Day 21: A Dam Tour and Las Vegas

Sat July 2 

Our hottest day on all our travels so far.  We are in Ls Vegas and Scott decides it’s a good chance to get some work done on the truck; oil change and fuel filters.  He heads out a little after 8am and I stay with the sleeping girls.  The truck work takes a lot longer than we had hoped and wanted but we made the most of it.  The girls and I headed to the KOA campground store to mail some postcards and then we were going to head to Circus Circus Hotel/Casino (the one closest to us) and walk through the lobby.  At 11am it is well over 100 degrees on our walk.  While we are walking Scott calls to tell us he will be returning soon so we only get to the campground store.  As soon as he is home we head to Hoover Dam.  We have heard the weather reports that it was supposed to be record high temperature and we are not happy about that.  Arriving at the dam is so different than the Glen Canyon Dam; Hoover Dam is not visible at all from the road driving in.  We have to go through a vehicle inspection and we have to pull over so an officer can search the bed of the truck.  We decide to park in the parking garage and while the height clearance is not an issue, it is tight going around corners and we have to reach the top and park out in the  sun but at least we finally find a spot to park.  We eat a quick picnic lunch in the heat and then head to the dam.

We sign up for the Hoover Dam tour which will be in about 2 hours.  We watched a movie about the development and building of the dam.  The dam was built to help control the flow of water on the Colorado River, esp to help with flooding along its banks.  Construction of the dam itself was completed in 1935, two years ahead of schedule.  It took about 2 years to build the huge tunnels through the bedrock to divert the water.  The dam itself has enough concrete to make a 4 foot 3 inch wide sidewalk around the equator.  To pour this concrete without any cracking, they made smaller blocks of it and piled them up.  They used cold water piping through the cement to help solidify the cement; it is still curing today.  This allowed them to work continuously at building the dam. 

It's a hot day for a tour.

Part of the tour led us through the tunnels that James Bond ran through in Diamonds Forever and Chevy Chase ran through in Vegas Vacation (although there are no doors leading out the dam).  The tunnels were very narrow and one of them (leading to a lookout spot of the dam) is only 5ft 11inhes tall.  I did not like that area at all.  One tunnel led to a stairwell and it was very steep sloped.  I couldn’t imagine going down the stairs much less up the stairs- they are called the “Stairway to Heaven” after one of the workers climbed the stairs at the end of a shift and saw winged statues at the opening and proclaimed he must have climbed all the way to heaven.  We walked over the dam and then took the bridge on the other side so we could see the impressive Lake Mead.  The lake seemed very low, esp given all the flooding we had seen on the Colorado River. The girls take lots of dam pictures.

By the time we reached the truck after exploring the dam, the truck thermometer reads 122.  Getting out of the parking garage is even more interesting than getting into the garage.  Several times Scott has to reverse and maneuver a tight corner while going down.  Finally we are gone from the garage and attempt to drive over the huge memorial bridge that was just built last fall to get one last look at the dam.  But the road is closed.

Dam

We get back to the camper and packed up for a night on the strip.  When we left the camper after 6pm it was still 115 degrees out!  We walked to the closest bus stop, just past the campground and the Circus Circus Hotel/ Casino.  It was $7 for a $24 hour bus pass (which obviously we didn’t need the full 24 hours) and could board the bus as much as we wanted.  The bus was a double decker bus and we went right upstairs to find a seat.  The bus was very full; mostly college aged kids going down on the strip.  I hoped the girls were not listening to the discussions on the bus; drugs, drinking and one night stands.  We had talked about riding the bus to the end of the strip and getting off at Mandalay Bay but after riding the bus for awhile, we realized how SLOW it was and that our plan didn’t make sense given the time.  We got off the bus near the Bellagio Hotel and walked into the hotel.  It was unbelievably gorgeous.  The casino was to the right, hotel lobby to the left and straight back was a conservatory.  The flowers were brilliant colors and intermixed was a carousel, lit ferris wheel and animal statues made out of flowers.  The hotel lobby had glass flowers of all colors hanging from it and the lobby area had a hot air balloon theme.

