The Arizona desert is an interesting place. Its a place that makes you wonder how different rock formations are built. Then it kind of just leaves you in awe when you think about how dramatically different the regions of our country can be. Its fun to realize that we really have every type of climate you could imagine here in the US, just with out the severe extremes of them. While the road is fun, when you are checking out the ever changing scenery around you, it also gets a little arduous to be in the car that long, ok maybe just for me. About four hours in I realized why I used to drive my Grandma so crazy in the car, I get a little too antsy and feel like I need out, so I tend to start wiggling constantly and talking entirely too much. Being the overly talkative person that I am, i felt the need to explain to my Granny Etta that I now understood why she was so irritated with me on long road trips, to which her response was "DONT START SPAZING OUT NOW!!" Too late ;) Not to mention I was hungry which never helps matters.. We wanted to make it to Tuba City for, because we were told that they had the best Navajo Tacos there, which is another nostalgic memory from my childhood. Plus Kyle had never had one so it was a must stop for us..
We finally made it to Tuba City and basically were just driving around until we saw a place that was advertising that they sold Navajo Tacos there, but never could find one. So we pulled into a truck stop that served burritos and though that maybe we'd find something similar in there.. They did not have Navajo Tacos, they had what were called Tuvvi Tacos, which were basically the same thing. Needless to say I was not disappointed in these Tuvvi Tacos, and Kyle was quite impressed as well. I am not one to typically take pictures of my food, I find it quite silly really, but I couldn't resist taking pictures of this deliciousness and sending it to my sister. If anyone would appreciate the Navajo Taco as much as I do, its her.
After lunch we made the final two hour trek to camp, which is in the Kaibab National Forest about 5 miles south of the town of Tusayan, Az. The route that we were on brought us into the East entrance of the Grand Canyon and about 25 miles into the park before we headed south toward Tusayan. I had been to the Grand Canyon when I was a kid, but this was Kyle's first trip. Being the sentimental sap that I am, I was really excited to be able to experience this with him.
As you are coming up to the east side of the canyon you start to see some really cool, deep canyons, but they are nothing compared to what you will see in about 15 miles. We finally arrive at the entrance and stop to show our National Parks pass and get a little info from the Ranger at the gate. She hands us an info sheet, a map of the park and another brochure that she just calls pretty. Then tells us that the first look out spot that we will get to is Desert view, and in her opinion, is the best view of the canyon in the park.
With anticipation just boiling inside of me we head in. The road in is a nice drive, but it only teases you with occasional views of the canyon. Never less though, I could not stop myself from acting like a little kid who has just seen a puppy for the first time. Everytime the canyon came into view, I'd start yelling "oooohhhhh look at it!! Its so pretty!! Would you just look at it!!" Poor Kyle, is exhausted from driving at this point and is finding my enthusiasm less than entertaining I'm sure, but I just couldn't help it. Its a frickin cool canyon!! We see Desert View pull off ahead and I start getting really excited to pull in there, but Mr Kyle was ready to be done driving and wanted to just get to camp, and I would have to wait one more day to see the canyon..
Like I mentioned earlier, we are camping in the Kaibab National Forest, just south of Tusayan. The forest here is filled with ponderosa pine, and is a neat contrast from the evergreen forests that we are used to back in CO. The forest road that we are on has several pull outs for camping, we are probably only about .25 mi off of highway 64 but can't hear it at all. The pull outs are nice and flat, and are quite perfect for parking a trailer, or any RV really. Plus the spots are far enough apart, that even if you do have someone in the spot right next to you, there is still a sense of seclusion. Plus with being national forest, there is much more liberty for the dogs, and its free. In my mind its a win-win. Plus on a monday afternoon, everything is pretty much open which gives you the ability to pick the best spot.
Tuesday morning we got up early and headed back to the Grand Canyon. We saw a few elk on the roadside on our way in which is fun. What was more interesting is how completely unaffected but human presence. They could really careless about us and just went on doing their thing. Our first stop was at the visitor center to make a game plan for the day. There is a Rim Trail that stretches 12.8 miles along the canyon rim, and is basically a bike path, so it makes for really nice walking. The pups are allowed on leash on the rim trails, so we picked a route that would allow us to tire them out nicely. Before we started over to Hermit road we walked from the visitor center to Mather Point and the Yavapai Geological museum.
We parked over by the back country office in parking lot D, and leashed up the crazies and started toward Hermit Road. From Hermit road we hiked out to Powell Point, which ended up being 2 miles one way. The pups did awesome on the trails, and were really quite intrigued by the massive drop offs. Sometimes too intrigued for my comfort level, but overall they did great. Plus it was Triggers 8th birthday on Tuesday, what a fun birthday for a dog really..
After our 4 mile trek we decided to utilize the showers that they have in the park, and let me just say, best $2.00 I've spent in a long time!! After showering and lunch we headed to the east end of the park to check out the Desert View. I would have to agree with the park ranger the first day, I would say that this is the best view of the canyon. The tower that you get to climb for a better look out is pretty fun as well. The tower was built in more recent time but still has a lot of history and showcases more history inside the tower walls.
On Wednesday we headed down to Flagstaff to try to find another camp spot in the Coconino National Forest around Flag, because everything else we had wanted to do besides the Grand Canyon was near Flagstaff. We drove around for several hours looking at different spots but none of them really measured up to the spot that we were already at. So after really thinking about what we wanted to do near Flag, we discovered that really the only thing that we HAD to do was go to Slide Rock state park... Well since we were only 1/2 hr away from Slide Rock, and about 1.5 hrs from camp, we decided to go for it. So we headed down 89A thru Oak Creek Canyon to Slide Rock.. Slide Rock was another place that my Granny used to take my sister and I when were we kids, and it was just as I had remembered it being. A giant natural water park in the river with natural water slides in the rocks.. So mind you it was an impromptu visit to slide rock, and neither one of us had bathing suits with us, so what do you do? Screw it, you go in with your clothes on! The park was actually a lot busier than I would have thought it would be on a Wednesday afternoon, but it wasn't so busy that you wouldn't want to be there. Apparently the weekends can turn into a nightmare there.. The weather was about 81 outside but Im pretty sure the water was still -25! It was so cold! Luckily all the red rock around the park warms up enough that you can easily warm up when you get out of the water.. We spent about two hours at slide rock just playing around in the cold water, but it was so much fun.. Honestly could be my favorite part of our trip so far.
After a quick stop in Williams, AZ, for some groceries we headed home. When we arrived back at camp we discovered that we had new neighbors. Our neighbors are a really nice couple named Jeremy and Robin, also living the RV life right now. They've been doing this for a while so Kyle and I will have to pick their brains for any advice or must see destinations! They've already been very helpful in providing advice on how to plan our route to Cali on Monday, and what blogs to follow for additional inspiration, even though our stupid dog decided to try and kill their cat, and then their dog today.. It was super awesome.. Hopefully our dogs will start adjusting better and stop being such social rejects...
After our hike we headed back into the village and had some lunch at the Bright Angel Lodge. Then enjoyed a DELICIOUS ice cream cone at the Ice Cream fountain that looks over the canyon rim..
For the next couple of days we will try to find some fun hikes around where we are camped, and not in the park. Then we will have to find a fun way to celebrate Kyles birthday on Sunday, hopefully the weather will cooperate with us. Then Monday we plan on heading to Cali. I will keep you all updated in the next few days on our next adventures. Thanks for checking in! Ta-ta for now!
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