The plan today was to drive to Four Corners, then go north to Moab, UT where we’re going to stay the night. As we headed east we entered the town of Kayenta, AZ to gas up and from there saw this huge dark monolith in the distance.
We checked the map and saw that north of Kayenta was Monument Valley, a name that think I’ve heard before. Monument Valley is actually several miles north, but the rocks we could see from Kayenta told us we needed to detour north and check out this action.
Monument Valley is amazing. I loved it. To visit costs a whopping $5 per adult (hear that Skywalk people?). Then you can park and go to the Visitor Center (they’re in the middle of building a new one) or travel the 17-mile dirt road loop through the valley. Oh yes, that’s what the Jeep is for.
Everywhere you look there are incredible rock formations. A bummer is that you’re quite limited in where you can go, secondary roads that might lead from the main loop are forbidden, but that’s ok, the views from the main road are great.
Many of the formations have names. There’s the Elephant, the Camel, Three Sisters, Totem Poles and lots more. There are huge boulders that have fallen off the cliffs, and some of them sit atop much smaller rocks, making for fun and precarious photo opportunites.
I took a lot of pictures, way more than are necessary to make the point, but it is hard not to. Everywhere you look you’re like, “Whoa!” and “Check that out!” and on and on.
Monument Valley is a must-do. I recommend it highly. It is cheap and you don’t actually need a 4×4 vehicle to make the loop. Most people were driving their rental minivans and sedans and they all did fine. We did see three rented RVs on the loop, but I wouldn’t recommend doing that.
My good friend Matt has really good advice for when you go to a fair or carnival: Expect to get ripped off, that way when you do you’re not surprised and upset.
Jessie and I had heard about this thing called the Skywalk, a glass walkway that extends past the edge of the Grand Canyon so we wanted to check it out. We didn’t know where it was, though, and we made no actual plans to see it. We had the thought to see it, then the thought left as easily as it arrived.
We were driving along the freeway towards our camp at the Grand Canyon when out in the middle of nowhere near a town called Dolan Springs Jessie saw a billboard instructing us to turn now for the Grand Canyon Skywalk. “Hey, did we want to see that?” “Yeah!” So we turned around and began the 49 mile drive from US 93 to Grand Canyon West.
We stopped along the way and took pictures of some of the cactus tree things that are all over the place. They are really interesting, you can see from the dead branches on the ground that these plants are kind of hollow, with a honeycomb of holes throughout. The wood is also kind of soft. I wonder if the wood is useful for anything?
Eventually we got to the turnoff for Grand Canyon West (21 miles left to go). The road was dirt so we parked the RV, had a little lunch, then drove on in the Jeep. 14 miles later we got a reprieve from the dust, the road became paved again! Hooray!
Finally we arrived. The area was quite a buzz of activity. There’s a small airport there and planes and helicopters where buzzing in and out to take visitors on sightseeing trips around this west side of the Grand Canyon. We got to the entrance and paid our $20 parking fee and received our first hint of trouble. We can’t drive our own vehicle to the edge, “everything is done with buses”. That’s fine, I can understand that, but then the woman said something about a “tour”.
“Tour?” I asked, “We’re just here to see the Skywalk.”
She explained some more and a little worried I drove in to park.
We went to find the buses, but first one must navigate through the gift shop. The first building before the gift shop was actually where all the helicopter companies had their desks and people were waiting there for their flights. You wouldn’t believe how many people were in this room, it was packed! Eventually I found the Ticketing line and paid up. $29 per person for the tour, $29 a person to enter the Skywalk.
At long last we boarded a coach for the ride to the first stop, the Skywalk (plus other attractions including a little ampitheatre where a couple Native Americans were performing songs to a crowd of about six people).
The tour bus driver gave us some information about the place. The Hualapai Indian Tribe comprises approximately 1500 members, most of whom live in the reservation capital Peach Springs. The reservation has a lot of wildlife, including tarantulas, scorpions, snakes, coyote, bobcat, quail, and lots more that I don’t remember. Of course the reservation sits on the west side of the Grand Canyon and boasts wonderful canyon scenery.
Just before we arrived at the Skywalk complex the bus climbed a rise and suddenly out the window we were able to see the as-yet unseen canyon.
