What a blast Miramar was. In fact all of California has been great but it is so expensive. 2 months in CA cost us more than 6 months in the eastern states. So we packed up again to head for our next bucket list item, The Grand Canyon and “Rim Country”.
Warplanes again? It must be Yuma.
To regular readers of this blog the first dozen or so photos might seem familiar. From El Cajon (pronounced El Ca-Hoon), through those rock covered mountains from Alpine to Pine Valley along Route 80 to Yuma we were in ‘known’ territory. We passed Border Patrol with their high tech watching devices and the little chapel on a hill in the middle of nowhere. We knew we were at Yuma when military aircraft dominated the sky. I just love Shane’s photo of the two Ospreys between the palm trees at sunset.
The things you see on the road.
Driving so many miles you do see some funny things on the road. Some ha ha funny. Some peculiar funny. After the sunset pix there are 3 photos of the largest penitentiary we have ever seen. It was huge. Then there was the truck with a blue tank on the back. Nothing strange but didn’t anyone question the safety of that protrusion sticking out over a yard (1 metre) from the side? Have you ever seen a truck towing a truck towing a truck? You have now! We’ve actually seen as many as 4 semi’s piggybacking along the highway before. This one we managed to get on camera. Finally, just before we hit Phoenix like all good towns in the USA there was a Veteran’s Association with military hardware out front. We’d estimate the total display pieces we’ve seen in our 18 months here would outnumber the entire Australian Military. Anyway we got to our RV park. The one with the gigantic Organ Pipe Cactus out front.
By the time we got to Phoenix
We had a few days in Phoenix to look about. Seems a nice city with several freeways to get around the city. In the city proper there’s Chase Field, home of the NBL Diamond Back’s and State Farm Stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play their home NFL games is out in the ‘burbs. We also saw a weird ‘castle’ to the side of the freeway. Tovrea Castle (https://tovreacastletours.com/) is an historic landmark in Phoenix built, it seems, for no particular reason but it is intriguing. I’ll give a shout out to the ladies in the information centre in the city too. We’ve had a hard time getting information on actual road conditions for our entire trip. A few hours after we’d left the Info Centre Marg, tracked us down (she just knew we were 2 Aussies at an RV park) and relayed to us a fantastic resource she’d found after we’d left. Now that’s great service. Sometimes while driving about we’d pass an open area of bush and see a landscape of cactus and hills and say “Yep, we’re in Arizona”.
From Phoenix to Fredonia (via Utah).
Leaving the purple lined streets of urban Phoenix we were off again to the north. First stop was to be Flagstaff which we knew to be a substantial city. With a few hours to spare we raced into the local RAM dealer and had the car checked over. Luckily they spotted worn rear brake shoes (replaced) and off coloured diff oil (changed) and a few small bits needing attention. 3 hours later and we were away again. Australian car dealers could learn a lot from the US model. Next day we cleared out heading to a small town called Fredonia but to get there we had to skirt the Grand Canyon, go through Utah then cross back into Arizona. We had planned to go direct to the GC from Flagstaff but read that the lesser travelled North Rim https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/north-rim.htm of the canyon closed in under fortnight so we redirected our plans and diverted to the north side. Fredonia is 3 miles south of Utah and its another 4 miles to the town they call “Little Hollywood”, Kanab. http://kanab.utah.gov/2147/Visitors These two towns are the best most central place to tour what we wanted to see.
A scenic trip to Kanab
The trip from Flagstaff was very good despite the humungous mountain range we had to climb. This was made even more ‘interesting’ by a fantastic lookout that’s too good to miss being halfway up the range on one hell of a steep grade. With the RV on the back I wasn’t sure how I’d go driving off again. The lookout (or overlook as they are called here) looked over the valley through which the Colorado River flowed. In the panorama photo that deep ‘gash’ you can see on the valley floor is the river and the northern end of the Grand Canyon National Park. The mountain range deep in the distance to the left of the photo is also the GCNP. Unseen below the cliff is a small community that we later shot and is a few pix on. At this lookout there are about 7 or 8 Indian traders selling native crafts and jewellery (not so cheaply). This spot was so nice we came back again on another trip.
Hooked on a horseshoe
A few miles down the road and seemingly out of nowhere we arrived at our first target, Horseshoe Bend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_Bend_(Arizona) We parked in a crowded car park (@ $5/vehicle – $10 if you towed a trailer like ours). It’s a 20 minute walk up over a sandy ridge with fantastic rock formations all around to get to the cliff edge. All you have to do then is fight the maddening crowd for a photo op. Despite the hot and dusty conditions it really is a magnificent sight. Nature has a way of creating the most unbeatable scenery. The drop is over 1000 ft (300 mtrs) and there are tours that take you over, through and down into the canyon. ‘The Bend’ is an incomparable place not to be missed.
Turning a Page to Fredonia
Five miles down the road from Horseshoe is Page where we crossed a bridge over the Colorado River by the Glen Canyon Dam. You can just see the top of the dam to the right of the bridge as we drove over it. Remember that we had the brakes discs replaced the day before? That was a blessing as within the space of 3 miles 2 dickheads pulled out in front of us as we were driving at 65mph down the highway. What were they thinking? As we followed the road to the west we spotted a pack of coyotes darting across the road. From there it was a pretty easy drive to Fredonia but not before we passed through Kanab, Utah. http://kanab.utah.gov/2147/Visitors The photos you see at the end of this gallery are not just rocks. Have a close look at three things in each. Size (the camera diminishes this), form (nature shapes this) and colour (I think some heavenly body makes this). The geological features of this area are stunning and without equal yet better was to come over the next week or two.
Cheers
Garry & Shane