October 2019

The landscape of Zion Nation Park is breathtaking.  The towering sheer red and white cliffs running down both sides of the valley is something I’ve never experienced before.  We arrived around noon so time (and parking) was limited.  We hiked the lower emerald pools and then the Upper emerald pools.  Bryce got a chance to get out of the pack and run around at the upper emerald pools, enjoy the sand, and point at the wildlife.  There are some super fat squirrels in Zion.  I am used to those paranoid New York Squirrels that wont let you get within 15 feet, these arrogant Zion squirrels will make you step over them to continue on a trail.

Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon are amazing natural wonders that make you say “wow” under your breath the size and color are amazing.  The other awe inspiring trait of these locations was the overwhelming number of tourists that traveled to this remote area of Arizona to photograph these sites.  The highlight for me was watching Bryce play in the red sand with mountains in the back ground… for me, that was the site worth photographing.

The boondocking paid off and we were at the park well before the hoards of tourists (see how I pretend we aren’t tourists also). The true scale of the Grand Canyon doesn’t hit you until you see it live.  The canyon walls stretch on as far as you can see.  We took a great run along the rim trail when it was empty then rented bikes in the late morning.

After seeing the South Rim, we drove all the way around the east. This drive is spectacular with red mountain ranges and smaller canyons littering the landscape. If it wasn’t for the 40mph crosswinds causing white knuckled driving, this would have been enjoyable.

About halfway between Petrified Forest National Park and the Grand Canyon is the not at all touristy town of Sedona.  We thought it would be a great visit to break up the trip and give Bryce some time to run around outside and maybe sitdown at a restaurant… that was not meant to be.  There was major construction on mountainous route 89A…  This cost us about an hour and we needed to sprint through Red Rock State Park to see some pretty cool views as sunset approaches.

For those of you that aren’t fluent in RV’er speak like us Davis’s, bookdocking is camping without any hookups. Since there were no campsites anywhere near the Grand Canyon, I found a state land road that allowed overnight camping. Despite Danielle’s fear that a crazy person would be waiting in the middle of a state forest, in 35 degree weather, and break into our rented RV to murder us… we survived.

Side note… if the road looks like this on google maps, it might not be a good road for RVs.

Petrified forest has 2 main attractions. As you might guess, petrified wood… and a lot of it.  Second is the Painted Desert.   After some scenic lookouts near the visitor center, I took Danielle on a “non-sanctioned” hike that the Internet told me about.  Mistake!!! It resulted in some of the best pictures of the painted desert and an very angry wife claiming she might need profession help getting down from the mountain. Some might say she was petrified!

The Davis’s arrived in Phoenix on October 1st. I have never driven or slept in an RV, but here we are, with a 56 day rental, 3 bags of luggage, a hiking back pack, a running stroller, and an 18 month old. After getting acquainted with our new Thor Majestic 30×8 ft mobile home and spending 2+ hours in a Walmart stocking up, we were ready for our first adventure… finding a place to sleep.

Day 2 is where the real fun begins. We started at Saguaro (pronounced suh·waa·row) national park, just outside of Tucson. This is an amazing piece of desert with spectacular views and lots of cacti. We hiked to the Valley View Overlook, drove the Bajada Loop Drive (accidently took the RV off road) and did a 3 mile hike along an old gold mining route. The cacti are aggressive in these parts of Arizona. We had multiple first aid incidents requiring us to pull cactus spines from our legs like an old Readrunner/Wile E Coyote cartoon. Next stop, Petrified Forest National Park.

Flight MVP… Bryce.  2 hours of sleep, smiling and at everyone that walks by and not having a meltdown while flying at 500 mph in a metal tube for 5 hours. The upgrade didn’t hurt. (Bryce did not get his own seat… but did take mine.)

When packing for a long period of time there are 2 schools of thought… start early and live in a state of chaotic transition for days or weeks… or pack in a short period of time and live with the time pressure and acceptance that you will forget something. Danielle and I had differing approaches. The last 2 days in the apartment were chaos.

The domestic leg of the journey: 24-26 national parks, 10 states, several friend visits, ~5000 miles, and 1 30ft RV. We will post the east coast of Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii once we figure it out.