Our Trip Home 24 April - Day 3 Grand Canyon, South Rim

Today we had a plan, and we were gonna stick to the plan..... man....
We were heading to see the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, as today is the last day of the free admission to the National Parks Week!

Darlene had packed food and water for us as well as made sure that she and TJ had good walking shoes in case hiking became necessary.  The dogs, well, they came along 'cause we couldn't bear to see their sad faces as we were getting ready to go.

It was mostly sunny and there was very little wind when we left, and it stayed that way for most of the day. As we passed thru the gate to the Grand Canyon we began to climb almost immediately and continued climbing for a long time. As we climbed, the temperature dropped steadily until finally we levelled out and we found the temperature had dropped 15 degrees F.!

The first place we stopped had a viewing tower made out of stone that had been made to look old, but was in reality, quite new. TJ and I climbed the 137 steps to the top to take in the view and snap a few photos while Darlene watched the dogs and relaxed in the sun.

We continued thru the park, making a number of stops to take in the various views..... To be honest, after seeing the Skywalk, Eagles Point and Guano point of the Grand Canyon as well as Arches National Park, the South Rim tended to be a bit ... underwhelming, shall I say.

There were impressive views, but nothing that really grabbed us enough to sit back and say "Wow".  There weren't a lot of photos taken, but I have included a couple, because that is what I do.... take photographs.

We got back to camp fairly early tonight and started packing as tomorrow, once we leave the camp, we would have to pay to get back in as the free week stops at midnight tonight.

We decided to move the big ladder from underneath to back on the back of the motorhome to free up more room underneath, which was a good move.  Once again I struggle with tying down the bikes on the back of the car as they always get loose as we travel down the highways.  It is dark when all is done, with mainly the slides and dumping to be taken care of tomorrow morning.

Our trip home 23 April, Day 2 - Monument Valley and Arches National Park

The weather forecast was for sunny, hot, and of course, VERY windy..... We decided we would take a trip up to Monument Valley as it was only 2 1/2 hours away and it was soooooo windy in Glen Canyon there was not much else to do.

     It was after 9 before we left in the car, with the dogs along with us for good measure as it is a long day to be stuck in the motorhome for anyone.
     Monument Valley is on Native land and there is a charge for you to get on the land. It was 20 bucks but well worth it as you could drive your vehicle around on the roads to your hearts content. The roads basically allowed you to go to the end, and then turn around and come back, with numerous places you could pull over for those important photo stops.  You could also elect to pay and go on one of their guided tours in either an open jeep or a closed in vehicle.
       En route we got hungry and stopped for brunch at a small town called Kayenta.  The wind had gotten worse as we drove along and there were spots were it was blowing across the road like fine snow, only much worse.  At times the sand obliterated your view completely.

This is the view as we left, en route to Arches National Park on I-163 before Mexican Hat

Monument Valley is aptly named as the large monoliths are like monuments created by nature. They have names for them which make sense, depending on their structure. It was easy to imagine how the wind can erode these rocks over the years as it was like being sandblasted at times!

Right Mitten closer

"Camel Rock"

Yucca Plants in bloom

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The "Right Mitten" is on the left as it looks like a mitten (no fingers)

Some of the structure didn't make sense until you were at a specific spot on the road and then suddenly you could see why they named it thay way.

We had a lot of fun looking at these structures even tho it was quite windy, and, to tell the truth, it made it seem a bit more like we were "back in the day", with the wind and sand blowing in our faces every time we turned around!

It was 3:30 by the time we left, so I foolishly suggested we maybe drive up to Arches National Park and do sort of a loop around after that to get back to our campsite at Wahweap.  (It turns out that what I had suggested would take toooooo long to do properly and we "should" have headed back to camp at 3:30, but, no pain no gain I guess, and this was a lesson that I had to learn the hard way..... (I was quite tired by the time we finallly got back to camp).

