We left July22. We made it across Texas and it was long and hot. Carlsbad Caverns was phenomenal. We were in that cave for 6 hours!!! Then we stayed to watch the bat exit which was way more than we expected. Great thing about a motor home; we were able to fix our dinner while waiting for the bats to fly at dusk. We stayed on Bureau of Land Management land just 3 miles down the road. Free and beautiful up on a hill overlooking the Chihuahuan Desert. (Tonight we had to make due with a KOA.) Our plan is to make it to the Grand Canyon by Sunday, stay 3 days and then head home in 3-4 days depending on our whims. Hoping to see the Canyon under the full moon. Us and our Chihuahua on the Chichuahuan Desert.
We made it home and our expectations were exceeded. All we can talk about is when we can go again. I will do a synopses with pix next week some time.
Well, I could stay at the Grand Canyon indefinitely! Of course it was mild weather and crowds being September. We just parked the RV and took the free shuttles everywhere. It is great cuz you can get off and hike a couple of miles to the next stop and then hop back on. We could only get a campsite for one night but there are a number of Forest Service roads right outside of the park where camping is free. We woke up to a huge bull elk drinking from a puddle right outside our door. We were hiking the Red trail when it started feeling windy and cold. We looked at the sky and made the call to get back on the bus. The bus driver told us all we had made the right choice as they had just gotten the order to evacuate the mountain. We spent most of the afternoon in the visitor's center. Later that evening we were able to go back up for Sunset. Our goofy bus driver. She would do well on the Jungle cruise. She was also very helpful and well informed. We made it back to the east side as the full moon showed up. It was phenomenal!!!! My camera is not infrared so I could not get pictures except of the moon. Three little ring-tailed cats came out to investigate us. This is the best pic I could get. Overall at the Canyon we saw Elk, Deer (with babies), Vultures, Squirrels, Chipmunks, Ring-tailed Cats, many birds and CONDORS!!! Those were unbelievable. I have seen them in captivity but never in the wild.
A couple of side notes. I got so excited taking pictures of The Gateway Arch and the Mississippi River; that I kind of forgot to navigate. So, Rod missed his turn. I won't go into detail but he did get scolded for freaking out cuz we just don't do that. My father used to get so mad at my mom whenever he would get lost and I told him many years ago that that would be a deal breaker. We got off the road, checked the map (I refuse to use GPS) and got turned around. Sounds easy but there was no 55Sexit heading east. There was a "Last Missouri Exit" sign but he ignored that and back across the big 'Missippi we went. The first exit led us straight to 55S so we were back on our way across the Mississippi for the 3rd time. I have now seen enough of the Gateway Arch and the Mississippi river to last a lifetime The brown dot in the middle is a Grizzly Bear in Yellowstone who had been devouring an elk. My first wild Grizzly! We were able to see him pretty well through binoculars and a spotting scope. But I have a cheap camera.
Finally...…………...and with a hint of sadness We wanted to do a little of Historic Route66. This meant a lot to me as my family used to drive to Denver then Texas then Arizona in the summers covering much of Route66 complete with the "Two Headed Calf" "Piano Playing Chicken" "Kissing Bunny" and probably a giant ball of twine along the way. There are sections that are pretty much *Radiator Springs* so, tourist traps. This is what we found.
I love seeing old abandoned buildings like that...What stories they could tell. But, it's sad sometimes to compare what once was to what is. Clark: Do you see that, kids? That's the St. Louis Arch. The Gateway to the West. It's over 600 feet tall, and there's an elevator all the way to the top. Rusty: Dad, can we go up on it? Clark: No. I'm with you. I could stay at the canyon indefinitely. There's something quite magical about that place. Every year we take the train from Williams to the GC. Lot's of wonderful memories with my family. Looks like you guys made some wonderful memories too!
