Motorhome Days 16, 17 & 18 - Desert, Mountains, Snow and The Pacific Ocean

Apologies for not blogging for the past three days - we have had no Internet reception.

What a few days it has been.  If anyone ever doubted the contrasts in the USA, travelling with us for the last three days would have put an end to it.

Day 16 in the motorhome was spent travelling to Las Vagas via the Hoover Dam.  On the way out of Williams we stopped by JJ Autos to see if James (of JJ Motors fame) could get the hot water heater going.  After an hour of fiddling and tinkering, he managed to get it to actually heat some water, and we were elated.  Little did we know that we still couldn't get the hot water to the shower, but that is another story. Small steps are good.

We were actually there - Route 66

Classic 50's diner in Williams, AZ

 

The Nevada Desert is rugged, with long expanses of barren plains surrounded by high craggy mountain peaks.  The drive from Williams to Vagas was uneventful, and the stop at Hoover Dam really opened our eyes.  The dam itself is a magnificent piece of engineering in a harsh and unfriendly place.  It is entirely surrounded by huge hills of granite, and the construction of the dam wall is an amazing feat.  The new bridge that crosses the river just below the dam wall is also a spectacular sight and must have taken a genius to design and construct. Roachy had purchased a Lemon Meringue Pie in Flagstaff three days earlier, and we made a start on devouring it at the Hoover Dam as we took in the sights.

Hoover Dam Wall

 

New Bridge at Hoover Dam

 

Great Pie

Las Vagas is bigger than we had imagined.  Its residential suburbs sprawl for many kilometres from the city centre, and feature row after row of plain and ordinary looking cut-out buildings, with few or no trees and very little greenery.  The roads into Vagas are excellent, and getting around with the Tom Tom has been easy.  Our RV park was at the Circus Circus Casino, right on the Casino Strip. We had only to walk a few hundred metres and we were in the thick of the action at the casino next door.  The casinos are HUGE.  They house thousands of "Slots" and dozens of small shops inside sell everything from ice cream to designer jewellery and clothing. Families with small children wander through the casinos at will, and there are all manor of foods available. 

Bright Lights of Las Vagas

 

We caught the bus downtown to the MGM Grand Casino and had a lovely meal, before setting out and exploring the strip on foot.  The sights, sounds, smells and atmosphere is like nothing we have seen anywhere else, though there was no hint of danger or violence.  Everyone is extremely polite and well behaved.  The water fountain show at the Bellagio was a highlight of our stroll along the strip, and we finished the evening at the Venetian Casino and Resort complex, with a drink, before catching the bus home (although it was the wrong bus and took us about 6 miles in the wrong direction before we got off and caught at cab back ($20 later).  It was a great experience to see the bright lights and glamour, though we were all conscious of the "plastic" nature of the strip and it's bright lights.

Water Fountain show at Bellagio

The Interior of the Venetian Resort

 

Late night on The Strip

 

Before exiting Vagas, the girls got some quality shopping time at the Fashion Outlet plaza, and picked up some great bargains.  We then headed towards Yosemite National Park - across the desert out of Vagas, and a turn to the north. The traffic on the highway going into Las Vegas was incredible - it was a holiday weekend, and everyone in the world seemed to be heading there.  There was a traffic jam 2 hours out, and it seemed to go forever. Thankfully we were heading in the other direction, and there was no traffic there - in fact there was almost nothing there at all.  It was barren, inhospitable desert, and we were battling into a 60mph headwind.  The dust storms ripping across the desert could be seen for miles, and it was a most unpleasant drive.  It was made even worse when the roll-out awning on the side of Mary 2 started to unroll in the high winds, and Rod and Brian had to climb onto the roof of the RV (13ft in the air) in 60mph winds and roll it back up.  It took two attempts to get it right, and Rod finally secured it with his belt and a good old reliable plastic shopping bag.  We were good to continue our journey then to perhaps the place where God gives the world an enema - Ridgecrest, Nevada - smack bang in the middle of the Mohave Desert, about an hours drive from Death Valley.

Instant face lift from the wind while repairing the awning

 

The entire town is a dust bowl, and we tried two van parks before we found one we could even consider staying in - at least it had a fence, and we parked right along side it to try to shelter from the wind.  Maureen set what might be  a new record - she did not poke her head outside the van for the entire time we were in the town (including overnight), and the boys only venture outside was to hook up the electricity and water.  It was a dreadful place, and we could not wait to rev up the engine and move on early the following morning.  The wind had not stopped, so we set off into it again.

Motorhome Day 17 was a completely different story.  We decided overnight to head for Sequoia National Park rather than Yosemite, as it was about three hours closer, and had basically the same attractions.  This led us across the desert for an hour or so, then a steep climb into the High Sierra Mountains of California.  We encountered some rain and cold winds on route, but the Californian countryside was a sight to behold as we came down from the mountains, with mile after mile of orange groves.  This led us to our destination, the town of Three Rivers adjacent to the Sequoia Park.