Anyway, away we went, up I-163 and then on I-191 straight north to Moab, which is a real toursist town with lots of RV and camping spots.  We drove thru, as it was close to sunset and Arches is just north of Moab.
As we drove up to the gate, there was a steady stream of people leaving the park.... Once again, we did not have to pay to get in (30 bucks) due to the National Park Week.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK is incredible!  It has more natural arches and bridges than any place on earth and is stunning to say the least!  As you enter the park you immediately climb quite high before the road flattens out

and you are presented with lots of places to hike or stop to be able to view these amazing structures.


There is a path down this small valley at the very first stop in the road, and although it was tempting to take it, dogs were not allowed and the sun was getting low, so we continued on in the car.

This is called "Balancing Rock" and there seemed to be quite a few of these that we saw as we travelled thru the park.

 There are also holes in large walls, and this particular one we were fortunate to see the sun's rays poking thru as it set.

Speaking of setting sun, it is definitely a time to plan to be there, or at sunrise, as the rocks certainly stand out in the low light!

It was like 8:00 pm by the time I was dragged out of there, although there were still people going in and it was dark already..... The drive home took 4 1/2 hours, which was worth it, as we saw Monument Valley and also had a little taste of Arches National Park to know that we have to plan to go back there for at least 3 days in the near future!

Our trip home 22 April 2016 - Day 1 (Lake Havasu --> Page, Arizona)

Fri.  22 April 2016  Lake Havasu --> Page, Arizona  (338 miles total)

     We were up and ready to go early in the morning, except for hooking up the car and attaching the new "blue ox tow guard" we had purchased in Quartzsite about a month ago. 

     It did not take that long to connect, BUT the initial adjustment took quite some time because if it is too taut, it will bind when cornering.  We were finally ready to roll just before 0900 

     Oh, did I mention that in the excitement of the new guard connection I forgot to release the car brakes and dragged the car about 30 ft. before Darlene flagged me down. 

     ** We ALWAYS have Darlene walk beside the car as we initially start to ensure all is ok.... This is why we do this, to ensure all is ok back there and today the routine paid off as the only damage is we left a little rubber on the pavement as our mark at Havasu RV Resort.

     It was a sunny day with a slight breeze as we left on our journey to Page Arizona, which was northeast and about 5 or 6 hours distance. 

     We stopped just north of Lake Havasu to fuel up at the Pilot Fuel at the junction of I-40 and I-95. 

We found out that in Arizona that if you fuel up at the truck pumps they are $.09 more per Gal. than the RV pumps. The truck pumps are larger and faster, but we are on holidays, right?

Red Rocks pull off and take pic time

   

 We had reservations at Wahweap Campground in Lake Powell. Normally you have to pay a Park entrance fee but it is a National Park anniversary and they are free from the 16th to 24 April so we got in for free and this also was part of our plan for the next three or four days. 

     It got progressively windier as we drove along and was nasty by the time we were set up in our new home for the next 3 days.

     We had stopped at a McDonald's for lunch around two so were not very hungry at suppertime. I chose to go out to see Horseshoe Bend which is a famous site on the Colorado River just South of Page where the river meanders almost completely around a piece of land that is visible from high up. I got on my stomach to sidle up for some photos and was amazed at all the young kids who would stand right on the edge for their "selfies" lol.

Lots of people waiting sunset on the cliffs

 

Sunset at Horseshoe Bend, Arizona

Lots and lots of photographers everywhere !!

When the wind gusts came, it was like being sand blasted up there. It was pretty neat to see the view as the sun set. 

Horseshoe Bend of Colorado River near Page, Arizona

     On a side note I later found out that 3 people had fallen to their deaths in the last 10 years at this site.

Horseshoe Bend - lying on stomach with camera over edge!

Day Trip to take Carrie to see Grand Canyon

Day Trip to Grand Canyon

Taking Carrie to see it before she goes to Alberta

Monday - January 19, 2016

Layers of stone are awesome to behold!

It was a decision reached over morning coffee and by 0930 we were on the road. We filled up the car as we hit Hwy 40 and made it to the Grand Canyon just before noon. 

