Sedona Arizona

While we were in the Grand Canyon we met a remarkably adventurous couple from the UK.  They have a Land Rover (modified for long range travel) which they've driven (and obviously ferried and/or shipped across some water) from the UK across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and even to Australia.  Previously they drove around South America, and are now driving around the USA.  But I digress...they were heading to Sedona, AZ from the canyon, so we decided to go there too.

The drive from Flagstaff to Sedona was spectacular, with hairpin turns and a big drop in elevation.  In the photo below we are on one level of road looking down a level to another hairpin turn and see how tiny those Ponderosa Pines appear?  We are lucky to be able to change our plans on a whim like this, it is often well worth the effort.

 The area around Sedona is riddled with hiking and mountain bike trails, so there were plenty to choose from.  I've had a little problem with my fur, the wind and all the red sand, so Chris and Phil aren't bugging me to traipse along on the hiking trails with them at the moment.  They locked up the wine and went hiking.

Later in the day they went on a sunset jeep tour...again there was that sand, fur and wind thing, so I stayed home.  They returned pretty dusty but with some nice photos.

There is Chris on the jeep.

Another nice Arizona sunset.

We departed Sedona the next day, fueled up in Flagstaff and headed for Nevada.

Grand Canyon

Phil and Chris changed our plans again!  We'd originally planned to see and hike the canyons and national parks in Utah before visiting the Grand Canyon, so that everyone was in a better state of fitness.  However, when realizing that we were going to pass within 50 miles of the Grand Canyon (South rim) we decided to visit now.  That first glimpse of the canyon is literally breathtaking.  You can look at photos all you wish, but there is nothing like being there and seeing this vast canyon.

 We cannot begin to capture the canyon on film to do it justice. 

 We hiked most of the south rim.  There are busses that transport all the tourists and hikers along the developed area of the rim.  We like to get away from the crowds and it was possible to do some peaceful hiking.  Even in March, it was busy and we are glad not to attempt seeing it in summer.  We would have loved to hike in and out of the canyon, but much of our good hiking equipment is in Western Australia, plus you need permits and more preparation than we had.  The second option was to ride a mule down, but you have to book those trips 18 months in advance!  How does anyone know what they'll be doing in 18 months??

Chris and Phil were very lucky to find a third option to get down to the bottom of the canyon, and that was by jeep tour.  Here they are next to the Colorado River.  I didn't get to go.  Does anyone see the exclusion of Buster as a recurring theme here?  The jeep tour was an all day trip and included lunch at an Indian resort.  The western part of the canyon is owned by indians, so that is where you can take the jeep tours via the one road that goes into the canyon, and they also do quick rafting trips in the canyon.

While at the canyon we camped at Mather campground in the National Park.  There is plenty of wildlife up there and one night some elk came over to check out our campsite.  We saw lots of elk up there, and on the way to the jeep tour we also saw antelope.

Busy tour of the south west

Hello again.  After our little delay in Albuquerque, we headed west on I-40 to a National Monument called El Malpais and had a look at some of the pretty sandstone cliffs, and did a little hiking.

Sometimes we get sunset shots of the cliffs and other times we manage to get up early for sunrise photos.  We are not always as well informed as we should be however, and we get to a place and realize that the photos would be nicer with the light from the other direction.  Such is life.

We also went to the Hubble Trading post in Arizona, on the way to Canyon de Chelly. The trading post is still in business, and is the longest running trading post around.  Below is the old oven for baking all the bread.

 This is part of the post where farm machinery and buggies are kept.

We went for an excellent hike at Canyon de Chelly, down to the bottom of the canyon where there are ruins.

Finally we went to the Petrified Forest, also in Arizona, and drove through in about half a day.   

The photos loaded well today which makes for a happy bear.  It must be wine o'clock now.

Winslow Arizona

Here I was...

Standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona, when a girl in a flat bed Ford slowed down to take a look at me.

