Day 16 - Las Vegas!!

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Posted From: The Oasis RV Resort in Las Vegas, NV

Miles driven: 324

Total trip miles: 3,168

Total national parks visited: 9 (unless Vegas counts...we did see a lot of wildlife)

We gave ourselves a bit of whiplash today. We started out very early with a hike down into the Grand Canyon. Then we drove on historic Route 66 for 85 miles, saw the Hoover Dam, and walked the Vegas strip. It was a little crazy, but a lot fun!

It is true what they say: Start your hike into the Grand Canyon early. It gets hotter as you go down...and there is no breeze...at all. It turned out to be untrue (at least for us) that it takes twice as long to come back up as it does to go down. We planned to spend 90 minutes hiking, so we walked down for 30 minutes, but then somehow managed to walk back up in 15-20 minutes. Huh. Oh well, it was fun and we probably needed to get on the road anyway. We had to make it to Las Vegas!  

Here we are taking a little break in the shade. It starts to get very steep after you go a quarter mile or so.

When we made it back up towards the top, the kids stopped to rest by the tunnel. By the time we got to this point, the temperature is cooler and there is a breeze.

We returned to the campground, packed up and headed toward Nevada. The trip was going well, and uneventful, but then we saw that we were near stretches of the old Route 66. Hmm...so we exited I40 at Seligman and drove the 84 miles to Kingman. Sure it took extra time, but it was fun! We listened and sang to "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts.

Some of the old signs are still along the road. Parts of the road were either full of tourists or deserted.

And then we pulled off on the side of the road in Valentine and took this picture. We had talked about taking this picture at some point. Our tribute to the Griswolds on our epic family vacation. We used the timer on the camera and our 6 ft ladder that we carry with us. It was hot as we were in the desert. We all had our roles to play:
Dad - Good ol' lost Clark
Mom - The bad navigator with the map
Grace - The snotty teenager not caring about what is going on around her, listening to her music while texting. (No she isn't really like this, but she had fun with it!)
Cameron - The little boy holding the leash tied to the bumper
Caleb - The little guy sitting in the window, wondering what is going on

After our picture, we drove on to the Hoover Dam. Turns out that it is not a very friendly place to stop if you are pulling a camper. You have to park on the Arizona side a significant distance away from the dam and visitor center. Naturally it was 114 degrees. We debated how much we really wanted to see this, but then decided we would probably not be back this way for a long long time, if ever. So we parked on a hill and hiked through the desert.

We obviously did okay. We don't look too worse for the wear.

We all wanted nothing more than to jump in this water at this point. It was such a pretty blue-green color.

We walked across the dam, and went down the escalator into the visitor center. This is where you basically go through airport security. It was intense. My bag was scanned first and the guy commented that I had food in my bag, which was a no no. Then he scanned Matt's bag and said that he had a knife. Um, so we were kicked out of the visitor center. There was absolutely no way we were hiking back up that hill in this heat to drop off our stuff and come back. Nope. In our defense, that morning we had hiked down into the Grand Canyon and had our packs stocked accordingly. I guess we never unpacked. Matt always carries a multi-tool in his Camel-back, and I always carry trail mix. As we were riding the escalator back up, we cheerfully declared that now we have an extra $50 to spend on something else. Woo hoo!! 

We look like we are falling down in this picture. And though it certainly was hot enough to melt into the pavement. It was actually more a matter of camera operator error...mom. 

You are supposed to rub the toes of the statues for good fortune.

This picture is actually a game called, "Find the Camper." You probably aren't looking high enough or far enough into the distance. It is at an angle on the far hill in the background. Matt (the best dad and husband EVER) walked back up the hill to get it when we left. He pulled up to the visitor center and picked us up.

This might look like a picture of a cool yellow car, but it is actually a picture of the truck and camper crossing the Hoover Dam. The car just got in the way.

We finally arrived at our campground in Las Vegas, and all I can say is, "We aren't in Kansas anymore Toto." This was not your typical campground. It was more like a fancy hotel, where people stayed in their campers instead of rooms. It had a couple restaurants, shopping, swimming with separate adult and family pools (this basically means that one pool has more pee in it than the other...I'm just not sure which one.) This was us leaving the campground when we drove to the strip.

There are lots of amazing things on the strip, but we decided to take the kids to the Bellagio. The water show is so impressive.