Now you cannot bring any personal belongings onto the Skywalk. What if you dropped your camera and it scratched the glass? What if you dropped your camera over the edge and it littered the canyon floor below? But don’t worry, professional photographers on the Skywalk are available to capture your visit.
So to protect your camera, before you walk on the Skywalk you enter a building with lockers. You exchange your ticket for a wristband and all personal belongings are secured for you. Next through a metal detector to help remind you in case you forgot something that you might drop, like a camera.
Up a ramp, and now the Skywalk is so close! But first put little booties on over your shoes, they don’t explain but obviously the idea is to protect the glass. So much build-up, this had better be good.
Now I got a little scared. Not because I’d be walking on a glass-floored deck, my fear was that Sarah Michael would herself freak out and wouldn’t step foot on it. But she was fine, she even thought it was cool.
And it is cool. The view is great, and looking straight down to see the canyon walls and floor below is a neat gimmick. We checked out the views and took several pictures with the three photographers.
When we were done we walked back to the buildings where we had the opportunity to purchase prints of the photos they snapped, approximately $30 a piece. Or, to help preserve all of your memories, for $99 you get four prints displayed in commemorative folders, a USB key containing all of the photos taken of you plus a commemorative poster or ashtray. Sign me up! The only trick was choosing which four portraits I wanted printed. Oh I nearly forgot, we also each received a certificate signed by an actual Hualapai tribe member, saying something about how we walked on the Skywalk. Then you leave (via a gift shop) to either visit the live music, tour the example teepees and mud huts on display, or catch the bus to stop number two.
We got on the bus but decided not to disembark at the next stop, the charmingly named “Guano Point“. We’d been at this wonderland for two hours and we really wanted to get the RV to bed in its camp spot.
I drove as fast as I could on the way back, the Jeep set in four-wheel-drive to help maneuver the dirt and gravel road. Other vehicles weren’t as desperate to leave so I had a pass them when I could.
We’ve had a running joke this trip about Wild Cows. Back in Oregon we were driving through an area the signs said had elk. “Hooray! Look at the Elk! Oh wait, that’s a cow.” I tried to help so I suggested at least it was a wild cow. Luckily the road to Grand Canyon West is in a free range area, so the cows were not only near the road, they were sometimes on the road.
While is was annoying, and believe me I didn’t even detail all the complex rediculous annoyances, we had a good attitude about it, just going with the flow.
The Skywalk is certainly neat, but it if you go remember that it is like going to the fair and expect your wallet to come out empty. Dusty and empty.
This morning we left the Pickwick Hotel, returned to Pacifica to get the RV, then headed east for Yosemite National Park. I felt a little weird getting back into the RV, as yesterday my mind had so disconnected from RVing and got into the family spirit at the wedding. I had to reorient myself.
The drive from out to Yosemite wasn’t very interesting, so I was glad to see a sign saying “Come and See how Cheese is Made” at the Oakdale Cheese company. Unfortunately they only make cheese on Monday and Tuesday so we were only able to look through the window into the aging room.
Most of the cheese Oakdale makes is Gouda, and they had a lot of flavors. Smoked, Jalepeno, Cumin, Garlic, Mustand, and lots more.
The roads through the park is narrow, windy and hilly. I tried really hard to not abuse the brakes, because not only was I driving a large heavy vehicle, I was also towing the Jeep. But nonetheless, after several miles the brakes became very soft, smelly and just a little smoky. At a stop sign I had to say a tiny prayer (and clench my cheeks) in order to stop and not rear-end the vehicle ahead of us.
So I pulled us over at the first opportunity and while we let the brakes cool down we did the same for our feet as we waded into the river.
Yosemite is pretty, and there are many great views from the road, however it seems that Yosemite is really a hiker’s paradise. There are trails all over and lots of people park their vehicles to take off on foot. We’re not really the hiking type, so we kept mostly to the roads. There was a neat spot, however, with a great view of Half Dome and a short trail to an overlook, so we did get some exercise and walked out to take some family pictures.
This place is also custom-made for rock climbers. One of the last domes we drove past had a couple of people at the top I could see from the road. Look closely, they’re way up there.
We left ourselves unbooked from any RV parks or resorts, we knew we wanted to get close to Las Vegas, but we didn’t know how close we’d be able to get. Upon leaving Yosemite, the GPS predicted a 2am arrival into Henderson, LV (where we were going to next stay), I decided to make a go for it and drive as long as I could.
