We started out in Colorado, where we spent a day learning how to work the camper, repacking our gear, and getting situated. It had been raining for a day and a half when we got there, and we awoke to a dense fog on the morning we set out.
We headed off to the Grand Canyon as our first stop. Along the way, we stopped at Four Corners National Monument. That is a place that it is not necessary to stop again. There's not much to see.
From there we kept on towards the Grand Canyon, where we spent two and a half days. The first half-day, we stopped at the Desert View Watchtower and some of the scenic pullouts, then headed off into the National Forest to find our campsite. The second day we tootled around the South Rim - went to the Visitor's Center, stopped in the shop, nearly ran over some giant deer who didn't care to move, and talked to some of the rangers at the backcountry office about our plans for the last day.
On the last day, we rose in the pre-dawn hours and set off for the South Kaibab trailhead. We hiked all the way down into the Canyon, took a break at Phantom Ranch, and hiked back up the Bright Angel Trail. It was a long day, and it took about a week for the muscles in my legs to fully recover (which might be why they strongly, strongly recommend against doing this hike), but every step was beautiful, and it was so great to be back in the Canyon again!
[Aside: some of you may be wondering where the pics are from my first trip to the Grand Canyon back in May of last year. All my pictures are on a non-cell phone camera, so I'll update those when I finally put them onto a computer.]
We drove most of the way to Las Vegas the evening after our big hike, but were too tired to make it the whole way. We did the most RV of things and stopped to sleep in a Wal-Mart parking lot. There are several things to recommend that course of action: it's flat, it's actually pretty quiet until all the diesels start roaring to life in the morning, and you're just a hundred yards from all the supplies you could ever need. We did stop in for a few groceries, then headed off to Las Vegas for our one big splurge of the trip: brunch at Caesar's Palace.
There was every kind of food you could imagine, and everything I tried was good at least, some of it was better. I was done in, however, by the bottomless mimosas, and spent most of the afternoon sleeping it off.
That evening, we drove out towards Red Rocks for two days, where we stayed at our only paid campground of the trip (and the worst of the campgrounds, I will add). We had fun in that area though. Our first day, we rented a tandem bike and rode the scenic loop, which is 13 miles, the first part of which is almost entirely uphill. If you've never ridden a tandem bike, let me tell you: it's not easy. Getting uphill on that thing took every bit of energy we both had, and we still walked a couple of them. But the downhills -- holy cow, you go fast!
S and I discussed riding a tandem bike before we rented one, and I insisted that I go in front. Otherwise I don't get to see anything. And if he's behind me, he can see right over my head. Going down that hill, I think he may have come to regret his decision.
We found a different (and better) campsite that night, which would have been perfect had it not been for the other folks who decided to pull up right next to us in the middle of the night and set up camp. There was nothing else around - go find your own site!
The next day we attempted some rock climbing, but seeing as I hadn't climbed in about six months, and S had only climbed a few times during that same period, it didn't go terribly well. After the first pitch, we packed it in and opted instead to have a picnic on top of the camper. Good choice.
We rented mountain bikes on our last day and tried to follow the world's least helpful map while simultaneously not wrecking our bikes at every turn. Eventually we met up with three other bikers who knew their way around the trails and let us tag along. The scenery was very rocky and dusty, with a lot of scrubby plants everywhere. Everything was tan and brown.
Our next stop was St. George, Utah. After breakfast, we rented mountain bikes again and headed off into the moonscape to see what kind of damage we could do. I'll tell you what: if I lived in St. George, I would be a killer mountain biker. The terrain is perfect for it, and the trails just criss-cross all over the place. You can go anywhere you want! (I was a bit concerned about finding our way back to the camper, but we managed.)
We found a great campsite outside of St. George, along a little-used forest road, with a rock wall on one side and trees on the other. It was a very quiet night.
We made a brief stop at Bryce Canyon right at sunset before heading off to camp for the night on our way to Arches National Park.
The following day we made our way into the park to see the - you guessed it - arches! We drove the roads, took a few short hikes, and then another "not recommended" long hike out to Delicate Arch at sunset. The view was beautiful, and the hike back in the dark wouldn't have been that bad except for all the dummies who shine their head lamps right in your face.
We camped one last night out in the great wide open, then headed back to Colorado to return the camper and get back to real life.
Looking back on it, that last part was a mistake!
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