The kids loved the hand blown glass ceiling at the Bellagio.

Caleb could not stop looking.

This was also the first time the kids had ever been on a moving walkway. I couldn't capture his amazing moves in a picture, but Matt took it upon himself to show the kids how to dance on the moving walkway. He drew some looks for sure.The guy can move!

The kids loved the lights and excitement of the strip, but Caleb was so tired. This picture caught him mid-yawn. He did great and kept up the whole time, but was snoring before we left the parking lot.

Party animals.

Day 15 - Grand Canyon: It's a long way down

Friday, June 24, 2016

Posted from: Grand Canyon, AZ, Ten X Campground

Miles driven: 66

Total trip miles: 2,844

Total national parks visited: 9

Refer back to the morning of Day 2 when Matt realized that he had no way to make coffee when we dry camp. We are currently dry camping. But have no fear! We are prepared this time with our new handy dandy collapsible Java drip. It worked perfectly. Notice the look of pure bliss on Matt's face. (He was actually teasing me for wanting to take a picture of him making coffee.)

We got a later than usual start, which was not ideal for hiking around the Grand Canyon. It was hot. And their water pipe that brings water up from the canyon broke, so ther was a water shortage. A lot of the water refill stations along the hiking trails had no water. So they were strongly advising limited hiking today. Well, bummer.

So we walked the rim a bit. We watched the videos in the visitor center. We attended a ranger program about the ruins of the Indians that used to live around the canyon. 

The ranger who led the ruins tour was happy to swear in the kids as Junior Rangers. 

These were about all of the pictures I took today. 

The Grand Canyon is so crowded. Zion was too, of course, by this was a whole new level of crowded. We tried to do some things off the beaten path, but in general it was hard to avoid bumping into someone. It was still fun, and we had a good day over all. 

We returned to the campsite, collected more pine cones, tried out the hammock some more, and wrote postcards to grandparents. 

And again, we looked at the stars...simply awe inspiring. 

Day 14 - Our 15th Anniversary... And a couple unfortunate events

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Posted from: Ten X Campground, Grand Canyon, AZ

Miles traveled: 270

Total trip miles: 2,778

Total national parks visited: 8

Let's start with the good things about today. First, it is our 15 year wedding anniversary. What better way to celebrate than taking a big trip?! And what better gift to each other that this time focused on our family.

And I got Matt this card...at the campground gift shop...yesterday. I'm a good wife.

Second, we slept in a bit today. I think we all needed it. 

Third, the sway control bar locked into place without needing to jockey it around. I know that this one seems trivial, but this is one of my jobs when we hookup. The bar does not extend like it should. It is locked in place. So to get it on, Matt drives forward slowly while turning at an angle until it drops down into place. I'm sure people watching us do this are thinking, "gosh, don't they know they can loosen that to make it fit?" Except that we can't. Because it is stuck. So days like this are small victories. Celebrate with us! 

Other than that, we all had the stomach flu but still had to travel 269 miles to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Woot! Caleb had it worst. The rest of us just had a touch. We all took Dramamine to travel today. We didn't leave the campground until 11:00 am. It was rough for poor Caleb. 

As if traveling today wasn't rough enough, while we were in the middle of no where (I mean literally on a map there is this area of northern Arizona that says "nowhere") the truck check engine light comes on and suddenly goes into "limp mode". This means it has limited power, won't shift, and won't accelerate. You can only limp it to a stopping place. So we found one and pulled off. Matt says he is going to shut off the engine and it might not restart...be prepared, he says. There wasn't a town for 50 miles. Fantastic. Matt looked at me again and said, "Must be our anniversary." We sort of have this thing where our anniversaries tend to have runs of bad luck. There are usually good and even great moments, but often a higher than usual rate of unfortunate incidents. I guess puking and being broken down on the side of the road in a dessert with a 105 degree temperature qualifies. There is always a silver lining. This time it was that we were hauling about 35 gallons of water with us. No one was going to dehydrate in this desert!!