After lunch Sarah Michael and Jessie rode a merrygoround on Pier 39 then we went over to view a submarine we saw from the restaurant window while eating lunch.
The sub is the USS Pampanito which served during World War II. Sarah Michael was quite anxious to see it, and wanted to go inside– until she got inside. We climbed the ladder down into the aft torpedo room to begin the tour and she seemed fine, but once we had to walk through one of the narrow doorways to visit the rest of the ship, she grew scared. We finally convinced her to go on, but she still wanted to get out. Every time we’d enter a new room she would pull on my arm and say “Let’s go!!”
It was a fun unexpected tour to take, though Jessie and I would have liked to have spent more time taking it in.
A couple of weeks back we were at a family gettogether and were discussing with my parents’ pastor’s wife our plans for the RV trip. She said she had a great suggestion for something to do near San Francisco. She was right, Mrs. Grossman’s sticker factory is both educational and fun.
The tour starts with a video that explains the history of the company, which is interesting. The company started on Mrs. Grossman’s dining room table in 1979 with a heart sticker design and now they have a 110,000 sq. foot facility that produces over 15,000 miles of stickers each year.
Then we toured the production floor. Unfortunatly we were forbidden from taking pictures of the factory so I can’t share that love with you. We saw machines making a variety of stickers and labels, and it was fascinating.
Next we were given little packets containing stickers and a blank postcard so we could design our own postcard, maybe to send to a friend who couldn’t come with us on the tour.
We learned other neat things, like how they give factory seconds away to charities, how they recycle the waste from the sticker-making process into pellets that are used for heat and energy, how they filter the water used to clean ink from machinery so it leaves the factory cleaner than when it entered…
This was a fun thing to do, thank you Joanie for the recommendation!
I’ve always heard about how amazing the California Redwoods are, but I guess I wasn’t really prepared for how amazing it truly is. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest I’ve seen plenty of trees and I’ve seen some large trees, but until you stand below these monsters and gaze up you just can’t appreciate their magnificence.
First thing we did when we got into the park area was find the Mystic Forest RV Park and get the RV settled so we could take the Jeep out and about. Pretty close to where we were staying was the Trees of Mystery park, where they have huge statues of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe, trails through the woods to see amazing trees, plus a gondola that takes you high above it all. Oh, and Paul Bunyon talks.
The Brotherhood Tree is one of the most impressive trees in the park, it is 19 feet in diameter and 297 feet tall. It is incredible to look up and see that its diameter remains nearly the same. This isn’t just a tree trunk, this is the tree trunk.
The gondola ride was fun, but it was cloudy up above the trees so we couldn’t see anything once we got up top. If it were a clear sunny day the view would be amazing.
After the Trees of Mystery we went and drove through the Tour Thru Tree. And it was only $4 to drive through it! Compared to the other tours we’ve been doing, this is a steal.
Next we went and found the Corkscrew Tree, south of our campsite. We didn’t know what it was going to look like, though we figured twisting was involved, but it was cooler than I would have thought. The tree is huge and it is very hard to capture in a photo what the thing is all about. You need to see it to appreciate it. In my opinion of course.
We keep seeing signs warning of Elk that could be on the road but to Jessie’s disappointment we also keep not seeing any Elk. On the way out of the park Jessie finally got her Elk wish. There were only two of them, but it was fun to see some wildlife.
The Redwoods were neat, better than I expected. Thank you Mr. Bunyon!
Once our tail light wiring problems were sorted out we were on a mission to get to the Redwoods and get our touristing done down there. But wait, what’s this on the side of the road? The Prehistoric Gardens? Oh, we’re going there.
Located south of Port Orfard, it is definitely a blast from the past, but like from the 60s or 70s. It is so not a modern place, I mean it is kept up, but the whole vibe is very retro. I’m sure the guy who started it did it out of care and love, with honestly and hard work (all virtues from the magical past).
You can see in the image to the right how our caravan, Jessie and Sarah Michael are dwarfed by the T-rex that greets you to The Prehistoric Gardens. This wasn’t the only large creature we were going to see. So check out our pics on Flickr for more.
Sarah Michael was the leader, she held the map in her hands as we walked along the path and was quite excited as she anticipated the next dinosaur we’d see around the bend.
It was really a fun little stop along the way. Three thumbs up!