Lucky bear.

Route 66, a blast from the past

We've been in Albuquerque, New Mexico for a few days avoiding snowstorms to the west.  This has to be on of the most interesting RV parks we've stayed at...they have collected all sorts of Route 66 memorabilia and I had a good look around.

A 1950 Hudson and trailer.

 Buster sized camper, don't I look at home here?

Phil and Chris always point me in the direction of the laundry and look what we have here!  An old wringer washer.  They said to be careful lest I get my fur caught and end up pancaked.

 While clothes washed I played some pool.

 How about this gear from a salon?  Perhaps I can get my whole little self washed, set and dried.

Here is an interesting item.  This was originally in a silent movie theatre and it provided all the sounds and special effects for the old movies...drums, bells, whistles, horns and more.

 Also from the old theatre, this Wurlitzer organ which is being moderized and restored.  We even got to play it.

 The storm has moved east and we are ready to hit the old Route 66 once again.

Shopping for all things outdoors

Some of our favourite stores in the US sell everything and anything (it seems) for outdoor activities.  These places are huge.

 "welcome fishermen, hunters, and other liars"

Aside from all the gear for hunting, fishing, camping, boating ect, they make a big effort to keep people entertained, even people that don't like shopping, like Chris.

There are many animals around the stores in various displays.

  In one shop there was a large aquarium,

there was this hunting cabin complete with stocked fish pond.

There are even games and various games to test your skill like this shooting gallery.  Phil and Chris always have to have shooting competitions at these and Phil is the current champion.

I'm always relieved that they remember to take me along with them when we leave. 

 Some of those big animals make me nervous.

Santa Fe and the Bandalier National Monument

The drive from Amarillo, Texas over to Santa Fe was very windy, the poor RV really was tossed around the road.  However, we love New Mexico!  Sunny, warm days, perfect for hiking and doing what we do.

We spent a few days in Santa Fe before going camping out at the Bandalier National Monument. Santa Fe is a really pretty town with lots of galleries for art, jewelry and rugs as well as plenty of places to get yummy Mexican or Tex-Mex food.  This adobe architecture predominates all over town, and it blends in with the landscape and mountain backdrop.

 San Miguel Mission is the oldest church structure in the US.

 Oh oh, a rug shop.  This is always a problem.

We drove about an hour out of Santa Fe to Bandalier National Monument for camping and hiking.  Great spot!  I was hoping to see a few cousins here, (I don't think Phil and Chris shared my enthusiasm) and we didn't, however we spotted quite a few mule deer and a puma.  Do pumas eat bears??

The deer must be used to all the hikers because we were pretty close to them and they weren't bothered by our presence. 

Phil and Chris have decided that they need to be fit for trekking into the Grand Canyon, so they went hiking several days.  They spent a day down in the canyon looking at an interesting archaeological site where indians lived for centuries in caves along the canyon walls, as well as in adobe dwellings built on the canyon floor and up along the walls.  The site is well preserved and they were able to climb up into the caves.  One cave was 140 ft up the wall, reached by 4 ladders and some stairs.

Phil is sitting on the edge of a kiva up in the large ceremonial cave, and below, Chris is climbing out of the kiva.

 The next day they trekked all the way into the canyon from where we were camping and then down to a waterfalls near the Rio Grande.  Last year there was a huge fire and then a flash flood down in the canyon, so some of the trails are washed out or too difficult to do, and the trail all the way to the Rio Grande was closed.  

The next day they had a little rest from hiking and went to Los Alamos to see the museums in this very historic town where the first atomic bombs were created.  The National Laboratories are still in this area and the RV was searched before and after visiting Los Alamos.  Additionally, they suggested that we didn't take photos.  It was a really interesting visit.  On Friday they again hiked down into the canyon and back, just for the exercise (are they nutters or what?!) and then headed back to Santa Fe.  I hope they get some more photos of pretty Santa Fe so I can add them to this post later.