Sedona

August 17, 2010.
We are continuing to have mild weather. It's been cooler the last few days and the monsoon season is back. Big clouds roll in during they day and we sometimes get some rain. Best of all, it's kept the highs in the upper 70's.
Today we took a ride out to Sedona, Az. just over a hundred miles round trip.

We should have been on Highway 89A heading south out of Flagstaff. But I didn't pay attention to the map thinking I could get to Sedona off I-17. However, after more than 50 miles on I-17 I hadn't seen a sign for Sedona, so it was time to break out the map. We made it to an exit which put us south of Sedona and thus we headed north on 179 from I-17 towards Sedona enjoying the beautiful red rock mesas.

Love this photo!

Notice the homes nestled in the hills. 

Sedona is located in the Upper Sonoran Desert of northern Arizona. At an elevation of 4,500 feet (1,372 m), Sedona has mild winters and summers.

The famous red rocks of Sedona are formed by a layer of rock known as the Schnebly Hill Formation. The Schnebly Hill Formation is a thick layer of red to orange-colored sandstone found only in the Sedona vicinity. The sandstone, a member of the Supai Group, was deposited during the Permian Period.

As of the census of 2000, there were 10,192 people, 4,928 households, and 2,863 families residing in the city. The median income for a household in the city was $44,042, and the median income for a family was $52,659. Males had a median income of $32,067 versus $24,453 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,350. About 4.7% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.1% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Sedona has a temperate high desert climate. In January, the average high temperature is 57°F (14°C) with a low of 31°F (-1°C). In July, the average high temperature is 97°F (34°C) with a low of 64°F (17°C). Annual precipitation is just over 19 inches. Temps were in the low 90's during our visit, milder perhaps due to the clouds.

Sedona began to develop as a tourist destination, vacation-home and retirement center in the 1950s. Most of the development seen today was constructed in the 1980s and 1990s. As of 2007, there are no large tracts of undeveloped land remaining.

The red rock formations surrounding the downtown areas were absolutely beautiful.

It's obvious that Sedona is a tourist town. The Main Street (89A) is lined on both sides with restaurants, T-shirt shops and Jeep tours. 

We had lunch at a local Mexican restaurant and watched through the large windows as the storm clouds rolled in. The waitress made mention of flash flood warnings out of Flagstaff.

We had traveled in the truck as I hadn't driven it for over a week. It began to rain as we headed north on 89A towards Flagstaff. The rode was narrow and winding through a canyon. I was beginning to regret not having taken the Jeep because of the narrow twisting canyon road. However, it was very beautiful especially when we could see the water falling off the canyon walls. Unfortunately, the water often ran into the road creating potential flash flooding and falling rock conditions. We weren't able to take pictures do to the rain. Before long we came across some ascending switchbacks. After gaining altitude the rain began to subside as we drove through a pine forest that was littered with hail on the ground so thick it looked like snow. I'm glad we didn't drive into the hail as it was falling! The rest of the ride home was uneventful with sporadic rain showers.

Sedona is worth checking out if you're in the area. There are a number of hiking opportunities just off the highway. We had hoped to take advantage of one in a slot canyon, but were thwarted by the rain and lightning.

Grand Canyon National Park

August 10, 2010.
Yesterday, we hung out at the campground. I cleaned my bike up and then took a short ride. We made preparations for our trip today to The Grand Canyon National Park. We had heard that the park is very busy and that there is construction going on. We figured today would be a good day to visit since school had started this week. So I loaded the bikes on the Jeep as we decided we would ride them around the park.

So much for thinking we would beat the crowds. I took almost 20 minutes to get through to the entrance gate. Then we had to search for a parking space at the visitor center. The park was full of what seemed to be mostly foreign visitors. However, we saw license tags from every state in the union to include Hawaii. It was so crowded it reminded me of Disney World.

We walked our bikes to the first viewpoint near the visitor center because of the crowds. Of course the views were spectacular! 

A glimpse over the side. In some points it's a mile down!