So here is where God really makes a grand appearance. We had excellent cell service. Seriously. We are no where near ANYTHING or ANYONE, but had a strong four bars of reception. Crazy. So we started researching problems with 2007 Duramax diesels. Turns out the darn things are excellent engines. Not a lot goes wrong. Ever. I also researched towing companies with heavy towing capabilities, light duty diesel service stations and parts stores. The nearest was 120 miles away in Flagstaff. Super. So we sat there for 20 minutes (oh the heat...mixed with shaky tummies). Matt started it back up and was able to rev the engine, so we started out. It ran fine. 5 miles later was a station with diesel. We filled up.

As we were pulling into the station, I found a site that described exactly what we just experienced. It happens when you are towing up and down hills in high heat (yup, yup, and yup). Basically you shouldn't let your fuel level get much below a half tank. The engine needs a lot of fuel running through the fuel loop to keep it cool so it doesn't vaporize. Basically the engine vapor locked. We were at a quarter tank because the tiny stations we passed for the last two hours did not have diesel. We carry 10 extra gallons with us, so we weren't too worried about it. We were going to stop soon and use it. Guess we should have. But now we know and will be more careful. 

The truck ran fine for the rest of the trip. We drove through Cameron, which Cameron thought was funny. This was one of his establishments.

We also encountered this little dirt devil and stopped to let it cross the road. When in Rome...do what the truck drivers do. If they are stopping to let it pass, then who are we to argue?

We had to drive through a majority of the south rim to get to our campground. We caught glimpses of the canyon, but at this point everyone agreed: it's a lovely giant hole in the ground, but could we please go find the campground?

We immediately loved this campground... No wait. That's a lie. We loved this campground as soon as we got parked. This is a campground where you pull through your site, but your site is a curved little road...with giant boulders strategically placed on each side. The truck and trailer did not want to fit around the curve without clipping a giant rock. In my opinion, they should use this campsite as a test-of-your-marriage site. Can you get parked without yelling bad words at each other (especially the driver, at the person who booked the #%$& site!!)? I am happy to say that we were very kind to each other and got parked. Of course, I could not hear what Matt was yelling and waving his arms about inside the truck...sometimes ignorance makes for a happy marriage. 

Here is our campsite. Our favorite one yet. (Notice the boulders up by the camper. The others were like this but larger and closer to the road.) We would have liked to stay in more campgrounds like this, but most of the rustic ones do not accept reservations, and we did not want to be in a position of finding a site after a long day of travel every day.

 

Matt got me a hammock. I have always wanted one and was so excited to use it...and so was everyone else. You were never alone in the hammock. It was lovely. He was smart enough to get a two person hammock, which for our family apparently meant all five.

The boys are setting it up. Caleb was dancing around saying, "I've got my hands in the air like I just do not care."

It was good for reading.

It was good for chilling out.

And it ate small children. Best. Gift. Ever.

Dinner was grilled chicken and salad with a perfect 2012 Valpollachella red wine from my parents wine cellar. (I am 100% positive I did not spell that right but I will know what I meant when I look back on this several years from now.) They stopped by before we left and gave us a small camper wine box that Jerry had made, and it was full with four of their wines that they make! Matt and I agreed that it was perfect for the occasion. 

Then we danced around our pine cone fire (courtesy of the boys picking up an insane amount of pine cones at our site. We only had three pieces of wood and some charcoal. Wood in town was $8 for 6 small pieces of pine. Nope. Not doing that. 

And finally, after marshmallows, we just laid in the hammock and looked at the stars. They were indescribable. I have never been able to see constellations very well, but here it was like imagining things when looking at big puffy clouds during the day. They just jumped out of the sky at you. So many and so bright. It was the perfect end to a long day of celebrating 15 crazy happy years together. 

Day 13 - Zion (it is one word like Cher or Oprah)

Tuesday, June 22, 2016

Posted from: Virgin, UT - Zion River Resort RV Park

Miles driven: 65

Total trip miles: 2,538

Total national parks visited: 8

We got up early and headed back to Zion this morning. Zion is so busy in the summer that you are required to take the shuttle bus to see anything except the Carmel Highway that we took yesterday. This amounts to most of the park. We did not have high hopes that the crowds, heat and buses were going to be a good combination for us. Thank goodness we were pleasantly surprised at how well it went. 

The only iffy part was when we first parked at the visitor center and got in the very long line to get on the shuttle. We waited a long time, but it passed quickly as we talked with a nice couple. 

