Detours, Ditches, and Deadlines

Who needs Adventure-land when your on a trip across the US. We should have known that today would be quite the adventure when it started with us almost getting ran over. We were behind a 40' RV waiting to get on the freeway when without warning it started backing up. I put the van in reverse as fast as I could but he kept on coming. I laid on the horn to get his attention which caused him to briefly pause before backing up again. Luckily, no one was behind us and I was able to get out and around him before he hit us. The open road was a big relief once we got on it. After looking closely at the GPS route we saw that we were going through Page, AZ which was a complete surprise as when we mapped the trip out earlier Google sent us on a more southern route. This brought to mind the option of taking a quick detour to check out the slot canyons just outside of Page. The catch is you can't drive to the canyons, you have to be taken there by a certified tour guide. We looked online and found a tour group that worked well with our schedule and called them up. We were in luck as they had space in their 1:30 tour. They said to register by 1:00 which gave us around 45 minutes once we got there to eat lunch and gas up the rig.


We arrived at the tour guide almost precisely at 1:00 and went to the counter to register. This is when we found out that Arizona doesn't observe daylight savings time and we were actually an hour early. We were doubly surprised because our phones usually switch automatically to new timezones and this time they didn't. With over an hour to kill we spent some time wondering around and then got some ice cream. Finally it was time to go. We were put into a lifted 4x4 monster truck that had a modified bed with seats that faced out the sides of the back and a blue cover over the top. If you have ever been to page, you have seen them. They are everywhere and impossible to miss. the seating system actually raises you up higher than the cab so they feel very top heavy. There were also only three seat-belts on each side even though each side sat seven people. Once we were loaded up, our driver/tour guide introduced himself, said hold on to our hats, and took off to Antelope canyon. The first half of the trip was on the highway (which feels pretty darn fast in the back of a truck) and the second half was on sand. This was a very interesting part of the trip. This part was very bumpy and our driver would constantly speed up and slow down to keep the truck moving in the sand. Sometimes the back of the truck would fish tail left or right when he gunned it. Finally we made it to the canyon and it didn't disappoint.



The bear: looking back towards the front of the canyon near the entrance.


The tour guide pointed out the best places to take pictures.









Here we are at the other end of the canyon. The only downside to this canyon tour is you are not able to just roam around and look, you have to stay with your guide and you have groups in front of you and behind you. Once we went through the canyon and back it was time to get back into the truck for the return trip. This went as well as can be expected until the driver realized he had missed a turn. So he pulled off the road to turn around. When he backed up he went straight into a ditch that he didn't see. Luckily we were all ok but a boy on the other side of the truck wasn't so lucky. He ended up with two major bruises across his shins. The driver got out to make sure we were ok and then after several attempts drove out of the ditch. The driver then pulled out on the road cutting off a truck, ran a red light, and definitely exceeded the speed limit. We were very grateful to arrive safely back at the tour groups office with our lives. Surprisingly the driver got a tip from everyone, even the father of the boy with bruised shins. After the slot canyon adventure it was on to the Grand Canyon. We did stop at horseshoe bend but didn't see much as we were unwilling to hike all the way down to the edge of the canyon in our current state of dress and not wanting to tempt fate after our adventure in the monster truck. After arriving at the Grand Canyon we were once again bitten by the time issue. Our phones had updated themselves while we were on the road and we hadn't noticed. After getting out at the canyon we started looking around, checking out gift shops, paying WAY too much for food, going into the observation tower and generally having a good time.





We needed to be at the campground by 8 in order to save our reservation. If you look at your phone and take off an hour we had plenty of time to get there. If your phone isn't an hour ahead however and you have 25 miles to go on a narrow, winding road you are really not going to make it. We thought, no problem, we'll call ahead and let them know. One problem, no service. So I started driving the mini-van like a slot canyon tour guide and Mindy stared at the phone willing bars to show up with her mind. The whole time I am picturing a line of campers with no reservations just waiting for 8 o'clock to strike so they could take our wonderful little campsite. About halfway there a bar appeared on the phone, then It disappeared, then it reappeared. Mindy dialed, it rang, and we left a message that we would be there tonight. We arrived a little after 8 with no signs of life around the check-in station. The note on the wall said to proceed to our site, so we pulled into site #2 and setup camp. We skipped showers the night before so we really needed them tonight. What a bargain, showers at the Grand Canyon are only $2 for 8 minutes. Let's just say we soaped and rinsed faster than a slot canyon tour guide driving through town. Relieved after the stresses of the day and feeling cleaner than we had for a couple days we returned to the tent trailer to start thinking about the next stop on the trip... Mesa Verde. Tomorrow we'll take a longer look at the Grand Canyon and them head to Colorado.

Location:Grand Canyon Campground