Good morning from Camp Verde, Arizona! We have been off the grid for a little while (it seems like an eternity), but are so glad to be able to communicate again with family and friends. We have spent the last few days at the Grand Canyon. Yes, I was sad to say goodbye to Utah, but saying goodbye was harder in an unexpected way.
As we prepared our RV to leave the Bryce Canyon area, we discovered that our slides would not come in. Unless you have a wide load truck traveling in front of you, you can't travel the highway with the slides out. Yikes! Harry and Steve made a trip into town to get some transmission fluid to put into the hydraulic reservoir. Sure enough that did the trick and our slides came in beautifully. HOWEVER, when Steve tried to come out of the RV he could not get the door open! What??? Harry and I belly laughed while Steve tried not to panic. Sure enough, that door would NOT open. Okay, so there is a driver's side door in the RV that is about 7 feet off the ground. I am not making this up...Harry boosted me up and Steve pulled me into the RV. Harry said, "Don't worry about it. We'll figure out how to get you out when we get to the Grand Canyon."
When we arrived at our campsite, Harry got out the ladder we carry on the back of our RV--because you never know when your door is not going to open and you will need it--and positioned it so we could get out the driver's side door. We were the curiosity of the campsite, believe me. It was kind of like "Uncle Buck has arrived". Harry gathered his tools, climbed the ladder into our RV and began working on the door latch. Eventually, with the help of the Grand Canyon staff's tools we were able to remove the broken latch and Harry gerry-rigged it so we could still lock our door. So we are grateful for the little things in our lives-entryway steps that work, and doors that can open and close and slides that close when they are supposed to.
Having gotten the essentials taken care of we were off to see the sights. We stopped at every overlook area we could and were amazed at the massiveness and beauty of the Canyon. Looking at it you just can't help but feel small. There are so many mysteries in life and so many things I don't understand. I guess that is why we will spend eternity with the Lord being amazed at all He has prepared for us. Coming to the Grand Canyon is something I have wanted to do for a long time and am so grateful that we could do it and experience it with our friends, Harry and Carol. Actually, I don't think we would be able to finish this trip without their help.
The elk in our campground think they own the park. It is nothing to be walking down a road in the campground and pass an elk going the other way, just as if it were another person going for a walk. Here is a picture of one visiting our campsite shortly after we arrived. The morning we left, while I was walking Cody I saw four buck or elk bulls together. I didn't know they traveled together. I wish I had had my camera with me. It was a site. As we traveled around the Canyon, it was a common sight to see elk. They are very comfortable with being close to humans. This lady visited our campsite the morning we left.
Imagine a picture of an elk here. Shoot! I can't get it to post. I think it's the wifi.
While we were off grid, our son, John, got lime dust in an eye. It was hard getting spotty information about this and not being able to communicate. The evening of the day it happened we were able to find a spot in a parking lot of the Visitor's Center where we could call our daughter in law, Angela, and get an update on how John was doing. The Hershey Med Center was aggressive in treating his eye and his vision is improving. He has another ophthalmologist appointment on Friday. Please pray that his vision will be restored and there will be no scarring of his cornea. Another thing to be thankful for are knowledgeable doctors. (Update: John's eye is healing nicely.)
To be honest, I loved the Grand Canyon, but when it was time to leave, I was ready. We had taken every opportunity to see as much of the Canyon as we could while we were there. I was ready to move on. I am missing family and friends and being off grid, especially with a family crisis made it hard.
So yesterday we headed to Zane Grey RV Resort in Camp Verde, Arizona. It was a rainy day, the first really rainy day we've had this whole trip. The ride was beautiful, as we came through Sedona. It was also a little scary as we navigated windy downhill roads. I had my foot on the brake as we descended in elevation--and I wasn't even driving!
Remember the compressor problem we had? It wasn't working so we don't have air conditioning on the dash? Well, our RV started making really AWFUL sounds on our trip here. I said to Steve, "I don't think this RV is going to get us home." When we pulled into our campground, I went in to register and the woman at the desk, said, "What is that sound?" (It was our RV) I pretended she hadn't said anything. Long story short. We have an appointment on Thursday at an RV place to have the compressor replaced. We have to drive it about 20 miles to Cottonwood. We hope it makes it without having to be towed. Even in this we count ourselves blessed. We tried so hard to find a place to replace our compressor when it first went out and nobody would take us. After we arrived here yesterday we were able to find an RV place that can take us on Thursday. God has a reason for not providing a place to fix this compressor before this, so we are trusting in Him. For sure this RV would not get us home the way it is.
This has been a Chevy Chase kind of Vacation for us, but we have laughed through the problems and are assured that God is good. We have been making memories.
Till next time...May God Bless.
