Rolling Along Country Roads: The BIG one! Grand Canyon Nat'l Park

April 19 - 23, 2017
Grand Canyon National Park

Obligatory park entrance pic!

There is starting to be a pattern with how I feel as I arrive and leave the places we stay. I'm so excited to be in a new beautiful area but by the time we leave I'm often ready to move on and can't wait to leave!

We saw a lot of deer the first day near our
camping spot but none after that!

When we left Cottonwood BLM, I was so excited to leave the open windy hot desert with the disappointing sunsets (I had expected at least one glorious sunset!) and head to the mountains and trees and cooler weather! And when we arrived on the National Forest land just south of Grand Canyon entrance near Tusayan, it was pretty exciting even if the trees were pretty small! We really liked the area we stayed (off National Forest road 302) BUT…

1. We didn't realize (silly us) that when the wind blows, that dust puddle we were staying in would swirl around and blow right through us!
2. Turns out this was the closest place to the entrance and you wouldn't believe how many people came back at night (as in the dark!) to park and sleep for the night and our area was prime pickings!
3. We knew helicopter tours flew right over this area (reading reviews online) but it was much louder and more frequent than we expected!
4. We checked out other camping spots while we were there but most were too rough for us to take the motorhome into (deep ruts or dropoffs mainly).

When we went to visit Crater Lake in Oregon, we got up early to beat the crowds and managed to be there when very few people were there. We arrived just after sunrise so everything was lit with the warmth of the sun and it was soooo quiet. I was deeply moved by the beauty of the place.

When the sun started to peak the horizon we knew it was
time because of all the oohs and ahhs from the crowd!

I was trying to figure out when to arrive for our first look of the Grand Canyon. Should we go when it's fully lit to get the total impact? Or see it unfold as the sun rises? Or perhaps at sunset? Where should we go for our first look? We chose to get up early before the sun rose and start at the main point near the visitors center. I have to say I would not recommend that for your first look! We didn't expect so many people to get up that early and it was pretty anti-climatic to watch it unfold so slowly as the sun rose (no dramatic clouds to add to the impact!).

Waiting and waiting for the sun to show us the canyon!

Still morning so plenty of shadows to show us the vista!

However, the crowds cleared out after the sun passed the horizon and after about an hour or two when the whole canyon was lit, that's when we could really appreciate what we were seeing. Interestingly, we weren't as impressed as we thought we'd be. I think it's because we've seen quite a few impressive places and the lighting wasn't the greatest. During the day, it was pretty bland as there were no shadows to give you perspective on what you were seeing. However, it still was impressive especially how massive the area is both length and depth. We were also impressed with the park itself - lots of nice paths along the rim, bus system and parking. It was very well maintained.

Selfie without a viewfinder! Basically I turn the camera around
and look at the ring on the lens to see if I have the horizon in view!

I had a lot of fun with my new camera that we purchased when we went through Flagstaff (the last trip to approach Sedona from the north). I'm pleased with the quality of the pictures and it was easy to transition from my Canon 60D to the settings on this one. I had been using my smartphone but its biggest drawback was a lack of a viewfinder for bright sun not to mention how slow my phone can get with all the apps I have. So far I'm loving the Sony A6000 for how small it is (although it's not THAT small!) as well as the viewfinder and screen info and how quickly I can adjust for different lighting and depth of field I want.

We love our e-bikes! Makes bike riding fun no matter
how many ups and downs but you still get a workout!

We didn't do much else at the Grand Canyon other than following the rim both directions from the main visitor center either walking, driving or taking the bus.

We loved the scripture placed in various places. Amen!

We did take advantage of the numerous bike paths and had a wonderful bike ride through the "forest". On the last day, we got up early and left by 6:45 am because there was going to be a major windstorm later that day and we wanted to move to a place with less sand. We stopped at Desert View on the east end of Grand Canyon because it had great RV parking (even with tow car). What a great stop! And we finally got our stamp there at the gift shop. We tried at the main visitor center but they (like many other NP's) didn't have any paper for us to stamp (so now we're starting to bring it with us!).

Highlights: We finally made it to the Grand Canyon!
Lowlights: Sand storm when the wind blew (thankfully not that often!)

Things we've learned/wonder: Our battery continues to lose amp hours as we boondock but we are still at 12.1 or 12.2 (50%) under load in the morning. We don't know if that's because these aren't true deep cycle batteries or if the battery is bad. Would we lose amp hours daily with true deep cycle golf cart batteries that we plan to purchase when these die? Or will they do as we expect - charge back all but marginal amp hours by the end of each day. We shall find out someday!