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Phyllis’ Journal |
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Phyllis’ Journal 2005-C This is a chronicle of 4 Morgans: Larry, Phyllis, This page covers August through December of our first full year on the road. Areas visited include : The Grand Canyon. |
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Page Last Updated: 8/10/2008 |
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We had to prepare the camper and truck for travel. All that was left was to work Labor Day. We got off at 11:00 p.m. We left the next morning for Idaho Falls. That night in Idaho Falls, we had our first boondocking experience. The Wal-Mart here is great. There is a good area over to the side and back in the parking lot that several RVers (including us) spent the night. In the morning we left Wal-Mart and went to Big O tires and had some work done on the truck. After the truck was done, we got on I15 and continued south. Right along the interstate there was amazing volcanic rocks. Hot molten rock had seeped thru cracks and flowed over existing rock and soil. This was along the interstate for 30 to 50 miles. That night we stayed in Brigham City, UT. This seems to be difficult getting this journal caught up. It is now Jan. 16, 2006. On Sept. 7, we traveled thru Salt Lake City. On the east side of I15 the mountains look like old velvet with many folds in the fabric. The colors were browns and reds. On the west side of the interstate was the Great Salt Lake. We saw evidence in the soil where the lake has receded. We got off I15 to Utah 28. The mountains on the east were rugged and to the west were more worn and rounded. The state road stopped so we got on I70 and Us89. US 89 split off and we went with it. We were climbing in the mountains here. They are streaked with golds, pinks, soft, soft browns, green/golds, and smoke. There was one mountain called Big Rock Candy Mountain. It had to have volcanic ash or lava flows to have such soft colors blending like cotton candy pulled and stretched over the rock. We stayed at a campground near here. The next morning we left for Bryce Canyon National Park. We have been told Ruby's Inn (one mile north of Bryce) is a good place to work -- so this stop is to check out the area and do a job interview. I don't think Larry and I were prepared for the beauty. Before getting to Ruby's Inn, we went thru Red Canyon. Totally awesome! Depending on the time of day, the sun seems to paint the rocks from a soft red-orange to a deep purple-red. This canyon has a stream thru it. There is a great biking path and wonderful hiking trails. Larry, Roscoe, Harpo, and I had a blast here. We reached the Ruby's Inn complex, found the campground and set up for several days. This facility has cabins, motel/hotel rooms, several dining places, gas and repair stations, groceries, post office, beauty shop, film processing, 2 laundromats. We found the manager was out of town but due back in a couple of days. Of course we went to investigate Bryce. The red rock colors, the rock formations are a must see. You view from the top of the formations down. It's like you are viewing an amphitheater. The rock formations are called hoodoos. They are pillars that have been changed by the elements. In some places there is a single hoodoo; then you can turn and see layer upon layer of hoodoos. My explanation of this absolutely gorgeous place is to limited. When you add the red color to the many, many formations you need pictures or better to be there. We stayed here for 5 days to just get a flavor of the area. We were able to do a face on interview with the campground manager. This seem to go very well. We start work here April 10. We can hardly wait to get back here. We left Bryce with the intention of going to Zion. We had to stop in Cedar City for some prescriptions. I called a campground that is immediately across from Zion. I was told we could not make same day reservations. Larry and I were not comfortable not having a secure spot to park in this remote area. We decided to see Zion another time and we continued south. We were headed for the Grand Canyon. It is mind-boggling for Larry and I seeing these places we have dreamed about seeing. We were actually heading for the Grand Canyon. We were traveling east on the area called the Arizona Strip. This is the section of land in between Utah and the Grand Canyon. We stopped for fuel at a place called Pipe Spring ( a Mormon Landmark). This is an Indian reservation. I was very tired and it was still two hours to the North Rim. Low and behold as we are fueling up I see a campground sign. It is on the reservation. It was ten dollars a night of 150 for a month. The campground host told us about part of the North Rim call Torroweap. We decided to check it out. The turn off was about 5 miles from campground. We turned onto a gravel road. We had gravel road for about 50 miles. We past the ranger station; then the road got really bad. We went over and thru