We left the Bellagio in time to see the water light show.  The lake in front of the Bellagio started to spray water to music and lit up the water.  It was spectacular but did draw a huge crowd  that was hard to maneuver through.  We walked the strip for quite awhile until we came to the Flamingo Hotel.  Isabella wanted to see the flamingo exhibit so we went into the  hotel.  At this point it is almost 8:30pm and we have not had dinner so we find a burger joint and sit for dinner.  What a slow place.  We should have gotten up to leave but didn’t realize just how slow they were until too late.  We had to walk through the casino to get to dinner and then to exit the hotel and the girls did not like the casino.  They both said it smelled bad (stale and fresh cigarette smoke).  We were happy about them not wanting to frequent casinos anytime soon.

We got to see the flamingos in the dark and some huge fish in the same exhibit and then booked it to the Mirage to see the volcano explode.  It only goes off on the hour every hour after dusk so we rushed to see the 10pm show.  It was a very cool explosion that gave off a lot of heat; even to us 10 rows back in the sidewalk.  From there we went to Treasure Island in hopes of seeing their show.  They used to have a pirate ship that they sunk into the sidewalk (and the ship is still visible from the sidewalk) but changed their show to more scantily clad women fighting pirates, so if we don’t make it to this show, I will not be disappointed.  The show is going on while we walk by but you need to be on a raised platform to see it and its too crowded to see.  There are a ton more shows and exhibits the girls and I would like to see but it is time for bed, so we catch the bus and ride back near the campground. 

Bellagio

We get back to the camper around 11pm and get the girls into bed ASAP.  The air temperature outside is still 95 and even though the camper AC has run nonstop since we got to Las Vegas, the inside temperature is 82.  It was nice but not real great for sleeping.  Isabella chose to sleep on the couch to be cooler and let Lexi use her little fan.  Despite the warmth, we all got a great night’s sleep. 

None of us have great fondness for Vegas.  It was fun to visit for a day (would have been more fun if it were not so hot) but the girls did not like the casinos, thought the city was too crowded and too dirty.  The hotels were beautifully done and I’d love to have seen more of the  exhibits but doubt if I can ever talk Scott into returning.  I am still curious what the price of a regular room at the Bellagio costs?    The guests pulling up were constant.  Which show did we prefer; the Bellagio Lake light show or the Mirage Volcano?  Three of us preferred the lake show over the volcano. 

Day 20: Williams AZ to Las Vegas NV

Friday July 1

We travel from Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada.  We sleep in a little bit (knowing it is only about a 4 hour ride) and leave Williams around 10:30 am.  It was so nice to have a home for 5 straight nights but we want to see some more sights.  We head through California and the Sonoran Desert which added about an hour of driving time but let us claim we visited the state.  Once we hit the California border, we are met by a vehicle inspection area- the first and only of our travels.  It was a mandatory stop where the security woman asked us a bunch of questions- where we were from, how long we'd been on the road, how old the camper was, etc.  Our best guess was they were looking for immigrants but we're not positive of that.  We stopped at the Desert Information Center around 3pm and the temperature climbed to 115.  Unfortunately they had closed early on this Friday before the 4^th of July weekend.  We drove into the Vegas campground around 5:15 and it is 104 degrees out.  The campground is a paved parking lot but you can probably see 6-8 hotel/casinos from the camper.  It is so hot we decide to cook outdoors and Scott cooks taco meat on the grill burner while I prepare veggies inside.  We don’t even heat the shells so that we don’t pour anymore unwanted hot air into the camper.  The AC is working hard but just can’t keep it cool enough for us.  We decide to have an early bedtime and head to Hoover Dam early in the morning (before the heat really comes) and then tour the city by bus tomorrow evening.  Lexi makes a list of the hotels she wants to visit and free shows that sound interesting.

Our view from the camper- Vegas!

It was amazing to drive into Vegas at rush hour traffic on a Friday before a holiday weekend and not get lost or caught up in traffic.  I had called the campground and they gave me the back way into the campground (to avoid Las Vegas Boulevard) and the GPS finally recognized we wanted to come this way.  I was busy trying to look around at the famous sites while navigating Scott through the traffic and construction.  I did get to see some of the famous sites:  Trump, Mirage, MGM, Mandalay Bay, etc.  I am excited to go look around tomorrow and it is hard to sit here tonight amid the lights and not be out exploring. 

