Grand Canyon Dos Edition

When I first called this tour company, I talked to the son of the father/son operation.  The son sounded a bit more like Ted in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.  Luckily, Jon is the dad who toured us yesterday.  He was extremely knowledgeable about the area, so we learned and visited more than just the main attraction.  He took us to places off the beaten path for the historical perspective.  Kevin loves history, so this was right up his alley.  Our homeschool lady is expecting a journal from each of the kids for our fall review, and I think what they learned and wrote down just yesterday would be enough.  

First he took us to this cowboy lodge.  It was hand built and even boasted its own outhouse, which I didn't get a picture of.  You're welcome.  I told Marley there was no need to go to Laura Ingall's house on the prairie because this was basically the same thing.  

As we entered the National Park, we saw these buffalo hanging around.  It's legal to hunt them outside the park, so John says they stay inside all the time.  He says they're smart animals.  There's a whole story about how buffalo got to the North Rim, but if you want it, you have to come here.  It's long, and I don't remember it all.  ;)  

Uncle Jim Owens was one of the first land surveyors for the North Rim.  He ran a ranching business where he bred cows and buffalo.  Cows bred with buffalo are called beefalos, and buffalo bred with cows were called cattlelos.  There is a difference.  Anyway, he chose this small rock ledge to carve out a home/cave for himself.  Teddy Roosevelt would come and visit with his Roughriders, who would sleep out in the field below the cave.  

After that it was the Grand Canyon, and some small Indian sites of the Walhalla and the Pueblo.  

John had everyone try seeds that you had to crack open first.  They were pine nuts.  He explained how the Indians put tarps below the trees and then it them to get the nuts off.  Then they gather them up and sell them to local grocery stores.  Aunt Paula LOVES pine nuts!  Logan, Kevin and Kaelyn liked them.  

I'll have to post another of just pictures of the Grand Canyon.  For now, two posts for you today!  We're all burnt to a crisp because we didn't sunscreen.  Otherwise, we're in good spirits headed to Los Banos.  This is another of Kevin's "I want to say we went there" things like Sparta and Terre Haute.  AGAIN.

The Grand Canyon

It would take too long to explain everything that has happened, so I'll just highlight.  We got to camp yesterday, did laundry, and had smores.  I found a tour company, and we decided to book them for today.  Our guide, John, showed up promptly at 8a.  We didn't know what to expect, but he sounded and talked like Uncle Dewey, so we trusted him.  Rolling pics.

We had the buddy system for our time at The Grand Canyon.  Marley is impulsive, so we had her with Kevin.  Kaelyn and Logan were together, and me and Rory.  John had given the kids a talk that they had to pay attention to their surroundings, so they didn't fall.  That immediately set all of us on edge.  We all survived though, so that's good!  Because there are so many pictures, there will be more than one post.  For now, I'll just show the family pics.

This was a little hole in a rock where Uncle Jim Owens lived.  He was a good friend of Teddy Roosevelt.

The sites that don't have rails were the ones that were scariest.  John said that 15-20 people fall to their deaths a season, and that three had already done that since it opened May 15th.  Rory and I don't like heights, and while I got better at it, Rory stayed hesitant.  John kept commenting on how lucky we were.  At the lodge, he got a front row spot which has never happened before.  Then there was hardly anyone there, and at the end of the day we got free cookies!  It was a long wonderful day.  The North Rim is less commercialized than the South Rim which was wonderful.  There's so much more, but it'll have to wait until the drive tomorrow.  We were going to go by the Hoover Dam, but we don't know about factoring it in, so I think we're skipping it.  It's off to Bakersfield, CA tomorrow by way of Las Vegas, baby!  Stay tuned!

New Mexico!

Our day started with breakfast from Cracker Barrell.  Actually, our day started when the trash men came to empty the dumpsters.  *Note to self - PARK AWAY FROM THE DUMPSTERS*  I ordered bacon and eggs even though there was some suspicion that eggs made me mean.  I ate them close to when I reintroduced chocolate too, so I was never sure whether it was the eggs too.  Kaelyn studied the CB game and finally figured it out.

