Sep 28, 2012 - Grand journey

No photos today since it was really just a drive day to get closer to the Grand Canyon. We started out in Bryce Canyon at 7800 feet elevation, drove down to Kanab at 5100 feet, then back up to Jacob Lake at 8300 feet. The views on the approach to the summit were fabulous and looking back at the mountains we came down you can see why this area is called the Grand Staircase. You can see the red sandstone level, the vermillion cliffs, the white cliffs, the upper brown cap, all laid out like a stairway. It helps me to better understand the...

Jul 18, 2012 - Pine Valley Recreation Area in Dixie NG

Nice 2 day stay at Pine Valley, however we discovered we had a broken refrigerator door & the rear suspension air bag has a hole in it. With the broken weld fixed, time to continue our travels. Pine Valley Recreation Area is a beautiful pine covered valley about 30 miles N of St. George, UT. At an elevation of 6900' it is 4000' higher than St. George and considerably cooler. There are several NF campgrounds nestled in large well separated ponderosa pines. There is a lot of space between the pine trees, so the area has an open feeling and...

Jul 14, 2012 - 2nd day at Jacob Lake, more rain, broken weld.

A quiet day at camp all day. We expected rain today, but we didn’t get near as much as I thought we would, based on the weather forecasts. We had an hour or so of good rain around 8-9am then dry but cloudy till 5-6pm, then more good rain. Nothing really heavy or windy. Just very good rain for the trees and greatly help reduce the risk of forest fires. They even lifted the campfire restrictions for developed campgrounds. Still no campfires in disbursed camping (boondocking). Good Verizon signal, 3 bars, so good internet. We did sit outside...

Jul 13, 2012 - Rain last night. Flagstaff, AZ area to Jacob Lake, AZ (North Rim Grand Canyon area)

Quite an eventful day! Hard rain last night, quick drive on wet dirt road then drive to Jacob Lake in Kaibab NF in the area of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Boondocking then rain and thunderstorms came so we moved to NF campground. What a fun night we had last night. We were asleep by about 9:30pm. About 10:30pm thunder & lightning started bouncing around us and the wind came up. We are parked on a dirt trail, which if it get very wet turns to very slippery mud. I told Sharon to stay in bed and I popped up and quickly put Homer into...

Oct 5, 2011 - North Rim

This has been a busy, fun week. Our 36 mile trip from Kanab to Jacob Lake, it is really just a pond, was uneventful and quick. Since we were going to be having company, we did a thorough cleaning. You must remember that when you live in 400 sq. ft., a thorough cleaning can be done in 30 minutes or less. Our campground was on the Kaibab Plateau in the Kaibab National Forest, so we were surrounded by towering pines and adorable Kaibab Squirrels. They are black with tufted ears and big white fluffy tails. We were walking a trail to the Jacob...

Sep 22, 2011 - Travel to North Rim of Grand Canyon

It's Thursday and another sunny, dry day ahead. We call our daughter, Etta, for her birthday. She is currently in New Orleans for a few days. Then we are off for North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which is over 200 miles away! If we could fly across the canyon like the California condors do, it would only be 8 miles to get there! We headed east on Hwy. 64 until we got to Cameron. We stopped and shopped at the Cameron Trading Post, located on Hwy. 89A at the Little Colorado River. We traveled north to the Navajo Bridge and stopped there to see...

Jul 4, 2011 - Day 7

While we are staying at the closest campground with electrical hookups to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon……it is still a 40-mile drive…….but it is a surprisingly beautiful drive…….the entire drive is through a Ponderosa Pine forest……with periodic breaks of huge grassy meadows……..really doesn’t seem like Arizona at all. The weather is perfect…….mid 70’s and almost no humidity. We start off the visit with a stop at the Lodge….sitting out on the deck overlooking the canyon. It never ceases to amaze me how incredible the canyon is. There is...

Jul 3, 2011 - Day 6

Today we headed for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The trip started off a bit rough……Route 160 out of Cortez was chuck full of dips….hard to see……but when you hit them, everything was bouncing….then the trailer would hit and bounce us a second time……usually I’m not prone to motion sickness….but this was even a bit for me. Then, Route 160 turned into a gravel road for about 10-miles……. Eventually the road got better when we got to Arizona……although parts were pretty hilly so we struggled to maintain a constant speed……ranged between...

Sep 6, 2010 - Monday, Jacob Lake, AZ/Grand Canyon North Rim (70 Miles)

After getting settled at the campground we drove the 40 miles to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. A little background: about 70 million years ago the Rocky Mountains began to form, pushed up as the North American Plate overrode the Pacific Plate. In the process a large section of what is now Utah, northern Arizona, western Colorado, and a corner of New Mexico rose from sea level to elevations of thousands of feet forming the Colorado Plateau. This set the stage for the carving of the Grand Canyon. The many formations and canyons we have...

Jun 6, 2010 - Kiabab Campground

Whew, we made it! We left Gallup around ten this morning and our first stop was the historic Hubble Trading Post. This was really a great stop and interesting. We had to take turns babysitting the animals since it was 97 degrees and they were not allowed in the buildings. I found all the hand weaved rugs very nice. We proceeded uphill to Tuba City for a fuel stop and then made the uphill run to the campground. In between, we made the uphill run through the magical three mesas of the Hopi Nation. If you notice, I made no mention of...

Jun 6, 2010 - June 4/5 Grand Canyon

We made the short trip from Bryce Canyon's area to Jacob Lake, Arizona which is approx. 45 miles north of the Grand Canyon's North Rim. The campground here is very nice situated in the Kaibab National Park. There are very tall Ponderosa Pines and Aspen trees throughout the area and we have seen numerous mule deer. We went to the North Rim yesterday and to say that the view was breath taking would be an understatement. The North Rim is by far the nicest with no waves of tourists buses and just absolutely beautiful scenery. The Grand Canyon...

Aug 11, 2009 - Grand Canyon Trip

August 11th- Today after a good breakfast we rode our motorcycle to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It's about a 225mile round trip that is a good ride through some beautiful desert,big timber forest and then up to the canyon. We had been here before but you just never get over the magnitude of it all. We sat on the porch at the Grand Canyon Lodge and looked out over the canyon and then we rode probably 30 miles inside the park to various observation points. Took tons of pictures but once again it's a disappointment to see how inadequate...