boulders. It was the most challenging road we have ever been on--not for the faint of heart. This area of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is beautiful. You can see the Colorado from here. It is different here because there is not the number of other canyons coming in to the main Canyon. You are much closer to the south rim wall. we saw a jackrabbit when we were leaving. Our bodies were really shook-up by the time we got back to the trailer. Our truck was a massive dust deposit. Our campground host (Montana was his name) invited us down to his site and helped us cleanup our truck. We left the next morning and found Jacob's Lake, about 30 minutes from the North Rim. We stayed here 3 days. The first impressions of the Grand Canyon is colors and immensity. There are so many canyons coming into the Colorado. The colors on the Canyon are constantly changing as the sun moves across the sky. The wind on the North Rim (at least while we were there) was forceful. We were at a lookout just below the Inn and Larry's cap literally flew off and away. There was a controlled burn going on while we were here, so there are some parts we have not seen. That will be another trip. On the road again, we are making our way from the North Rim to the South Rim. We came in on the Desert View side. We wanted to stay in the Park but there was no campsites available in the main area. Since our time was limited, we stayed on the south side. To our amazement the dogs were allowed on the trails above the rim. We had a wonderful 6 mile hike on the South Rim West Drive. We went to lots of the lookouts. The dogs made new friends and had a very full day. We are headed south again. Flagstaff is our destination. We need to stock up at Sam's Club and Wal-Mart. We find Sam's just fine; but Wal-Mart, we could not find the exit for it. So we just bypassed that one and continued south. We started looking for place to stop for the night. Larry and I do not like to stay near interstates because of the noise. We got off the interstate and headed into the Verde Valley. We stayed here 2 nights and found that this is a great place. Lots of outdoor things to do--Indian ruins, state parks. There is also a Wal-Mart. We had several things we wanted to do before starting our winter jobs in Casa Grande. We visited with my youngest nephew, his wife, and their 5 children. This RVing lifestyle is great. I love being able to stop and see family and friends that normally we would not be able to see. We also had some work done on the camper in Tucson. On to our jobs. My oh my we got ourselves into a pickle. The campground manager had a domestic situation occur before we arrived. To cut to the chase, this job did not work out. We went searching for another place to live for the winter. |
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Yellowstone to Arizona |
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Winter 2005-6 in Apache Junction Arizona |
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Larry landed a security job here in Apache Junction. The manager here said they only would hire one of us. We are busy exploring this area. The mountains that surround us are beautiful but the air quality is terrible. Superstition Mountain dominates the landscape. |
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The Apache Trail drive around the mountain and up to Roosevelt Lake is gorgeous, especially the area at Fish Creek Hill. |
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We have enjoyed good eating from the Mining Camp (all you can eat ribs, ham, chicken vegetables and desert). The drive on U.S. 60 is wonderful. There are places to get out and walk. On one trip Harpo and Roscoe got to climb volcanic rocks. Felicity and Melody joined us at the end of October. It was great having them with us. We took a boat ride on Canyon Lake and saw some rams. Over Christmas, Paul visited. It made a wonderful holiday. We got to share some of our favorite spots with him and explore some Indian ruins we had not yet seen. Before Paul came, We took the dogs to the vet for shots. Roscoe had been having a problem urinating. I had the vet check him. The vet found a bladder stone and took X-rays. There was a total of 3 stones. Then we went to a surgeon and she performed surgery. Roscoe has fully recovered and is his bouncy self. This brings me up-to-date. We will be here for a while if all continues to go well. |
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You drive through the Sonoran Desert mountains with the Saguaro Cacti. <— Most do not have this many arms. |
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Torroweap Rd (above) Tuweep Overlook West (below) |
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North Rim Transwept Pt. |
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South Rim Navajo Point |
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NOTE: Click any picture to get a larger version. |
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