On the way into the city, Scott kept thinking he saw smoke in the distance and even thought he smelled it.  I thought it was just haze.  We both believe it was the smog coming into the city.  I have never seen smog before but believe that is what we saw.  I can believe it would be smoggy too based on the traffic in the city.  The city highways were very easy to use and not nearly congested as I thought they would be.  But as Scott pointed out, they had time to plan out the city here, whereas in Boston, the city was built up first and then had to add transportation afterwards.  Scott also thinks Vegas drivers are even worse than Mass drivers (hard to believe).

Day 19: Williams

Thursday June 30

This is our last day in Williams, AZ and we are all tired so we took the day to rest.  The girls helped me do 3 loads of laundry.  Scott went into town to the hardware store (he repaired a propane leak in the stove after the part came in the mail last night) and got a few things at the grocery store.  We all enjoyed the pool for a few hours in the afternoon.  Amazingly enough I got cold in the pool around 5pm in the middle of the Arizona desert!  Most importantly we slept in as late as we needed.  Isabella and I slept until almost 10am.  Lexi made pancakes for breakfast which we all enjoyed.  It was a great change of pace for us.  We even played another game of Oh Hell tonight.  Isabella learned why the game was named that- she certainly was mad at the results!

Pool Time!

Last night was a different experience.  Scott was coming to bed when he noticed the neighbors had a campfire going.  It is so dry in Arizona right now with wildfires all over the state and it was very clear to us at check in, that no fires were allowed.  On top of that, the wind at this KOA is unbelievably strong and constant.  He called KOA security but was told they were no longer working and would talk to our neighbors in the morning.  Meanwhile Lexi could not sleep and it was almost 1am so Scott went to the campers and asked them to turn down their music and “oh by the way, you are not supposed to have campfires”  He hadn’t been home but a few minutes and a truck pulled up (most likely security) and they immediately put the fire out. We were just nervous with a fire in such dry and windy conditions.  There would be no warning and it could engulf the entire campground and we were first in the path of the wind.  Needless to say we slept better after the fire was put out.

Day 18: Grand Canyon

Wednesday June 29 

We head back to Grand Canyon, in time to make it to a 9:30 ranger talk on the geology of the canyon.  Isabella needs to attend one ranger program as part of her junior ranger program and this is something Scott and I are interested in.  Unfortunately it means we have to leave the camper by 8am to make the hour drive to the canyon.  We call Colby on the way there to wish him a happy 9^th birthday.  The girls are sad they had to miss his party. 

The geology talk at Yavapai Geology Museum is interesting.  The ranger passes around rocks from most of the layers of the canyon and describes the time line of the canyon formation.  The oldest layers are 1.8 billion years old and the top layers are 270 million years old.  The canyon was carved out by the Colorado River but the other important event leading up the canyon formation is the subduction of tectonic plates in the area (one sliding on top of the other).  Usually when this happens, the layers become mixed but in this case the striation is preserved.  Isabella has her book signed by the ranger and sworn in as a junior ranger.  She earns a badge and we purchase her the fabric patch.  She is excited.

Bella earns her Junior Ranger Badge!

We walked to the visitor’s center from the Yavapai Geology Museum along the canyon rim.  The path is flat and easy but the sun is still very warm at this early hour.  We stopped at the Mather Point Amphitheater and had a snack.  We caught the shuttle from the visitor’s center on the orange line and take it to Yaki Point (the eastern most point where the shuttle buses go).  Isabella was exhausted at this point and fell asleep on my shoulder on the shuttle ride to and from Yaki Point.  We took the shuttle back to the truck (parked at Yavapai Geology Museum) and had a picnic lunch.  From there we moved the truck to the “village” area so we can catch the red shuttles which drive around the most western part of the park.  Parking is more limited up there and we parked at the Maswik Lodge and walked to the shuttle.  The only way into this part of the park is with the shuttle buses so we have to wait awhile to catch a shuttle. 

It's a long way down.

We took the shuttle to Hermit’s Rest, the most western part accessible by shuttle.  Here we walked around and got a good look at the Colorado River and the rapids a mile below us.  We enjoyed an ice cream at Hermit’s Rest Café overlooking the canyon.  I am amazed at how tame the squirrels are at the park.  It is illegal to feed or approach any of the wildlife but it is obvious the squirrels are used to human food scraps.  At about 4pm we decided to head home.  We took the shuttle back to the village and found the truck and I quickly changed out of my hiking boots.  I hate wearing anything more than sandals when it is so hot but necessity says I must wear the boots on the trail. 

