Jun 19, 2012 - The Saga Continues

And the saga continues... When last we left the Fitz three they had traveled long and far to get to the Grand Canyon. They ventured up mountains and down mountains. It's said that at some point the even harmonized to the radio like the people in that car commercial... It's been a few days since we logged in. It's been full of beautiful sights and walking on trails. I've put some pictures on facebook and will upload more soon.   Since most of us suffer from ADD (me most especially), I will try not to ramble on about all the sights and...

Jun 17, 2012 - Driving to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

Today is Father's Day and I love my Dad, my father-in-law, my brother, and my husband for being wonderful Dads! It seems like every day of this trip is one adventure after another...today we drove our Jeep to the bottom of the Grand Canyon! Diamond Creek Road on the Indian Reservation is one of the only ways you can get a car to the bottom of the canyon. It is 19 miles long and drops 3400 feet in elevation! The Colorado River was so neat to see up close. When we got to the bottom, the air temperature was over 100 degrees, but the water was...

Jun 16, 2012 - Flying High over the Grand Canyon

We spent the day exploring the Grand Canyon today. First we drove to the south rim and took in the scenery at some overlooks. Then we took a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon! It was an amazing experience! The pilot said it might be a little bumpy because of the winds, but we all thought it was a very smoth ride. The best part was when he seemed to fly off the cliff and made the helicopter weightless so it felt like we were dropping into the canyon! Ryan and Sammy sat up front with the pilot with nothing but the big front glass of the...

Jun 14, 2012 - Off to Grand Canyon

Gary and I started this journey last Saturday, leaving on our first long RV trip with our dogs Willie and Rosie. In Phoenix we picked up our son Eric and the grand kids Josh and Jesse. They had flown out from Atlanta to join In the fun. Eric soon was a pro at hitching our little Honda Fit to the coach and helping us set up in the campgrponds. We find we are learning as we show him what to do - repetition helps! Our first destination was the Grand Canyon Trailer Village. We had a great time exploring the South Rim and left with 2 certified...

May 30, 2012 - Raft trip down the Colorado river

May 30, 2012 We drove to Page, Az.about 2 1/2 hrs from Williams to board a 20pp raft with a river guide for a 4 hour pleasure cruise down the Colorado. Trip started @ Glen Canyon Dam and finished at Lee's Ferry. On our cruise we were lucky enough to see 13 wild goats on the cliffs, 5 wild Navajo ponies and 2 California Condors. We stopped to view Ancient Puebloan Indian petroglyphs on the cliffs.

May 29, 2012 - S. Kaibab Trail & Yavapai Geology Museum

May 29, 2012 Our final day trip to the Canyon. We hiked down Kaibab Trail for almost an hour and then hiked out. It was very steep and challenging but exhilarating. Stopped at the Geology Museum designated as the viewpoint to observe the greatest variation of rock forms in the Canyon. Fabulous lesson on our Earth's history and the evolution of Grand Canyon.

May 28, 2012 - Jacob Lake, AZ

Left South Rim and traveled 165 miles to Kiabab Camper Village located at Jacob Lake, AZ. This is about 45 miles from the North Rim. On our way we stopped at several Navajo roadside stands. GiGi finally found the ring she has been looking for. Our drive was mostly desert and we crossed the Colorado River at Marble Canyon. After Marble Canyon we drove beside the Vermilion Cliffs, which reach heights of over 2000 feet-impressive. Marble Canyon elevation is at 3550 feet. Our destination of Jacob Lake is at 7960 feet in elevation on the Kaibab...

May 27, 2012 - Grand Canyon, AZ

I've combined 26-27 May together today. 26 May-Slept in a little and then drove over to the Desert View Visitor Center. We stopped at several overlooks on the way. The Watch Tower is located at Desert View. It has alot of history associated with it. The top of the Watch Tower is the highest point on the South Rim. Not many places to fuel up so I paid 4.68 per gallon. Only the second time I have had to pay over 4.00, so we will see when we go north. We stopped at Tusayan Museum on the way back and took in a Ranger program. We took Nixon over...

May 25, 2012 - Grand Canyon, AZ

Well, the wind blew strong alnight at Monument Valley. Made the decision to leave at 0600 based on Weather.com forecast the high winds would start around 1000. Drove 20 miles to Kayenta, AZ to fuel up and the wind was blowing at least 40 mph. I thought then I might have messed on leaving, but when got down the road 10 miles or so, the wind eased up a good bit. Our drive was around 150 miles, We drove in the east entrance at Desert View where we got our first view of the canyon. Was a nice 25 miles to the campground with views all along. Our...

May 24, 2012 - Grand Canyon

The winds continued today but were a bit lighter than we expected as we pulled out of Gallup heading west on I-40. We managed about 8 mpg for today’s drive. The highway from Gallup to Holbrook isn’t beautiful, but the views are vast. We stopped at a roadside rest near the meteor crater and had some fun romping around the rock formations there. As we got closer to Flagstaff the terrain changed. As we gained altitude we began to see mesquite, then larger mesquite, and then some pine. We stopped at a grocery store in Flagstaff so that Jeff...

May 23, 2012 - Grand Canyon - South Rim

We drove from Zion yesterday through some of the most barren desert area. Nothing much to see for most of the trip, but we did stop and have lunch across from the Vermilion Cliffs, which have some magnificent colors. We are staying inside the park at the Mathers campground. No hook ups here, but all is good. They have a great shuttle bus system here and we took one to the south rim last night to watch the sunset. Really something to see. If we get so motivated we may get up really, really early tomorrow for the sunrise. Today we plan on...

May 8, 2012 - We are so excited!!

We were up early, because we were so excited to get to the Shuttles. We walked approximatly a 1/4 mile to the shuttle stop and found our way to the Visitors Center. We took lots of pictures, but were surprised that there were not more Rangers present. The Visitors Center was not the usual help that we were accustommed to....oh well, maybe this is where the cut backs took place. We climbed a small mountain to make our way to the lookout. I must say that I was not all that impressed with what I was seeing. It could have been the wind but...