Williams, AZ

Some kind of cactus and our Raven.

Today was a stay at "home" day. We did some laundry, cleaned/rearranged the back of the truck and did a bit of cleaning in the trailer. It stays pretty clean but needed a touch up. Today has beautiful blue skies but the wind has been up all day. Right now we have some high thin clouds and still windy. We now know where we are going the following week. Another of our projects today. We will head to Vegas tomorrow. Will stay just out of town in Boulder City for two days. Then it will be off to Utah. That should take us a good part of a week since we will go right up the middle. Vegas will be Pacific time and then back to Mountain in Utah, oh the confusion continues;-) Just a couple idle comments. Arizona has the highest number of concealed weapons permits in the nation. Any body over the age of 16 can get a permit to carry which means many people have a gun in their glove box! On the news tonight, a law being considered to allow guns in bars but only if the owner doesn't drink. I just shake my head being the consummate pacifist. Should continue to have WiFi access so will be able to post updates. Probably won't hit Alaska until July, oh well that's what happens without an itinerary.

Why land is so cheap here.

No wonder land is so cheap here, it never rains,and when it does a canyon is what you get. the water table is 2000ft deep and cost $22 per foot for a well , which is more than the land is worth..

Grand Canyon by train

Colorado River

Train trip today. Began with a wild west show that was a bit lame. These guys will never will any awards but it was entertaining. The train ride was just over 2 hours. One very annoying teen that just never shut up and had no impulse control. Our cowboys from the show also were on board to entertain us. One played an accordion and harmonica. He was very funny and entertaining. Our Personal Service Attendant (PSA) was great, very patient and funny. Once at the depot we immediately boarded a bus for our tour. Lunch first which was a decent buffet and then we drove to a couple of look outs. The views were spectacular and even with the hordes of people there was no problem getting pictures and even getting away from the crowds. Had a young couple with two young kids right on side of me on the bus. Baby screamed and toddler kept putting her foot on me to get my attention. They both finally went to sleep and woke in a much better mood. Parents were oblivious. Train ride back included more entertainment. Another cowboy who played the guitar and sang (?) western songs (as opposed to country). Then we had the cowboys stop the train and board the train to rob us. Again lame but entertaining. Long day and if I ever mention doing a tour again, Owen is to shoot me and all of you are to remind me to re read this post. So much nicer to do what we want when we want rather than follow a predetermined tour.

More pics

Also, must be a car show going on somewhere near, pic of 59 ford ragtop, that was in a site next to us. we are still along Rt.66 and they have shows and rallies all along..it brings back memories of high school and when my brother Terry had a 59 ford.Cool.

Going for a train ride today back to the canyon

Grand Canyon, AZ

Drove to the Grand Canyon today. We are about an hour away. Parked at the visitors center and watched an IMAX movie. After the movie we took a shuttle into the park. The canyon is beyond describing. The pictures won't do it justice. We spent the afternoon checking out the view. The park offers shuttle service to all areas of the park. Makes it nice not to have to worry about driving and parking. Tomorrow we are going back but are taking the train. Once there we will take a bus tour and have lunch. It is a full day. If there is still things we don't see tomorrow we will probably go back again on Saturday. It is just amazing to both of us that we are actually here. The only bad thing is the amount of people. It is hard to appreciate the beauty of nature when you can't hear it. We did get off the beaten path a bit and was able to hear the quiet and the insects in the trees. We also had a rock squirrel run by us. Looks similar to our grey ones but these have spots. Weather is a bit better. Still below average temps but more like Maine in the early summer. Warm days cool nights.

Pics of a'Hole in the ground'

Now why do you suppose it chose this wasteland to land on..Probably to boost the 'economy'..

Canyon Gateway RV Park

A few pictures of our new home base. Note the trees bent over in the wind, something different, wind. We are still pretty high up and experiencing below average temps. It is 9pm right now and already in the mid 50s at least the wind has gone down. Dang, put in the same picture in twice.

Meteor Crater National Landmark, AZ

Remains of original museum.

Our guide, Miss Kim.

We headed further west today. We are just beyond Flagstaff. We stopped at the Meteor Crater on the way. It isn't the largest crater but it is the best preserved. We did a guided tour/hike. It was an hour long and a mile hike. Very windy at times, hold on to your hat! Pretty interesting to see a crater that was part of the demise of dinosaurs. The history of trying to prove it was caused by impact rather than volcanic activity was long and the original guy, Barringer, didn't live long enough to see it proved but did have his theory become more acceptable. His family still own the crater which is surrounded by a working cattle ranch.

We crossed the Arizona Divide elevation 7335. We then started down so figure it is the highest point/ridge. We then started seeing more and more pine trees and less dirt devils.

Another random piece of trivia, 150 trains a DAY go through Arizona. Of course we have heard the wonderful sound of the train whistles through the night ;-)

On to Grand Canyon

Heading to the canyon area, to a park in Williams. Been checking the temps every morning and for the past week the temps have been the same in Portland and the canyon. Here's a few more pics of the forest and my friend the 'raven'..Trivia time: Thinking of stopping in Winslow, on the way to canyon? Known for the Lyric 'standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona' from what song and by whom?? From looking at the map it may not be possible while towing a camper to get downtown to do this.. Oh well..Notice the pic I took of a mound of which Jo-Ann would not let me give it it's proper name..ha,ha..

Petrified Forest National Park, AZ

Rte 66

More pictures from the Petrified Forest. Petroglyphs and ruins of a community, it had 100 rooms with a center square and a Kiva for ceremonial events. Carole I thought of you all day, you would love this place it is right up your alley;-) Found RTE 66 again today. Now that we aren't looking for it any more we find it all over the place. The last is a picture of our "shade tree" on our campsite. We will be heading closer to the Grand Canyon tomorrow for 4 days. A much needed rest period. We are now three hours behind Maine and it is getting dark around 8. Our bodies are having a hard time adjusting to this latest change.

Petrified Forest National Park, AZ

Petrified log & agate bridge

Spent the day at the Petrified Forest. It is a 28 mile drive through the park. Wasn't the best day for walking, we had 35mph gusts. The Painted Desert was wasted on Owen since he is color blind. He said it looked like broken pavement. The colors were wonderful but all just tints which he can't see. There was also lots of red and green again the two colors he can't see. We had a raven that followed us for most of the day. There are many scenic turnouts and at every one the raven was there. I started calling him Dougie, he would let us get pretty close without flying off. Right at the end we had a thunder storm. It teemed rain for about 10 minutes and then the sun was out again. Many pictures so it will be hard to pick just ten or so. We do have a picture of a lizard. It is just below the tuft of grass and blends in with the ground but is visible if you look for it.