     As always, this place is impressive. There was some snow alongside the road on our way there and the temperature was around 11 or 12 Celsius with a slight breeze while we were there. 

It costs about 40 bucks each just to go on the tour bus and another 20 to walk on the skywalk where they will not allow any photos to be taken as they have a thriving business selling pics that they take!

Guano Point is pretty impressive!

     Darlene and Carrie went on the skywalk, TJ waited at entrance with a security lady and I got into taking photos. 

     It was a great trip and we took a different route back to Kingman where we made a stop at DQ for ice cream, milkshake(TJ) and a salad (Carrie).

Old, twisted trees provide excellent props for photos.

   

Getting rid of Grampa!

It is about 1 mile straight down here!

Plastered against a wall 

Skywalk.... scary..... expensive, but worth it...

TJ waited here while the girls went on skywalk and Granpa took pics

Hanging on for dear life!

"This is as close as I go"

A spot of sunshine lights up the bottom

Took a different way home to find flat desert with a lone Joshua Tree

Beautiful sunset and daughter in law

On our return 4:45 PM, Darlene and Carrie went to Walmart for groceries while I took dogs for a walk. Later that evening we had a fire while downing coolers and beers until it got too cool outside.

Beautiful Mom and Daughter having coolers by the fire

Caribbean Cruise Day 5 - St. Kitts

Wed. Jan 13 2016
   

Ship's Compass which detailed everything going on every day was delivered daily!

 I was up a bit early and managed to see this beautiful little island as we passed by en route to see St. Kitts.

Small Island north of St. Kitts.

Our ship docked at 10 AM which afforded us the luxury of eating while watching the docking procedure.Once on land and past the photo guys we were approached by a fellow trying to sell tickets on a tour around the island starting at 1 PM local time. It was only 20 bucks so we signed up right away while Mitchell and Melodie took awhile to decide whether it was worthwhile or not but in the end decided to come along with us.

Entrance to St. Kitts from wharf

Our tour bus

     We toured the island in a small bus, making a number of photo stops.







We went up a number of side streets and quickly realized that on this island there are a lot of poor people.
The roads were narrow with lots of hills and curves.
   







 Below is a short video taken while we were driving around the island.

Romney House
This former plantation was a most interesting stop as it showcased the stages this island's economy has gone thru over the years.

Old Foundry stack for sugar

Tobacco cotton and rum were all at various times big exports, with the climate and natural sugar cane playing a large role as evidenced by the many old foundry stacks around the island.


There was also some HUGE trees with Tarzan like vines hanging from them. The vegetation here is very lush and quite overrun in many places.

Tarzan Vines

At the Romney House there was also a demonstration of Batik, which is where they paint wax on canvas in many layers to produce striking paintings. We also had some drinks and optional moonshine from the driver at this stop.
 

Date Palm

 There was one very large tree on the property which reminded me of the Home Tree in the movie AVATAR.

Click on the video below for a video of Batik.....

When we got to the norther pat of the island we saw where the higher income families lived along with some nice condominiums that were for rent.
     Our next stop was high on a hill where there was also some very cheap beer for sale as well as a beautiful view of some beaches and ocean.

3 buck beer !!

Caribbean on left, Atlantic on Right

     The next stop was at a resort on the beach where Darlene and Melodie dipped their feet in the Caribbean Sea. On our way back to the ship, we asked the driver to make another pit stop at the top of the hill for more beer and some snacks for the trip back.
 By the time we got back to St. Kitts, it was apparent some of our Columbian passengers were pretty well bombed from the moonshine they had consumed on the trip.

Beautiful beaches

     We purchased some jewelry but declined on the booze as it was quite expensive. darlene had a really nice Pina Colada just before we boarded while some Caribbean music was being played on the dock.

Did I mention there was also another cruise ship






 (Celebrity Line) docked as well. It was smaller than ours and did not leave till after we had departed.

Supper in the Saphirre Dining Room, with Bernadette from the Philippines as our waitress. She was due to get 2 months off after a 7 month tour of duty!