On Our Last Leg

With Pisgah Forest a bit over 400 hundred miles away, we were excited to get started and get home.  After Fred maneuvered through Nashville traffic and toward northeastern Tennessee, I took over outside Knoxville.  Just in time for heavy traffic, torrential rains with thunder and lightning plus several accidents.  Eventually the weather improved, traffic thinned out and driving became easier.  About 5:00 we pulled into the driveway of 104 Red Fox Drive--Home, Sweet Home!  

Sunday

Up, dressed and unhooked by 7:30, we decided an early start was preferable to pancakes.   We 'finished' Oklahoma, crossed Arkansas and reached Buffalo River, TN, the midway point between Memphis and Nashville--516 miles.

The prospect of adding to the heat and humidity inside the RV by cooking dinner was quite unpleasant so we went to the near-by Log Cabin Country Restaurant.  (I've learned that 'country' is a code word meaning 'breaded and deep-fried.')  Almost everything on the menu was cooked the country way--including green beans. ???

A fellow camper, who had also been traveling east on I-40 on Sunday but a bit behind us, said they'd spent over an hour in the back-up caused by an accident late the previous afternoon.  As Fred exited for gas, we spotted the back-up and were able to detour past the congestion.

Sunday night was hot, even with the AC running at capacity, and noisy.  We heard the traffic on I-40 and the cicadas who inhabited the trees all around us.

OK!!!

We finished New Mexico this morning, drove across northern Texas, most of Oklahoma and saw nothing of interest.  Now that the scenery has become boring, the trip is tedious rather than exciting and we're just anxious to get home.  We've covered 1100 miles with a thousand more to go; we should be home on Monday.

Fred pushed us to reach Checotah, OK so he can have another helping of the pancakes served in the campground cafe tomorrow morning.

We've caught up with the heat everyone has complained about this summer--it's 102* here in Checotah.

Tucumcari Tonight!

We left Holbrook bit after 8:00 and covered 417 miles uneventfully.  The scenery was unremarkable.  Is that because we've been jaded by the wonders of Arizona and Utah or because we've made this trip so many times?

Tucumcari drew its life-blood ($$) from Route 66.  When the Mother Road was superseded by Interstate 40, much of Tucumcari died.  The portions that didn't succumb survive by promoting kitsch and nostalgia to tourists.  'Tucumcari Tonight!' is the town's promotional slogan. Its most recent claim to fame is the model for the setting of Disney's movie Cars.

Our RV park is the grounds of a 50's-era motel.  The units are boarded up and deteriorating while the lawn and parking areas have been repurposed to accommodate recreational vehicles.

We had dinner at Del's Restaurant.  The quality of our meals and the level of their service account for its longevity.                                                      

On the Way Home

A last look at DeMott Meadows

Leaving this morning took longer than we expected.  The dirt lane from our spot to the store's driveway had solidified and Fred had no trouble bringing the RV down to the parking lot.  Evidently, the getting-stuck-in-the-mud incident at our arrival had damaged the filler pipe to the gas tank; we noticed gasoline on the pavement while filling the tank.  Fred bravely crawled beneath the behemoth, between the dripping sewer line and leaking gas pipe, to fix the problem. 

In order to handle the steepest descents of the trip, I drove the Jeep and Fred drove the RV as far as Bitter Springs.  At a pull-over at the junction of Route 89-A and 89, we hooked up the Jeep and proceeded together.  We went through a part of northern Flagstaff which was burned in the Schultz fire and flooded in heavy rains several weeks later. 

Today's leg of the the homeward journey was uneventful, light traffic and very little road construction.  The scenery paled in comparison to that of the AZ Strip--hazy pastel tints rather than deep, vibrant colors.  We were on the road for 6.25 hours (9:45-4:00) and traveled about 275 miles.


We seem to have jumped from the frying pan into the fire or, more precisely, from the fridge into the frying pan.  As usual, we slept under three blankets topped by a down sleeping bag last night and turned on the space heater for an hour or so in the morning.  As we got further from the Plateau, the elevation decreased but the temperature increased.  As soon as we pulled into our Holbrook campsite Fred hooked up the electricity so we could turn on the air conditioner.

Farewell to Kaibab Plateau

The 12 weeks of our contract at the store have flown by and our time on the Kaibab Plateau is over.  We are so grateful for the experience of living for three months in such a lovely and interesting place.  We've seen the snow recede, the lakes in the meadows dry up, the buffalo migrate from lower elevations, the quaking aspens leaf out, just about every type of weather this place gets and scores of varieties of wildflowers.  We'll leave tomorrow morning with a great deal of ambivalence--excited about going home but we leave a big chunk of our hearts behind.

Hoodoo Voodoo

This weekend's destination was Bryce Canyon National Park, about three hours from here.  Although Bryce is called a canyon, it is actually a series of amphitheaters.  Regardless of the designation, it is wildly unusual, very, very beautiful and totally enchanting.

In order to reach Bryce, we drove north on Route 89.  The topography and vegetation changes quickly outside of Kanab and resembles southwestern Colorado by Mt. Carmel.  Route 12-East runs through a stunning portion of Dixie National Forest aptly named Red Canyon--a place we plan to visit on our next trip.  Although the scenery was lovely, the closer we got to the park the darker and more overcast the sky became.  

The entrance gate to the park consisted of 4 lanes, a clue to how 'visited' (i.e., crowded) Bryce is.  It reminded me of a bank of turnpike toll booths. We were dismayed to note the preponderance of foreigners among the park-goers.  90-95% of the people we heard speaking were conversing in a tongue other than English.  We were able to identify the Europeans by their language as well as their clothing (the ubiquitious 'man purse', weird shoes and T-shirts sporting graphics like Sport Athletic, US College or American Police).

The parking lot at the trail head where our route originated was full so we drove to the next viewpoint.  Reaching the overlook, we were greeted by thunder and lightning, definitely inauspicious for hiking.  We retreated to the Jeep to wait it out; after 25-30 minutes with no improvement, we 
decided to try the next overlook.  Here, we got our first glimpse of Bryce's hoodoos. These oddly-shaped free-standing rock columns remain after the softer surrounding material has eroded.  As we marveled at their shapes and colors, the sky cleared behind us.  

Back at the trail head, we found a parking space and set out or rather, down.
We hiked from sunset to sunrise and then from sunrise to sunset.  To clarify, we descended from Sunset Point and ascended at Sunrise Point and walked the paved rim trail from Sunrise Point back to Sunset Point, a 7.1 mile loop with 3200 feet of elevation change and incredible sights.  I lack adequate skill to describe what we saw; the best I can do is refer you to our photos.

Tired and awed, we drove back to Kanab ooh-ing and aah-ing about what we'd seen.  Following a 'last supper' at Nedra's, our favorite restaurant, and showers, we just collapsed.

This morning, we did our final laundry-grocery-gas thing and were back at the RV by 11:00.   Later, we went into the park for Fred's delayed birthday celebration.  He chose hiking the Transcept Trail and a veggie pizza at 'our' picnic table on the rim of Bright Angel Canyon--our departure tradition.  Unfortunately, an Asian family chose that exact spot for their first glimpse into the canyon and to loudly commemorate the experience by taking many, many pictures.

We'll work tomorrow and Wednesday and leave Thursday morning.  It's hard to believe that 12 weeks have passed so quickly.