We stopped at the National Geographic Visitor’s Center (about a mile south) of the park entrance and saw the iMax movie, Grand Canyon.  We all really enjoyed the movie but I had to close my eyes through parts of it, when we were flying through the canyon.  Isabella didn’t like the rafting part with the rapids and had to close her eyes through that part.  Lexi loved the movie and wished we had seen it before we had spent 2 days at the park.  We ate dinner at an authentic Mexican restaurant across from the visitor’s center and then returned to the campground around 8:30 pm.   We played a long game of Oh Hell before everyone went to bed around 10pm.  It took us a few minutes to remember how to play the game (Scott taught us last summer while we had vacation at Papoose Pond) but quickly remember it.  Isabella won and Scott lost by a lot.

We talked at dinner about the Grand Canyon and everyone’s impression of it.  We all agreed it was huge but we were a little disappointed by it.  I think if we had seen it first on our travels, we would have been more impressed but after visiting Bryce, Zion, Arches, etc. we expected more.  We have certainly seen a lot of different things on our journeys but now we are looking forward to Las Vegas and Yellowstone and what we might see there.  Scott’s parents are flying out to spend a week with us July 4^th and will experience Yellowstone with us and we are all excited to see them.  We did not make our annual visit to Florida this year so we could save Scott’s vacation time so it’s been a year since our last visit with them. 

Day 17: Train Robbers

Tuesday June 28 

Grand Canyon Railway Car

We take the Grand Canyon Railway to the Grand Canyon.  We have to be at the train depot in Williams at 8:30 am so we are up and out early in the morning.  Before the train ride we watch a mock shoot out in “town” by the infamous Cataract Creek Gang.  The girls really enjoy this show but don’t care to take pictures with the actors.  We board the Arizona train and settle in for the 2 and a quarter hour trip to the Grand Canyon.  There is a continental breakfast buffet on the train and Mimi is our hostess who is great at giving us information about the Canyon but bad at jokes (they are all cow jokes).  We see a lot of cattle in the open areas along the train tracks and every time we see some, Mimi says a cow joke.  They get old after awhile but do help pass the time as the scenery does not change much.  On the way up, we use the time to look at the maps and figure out a plan of action once we get there.  We arrive just before noon with 3 hours to spend at the Canyon.  At this point we have decided to have lunch and hang out in the “village” for the day. 

On the Edge

The first view of the Grand Canyon is near El Tovar where we are listening to a Park Ranger initiate 3 boys into the Junior Ranger Program.  Isabella gets the book to do the junior ranger series but Lexi declines the offer.  The view of the Grand Canyon is incredible and no postcards, pictures or words can begin to describe how large the canyon is.  The layers of rock that make up the Canyon Walls are so clearly delineated and vary in color.  There is so much red and pink stone mixed in with a top layer of green vegetation along the North Rim.  We stop along our short walk to

One Big Hole in the Ground

Bright Angel Lodge to look at the canyon.  We have lunch at the Bright Angel Lodge and have a 40 minute wait which we use perusing the gift shop and lodge area.  I tear up realizing that my parents so wanted to see this with us and can not be there with us (and how much I wanted to see the Canyon with them).  After lunch we continue walking the rim trail to the Bright Angel Trailhead.  It is a hazy day so the canyon is not totally clear and there are a lot of shadows on different parts of the valley.  We don’t get to see the Colorado River at all a mile down in the canyon.

Because we need to catch the train at 3:15, we head back along the village area and stop at the Hopi House, a home built by Mary Colter, one of only a few female architects working in the early 1900s.  It represents how ancestral Puebloans would have lived and built.  Now it is a gift shop.  We continue on to the Verkamp’s Visitor Center.  This used to be the location of John Verkapmp’s Curios which he sold out of a tent.  He began the business of selling “keepsakes” in 1898 but didn’t find much success until the train brought visitors to the Canyon in 1905.  The girls get their passports stamped here and we head to the train.  The train pulls out of the Santa Fe Railway Station about 45 minutes late due to a medical emergency.  An ambulance arrives just before we were supposed to pull out and detains the train.  We enjoy a snack of veggies and crackers and cheese along with AC.  The train gets so cold people are asking for blankets and the engineers have to turn it back some.  The temperature on the Canyon rim was probably low 90’s but it seemed hotter because there was no way to get out of the sun.

