August 12 - Arizona: Grand Canyon

This morning we hashed out a provisional plan of how we are going to wrap up our trip, as we only have about a week left. It has flown by, but has been lots of fun. Our major dilemma is that we have three days to spend in Arizona & New Mexico before we make the beeline back to Tennessee to drop off the RV and fly home. Josh and I could easily spend a week in each of these states. So, it's been hard to whittle down to the essentials that are feasible in the next few days. As per usual, I probably have too much on the plan that will receive further editing as we go.

Leaving Prescott and headed for the Grand Canyon, we drove through the funky former copper mining town of Jerome. It's somewhere that is definitely worth a stop and look-see if you aren't pressed for time. Then, we passed through red rock-surrounded town of Sedona on a scenic byway to enjoy the panoramic views. Sedona is another cute town, with a gorgeous backdrop of red rock landscapes, that's heavy with a new age/metaphysics vibe due to the storied energy vortexes that occupy the area.

Sedona, AZ

Sedona, AZ

Sedona, AZ

We stopped at the Grand Canyon. Breathtaking, of course. It was a quick stop, but well worth the detour. Actually, our stop was a bit "Lampoon-like" -- a quick 'Hi' and 'Bye'.

But, we haven't got much time left. ;)

The Canyon is 277 river miles long, up to 18 miles across, and a mile deep. When Easton is a bit older, we plan to trek down the Canyon on burros. Easton says he's ready now. Truthfully, he'd probably give a burro a run for its money and do just fine. But the outfitters won't take little guys. So, we'll wait a few years before we plan our return.

We drove out of the Canyon through the mesas of the Painted Desert.

Nearby, is the Hopi Indian Reservation. The Hopi people have a bit different story. Rather than having been relocated, their reservation is on their original lands, which they have lived on for at least 100 generations. Visiting them and their ancient pueblos is awaiting us on another trip to AZ. 

We stopped by the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook. Caden & Easton were excited to see the "Cozy Cone Motel" from the movie Cars. It's a historic landmark leftover from the now-extinct Route 66 and the inspiration for the film. We tried to get a room, (a bargain at $60) but they were full.

We've been shadowing the old Route through most of Arizona and will continue to through Oklahoma. Hopefully, we'll be seeing some more of the retro neon signs and the antique tourist trappings from 'America's Highway'.

Tonight, we pulled into a WalMart in Gallup, NM and had planned to stay the night in their parking lot. There wasn't a Passport America campground in the area and we planned to get on the road first thing in the morning, so a quick WalMart stay was going to be just fine. Plans went to hell when Josh and I began to smell burning plastic. The smell wasn't going away.  We were smelling everything in the RV, but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Then, smoke began to billow out of a box below the refrigerator. Josh quickly pulled the box from the cabinet wall to find shorted wires ON FIRE!! They were glowing and a flame burnt through the plastic box.

The shorted wires have been doused and taped. But no one wants to stay in the RV. We're all afraid it is going to be a bonfire. The list of things wrong with the RV is a mile long, but are all things we have been able to work around. But the thought of more shorts has us worried enough that neither of us will get good sleep tonight if we stayed -- especially since it is now apparent that neither smoke detector works. (Add that to the list.) So, we're off to sleep in the hotel across the street.

[For anyone keeping track, that is the second fire we have diverted.  The first was near the beginning of our trip when we were in Illinois.  There, the main electrical box was having a meltdown.  We caught it before it burst into flames.]

Here's to hoping our wheels make it back to Tennessee...