The welcome sight of fertile and cultivated land contrast with the desert

 

Being a holiday weekend, things were really busy - and we had some trouble finding an RV park for the night.  Brian got so frustrated that he took it out on an unsuspecting picket fence surrounding on park which had no vacancy. Not a lot of damage done to the fence, and very little to the RV. 

Brian attempting repairs of a slightly second hand fence

We finally found a park which had one vacant site - we grabbed it, and were delighted to discover that the park was right next to a swift flowing mountain stream, where white water rafting was the order of the day.  Our neighbours in the park were a lovely couple form Indianapolis and we sat around the fire chatting with Charlie and Donna for hours until the fire died, discussing all manor of things from families to jobs to the US economy and more.  It was a great evening, and we enjoyed it immensely. We gave Charlie and Donna our blog address, and we hope they will follow us until we go home.

Chatting with a new friend at the rivers edge in Three Rivers

 

Day 18 started with a great breakfast at the bakery opposite the park, and refreshed and refuelled, we headed off towards San Fransisco - four hours away.  The drive was lovely, and we crossed the Bay around 2:30pm in bright sunshine.  The sight of the Golden Gate was welcome, and we headed for the RV park our GPS system had identified. To say the park was a dive would be to insult all other dives, and we took one look at the place and ran as fast as we could go.  As a total contrast, the next RV place we found just down the road was heaven.  It sits right on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean - in fact you could throw a ball into the ocean from our van, and as we are facing due west (towards Australia) we have been promised a great sunset tonight.

Crossing the Oakland Bridge in San Francisco

Typical housing in San Francisco's inner suburbs

So we have achieved what we set out to do - we have driven from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast, although we are still a five hour drive short of our final destination - Los Angeles. We have two nights here in this lovely park, and we will explore SF tomorrow and Wednesday before completing our final leg to LA on Thursday.

Poor Internet Connections

Sorry no blogs for past few days.  We have been in the desert & no connections.  Back to civilisation tomorrow.  More then.

Video and Photos from The Grand Canyon

Maureen's home video of The Grand Canyon

Photos below from our day at the Grand Canyon
and in Williams, Arizona - mostly unlabelled

Roachy will talk to anyone

Motorhome Days 14 & 15 - Williams, Arizona & Grand Canyon

We arrived in Williams, Arizona at lunchtime on Wednesday.  This is a great little town slap bang on the famous Route 66.  Everywhere we look there are little stores selling Route 66 merchandise, there are classic 60's diners and saloons and restaurants, gas stations and motels.  We have even found "Rod's Steakhouse", where we hope to have dinner.

Spent the afternoon shopping for gifts etc, and headed for the Grand Canyon, about an hour away, where we booked into the RV park for the night - luckily, we got the last vacancy.  The Grand Canyon is located in a desert environment on the high pains of Arizona.  It is surrounded by desert vegetation, red dirt and not much else.  But once you reach the canyon, it is mind blowing.  The RV park was not quite as mind blowing, though comfortable and cheap enough.  The problem was that because it is for RVs only, it had toilets but no showers.  This was only a a problem because our hot water system is not working.  So, the trek to the showers takes about 10 minutes each way.  That didn't phase us and we spent the night in anticipation of the Canyon visit the following morning. The RV park is inside the Grand Canyon National Park, and wildlife is everywhere.  Our camp was even visited by four deer just on dusk (we think it was Rudloph's cousins), and they grazed happily amongst the RVs and the people.

We set out for the Canyon early on Thursday expecting to be impressed.  We were not impressed with the Canyon, we were completely blown away.  It is the most amazing sight we have ever seen - the canyon itself is HUGE - 277 miles long, between 8 and 16 miles wide, and  is 1 mile deep.  The landforms and colours and shapes and everything about the place defy description.  We took loads of photos, but there is no doubt that they will not do it justice.  It is incredible, and is easily the most impressive thing any of us have ever seen.

We attended an excellent talk by a Park Ranger on the Geology of the canyon, then headed to the IMAX theatre for a film, which we really loved. 

Then the HIGHLIGHT.  A helicopter flight over the canyon. We had booked a 1 hour flight, but because of the high winds today, that flight was cancelled as it was too dangerous, so we settled for the 30 minute flight which was running.  If we thought the canyon was impressive from ground level, flying over it was another dimension entirely.  We flew into ravines, over ridges and down valleys.  We saw the rapids of the Colorado River and the sheer scale of the place is something we are all struggling with.  WE LOVED IT. We have all rated it the highlight of the trip - New York was wonderful and we would all go back there in a minute, but this is AWESOME.  It really makes you stop and think about what a tiny speck we are on this wonderful planet.

It was back to reality following the flight, and a 60 minute drive back to Williams for the night.  We booked into a very new and schmick RV park, and managed to contact an RV mechanic who will look at our faulty hot water system in the morning.  Thankfully, this park has showers for tonight.

What a day.  We will talk about it for years and remember it forever.

Tomorrow, Hoover Dam and Vagas (on Friday night).  How sad !!

