Oct 15 – 21, 2018
Doug saw that the weather for Grand Canyon had changed for the better – it was to be warmer than initially thought. So off we went. Stopped in Tuba City, AZ and had lunch at McDonalds – last of the big spenders! Wanted to get wifi so we could make arrangements to get oil changed. Futile! But we did have quite a conversation with the people next to us – Native dad and 16 yr old son. The son told us that his mom ran off (dad said she did that often) and when they went to his sister’s to look for her, the sister’s boyfriend attacked the dad. The son is a large guy, so he took care of that! He said he was in school in Phoenix, but ran away to come home to help look for mom. His aunt will take him back to Phoenix for school. How hard life is here for so many.
The scenery to Grand Canyon was beautiful. We stopped at the rim to take a couple of pictures and then went to see if our reservations were correct. They were not! But they allowed us to camp in a small campsite. And so much for the changed forecast, and trying to outrun the snow – it caught up to us! The canyon was foggy for the rest of our stay, so we didn’t see much. That’s okay – we have seen so much beauty and are sure there is so much more to come!
The descent from the snowy Grand Canyon (over 7000 ft up) showed beautiful landscape. We arrived in Kingman, AZ before 1 o’clock and got into the Ford dealership right away to get oil changed. The technician there also advised to get a serpentine belt changed as it looked really bad. So we made arrangements at Russell RV center for the next day. We spent the afternoon in the historic part of town exploring the Route 66 Museum (where we saw the Weatherby’s on a camping trip), and the Mohave Museum of History and Art. Retired for the night at Hilton Walmart with like travelers (there’s an app for that!).
While the RV was getting work done we went to breakfast at Grampa’s Kitchen. Russell’s did a complimentary inspection – wires, plugs, hoses are all original and brake pads need to be replaced soon (although the guy at Ford said brakes were fine!). We were on our way before noon. We wanted to see Hoover Dam on the way. Hwy 163 has a 3200 ft descent into Bullhead City, AZ that is 12 miles long. What a view of the desert floor and the mountains surrounding it! And you know, what goes down must go up! The ascent back up was arduous on the RV – and it was a slow drive. And then we came back down into NV to a straight hwy through the desert valley. Beautiful, but harsh with lots of cacti. Hoover Dam is quite a landmark! We didn’t walk on it, but observed it from the new hwy bridge that was built to avoid it – the road is very twisty with descents and ascents and it created bottleneck traffic, especially with trucker traffic. We boondocked in a parking area across the hwy from a casino.
After devotions in the sunshine we made our way to the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. We drove through Las Vegas – a desert valley city surrounded by mountains. Casinos everywhere and billboard ads for injury lawyers galore. Maybe people get hurt a lot here!
At the Valley of Fire State Park we met a retired couple from AZ that sold everything and bought a trailer and are living while traveling. I asked the woman about snakes etc. She told me a couple of tales of snakes and looked at the sandals on my feet and said “That is not desert footwear!” We finally found warm weather and my feet were smiling! The road to and through Valley of Fire is narrow and very mountainous winding through earth-toned colored rocks and mountains – stunning! This drive is our 3rd “million pictures” op. While on a hike (we wore hiking boots!) there we read of another creature (besides rattlers, tarantulas and scorpions) to be aware of – the Gila Monster. Sounds like something to give a wide berth to! It is a colorful venomous lizard that is slow moving – so I figure I could probably outrun it! The hike took us down a canyon on a steep sandy path. We saw the remains of an old movie set (a few movies/shows were filmed here, including Star Trek – it does look “other-worldly”) and traveled a narrow passageway between 2 huge rock formations. Didn’t see anything dangerous, but saw a couple of small lizards. I always thought they liked damp places! The humidity here today is 16%.
The campgrounds in the park were full so we headed towards Overton NV. Before the town is a place called Poverty Flats or Snowbird Mesa. This is boondock heaven, as far as I can tell. It is one mesa midst many overlooking Overton, surrounded by 3 mountain ranges – Meadow Valley Mtns, Virgin Mtns and Muddy Mtns. It is so beautiful and open. We counted around 30 other campers. Some had dune buggies parked beside them and my mind went to another neighborhood I used to live in and wondered if it would be a noisy place. But it is so quiet and so clean. What a view of the night sky, too. We got the binoculars out and looked at the moon and some planets. What a spectacular view!
We spent two nights (almost – We woke to a thunderstorm in the middle of the night Saturday and we thought it best to get off the mesa and get to where flash flooding wouldn’t happen). We found out that there is a Village Missions Church in Overton. Nice. So we went and worshiped with the folks. Friendly small group. And an interesting thing – there is a row of 4 lazy boy recliners in with the pews! We didn’t hear anyone snoring, though. I think I will make a request when we get home!
The beauty we have seen and this experience are some things I wish I could share with all my loved ones. It’s just good for the soul! So I really do wish you were all here with us.
Let's Do The 180! 