On the return trip to Williams the train is held up by the Cataract Creek Gang who board the train and rob the passengers.  Anyone wishing to participate put a dollar bill somewhere visible on their body and the robbers grabbed it from them.  Scott puts a dollar behind his ear while Isabella puts one rolled up in her sock.  I missed catching the picture of the “robber” taking Isabella’s money so he redoes the enactment for the camera.  We also enjoyed some local music while riding the train both ways.  Isabella got up in the  middle of the isle and danced the Chicken Dance with one performer.  We really liked the fiddler, banjo and accordion music.

We enjoyed a quiet dinner at the campground and realized how quickly the sun sets here in the Arizona desert.  By 8:15 it is completely dark out and we are ready for bed.  This might have to do with the time being 3 hours behind NH- AZ does not honor daylight saving time and for the first time on the trip, we see the sun setting earlier.  I am the most tired tonight of any day so far on our journeys and headed to bed early.  Scott helped the girls enjoy smores made on the gas grill.  We have not had a campfire yet and the girls have missed making smores.  We again do not need to run the AC during the night and after we opened up the camper in the evening are able to sleep comfortably with most windows closed.  The temps so far have made it down to mid 40/high 50’s at night and made it very easy to sleep. 

Day 16: Bearizona

Monday June 27 

We enjoy a lazy morning at the campground.  I do some cleaning and the girls pull out some crafts.  Isabella makes a ton of fuse bead things that all need to be ironed together and she hopes to mail these to her friends.  Scott made some phone calls and arranged for parts to be shipped to the campground here.  We’ve had a propane leak so he is constantly turning the propane on and off as we need it, so the range needs a new regulator.  Also on our trip into Arizona we broke a shock for the hitch and they are going to overnight the part.  It is perfectly ok to drive without the shock, but better to fix it the right way -- we'll have a smoother ride with the shock.   Many thanks to the kind staff at the Grand Canyon KOA for helping us out by receiving these two packages!!

We leave around 1 pm and stop at the campground store where they help us make reservations for the Grand Canyon Railway for tomorrow.  We head toWillams and  the Grand Canyon Brewing Company for lunch only to discover they only brew there but Cruiser's diner is right beside them with their beer on tap.  This diner is right out of the Route 66 legacy, complete with gas pumps and signs.  Even the ladies bathroom stalls are made out of old chevy car doors with a cloth curtain!  [If you haven't guessed, Williams is on the Mother Road.]

Alexandria, Isabella, and Scott at Bearizona

We decide to head to Bearizona- a drive through wildlife park.  We totally enjoy the ride through the park and love seeing the animals.  We see mules, bison (white and brown), Dall sheep, bighorn sheep, bear and wolves on the car drive through.  A bison came very close to the truck but let us proceed on.  We all liked watching the bear and a few of them got up and crossed the road and walked around for awhile, which really let us see them.  We caught the tail end of a large bird show and saw a falcon, owl, barn owl all do tricks with their trainers.  The larger owl swooped low enough in passing over the audience that I felt it on my head.  It was very interesting.

We walked through the remainder of the park and saw more bear, goats, sheep, pigs, bunnies, ducks and bobcats.  The girls and Scott really enjoyed the petting area where Isabella loved the bunnies the most.  Scott and Lexi liked the pigs the most.  We left the park and headed to the grocery store – a must do for today.  I was shocked at the prices of things.  I got a member card and we saved over $30 but I really think the bill was about $50 more than it would have been at home!!!  

Isabella and Cutie-Pie

We get back to the campground and we cook up dinner and put away groceries.  The campground offers Pony Rides (actually 1 pony, 1 horse), and Scott takes Isabella for a horse ride around the campground. She chooses Cutie-Pie, the larger of the two and loves it.  Early bedtime tonight since we have to catch the train at 8:30am.  Seems like we have to set an alarm a lot more on vacation than normally.

Quote of the Day:  “Holy crap, that’s a big poop!”  [Can you guess who said it, and why?  Post your guess in the comments section.]

