swalker
Very helpful member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2014
- Messages
- 1,585
- Reason
- DX MND
- Diagnosis
- 07/2014
- Country
- US
- State
- CO
- City
- Vail
The last two days of our trip had weather that was a bit more difficult.
On our next to last day, we had strong winds and cold weather. Riding a wheelchair was pretty much out of the question, so we decided to do the beautiful drive to Flagstaff, Arizona. We have very fond memories of that place and it was really nice to see it once again. The drive from the Grand Canyon to Flagstaff really is beautiful, covering the high arid parts of the Colorado Plateau, traversing a mountain pass associated with the San Francisco peaks of northern Arizona, and then dropping down into Flagstaff.
We returned to our motorhome by a different route, forming a nice loop trip. We went north and east out of Flagstaff up to the town of Cameron, Arizona and then turned west driving a little over 50 miles along the Little Colorado River and then the Grand Canyon. When we arrived back at camp, it was just about dark and the weather was getting worse by the minute.
The next day was quite cold and overcast, with precipitation most of the day. We had mostly snow. We stayed at the motorhome, giving me a chance to rest up for our departure the next day.
We did get out in the afternoon and did a drive along the rim of the Grand Canyon, stopping at the Abyss to take a few photos of the amazing clouds dipping into the grand Canyon.
The Abyss is along the road that runs from the Bright Angel area to Hermits rest. It is west of Hopi point and east of Pima point. All of the edges of the Grand Canyon are steep, but some are steeper than others. The Abyss is named so because it has one of the most abrupt drops into the grand canyon. From the road, it drops thousands of feet in amazing cliffs to the Tonto Plateau far below.
I was able to take a few shots of the tendrils of clouds dipping into the canyon. They were dropping mostly snow by this point, though there was not much accumulation. Here is a picture that shows a bit of what we witnessed.
The storm continued all day and all night. I was a bit worried about getting the motorhome out of the RV park over the snow covered roads. We woke up the next morning and got everything ready to go and then waited until the last minute to give the roads a bit of a chance to melt off.
The RV park really did not melt off and I was a bit apprehensive about getting it stuck as we made our way to the main road. We made it to the main road without getting stuck and found that it was reasonably clear, with just a bit of snow and slush.
We carefully made our way east toward the town of Cameron, Arizona, which thankfully is mostly downhill, dropping about 3,000 feet vertical along the way. By the time we arrived at Cameron, the roads were fine.
We continued our trip through Tuba City, on to Kayenta, where we turned north to go through Monument Valley.
With our trip being delayed by two weeks, we missed the opportunity to spend a night at the Monument Valley RV park on our way home, because it had closed for the season. Instead, we kept on driving through Mexican Hat, Utah, on to Bluff, Blanding, and Monticello, Utah, and then finally to Moab, Utah.
We had made reservations for two nights at the RV park in Moab, because it is in such a beautiful location. We got set up there and I spent the evening recovering.
The next day, we explored the area around Moab, including Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. There is certainly some amazing scenery there!
On the final day of our trip, we packed up and left Moab, headed for Grand Junction, Colorado. There, we dropped the motorhome off at the shop to have the final repair work done on the engine. The motorhome had behaved very well, and we were very, very happy for that (probably more relieved that happy, but you get the idea).
Lori drove me and the cats home and I pretty much went to bed and stayed there for most of a week.
It was a great trip and I am so glad we were able to do it!
Steve
On our next to last day, we had strong winds and cold weather. Riding a wheelchair was pretty much out of the question, so we decided to do the beautiful drive to Flagstaff, Arizona. We have very fond memories of that place and it was really nice to see it once again. The drive from the Grand Canyon to Flagstaff really is beautiful, covering the high arid parts of the Colorado Plateau, traversing a mountain pass associated with the San Francisco peaks of northern Arizona, and then dropping down into Flagstaff.
We returned to our motorhome by a different route, forming a nice loop trip. We went north and east out of Flagstaff up to the town of Cameron, Arizona and then turned west driving a little over 50 miles along the Little Colorado River and then the Grand Canyon. When we arrived back at camp, it was just about dark and the weather was getting worse by the minute.
The next day was quite cold and overcast, with precipitation most of the day. We had mostly snow. We stayed at the motorhome, giving me a chance to rest up for our departure the next day.
We did get out in the afternoon and did a drive along the rim of the Grand Canyon, stopping at the Abyss to take a few photos of the amazing clouds dipping into the grand Canyon.
The Abyss is along the road that runs from the Bright Angel area to Hermits rest. It is west of Hopi point and east of Pima point. All of the edges of the Grand Canyon are steep, but some are steeper than others. The Abyss is named so because it has one of the most abrupt drops into the grand canyon. From the road, it drops thousands of feet in amazing cliffs to the Tonto Plateau far below.
I was able to take a few shots of the tendrils of clouds dipping into the canyon. They were dropping mostly snow by this point, though there was not much accumulation. Here is a picture that shows a bit of what we witnessed.
The storm continued all day and all night. I was a bit worried about getting the motorhome out of the RV park over the snow covered roads. We woke up the next morning and got everything ready to go and then waited until the last minute to give the roads a bit of a chance to melt off.
The RV park really did not melt off and I was a bit apprehensive about getting it stuck as we made our way to the main road. We made it to the main road without getting stuck and found that it was reasonably clear, with just a bit of snow and slush.
We carefully made our way east toward the town of Cameron, Arizona, which thankfully is mostly downhill, dropping about 3,000 feet vertical along the way. By the time we arrived at Cameron, the roads were fine.
We continued our trip through Tuba City, on to Kayenta, where we turned north to go through Monument Valley.
With our trip being delayed by two weeks, we missed the opportunity to spend a night at the Monument Valley RV park on our way home, because it had closed for the season. Instead, we kept on driving through Mexican Hat, Utah, on to Bluff, Blanding, and Monticello, Utah, and then finally to Moab, Utah.
We had made reservations for two nights at the RV park in Moab, because it is in such a beautiful location. We got set up there and I spent the evening recovering.
The next day, we explored the area around Moab, including Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. There is certainly some amazing scenery there!
On the final day of our trip, we packed up and left Moab, headed for Grand Junction, Colorado. There, we dropped the motorhome off at the shop to have the final repair work done on the engine. The motorhome had behaved very well, and we were very, very happy for that (probably more relieved that happy, but you get the idea).
Lori drove me and the cats home and I pretty much went to bed and stayed there for most of a week.
It was a great trip and I am so glad we were able to do it!
Steve