We ate and left.  We tried to time our route this day to stop in Albuquerque for lunch.  Kaelyn wanted some REAL Mexican food and figured this was a close call.  We also had to get some things from Walmart.  (Side story)  I showed kindergarten Ferdinand in school because we had read the book, and we were going to compare the movie.  Alicia rented it from the library, and the movie stopped right at the end.  Guess what movie was playing in Walmart and what part it was one?!  You're right!  We all stood there watching the end of the movie even though no one else in the family had seen it.  

Kevin decided he didn't want to try Mexican food traveling in an RV, so Kaelyn didn't want any either.  It was an argument, so we just got on the road instead of getting lunch.  Then the gas light went on.  I got an app to show me all the Flying J and Pilot stations (these station cater to RVers), but the closest one looked too far away.  We had to pull over and pour the gas from the tanks that we store for the portable generator which was quite the task.  We continued on the highway and got to the Flying J.  Kevin says we would've made it.  I have no idea.  We met a gentleman and his family from Ohio at the gas station.  They had two kids and a dog that looked like Relic.  They were going to the Grand Canyon too.

We finally made it to our overnight destination, Red Rock Park.  We got in around 5p.  After we got all situated, we took a bike ride to the office to check in and pay, but the office was closed by the time we got there.  We went exploring a little.  It was nice to get out and about.  It was wicked hot, but dry, so it felt completely different from wicked hot that we're used to at home.  It was an early night for everyone.  Almost everyone showered.  When Kevin and I got to the bedroom, the kids started screaming that someone was knocking.  It was the city worker coming to collect our payment and give us a key for the bathrooms.  We made it to bed by 1030p.

It was relatively quiet except for the trains going by.  We woke up at 430a our time and went back to sleep off and on before finally getting up at 7a.  Almost everyone got a good night's sleep.  It got really cold overnight, and the morning temperature was 45.  It heated up pretty quick.  We cooked for the first time using the stove this morning.  Eggs were made for some breakfast sandwiches.  I did not have any because my attitude the previous night was blamed on me having had eggs for breakfast.  Can't a girl just have a bad day?  

We're on our way now to the Grand Canyon.  Our reservations are for the North Rim which boasts no cell phone service.  Driving right now, my computer is already having trouble saving this post, and my pictures won't load. I'll do my best, but for now, over and out.

Oklahoma!

We set out for downtown Pawhuska yesterday afternoon.  In case you're wondering how to pronounce Pawhuska, we asked at lunch.  It's Paw-hus(short u sound)ka.  Kevin called the downtown police to ask if it was ok to park the RV in an abandoned shopping center.  The police advised that we could park right behind their station!  And there was already another RV there too.  Originally we were going to bike from the campground, but it was 90 at 9a, so we chose life.

We went shopping first because the line was pretty long, and it was hot outside.  Finally Kevin and Logan went to get in line while the girls kept shopping.  We joined them and listened to the talk in line about where everyone was from. The people behind us were from Wichita, Kansas.  The people behind them were from down the road and had never been to her restaurant but had met her.  We waited for about a half hour before we got sat.  I think Kevin and Logan waiting for 15 more minutes than that.  

Luckily our waitress was kind and kept asking the kitchen staff questions for me.  They couldn't serve the bacon and eggs that I was going to request because that was breakfast.  I decided on steak, but then had to request that it was cooked in olive oil with only salt, and the kale with olive oil, garlic, and salt.  I got a side of bacon to go with the kale.  It was delicious, and I have leftovers for today!  We waited pretty long for our food probably because of the question and answer session beforehand.  Afterwards, we went back to the store to shop.  I got a purse that has a shoulder purse in it.  First, it was cheap and second, I need a shoulder bag while traveling.  It's easier than carrying around my huge purse.  After we bought a couple of things, we headed out to explore other stores on the strip.