We rode our bikes through the park which allowed us much more freedom. There are shuttle buses but they looked jam packed and there was always a crowd waiting to board one. So, the bikes worked out great for us. We seemed to be the only cyclists taking advantage of our own wheels.

We stopped and walked through El Tovar Hotel. 

It's hard to capture the beauty of the Grand Canyon in photos. The distances are so great.

A lady was nice enough to snap this picture of both of us together.

After getting back to our Jeep we loaded the bikes and drove out of the congested area of the park towards Hwy 64 and the "Desert Views" which are just a series of viewpoints along the highway.

Another glimpse over the side.

We spent a good 4-5 hours at The Grand Canyon National Park. The entrance fee was $25. It's worth the visit but be prepared for the crowds. Joyce and I both remember coming to the Grand Canyon many years ago, but we don't remember the crowds of people and the buses, tour groups and traffic. We remember it used to be so peaceful and quiet.

I would suggest riding your bike if you want to avoid some of the crowds, but be aware the terrain is hilly and can be challenging. We rode one hill that was posted with signs warning vehicles of a 7% grade. Coming back the opposite direction I was doing 32 miles an hour down the hill and sporadically touching the brakes to keep from going any faster!

We drove over one hundred miles round trip today.We got home by 5:30 and released Maggie and Rico from their prison inside the rig! We hate to leave them so long. We made dinner and then called it a night, exhausted from our adventure. 

Canyon Motel & RV Park, Williams, Arizona

Aug 6, 2010.
The last few days have been occupied doing domestic chores around the rig along with some short excursions. Last night we rode our bikes in the evening into Williams to sit outside and watch the people cruising the Historic Route 66 Main Street. We have very good lights for our bicycles so we felt comfortable riding at night on the way home. It was a cool and beautiful evening.
We are staying at The Canyon Motel & RV Park. It's located about a couple miles from the Main Street of Williams, Az.

The Canyon Motel & RV Park has a few rental rooms that are converted train cars..kinda neat. Most of the rooms are in the standard cottage style buildings.

The cottages and trains are near the entrance. The sloping RV park is located directly behind the cottages and the office/ retail shop. There is a small indoor wading pool in the park however, it has been closed for repairs.  Although advertised as being in the Ponderosa Pines, except for a very few sites, there are no trees in the RV park as it's an open gravel parking lot with some areas of weedy greenery. The majority of the sites are pull throughs, but be aware the sites are generally not level.

I-40 is visible and can be heard at night to the north of the park. There are at least two train tracks in the area. One north and The Grand Canyon Railway runs just south of the park. You can see the The Grand Canyon Railway train passing in the picture below which is the view from our site.

We are in Site 14 and are paying $761 for a month including electricity with full hook-ups. I've noted the voltage readings on the power are minimal. So far we haven't had the need to run the a/c and I don't plan to use the a/c due to the minimal and fluctuating voltage. At times, my AC Volt Meter is reading barely 112-114 VAC. 

Temperatures here in Williams, Az. have been very moderate with lows in the 50's and the highest at 83 degrees for about an hour.

The lower part of the park had flooded a few days before our arrival due to excessive rain. The flooding reportedly damaged the pool. Our site backs up to a residential neighborhood. The empty residential lots behind our rig are full of sunflowers that are in full bloom.

The park advertises WiFi however it is virtually non existent. We've talked to some folks in the park that return every year. They have told us that the low voltage and poor WiFi have been a problem for years. Yet this park seems to be the best if not one of the best in the area. 

All things considered we are satisfied with this park for the next month as there are lots of things to see and do in the area. We plan to take our time and relax cutting back from the fast paced touring that we've been guilty of. It's very easy to get sucked into the constant vacation mode and forget that this is our lifestyle and not an extended vacation.  We need to slow down and smell the roses!

Yesterday we drove the truck into Flagstaff, 30 miles away via interstate 40. We did some restocking of groceries and purchased a hitch from U-haul for the jeep. Back home I installed the hitch on the jeep for the purpose of mounting our bike rack and thus being able to take our bikes with us for exploring.

