To Ramona

The aim the following morning was to get as far south as we could the next day so that we could arrive at Gert & Nanda's place a day early. We had to get out of death valley first, a climb of over 5000 feet over a relatively short distance. Here is a photo taken at the top of the pass.

We stayed the night at an RV just south of Corona, and after a few shopping items the next morning, arrived in Ramona just after lunchtime. It was great to be able to meet with Nanda and later when the children arrived home from school, Gary, Elise, Clair and Remi. When Gert came home in the even, the family was complete. We had arrived and have planned to stay with them for 3 weeks. Clair had made a very nice welcoming sign that we could see on our arrival.

The following day, I drove the RV back to its owner and then into LAX to pick up the hire car. It was then back to Ramona, after stopping to pick up an anniversary present for Gert and Nanda's 18th wedding anniversary.

Las Vegas and Death Valley

After leaving Grand Canyon on the Friday afternoon we stopped by the IMAX theater and watched the most watch IMAX movie in the world. It was certainly worth it to be able to go into the depths of the Grand Canyon from the comfort of your seat. After we travelled all the way to Kingman and ended up staying a a dodgy RV park for the night. We used the opportunity to do some washing as we had planned to stay in the Church car park of Grace Valley Reformed Church in Las Vegas the following night.

The drive to Las vegas was very nice with the changes in scenery. There was a really cool part of the drive where after driving along a flat plain for quite a few miles, the road curved gently to the left and up a slight slope. Then, at the top of the rise it almost appeared that the earth dropped away into a rugged series of mountains and steep valleys. The contrast was amazing.

An to top it off, Hoover Dam was a fascinating visit. The new bridge over the canyon was very grand - especially as you did not really notice it from the top on the highway, but down near the dam it looked really good. We had a tour of the dam and the interesting museum. It certainly was a big project back in the 1930's.

We arrived at the Grace Valley Reformed Church after some shopping and settled in for the night. We were able to speak to the pastor and his wife during the afternoon as well, and it was just as well, for the generator played up again, with the same problem as before. We contacted the pastor and were able to arrange for an extension chord to connect to a power point.
The following day we attended the church services. They both contained the same message but the format of each of the services was different. We heard a very powerful message about the place and importance of the the shepherd's in the announcement of the birth of Christ. During the second service we met with another family who were travelling, who we found out later were on a 4 month trip through the states. We spent some time chatting to them during the afternoon and later met up again in the RV Park in Boulder City. The kids really hit off with each other as they had 3 girls the same age as our oldest 3 girls.

That evening we had a really good chat with Greg and Becky, while the children watched a movie together. We planned to travel to Death Valley and camp togther for the following night. It was great to be able to share different stories together and get to know each other better. It was a lovely and relaxing evening.

The next morening we travelled to Death Valley and arrived about lunchtime. We met with the vandenAkkers, and went to the lowest point in the USA, Deadwater Basin. The salt lake was interesting, and looked even better the further out one went, beyond where most tourists walk. While there we met a coupe who the day before had walked to the top of Mt Telephone, the tallest point in California and also part of Death Valley National Park,  which is at over 11000 ft. We also visited Golden Canyon which was a fantastic geological walk with the layers in the sandstone very obvious, as well as the angles and colours that we could see. The kids loved playing in the small canyons that come off the main path.

While dinner was being perpaired, we went for a swim in the warm spring swimming pool. It was beautiful and warm. The evening was similar to the pervious and we spent the night talking and sharing home stories while the kids watched some more movies. It was a great time.

Grand Canyon

We have spent a lot of time thinking about what the Grand Canyon is like. We have looked at photos, seen video clips and read books. Nothing though beats actually seeing the Canyon for yourself. The vastness of it, the constant changing moods with the changing light levels, the different angles that it can be seen from. It was beautiful to behold.

When looking at the different rock layers and the way that they could have been formed during creation and during the flood, it speaks of God's greatness and glory.

We had a walk along the rim trail in the morning, saw some other parts of it during the afternoon and even had the opportunity to walk down into the Canyon to Cedar Ridge - on the KaibabTrail. Joshua, Laura, Monica and I (Gordon) (Shana had injured her knee and was not able to  do the walk) woke up before dawn and caught the bus to the visitors centre and then to the head of the trail. We saw the sun rise at 7:29am from the top of the trail and then walked down to Cedar Ridge - downhill all the way. It was awesome to descend into the canyon and experience it from a different angle again. It calls to you and makes me want to come back to go further and longer.
Her are some photos.

On the road to Grand Canyon

We spent the night at Lo Lo Mia Springs, an RV park halfway between Cottonwood and Sedona. It was a very nice and quite setting amongst the trees that were dropping their leaves. The children made a nice pile to jump into.

We went for a walk near Cathedral Rock in Red Canyon State Forest. The kids really enjoyed the different sights and explored all over the place. It was a very lovely place.

We left Sedona via the Scenic drive 89A. It follows Oak creek out of Sedona and up to the plateau. A beautiful drive. It was a pity that I had to concentrate so much on the drive as I was not able to notice to much of the scenery. The last part of the drive took us from the valley floor to the plateau via a series of switchbacks. It was breathtaking. This part of the drive was only open to vehicles smaller than 50ft - so it was okay in our 37 footer. It was a case of drive the recommended speeds around all corners, 35mph or even 15mph.
At the top of the hill we stopped by the native American Indians jewellery and other items and bought a few items. The girls really enjoyed the opportunity to browse and purchase.

Soon after we saw some snow that we could have some fun in. We pulled off the road and checked it out. Marielle got to throw the first snowball and then it was on - good fun.

It was cold in Flagstaff, and to make matters worse, we had stopped in a local shopping centre car park and at about 10pm noticed that the generator was not powering the van and the heater and lights were not working properly. So we had to find a RV park in the dark - check in and get things going properly again. So it was about midnight that we could get into bed.

Next morning we got the generator fixed and then headed out to Walnut Canyon National Monument to see the cliff dwellings. It was a nice walk and interesting to see. We walked down about 360 steps - but then of course had to go up again.

It was then off to Grand Canyon. We entered the park via the east entrance and first saw the Canyon at Desert View. Beautiful.