We arrived back to the campground around 230p, and Kevin suggested we just get on the road then.  We had a 10 hour drive planned for today, but if we left early, we could break it up.  We headed out at 330p thinking we could make it to Amarillo by 930p.  On our drive we noticed a storm on our right.  We marveled at the lightning strikes in the distance. We took pictures of what it looks like for rain to be falling in the distance.  

We searched for a place to stop, thinking that we would rather hook up at a park then boondock and get the generator out.  I found a good RV park in Sayre, OK.  As we got off the exit for Sayre, we drove into town and it was a ghost town.  It was 730p on a Tuesday, and no one was to be found.  We couldn't find the RV park, so we got back on the road.  Plus, Kaelyn's phone got an alert for a tornado watch, so we figured we'd leave the area.  We got back onto the highway and drove STRAIGHT.INTO.THE.STORM.  I even saw a weather/news truck as we were getting onto the exit, but we couldn't turn around.  Pretty soon, it was hailing.

We pulled over under a bridge with other vehicles.  The hail was huge, and it sounded like the RV was taking a beating.  The wind starting rocking the RV.  It sounded like it was starting to calm down, so we left under the bridge and started on the road again.  We followed other vehicles thinking that they live here and know how to navigate these situations.  It got so bad again, we had to all pull over again.  I got into the back with the kids to try and calm them down.  I grabbed my scapular and started my prayers.  
We kept trying to pull back onto the road following other trucks and having to pull back to the side again.  Eventually, we got to the other side, but the road was blocked due to an 18 wheeler on its side.  We managed to get around it in the shoulder as we watched another truck try to pull a cop car out of the ditch.  He was going to help the truck on it's side but didn't make it.  There was debris and hail everywhere.  We pulled over onto an exit and checked the RV.  All was fine with it which is amazing.  A rainbow let us know we were in the clear.  

After that we decided to keep going to get as far away from that storm as possible.  Amarillo was still another two hours out, so I started looking for other parks.  We stopped at one but couldn't find it.  By this time it was 9p, and we decided to just go the extra hour to Amarillo.  I found an RV park there that had late night envelopes, so we stopped there.  They were completely booked.  We had already called a Walmart in the area, but they said we couldn't park there overnight, so we started to look for anything.  We found a Cracker Barrel and asked if we could stay.  They told us yes, and we parked next to another RV.  We didn't get to sleep until midnight.  It was rough, but we did it.  

We're off today to Gallup, TX.  We're staying at Red Rock RV Park, so we can all take showers and do some exploring.  Driving is fine, but it's nice to be able to just relax and get outside some.  Thanks for all the prayers yesterday from the tornado experience.

On our way to Amarillo, we saw these red lights flashing in the distance.  They turned out to be a windmills or whatever they're called.  Kevin keeps commenting about what a trip this has been so far with adventures and things not going to planned.  I'm hoping we've got it all out of our systems now!

Big Bucy Bonanza

This is the first I'm able to blog because this trip has been one challenge after another.  Let me explain.

We left Sunday at 815a which was an hour later than we wanted.  We spent all the time packing a bunch of food up, and then we went to MacDonald's for breakfast.  We just needed to get on the road instead of trying to make breakfast right off the bat.  Kevin drove the whole way.

We drove through West Virginia.  I haven't been there since my grandpa's funeral last year.  It was sad.  My mom has a tradition of singing "Almost Heaven, West Virginia" whenever we pass the sign.  I've kept this tradition up for my kids too, and I sang for my grandpa.  :( I was pretty sad.

