Day 5: 60 Degrees :)

 

Sunset on the River

We woke up to 17 degrees deep in the Kaibab National Forest with beautiful sunshine surrounded by an empty forest. It was beautiful, but the cold temps were making us go through propane like half price margarita's during happy hour. The helicopter tour was awesome, the rim trail hike was awesome, the Grand Canyon was awesome, but we needed warmer weather. Today we headed down the mountain from 17 degrees and 7000' elevation to Lake Havesu at 380' and 60 degrees. Only a 250 mile ride today, but with friends waiting for us were the best bonus bucks. We meetup with old friends, have dinner at the Pirates Den on the river as the sun sets. It was absolutely wonderful on the patio at 60 degrees with friends, happy hour, and half price margarita's saving on so much propane.

Miles: 257 / 1289

Argggg... The Pirates Den...

Dinner on the River with RJ

La Paz County CG on the River

Camp AlanYoli

Day 4: Helicopter Tour

Team Alan Yoli

Today we took a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon, skies were clear, blue, and cold. The flight was with Maverick Helicopter Tours and it lasted 45 minutes over about 100 miles. We started from the GC Airport 5 miles south of the National Park. It was a great tour with perfect weather and we got lots of pictures to document the event. Afterward we headed into the park after an hour long line to get through the gate! Don't people know it is winter, go home, why so many people here? We drove the south rim and stopped several times for some awesome photo ops as the sun was going down. We got back to the RV about 6pm and ate left overs. Shower night, then some binge watching compliments of Starlink Internet.

Miles: None, but we did do about 30 miles in the Jeep touring the south rim.

Yoli the CoPilot

Flight Pattern

My Yoli, so sweet

Day 3: Grand Canyon

 

We got an early start this morning around 9am, it was going to be a long day. We had planned to stay tonight in Flagstaff Arizona, but opted to drive an extea 80 miles to the Dispersed Boondock spot just south of the National Park entrance. A stop along the way at one of my favorite rest stops on the AZ/NM border was a must and we stopped for lunch. We got back on the road and just made it to the Grand Canyon after sunset a half mile off the main road in National Forest land where you can boondock upto 14 days for free. Starlink is up, dinner in the oven, and a beautiful sunset, at least the last remnants of one. We did not get any pictures of the spot as it was getting dark, we will take some tomorrow. We have two days to explore the Grand Canyon south rim. The reason for the rush, is that we have reservations tomorrow to go on a Grand Canyon Helicopter tour at 11am. Can't wait, will be so much fun as the weather is clear and crisp with temps dipping down to 20 degrees tonight.

Miles: 432 / 1032

1032 miles so far Day 3

Day 2: Albuquerque Almost

Our goal was Albuquerque but we fell short a few miles and stopped for the night at Walmart in Edgewood, NM. We always love a good Walmart shop so we earned our stay by spending our cash at Wally World. The temps are "Only" going to be down to mid 20's so not so bad. Sunshine was good today, but we got a late start out of Amarillo, due to an extended power shop at Buc-ee's and Fuel stop. We also got caught up in an 18 wheeler accident that was laying on its side on the highway and we came to a full stop for 70 minutes before we could pass. The plan was west side of town, we ended up on east side with an extra 70 miles for tomorrow's travels. Looks like a 350-400 mile day tomorrow. Besides the late start and the 8 mile backup on I-40, it was an uneventful day. Time for Bed and a Movie.

Miles: 264 / 600

Photos from the Amarillo Info Center and Buc-ee's this morning.

Amarillo Information Center

Home on the road, Yoli on the phone

Day 1: Amarillo

Our first day on the road is always a hectic one. Target departure dates and times always causes stress and anxiety. Packing for a week trip is one thing, packing for two months is another. With an itinerary crossing multiple states, climates, and altitudes, we will see snow, freezing temps, and also hopefully for the majority of the time, 70 degrees or better for winter in the desert from Arizona to Mexico. The plan was 9am departure, and at least by 10am be on the road, well, it was 11:30am before we pulled out wondering about all the things we forgot, and all the things we brought we won't need. First thing discovered was Yolanda's passport, but beyond that only a few wishful things, nothing major..... yet...

We made good time as we arrived in Amarillo Texas at the Information center right across the street from the new Buccee's gas station that was not there the last time we came through here. We popped the slides disconnected the Jeep, and off we went for dinner with Casey and Stacey, my adopted nephew in the line of my adopted Momma Donna's family. Good times catching up and downing margaritas and Mexican food.

Miles: 336 / 336

Day -1: Grapevine Texas

oday is departure day minus one. So much to do on the last day before departure. Getting the tires rotated and balanced was the first on the list for today. Out of bed at 6am to make a 7am timeline to be first in line at the tire shop. Besides rig maintenance, getting the house ready for departure was a feat in itself. Test sprinklers, alarms, plants, etc. Get the bikes ready, mount the hitch, etc. With the new jeep and bike rack setup, everything is new and checked twice. Last minute goodbyes, and happy hours all week with just a touch of Pickleball with friends were all on the list of "ToDo's" before we hit the road. Could not do them all, but we did enough to run us ragged and stressed to get out of town for the winter months. Good time with great friends this past week will surely be missed as we head off to the Desert for the winter to meetup with our snowbird family in Arizona. This trip will take us not just to Arizona, but also Park City Utah for some snow skiing and then some south of the boarder fun with friends in Mexico. All TBD, no exact plans, just heading west tomorrow. The snow and cold we had this past week will not be missed, we should have been on the road last week to miss all this white fun. It certainly made it challenging to get the rig ready to go with the freezing cold temps this past week every day.

Miles: 0 / 0

Day 109-110: Henry Harbor Marina

Henry Bridge Boondock spot

We drove 365 miles to Henry Illinois and spent the last couple days here looking at loop boats come down the river. We looked at one Meridian 368 as a possible loop boat. We had 7 looper boats come into the Harbor yesterday and one, a 30' custom made boat witha 50hp outboard, just completed the loop after it started 2 years ago. "Pokey" was the boats name and all the loopers gathered for the celebration. Tomorrow, we start heading south again back home after this little detour a bit back north to see the loopers. We did have an awesome boondock spot right on the river next to the harbor in a municipal park.

Miles: 365 / 8412

River Boondock spot

Miss Lillee coming in

Pokey

Time after Time

Miss Lillee Inbound

Luna Sea

2nd Chance

Miss Lille

Miss Lillee Heading down river