Day 15: Cedar City Utah to Williams Arizona

Sunday June 26

We have been on the road for 2 weeks.  Yesterday I calculated we had driven some 3,400 miles since we left home.  We have done laundry twice, gotten groceries twice, visited some 10 states and visited 7 state or national parks or monuments.  WOW. I’d hate to add up the fuel bills but we get diesel at least once a day, sometimes on travel days we fuel up twice.  The good news is the kids have NOT watched all their movies yet (although Isabella loves Mrs. Doubtfire so much, she’s seen it 4 times).  Today we are on the road to Arizona and the Grand Canyon.  The Grand Canyon was the place we really wanted to see when we began planning this trip.  We will be in Williams, AZ for 5 nights and we are excited to be staying in one spot for awhile.  There is talk of having a quiet day at the camper so we can get rested, use the pool, get groceries, and possibly just see a movie.  We have yet to have a campfire and I doubt AZ will allow fires now but the girls would still like to make smores one night with the grill coals.

Isabella at Glen Canyon Dam

The drive through Utah is more canyons, mesa and buttes.  Remember that steep and winding road we were on yesterday?  The one Scott was glad we didn't have to haul the camper on?  Guess which road we hauled the camper on...

As we near the Arizona border we notice a huge lake in the distance.  This turns out to be Powell Lake and we notice a huge increase in boats being hauled in the middle of the desert.  Sure enough there is a marina there.  This area turns out to be Glen Canyon National Recreation Area with a dam and power plant.  We stop and take a look around the visitor center with a small museum.  The girls don’t bring their passports but there are stamps here- a total of 4 which Isabella puts on small pieces of paper so she can tape them into her book.  It is  about 100 degrees out so nobody wants to go back to the parking lot to get them.  Scott would love to take a tour of the dam (we plan to stop at Hoover Dam) but it is already past lunch time and there is a wait.  Here we notice that the clocks are an hour behind ours and we reset everything to 3 hours behind NH time (Arizona is in the Mountain timezone, but does not observe Daylight Saving Time).

Can you guess what Isabella is standing in front of in the above picture?  Leave your guess in the comments, and we'll post the answer in a few days. Click the picture for a bigger version.

Driving through Northern Arizona is exactly as I pictured it: sparse with no vegetation, sand and a few abandoned homes.  Periodically there is a Native American “flea market” beside the road where they are selling jewelry or beef jerky.  Hard way to make a living in the heat, which at this point spikes above 100.  The wind picks up and we really feel it pushing the camper around.  In the distance you can see the sand being blown and it looks like a hazy day when its really sand.  We see a little bit of tumbleweed blowing too.  The soil is very dark and I comment how boring the scenery really is.  Then we come to to a National Forest and there are a lot more trees, although only 6-10 ft tall.  From here the landscape changes a lot and is more green.

We arrive at the Williams/Grand Canyon KOA around 5:45pm.  The temperature is only about 84 and there is s constant strong breeze blowing.  It is very pleasant, but very dry.  [There are wildfires burning in much of Eastern Arizona, and there is a total outdoor fire ban in this county, so no campfires here.]  I notice immediately that all I seem to smell is desert sand.  The campground looks fairly new and is very spacious (as KOA campground go).  We are about 5 miles off the highway and it is very quiet here- no trains, no highways.  In fact, while we were up late, we heard owls in the distance.  The sky is incredible with no lights and big open area.  We dropped our reservations from 5 nights to only 3 so we can plan what we really want to do at the Grand Canyon.  The girls and I hope to go on the Skywalk (a glass walkway overlooking the canyon) but I’m not sure where it is.  The north rim is about 250 miles from here so we need to decide if we need to go there or not.  

Scott discovered that either the bumps or the desert crosswind has broken the shock on the Companion 5th wheel hitch.  It's probably not a big deal:  We didn't notice any big difference and we can probably get by without it, but he'll try to get a replacement in the morning.

We have dinner and play States and Capital Sequence again tonight.  It is a lot of fun and relaxing to end the day this way.  We decide to have a lazy morning and then run errands around Williams.  The girls are very tired from long days of touring around Utah and then a long travel day.  For some reason they do not seem too keen on sleeping while riding in the truck.  I dozed a few times on the ride to Arizona but really try not to sleep while Scott is driving.  We decide to skip the North Rim altogether (it's too far for a day trip but it's not really worth moving the camper, and the Skywalk is on the South rim).

