canyons and instead go south, back to St. George. We buy some bulk nuts at Natural Grocers to make trail mix, pick up everything else at Walmart, and then go to the nearby 5 Guys Burgers to gorge on cheeseburgers, fries, and a shared Coke. Across the street is a self-serve frozen yogurt shop that we hit up for dessert. We’ve both been insatiably hungry the last few days and finally decided to give in. 

Delightfully stuffed we mosey along to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. After a stop at the ranger station for maps and advice we head in to the Kaibab National Forest to find a camping spot. It doesn’t take long before we’re tucked up under the pines and Aspens. Though we’re only a few hundred feet from the main road it seems as if we’re all alone. Fabulous!

Settled in, we go for a walk, exploring the trail past our home and then a trail down the road. We pass through mountain meadows and turn around when we intersect the Arizona Trail. We’re back up at nearly 9,000 feet elevation so it’s chilly once again. The last few months have had us yo-yoing between hot and cold constantly.

Back home we settle in for the night, reading. We hear some rustling under the cabinets and I make sure the mouse traps are both set. A few minutes later one goes off – the rustling stops. I empty and reset the trap, we continue reading and eventually head to bed.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

After a bit of a slow morning we head into the park. Today we’re motorcycling up the Mt. Carmel Highway through the park. We zig zag up the switchbacks, affording a great view of the Grand Arch, and are soon at the 1.1 mile long tunnel. With no one behind us it’s a great opportunity to putter along and peek out the “Windows” into the valley. We’ve never ridden through a tunnel that long – very cool!

On the other side we continue on for a few miles, seeing what there is to see. This side of the valley feels completely different – more like the desert we expected. Eventually we U-turn and then stop for a few pictures, scrambling up a rock face.

Back down the road, we stop just before the tunnel to hike up to Canyon Overlook. We are sitting just over the Grand Arch, looking down into the valley. What a fabulous sight!

It’s lunch time, so we get in line for the tunnel and head back down, through the valley and into town for gas and to split a sandwich. Ashley checks out the menu at MeMe’s Cafe while I fill the tank and we dcide to go on to Cafe Soleil. Delicious sandwich! After eating we check out a couple of shops and then catch the shuttle in to the Hidden Canyon trail.

I wouldn’t say that it’s hard to find, but the trail is fairly steep and often quite narrow. Like Angels Landing there are a few times where a chain is bolted into the cliff face with sheer drops a foot or two behind us.

The Canyon is narrow, no more than 20′ wide, and we are very much walking up a dry creek bed. It’s filled with sand and boulders and bordred by vibrant green trees. The sand makes everything slippery and we have to scramble up rocks a few times. About 1/4 mile back we find a cute freestanding arch and a huge chunk of stone that looks like a sunken ship. We turn around at a particularly challenging rock scramble and head back down the trail to catch the shuttle.

While waiting for it to arrive, Ashley pours a sand dune out of each of her shoes. They didn’t work nearly as well nor were they as comfortable as our boots, which are still drying up on the RV’s roof.

When we return to the Visitors  Center it’s already closed so we mosey on home. We load up the motorcycle and then reassemble the awning. The wind gusts today pulled one arm apart. Tried leaving it set up, as low as possible, so to help keep the fridge cool. Won’t do that again!

Tomorrow we are heading along to the northern portion of the park to hike in and see the Kolob Arch.
We’re both hungry, have been all day. I scramble up a huge pile of potatoes, onions, sausage, and eggs. We eat and eat and are finally full.