They did a good job of keeping the buses nice and cool with lots of windows and ceiling vents. (Thank goodness as I was worried about motion sickness.) I took this picture through the bus window and it turned out pretty good. From this point forward getting on and off the buses took no time at all.

We rode the bus all the way to the end of the line (aka stop #9). We hiked the two mile river walk path. 

At the end of the Riverwalk trail, the Narrows begins. This is a really cool (literally and figuratively) hike through a very narrow part of the canyon where you are walking in water most of the 6 miles. There are special shoes, socks and sticks you should rent to walk it. We didn't know this (research fail on my part), so we just looked and watched other people start out and headed back. This is a very popular thing to do at Zion. 

The river walk itself was very pretty. There were several trails to walk down to the water to go swimming or wading.

We then took the bus back to the lodge and walked the Emerald Pools walk. It was a nice hike. The kids especially liked the areas where the waterfalls got you wet.

Getting wet.

Not everyone can pull off this much plaid and orange on the hiking trails, but Matt pulled it off like a boss. This picture doesn't show the canyon walls, but he blended in quite nicely (the orange, not the plaid). At least he was wearing his short socks today. 

The temperature was rising, so we stopped to get a quick snack at the lodge and sit in the shade. To get there we walked through a large green grassy front lawn and all of us felt like we were back home. It was the first grass we had walked on since leaving Iowa. 

We hopped on the bus to get back to the visitor center and the kids turned in their completed books for their Junior Ranger badges. Once again, this ranger was so passionate and really took his time with the kids. He even gave them his email address in case they thought of more questions. 

This river runs behind our campsite. We walked through it for a little while. The cool water was refreshing on this hot day. 

The outside camper shower is very handy after you've been playing in the river. 

We were pretty behind on filling in our camper map, so we took a few minutes to get it up to date. 

Someone walked by and asked where we got our map, we told them and then asked if they could snap a picture. It is only now that I am looking at the picture that I realize we were all still in swimsuits. 

Here it is with all of our states and national parks. The map came with national park stickers.  It's like it was made for us! 

Day 12 - Bryce Canyon National Park

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Posted from: Virgin, UT - Zion River Resort RV Park

Miles driven: 246

Total trip miles: 2,473

Total national parks visited: 8

Today we drove through Zion to get to Bryce Canyon National Park. In the 30's, they built the Mt Carmel Highway to help visitors more easily get from Zion to Bryce. 

Ho hum...more rocks and stuff. But really the color was amazing and again, the pictures don't do it justice. 

The most amazing part about the highway is the tunnel through a mountain that is over one mile long. Two way traffic in modern day cars is a tight fit, especially when a truck passes a truck. I kept waiting for our mirror to get picked off. But it didn't. (I think holding my breath, tensing up and cringing gave us better odds.) 

It was 84 degrees at 6:15 am when we left our campground. On the way to Bryce, we hit 53 degrees. Bryce Canyon is typically much cooler than Zion.

Two hours later, we arrived at Bryce Canyon NP.

The big attraction at Bryce is the Hoodoos. They are the colorful rock spires and there are hiking trails to hike down in them. I'll be honest and say that our first impression of the park left us thinking it would be a short visit. The bugs were awful. You could not stop for a minute or they would swarm you. Even with our most powerful backwoods bug spray, it was irritating. It was also hot and I read the sign wrong saying that the ranger program was at the Sunset viewing point... Not the Sunrise viewing point. So we hiked a mile to Sunset. Grr. It was getting hot. 

Sunset is where you can start your hike into the Hoodoos on what is called Wall Street. This is the part I really wanted to see, and I thought the kids would love it. They did. You go down this step switchback trail until you get to a narrow canyon. Here is part of the trail. 

Here is the part of the trail that continues past what you could see in the last picture. Wow. 

This is the narrow canyon. It was nice and cool down here.

And this tall tree was growing down here. Crazy. 

Matt liked this service station that used to operate within the park. It operated as late as 1988 when it finally shut down due to adequate fuel stations right outside the park. 

And of course, the kids worked through the booklet to get their Junior Ranger badges. We have gotten pretty good and finding nice shady picnic spots to eat and work on the booklets.

When we got back to the campground, we had to do a reality check. The fact was that we had dirty laundry and the campground had laundry facilities. So, off I went with a good book.

While Matt and the kids went swimming! It was a nice salt water pool. 

More of Zion tomorrow.