 The temperatures during the night get down to the high 40s and we actually get too cold and have to shut the windows.  But first thing in the morning with the sun beating down, we feel the heat building in the camper already.

Click for GPS Track

Day 14: Bryce Canyon National Park

Saturday June 25

Today we're going to hit Bryce Canyon National Park, but first we need to get some business out of the way.  Scott and I head to the laundry facility for 8am but discover they don’t open until 9am.  For days we have tried to get laundry done and decide it best to do it while we are eating breakfast and packing up for the day.  We return at 9 am and load 5 full washers.  It feels good to finally get laundry started and it won’t make us that much later in leaving for the day.  

Snow on Lava Flow at Navajo Lake

It is about 80 miles from the campground to Bryce and the route takes us through the Dixie National Forest which is breathtaking.  We make several stops along the way to take pictures, one looking over Zion NP.  We stop at the Navajo Lake and are amazed at how green it is.  Just beyond the lake we find a lava deposit covered with some snow.  It is hard to believe we are still in southern Utah and seeing snow (esp on top of a lava bed)).  We walk around the lava and pick up a sample or two (can’t resist getting a sample of lava).  Scott later reads some of the lava beds are estimated to be only 2.000 years old.  The drive though the forest is very hilly and curvy but we see campers everywhere and say thank goodness we do not have to tow the camper though here.  [Later that night when looking at the map of our travels to AZ, we discover we will be traveling the same route to the Grand Canyon (its either that or 70 miles out of the way via Las Vegas).]

We pass the Duck Creek Pond which is beautiful and people are fishing along its banks.  The Duck Creek Village is so beautiful and Scott and I talk about coming back to visit.  It’s just a small area but it really made an impression on us (although we would still visit Estes Park, Co first).  Just before Bryce Canyon is Red Canyon and we are in awe at its beauty.  Just as the name implies, it is bright red in color and has many hoodoos and a river runs along the side of it.   

We watch the temperature on the way through the National Forest and there is an 18 degree change in temperature from the campground through the forest (at higher elevations).  When we get to Bryce it is a nice 77 degrees with a steady breeze.  We have done our research and again feel that taking the free shuttle through the park is the best way to go.  We eat a quick lunch and fill the backpacks with water and head off for Bryce.

We stop at the Visitor’s Center first and the girls get their passports stamped.  Scott ends up buying Lexi another one since we’ve searched everywhere for hers.  I get the break down on the park and what we must do from a kid barely old enough to have a job, much less as a park ranger.  The shuttle takes us up to  Bryce Point, the highest elevation in the park (8300 ft),  Right off the parking lot, a lot of people have congregated to see a snake.  I see just enough of it to know it is a snake and that’s enough for me.  

Scott, Alexandria, Isabella, and Tami at Bryce Canyon

As we walk to the point, I am struck by several emotions and find my eyes misting.  What a glorious place and we are all able to experience it together.  Immediately we find a few windows within the hoodoos and that part reminds me of Arches NP.  The Hoodoos are rock pillars that are formed by water in the rocks freezing and expanding thereby cracking the rocks apart.  We walk on the Upper Rim Trail to Inspiration Point, about 1.5 miles below us.  Each turn shows a new view of the canyon and hoodoos.  The trail is fairly easy and it’s cool (as hot desert days go) with a brisk wind blowing.  As we walk, we can see back to where we have been and the people there are just dots.

Bryce Canyon from Sunset Point

We catch the shuttle at Inspiration Point and take it Sunset Campground and get off and walk to Sunset Point.  It is here that we see Thor’s Hammer (a very large pillar looking just like a hammer).  Scott would love to hike into the canyon (but doesn’t get any takers as we all know if one goes into the canyon, one must hike back UP the canyon).  It is nearing 6pm and we take the shuttle out to the truck and then drive back into the Visitor’s Center to shop.  As we are leaving the park, the shuttle driver points out a mule deer sitting in the meadow and I spot several more deer which the kids say are 3 babies and Mom.  We stop for dinner at Rusty’s Steak House in Cedar City before returning to the camper at 9:30pm.  Another long day and there are 5 loads of laundry to fold before Scott and I can go to bed.