We stopped to get gas in Ohio and make lunch for the kids.  We started up the generator, and I heated up food in the microwave.  Then I plugged in the toaster to heat up some waffles, and all the power went out.  We had flipped a switch on the generator.  We didn't know this, so Kevin checked all the fuses.  We opened all the windows, but it was HOT.  We went and asked other RVers at the stop if they knew what could be happening, but they didn't.  I tried another guy, and he said he would come check it out.  About that time, the salesman we bought the RV called Kevin back and told him how to fix it.  The guy, Brian, came over and troubleshooted with Kevin trying to get it fixed.  I wanted to ask his address and send him a thank you, but I was hot and irritable.  An hour later, we were on the road again.

We finally pulled into our Walmart destination in Terre Haute, Indiana.  We went to Terre Haute because Kevin's favorite movie is A Christmas Story, and in it they say, "The line's all the way down to Terre Haute."  That's it.  That's why we were in Terre Haute.  It was on the way to our destination anyway, but still, it's kind of like Kevin wanting to be in Sparta to watch the eclipse last year, just to say that he was in Sparta.  Men.

Anyway, we got settled in Walmart and hooked up to the portable generator.  We brought it along, so we could have AC while we slept and not have to worry about Carbon Monoxide.  We took the RV to Kaelyn's graduation and the alarm went off, and we had to get the kids up and open the windows.  So the portable generator was hooked up and ready to go with all the locks and chains so it didn't get stolen.  The kids and I went to shop for a couple things.  On the way out I asked management to make sure we could park there and they said, "no."  Ugh.  I told Kevin, who started to pack everything up, and walked down the line of stores trying to see if there was anyone to ask if we could stay in their parking lot instead.  Kevin started calling other businesses we could see around, and everyone was a no.  We packed up and called the other Walmart further down the road.  They were a yes, so we went and set everything back up again.  It was pretty late at night by the time everyone got their teeth brushed.  Kevin and I made it to bed around midnight.  I asked if the generator was far enough away, and he ensured it was, but I smelled gas.  Apparently the cans of gas for the portable generator had spilled in the storage bin right under our "room."  Kevin got worried the generator wasn't far enough away and got up to go get a carbon monoxide detector at Walmart.

He handed it to me when he got back, and I hit the test button on it, and it started the alarm.  We had to reset it and watch for the green light.  We finally saw it and went to bed.  Around 330a the generator ran out of gas, so Kevin got dressed and went to fill it.  Again, this is so we could have AC running cuz it's so hot at night.  We woke up at 640a.  I wouldn't let Kevin drive because he hadn't slept, so I took the wheel.

He had some coffee and rested a bit.  After about an hour, we stopped to get gas again.  Our fresh water had run out at this point, so we filled up on that also.  Then Kevin got back in the driver's seat, and we set off for Oklahoma.  Lunch went much easier on this trip because we pulled over to switch places, and Kevin was in charge of getting everyone lunch.  :) I drove for a couple hours and switched again.  Kevin got to drive through downtown St. Louis which was fine with me. 

We arrived in Oklahoma 530p their time and set up shop at the RV park.  

We took showers, well rinses, had dinner, and tried to figure out why the generator wasn't working again.  It shut off for no reason when we got here.  We are able to hook up to power, so it would only be a big deal for when we leave tomorrow.  Everyone went to sleep late again, but I think most of us slept.  I woke up hearing noises and thought someone was trying to steal something from the storage unit because I didn't know if Kevin had left it open.  I looked out the windows and didn't see anything, so I tried to go back to sleep.  While I'm sure that the big bed is the best place to sleep in the RV, it's still not all that comfortable.  We woke up around 630a.  Kevin called the generator people, and they basically said it's because it's too hot.  That's a lot of help.  NOT

We had a lazy breakfast and washed some clothes.  We're headed into town to see The Pioneer Woman's shop and have lunch.  Even though I'm AIP, I'm going to have some bacon and eggs and hope for the best.  I have to eat something from her shop.  I've followed her blog since Maria introduced it to me nine years ago.  Mars is pretty excited too because she loves The Pioneer Woman's kids.  Tomorrow we start our trip to Albuquerque.  

This was before we got on the road Sunday.

This was when we finally got into Terre Haute.  

Long day