Motorhome Day 13 - Magnificent Desert Landsape

We did quite a bit of driving again today, and for much of the time we were open mouthed with amazement.  The drive to Santa Fe, New Mexico was beautiful.  Lovely mountains all around, and ranches dotting the plains and valleys, with small settlements and tiny villages.

The new Rv - Mary II

About to enter the desert in New Mexico

Santa Fe was everything we had come to expect - full of Spanish architecture - the houses, shops and even the public buildings and hotels are built in the same style.  The shopping centre (Plaza area) is full of touristy type shops, and the goods are lovely, though the "Made in Bangladesh" and "Made in China" labels on what appeared to be Native American trinkets was a little off-putting.  We did manage to find some genuine Native American street stalls selling authentic wares at a fraction of the prices in the shops, so the wallets were again loosened.

Restaurant in Santa Fe

The oldest church in the US

Donkeys - how many?

Typical Spanish architecture in Santa Fe

Brian & Maureen take time out at a sculpture titled "Where Old Friends Meet"

We found a great French Restaurant !!! and had a beautiful lunch before heading off across the desert towards our destination, Gallup, New Mexico.

The drive across the desert was the most spectaular drive we have ever encountered.  At every turn in the road or at every crest in the highway there was a new sight - fantastic vistas of desert landscapes and land formations - the colours were incredible - bright reds of the desert sands and blue hazes of distant hills. Measa, Buttes, wadis, scree slopes, washouts and even sand dunes - It was enough to make an old geographer's heart sing.

A huge dust storm on the desert highway - Route 66

The wind blowigng across the desert was savage.  It blew the RV around quite a bit, and we were thankful that we sere not still trying to drive Mary, or we might not have made it at all. At one point we encountered a massive dust storm which cut visibility to a few hundred metres, and when it cleared another stunning vista emerged. 

Beautiful colours on heavily eroded cliffs on the side of a huge mesa

It is hard to describe how beautiful this area is - or how wild and savage the desert is.  There is little wonder that the area is a Mecca for artists and photographers - the view changes by the hour as the light changes.

Once a mountain, all that is left is this butte after the thousands of years of wind and water erosion

If I seem to be prattling on, please forgive me.  We all agree that we have never seen a more beautiful or stark landscape.  We are  impressed, or as big Kev would say "We are excited".

Typical stark desert scenery

If the Grand Canyon is anywhere near as spectacular as the drive today, then we will be delighted.

Motorhome Day 12 - New RV - Yippeeee

A short drive this morning took us into the mountain region of Colorado.

Wow, the scenery here is just magnificent.  The snow covered peaks of the Rocky Mountains emerged from the horizon as we exited the great plains of the Midwest.  At first, it just looked like a cloud formation, but as we drew closer we could see that it was snow covering high mountain peaks.

Mountains covered in snow - looks like low clouds

Mountains emerge from surrounding hills

We were travelling at over 6000 feet altitude and the mountains towered above us.  The seemingly endless plains became rolling hills, then steeper hills and finally we crested a large hill and entered the town of Castle Rock, which is just south of Denver.

The town of Castle Rock

Nestled below the rock

We were all amazed at the beautiful surroundings - mountains all around with the urban areas nestled into narrow valleys in between, the higher peaks covered with pure white snow. At times it resembled a painted scene.

Surprisingly, the air was not really cold - probably about 15C, but there was a hint of snow in the cool breeze. As we waited for the RV to be finalised a rain storm came through and dumped some enormous raindrops. Waiting to pick up another RV was a Pommy couple. after a while chatting, Brian discovered that the man worked in Civil Aviation in England, and knew someone Brian had worked with in Australia. Talk about a small world.

We transferred to the replacement vehicle - same design, but obviously in much better condition.  The woman at the RV place told us it was the newest one they had in their yard. So when all gear was transferred to the new vehicle we set off.

From the outset it was clear that this was a much better vehicle - it was tighter in the steering and suspension, didn't wander around on the road, and was much quieter.  It even has a better turning circle than the old bus which we had dubbed "Mary", as in The Queen Mary.  After refuelling the bodies at the Pegasus Restaurant in Castle Rock we headed south, hoping to make the border of New Mexico before night.

Helen feeds "Pegasus" the flying horse

The spectacular drive south

The drive south was spectacular, through more beautiful mountains which eventually gave way to hills, and then classic desert country.  Rod is in heaven - as an old Geography teacher he is loving the landscapes, and even knows a Mesa from a Butte.  I feel a Geography lesson coming on.

We stopped for fuel, ice and wine at a small town just short of our destination, and the guy in the bottle shop told the girls that the name of the place we we heading to, Raton, was Spanish for Rat.  File that in your useless information folder.

 We arrived at Raton, New Mexico around 7:30, and headed for the campground, convinced that now we had a comparison vehicle, we were definately shafted with the original RV.  More will be said about this when we reach LA in about 10 days.

Tomorrow Santa Fe and Albuquerque.