Day 35 Kingman back to Las Vegas - Completing the "circle"
Earlier in the tour we had explored the possibility of taking a helicopter over/into the Grand Canyon.  In fact we had made enquiries before we even set off... and this was the day!  We left Kingman and headed for a junction where we could leave three of the vans and continue on the diversion up to the airfield at West rim in the Indian territory.  John had offered to drive the last bit and we had Mary and I, Justin and Anne, Dave and Sue aboard.  A "small" navigation problem extended the journey but we arrived at the airfield ahead of our scheduled time slot.  At the Reception we were offered two helicopters - one for four of us and one for three for take-off in just fifteen minutes!

Worth it?  Oh yes!  We skimmed the plateau and then the pilot plunged over the rim and we swooped down into the canyon.  We flew above the River Colorado and then landed close by to disembark and take a stroll around on the Canyon floor.  Some amazing scenery and it was hot!  Very hot!  Mary wandered off to look at the unusual plants growing here and then it was time to be picked up for the return flight.  We continued upstream over the Colorado and then soared up a side canyon back to plateau level.

We finally continued back to Las Vegas and the Vegas KOA.  That evening we all had a meal at Billy Bob's in Sam's Town.  Although we felt a little sorry to be leaving friends behind as we all headed for our different destinations it was also good to be heading home.

Day 34 Sedona to Kingman along Route 66
What happens to a town when it gets a new bypass?  Especially when the old road takes a greater distance and takes longer in time to travel between the two points it connects?  And the new road is a fast dual carriageway Interstate?  And the purpose of the old town, now bypassed, was primarily to service the needs of travellers?  That's Seligman!  We actually did see tumbleweed blowing down the street!

But what it does have is a name - Route 66!  And it does have a few points of interest in it's favour, especially old vehicles parked up (never to move again) at various locations along the street. This one inspired a "movie" character by Disney/Pixar.

This place had several of interest including this pick-up and the old town police cruiser.  It also had great coffee and hundreds of Route 66 T shirts and caps (the principle industry of the town).

The nearby "Roadkill Cafe" - "You kill it, we'll grill it" provided us with lunch; though Justin and Mary's burger may well have been roadkill and had to be sent back before it was replaced with something edible - a buffalo burger!

Then it was on to Kingman along Route 66 and an evening BBQ at the campsite.  We had to reduce both food and booze stocks ahead of arrival in Vegas and the return of the vans, so a good night was had by all!

Day 32 and 33 The Grand Canyon to Sedona
This has been a very special place but today we move on to Sedona.  We call in at Flagstaff on the way and visit the very interesting Museum of North Arizona, where a visit to the museum shop (art and jewellery of the Native Americans) leads to the purchase of some earrings.  Then via Sliderock State Park - where the river has carved a smooth gully in the rock which is used by visitors to enjoy a series of free water slides down the valley.  Tempted but resisted - really don't want any personal damage at this stage of the trip!

At Sedona we meet up with friends and decide to head out for a meal at a local craft brew pub and grill for supper which is just a short walk away.  We have a lovely evening and Justin and I enjoy every single one of the brewhouse's "seven dwarves" of ale - a taster board of their seven brews.  On the way back to the RV we spot a skunk rooting around near the rubbish bins!  Decide not to get too close!

The second day at Sedona and we wander up to the town for a late brunch American style and to have a stroll down the high street.  This is Uptown Sedona (supposedly the older part) and is mostly comprised of eating places, drinking places and shops!  The shops range from tourist tat through to some classy art and native crafts shops.  Another "accident" with the credit card and Mary has a beautiful silver and opal bangle to her collection of native american jewellery.

Later we have a tour of the red rocks and desert which abut Sedona.  Which is through more stunning scenery (if this had been earlier in the trip it would have seemed even more spectacular - but we have experienced so many amazing places that this didn't quite get the recognition it might have had the start of the trip).  The climax of the ride in a pink jeep is a cookout in the middle of nowhere and it turns out to be a great meal.

Day 30 and 31 Page, Lake Powell to the Grand Canyon
For many this would be the climax of our holiday, but we have seen so many amazing things and beautiful places that it is hard to imagine that anything can better what we have experienced so far.  And so it proves.  Words fail us, no superlatives are sufficient and we are totally in awe of this amazing place.

It's the scale of the place that is hard to appreciate and it is almost impossible to capture with a single photo.  We drive in from the East entrance and stop several times along the ridge before arriving at the visitor centre, getting the essential information, watching the introductory video then heading for the trailer park.  We meet up with some of the others and then head back for sunset over the Canyon.

Early supper and early to bed as we have been advised on where we should go to watch the sunrise and will need to be up for the 5.30 am bus, where we are joined by Rick and Bev, who had expected to find us there!

We see the sun creep over the horizon, it's cold but we have brought warm clothes.  And it is so worth it!  

Then we turn to watch the colours emerge from the greyness of the Canyon as a the light catches the ridges and rocks of the sides of the walls.

We walk back along the ridge to get changed and have breakfast back at the van before we set out once again to walk more of the ridge.  We take advantage of the hop on/hop off shuttle bus but still manage 8 miles of walking with a view of the most stunning scenery imaginable.  Having left the van before dawn we arrive back after the sun has set!  What a day!