It's the same bike rack that we use on the kingpin of the fifth wheel. However, it doesn't fit properly on the Jeep. The latch that collapses the rack down also hits the spare tire if you try to open the rear door. However, it will work for now.

Another reason for staying a month in Williams is that we are slowly headed for our 2nd Volunteer (workamper) experience. We've accepted a government volunteer position for a few months near Lake Havasu, Az. We are expected by October 1 but we may entertain arriving earlier if the temperatures come down a bit in Havasu!  I'll post more about that position in the near future.

Travel Day to Williams, AZ "Gateway to the Grand Canyon"

August 3, 2010.
It was a cool morning and we made our final preparations before getting hitched up and pulling out. I had hoped to be on the road by 8:00, but we weren't on the way till 9:00. Our delay was in part because I was trying not to disturb our neighbors early in the morning. Our immediate neighbor usually was gone by 7:00 but today they slept in. Moreover, their truck was positioned to make pulling out of my tight space difficult. As I was making ready and beginning to hitch up another neighbor came over to talk. I enjoy the friendliness of the folks we meet in the campgrounds, but I don't like being bothered when I'm hitching or unhitching. Conversation can break the routine and cause me to miss something. Anyway, all went well.

View Larger Map

I was expecting a nice smooth ride. Or should I say I was hoping for a nice smooth ride for the 300 miles to Williams Az. By now you know I don't like to travel much over 200 miles a day and prefer 150 or so. However, there wasn't much in the way of campgrounds between Monticello, Utah and Williams, AZ. so the plan was to press on!

But instead the ride was full of beautiful scenery but also twisting turning steep canyons and this rather unusual bridge (in the desert). 

We were traveling near Monument Valley on Navaho Reservation property.

There wasn't much traffic on Hwy 191 and at times it seemed like we were the only ones out in the middle of nowhere. But the scenery more than made up for the desolation.

A few pictures from Joyce's perspective! As you know, Joyce follows the dogs and I in her Jeep.

Every few miles we would pass a little stand on the side of the road (trading posts), were the Navaho people would be selling trinkets and jewelry.

We stopped in Tuba City for a break at a local cafe that looked to have once been a McDonalds' truck stop. It turned out it was now a Native American cafe. However, it was filthy and expensive. So we didn't eat and just snacked on crackers while we let Maggie and Rico take a break. I also emptied the two 5 gallon cans of diesel I carry into my truck. 300 miles is near the maximum range which is apx. 350 while towing so, I like to have that reserve. As you know I'm not fond of pulling into fuel stations with my rig, so I avoid it whenever possible. 

As we neared Flagstaff, Az. we encountered a heavy rainstorm but thankfully we drove out of it and on to I-40 for the last leg.

We made it safely to The Canyon Motel RV Park in Williams, Az. "The Gateway to The Grand Canyon". We traveled over 300 miles in 6.5 hrs. We will be staying for a month. Now I gotta say, Joyce picked this one as she didn't like the park I picked in Utah!

I was impressed to see that the Jeep got over 23 mpg during this trip. Which is good considering the local gas stations here in Williams are at $2.85 for a gallon of regular gas. I think the good gas mileage is due impart to the fact that we drive @ 60 mph or less. I think my truck and rig got over 10 mpg, but I'll have to fill the tank and work the numbers. 

After arriving we were famished and decided to go into Williams, Az. a mile away for dinner. Dinner was good and we walked around the Historic 66 downtown district. It's a very small very touristy town, but so far we like it!

Williams, Az. and Route 66

Williams, Arizona would go down in history as being the last town to have its section of Route 66 bypassed. The original plan was to have the last section of the famous highway bypassed somewhere in Texas, but lawsuits that had been filed kept the last section of Interstate 40 from being built around Williams. After settlements called for the state to build three exits for the town, the suits were dropped and I-40 was built. In 1984, Interstate 40 was opened around the town and newspapers the next day reported the essential end of the famous US 66. The following year, Route 66 was decommissioned.

My next post will contain pictures and information on the campground. We plan to stay here for at least a month, so stay tuned!