THE GRAND CANYON

On Tuesday we drove the the South Rim of the Grand Canyon! While the canyon looked incredible from the rim, the helicopter ride we took over the canyon was astonishing! If you ever get a chance to go to the canyon, you NEED to take a helicopter ride. It provided the most amazing perspective of the North and South Rims, and we even saw buffalo grazing on top of the Colorado Plateau. Later in the day my parents and I took some bus routes to different viewpoints along the canyon, and watched the sun set before heading back to the RV for a quick dinner. So glad everyone came to sleep in the RV for the night, it was a full house! After seeing the South Rim, I'm excited to see the North Rim later this summer!

Edit: the photos page is back up and running! Go there more pics and a short clip of our helicopter ride!

Sedona is Worth It

Got to Sedona, AZ on Saturday and was immediately blown away by how cool this place is. I met my parents and grandparents here at a vacation home. We spent Sunday walking around downtown Sedona, and visiting the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is right behind the neighborhood where the house is. I also got a psychic reading for some insights on my future. That evening I hiked Cathedral rock, which made for some fantastic views (Cathedral rock is one of a few famous "energy vortices" in Sedona, read about them here). On Monday morning my parents and I went on an off-road tour in a Hummer H1, and it was a bumpy ride! Later that day we went to Bell rock and I actually noticed some of the effects of the vortex there! I'm working on fixing the photos page of the blog, but for now here are a few good ones:

Arizona Heat

After Mesa Verde National Park, John and I made out way to Page, AZ. It was really hot in the sun, so we went to Lake Powell to keep cool! We went swimming at Lone Rock Beach and then saw Horseshoe Bend on Friday. On Saturday, we went for a tour of Lower Antelope Canyon in the morning, and went kayaking on Lake Powell in the afternoon. All of the scenery was incredible, so I'll just let the photos do the talking.

 

Mesa Verde National Park

Haven't been able to post for a few days so here is a recap of our time in Mesa Verde National Park. We got to the park on Wednesday and did a long hike on Prater Ridge Trail. On Tuesday we drove further into the park and got to see many of the cliff dwellings that were created by the Pueblo Indians 700-800 years ago. They created their homes in the cliffs to help protect them from weather and animals, and to take advantage of seep springs that carry water from the top of the mesas through small cracks in the cliffs. We got to do a fun tour of Balcony House to see the inside of some of the dwellings. We also did a few other shorter hikes on Thursday and saw some mule deer and other smaller wildlife. Check out some photos below!

Eventful Day in Santa Fe

What an eventful day. John and I drove to Santa Fe this morning and walked around the plaza area to check out a bunch of art galleries and shops. The art was incredible, and it seemed like the whole city of Santa Fe has something to do with artwork. Unfortunately I didn't have $50k to drop on a massive sculpture or canvas painting. After checking out Santa Fe, we drove north of the city to go white water rafting with Kokopelli Rafting Adventures. We took the Rio Grande down a route called the Racecourse and got to go through a bunch of Class II and III rapids! It was a blast, and the scenery was amazing.

After that there was a bit of a scare with the RV, but it turned out to be a pretty simple fix. Leaving the rafting place, the RV wouldn't start, and it appeared that the battery was dead. I was able to start it with the house battery using the battery bypass feature built into the RV, and we drove to the nearest Autozone. They checked the battery and said it was fine, but the terminals were pretty rusty, so they guy recommended that we try cleaning them off. I bought a wire brush, and using the baking soda that my Mom put in my fridge (thanks Mom!), we were able to clean up the terminals. I put the battery back in with some fresh bolts, and amazingly, the engine started right up! After that we began our drive toward Mesa Verde National Park, CO, and everything went smoothly. We stopped in northern New Mexico for now, and have a couple hours to go in the morning. Still don't have a great connection, so I'll add photos when I can.

Updated with photos. Didn't want to buy the rafting photos but I screenshotted one so you can see me getting smashed by a wave!

Albuquerque Adventures

Was joined in Albuquerque today by my friend John Clark! After grabbing him at the airport, we ate lunch and then went to ride the Sandia Peak Tramway. The mountains are 10,300 ft above sea level, and the views were incredible. Albuquerque looked really flat in comparison to the peaks. After that excursion we tried to see some of the Petroglyph National Monument, but got stopped by some heavy thunderstorms. Apparently it rains a lot for like one week out of the year in Albuquerque, and we are here during that time. Later we got dinner and walked around Old Town Albuquerque. The internet here is really slow, so I'll try to edit this post to add some pictures as soon as I can! Tomorrow we are off to Santa Fe!

Updated with photos:

A Land Down Under

My time in Carlsbad Caverns National Park was amazing! Last night I went to the bat flight program at the entrance of the cave. Just after sunset THOUSANDS of bats started flying out of the cave to begin searching for food all night. The stream of bats lasted for at least 20 minutes, and I'm pretty sure it was still going when I left after it got too dark to see. Bats have become stigmatized as creepy and gross animals but they're actually very smart and caring. They can see as well as a human, can hear the sound of a bug crawling on the desert floor, and they pollinate many fruits and plants that humans consume. 

Today I went back into the park to descend into the cavern, and it was immense. The Natural Entrance Route descends to the Big Room Route which is 750+ ft below the surface. Both trails combined are 2.5 miles. The size of the cavern was very impressive, and there were many cool features to see, such as stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, columns, and flowstone. Would recommend the park to anyone who has a chance to see it, going through the cave only took a few hours. It was tough to get photos in the dark cave but some of my best ones are below. 

After I left Carlsbad, I drove to Albuquerque, where I will pick up a friend tomorrow. Once I got here I replaced the canister purge valve solenoid on the RV because it was causing a "Service Engine Soon" light. The fix was a little tricky but I'm glad I got it done, the service light is off so it seems like the new part did the trick!