Wednesday, August 7, 2024
Last Day on the Road
We got on the road about 9 o’clock this morning, not sure if we were going all the way home or would stop for one more night on the road. It was 74°. Not looking forward to the temperatures at home. Within the first 10 minutes, we saw a coyote cross the road in front of us. There are supposed to be a herd of Buffalo up here near the north rim park entrance, but we didn’t see any yesterday.
The first 25 minutes of our drive this morning was nothing but rough road, hills, and curves but once we got down off of that mountain and passed the Vermillion cliffs, we had a straight road. still somewhat bumpy, but not as bad as it was. But the whole day was pretty much like this except for a 40-mile stretch between I-17 and 87 on Lake Mary Road (Hwy 3) after Flagstaff. The Vermillion Cliffs go on for miles and miles -- like a wall on the east side of the highway. Very pretty.
We crossed the Colorado river about 9:50. It sure is a long way down from the bridge to the water. This is one of the areas where the Indians set up their jewelry in the little shacks, but we didn’t see any of them open today through here, except in Marble Canyon. However, once we passed the turnoff to the Grand Canyon, there were several open for business.
About 20 minutes after we crossed the bridge, we reached the turn off onto Highway 89 to Flagstaff. We got to Flagstaff just before noon. We fueled there, and I ran next door and got lunch from Del Taco to take with us. Joe managed to negotiate the maze coming out of Flagstaff to get on Highway 3, the Lake Mary Road. This is no small task -- very confusing. He found a pull-off and we had our lunch in the RV. He said this road was the most pleasant road he’d driven all day. I saw one elk on that strip. I guess that’s the end of the wildlife for this trip.
We made our way down off the mountains and got home about 4:00. It has been a good trip but could’ve been better without my knee and shoulder issues. It has been a long trip and I for one am glad to be home. I’m not sure Joe shares that opinion. We came through temperatures of 78 and 84. We had a few sprinkles and a few clouds but now that we’re down in the valley, it’s blue sky and 98°, the coolest day Phoenix has had since early June.
Joe drove 327 hard miles today. He was really happy to turn onto our dirt road, and it had actually been worked on while we were gone, and is probably the best it has ever been. The house was a comfortable 81 degrees. Joe had turned the A/C on on his phone this morning but wasn't sure if we had left our Wifi on. The house was 97 on his phone, and he checked once and it still said 97, so we were expecting a hot welcome. Apparently, we had left the Wifi on. Yeah for us.
I don't know if I will ever do a fuel summary. I didn't always get everything recorded, and then there's the Canadian portion. But I did calculate the number of miles:
RV - 6,071
Jeep - 8,517
14,588 Total Miles Driven
18 1/2 weeks (from March 31 to August 7
3 National Parks -- Glacier, Yellowstone, and North Rim of Grand
Canyon
PLUS -- THE NORTH RIM OF LAKE SUPERIOR
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