Day 28 and 29 Monument Valley to Page, Lake Powell
We are kept awake late into the night by heavy rain, thunder and lightening overhead, which continues most of the night!  It is still raining as we wake and so take our time to depart.  Before leaving the area we pop into the little museum onsite which tells the story of the valley and the role played in the early 1900s by the family who brought Hollywood to the desert for the making of westerns which employed local Navajo Indians and provided an essential income during the years of the great depression.  It has stopped raining as we leave, but the sky is mean and moody!

We have almost continuous showery rain until the last few miles before Page and then thunder and lightening and torrential downpour!  Then just as suddenly as it came it passes and we are able to get out and view the lake from the bridge over the Colorado and the dam/lake exhibition.

View of the bridge from the Dam Visitor Centre viewpoint.

This dam and water control point is crucial to all the states in the Colorado river basin - and even over the border into Mexico.  Although we are sorry not to be able to visit the slot canyons (closed because of the flood risk) everybody living across SW USA will be very happy to see this heavy continuous rain!

On to the campsite situated close to the lake and inside the Recreational Park Area.  We catch up with washing, sort out our plans for Grand Canyon flights and book a helicopter to fly over and into the canyon on Sunday.  We are going to do it with Justin and Anne, Dave and Sue so it will be great fun!

Evening drinks with Justin and Anne are extended as, after a sunny end to the day, it starts to rain very heavily once again!

Day 27 Cortez to Monument Valley
This part of the trip was always something I was looking forward to especially.  Perhaps cowboy films had left some indelible memory, or maybe it was from a geography lesson in the dim and distant past.

The journey from Cortez is through the beginnings of canyon country and the red rocks, deep canyons and rugged mesa are dominant landscape features.  We stop at Bluff to visit the Bluff Fort Museum, an excellent museum telling the story of early mormon pioneers who followed their calling and headed into Indian country in family groups to show they meant no harm.  A journey they thought would take six weeks took six months and they had to face the freezing conditions of winter with snow and extreme temperatures.  There was no road so they made one as they went which included descending the plateau to cross the Colorado River.

The museum is very well put together and the story of each family recorded and narrated by a descendant is told in reconstructed huts on the site of the original settlement.  Each hut also has artefacts and information about their contribution to the group and the establishment of Bluff.

The blacksmith's home.

General view of the Bluff Fort Museum with reconstructed wagon.

From Bluff we headed to the amazing feature of deeply incised meanders made as the River San Juan cut deeply into the plateau surface close to Mexican Hat.  This is now the Goosenecks State Park and well worth the short detour off the main route.

You see Monument Valley in the distance long before you arrive.  It is the size and scale of the area these features cover which impresses so much.  We check-in and meet up at the Reception where Henry loads us into the back of his 4 wheeled drive truck and off we go!  The ride is not smooth as we are taken off road and onto the dusty tracks which lead us into and past the main sites of the Navajo Indian State Park.  Lots of photographs later we return for a much needed cold beer and shower!

Day 26 Durango to Cortez via Mesa Verde National Park
A short drive but a spectacular visit to Mesa Verde NP on the way.  We arrive in good time at the Visitor Centre and sign up for a guided visit to the Balcony house, even though this is deemed "not for the faint hearted" as it involves some walking, some climbing up ladders and some crawling through tunnels.  The scale of this park is much greater than expected and we start with a long drive to the main features.  This is the ancestral home of pueblo American Indians and due to lack of records, early looting of the main sites and rather hazy oral histories much is open to conjecture.  The main sites are the cliff dwellings and these are situated in the most amazing and almost inaccessible places.

Our visit to Balcony House is a challenge... wooden ladders, crawl through tunnels and some pretty steep drops!  However we love it and just don't want to leave this amazing place... we are, once again, the last to arrive at the RV site that evening! 

Day 24-25 Alamosa to Durango
This part of the trip takes us through even more spectacular scenery - I know I've said this already but it really is!  Another view of the Rocky Mountains today as we first cross the San Luis plain, surrounded by mountain ranges.  This area is vast with long straight highways continuing as far as the eye can see.  At Del Norte we stop to visit a small museum.   It is fascinating, telling the story of the people of the area from the first settlers through displays of their artefacts.  The section on health care is especially interesting and includes the story of the doctor captured by the Japanese and of how on his return he was a pioneer of the use of helicopters to get a doctor to remote mountain communities and provide an emergency service to the region.

From there we headed up Wold Creek Pass, steadily climbing through the San Juan Mountains to its summit on the Great Divide at 10,850 feet.  A scenic lookout just on the other side was a great place for a lunch stop, with magnificent views to the West down to Paragosa Springs some twenty miles away.  Then on towards Durango itself.

Durango is an interesting place.  We have seen some quite poor communities on the journey today but this is clearly an affluent place; and so it should be, for its wealth is built upon discoveries of silver north of here and this is the home of the Durango-Silverton Railway.

It is good to have a chill out evening and after the periodic briefing meeting we have a most enjoyable BBQ with friends we have made on the tour.

It is up and away the following day as we are off by coach to Silverton - a very interesting old silver mining town and now the terminus of the Durango-Silverton steam railway.  Lunch at Grumpy's to the accompaniment of honk tonk piano thane aboard to return to Durango... a catalogue of disasters follows; we set off, we stop due to brake problems, a diesel is called up but they fix the problem and we continue under steam.  We stop again and uncouple the steam loco and add the diesel; a sudden braking and we stop again while a fallen tree is removed from the line... however the trip is through spectacular, even if it does take almost five hours and we don't arrive until the sun is setting!