Woke up to the continuing pouring rain, and the sight of water flowing under the trailer to a bit of a lake forming at the low end of the RV park (thank god we weren’t parked there). Watched a Jeep drive through it and the water was up to the top of his tires - fun. Not the kind of weather we want to be RV’ing in to say the least. We decided there was no point staying as the forecast was for the storm to continue and we were at the center of it if we stayed in Williams. It was bad enough we had to drive over the washed out road to a gas station on the way in (holy-hold-my-breath on that one.
Looks like a raging river when it really is just a few inches of flowing water...but as we later learned, you can be washed out in your vehicle in just a few inches. Let alone dragging a trailer through it too...OK, so next time we go around).We couldn’t believe we were going to have traveled to within 1/2 hour of the Grand Canyon (TOTALLY on our bucket list!) and wouldn’t be seeing it, but what are you gonna do? You are definitely at the mercy of the weather when you are traveling and have to just go with it. We were more concerned with getting somewhere away from flooding and where we could dry our trailer out - yup, we were leaking a bit from the driving rain and had some wet beds. So, we hurriedly packed up in the morning and then sat in the truck debating where to go - west out of the rain? Or east through the rain for a few days until we clear it?
Quick decision - LET’S GO WEST!!
Sure enough, we drove a few hours and ta-da!!
Bright sun and hot weather - ya, baby!!
About 100 degrees, but we weren’t complaining after leaving the rain. We drove along Route 66 (1926- first highway built east/west across the US as people went west to seek their fortunes) which was pretty cool, and ended up in the small historic town of Kingman. (remember the Route 66 lyric ... "Don't forget Winona, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernandino ... )
Set ourselves up and dried out in no time - whew.
Oh, did I mention that while AJ was checking the news online that night, he read the CNN headline that 3 convicted murderers had just escaped that day in KINGMAN. Sooooo, we leave the floods, spin the wheel and randomly decide to stop in the one town where three murderers are wandering around.
Awesome luck.
I was suddenly imagining these guys setting up their RV beside us...OK, probably not, but the imagination is an amazing thing.
Aug 1 - Arizona
Since we only drove a few hours west from our original stop in Williams, we were still in range to go and see the Grand Canyon - hooray! Drove an hour and a half and saw it in all it’s incredible beauty.
Wow - that is one big canyon.We had seen some pretty amazing stuff in Moab, Utah and I was really wondering how much better the Grand Canyon could be...well, it is. Or at least magnificent in a whole different way - so huge it blows your mind that is exists.
Oh, did I mention we saw it from the HELICOPTER we flew over in?!!!!!!???!
Yes, we went for it!! I’ve always wanted to fly in a helicopter, let alone over the freakin’ Grand Canyon. An incredible experience that you only do once.
The downside to viewing the canyon from where we did was that we had to access it through the Halupai Indian reservation. They control this access completely and charge you through the nose for everything - touring the viewpoints to look out over the canyon, seeing Indian huts, tipis etc.
Oh well, at least we got here!
Such a totally different experience than Moab - here we were only able to stand and look out over the canyon (and fly over), whereas in Moab, we were right in it - walking and driving around to explore. AJ and I would love to do a river trip down in the canyon (sans divas!) to experience what it must be like being down in it. One day...
Aug 2 - Arizona
HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!
Our baby was five years old today! Em was loving having her birthday on our adventure trip. She woke up to the trailer being decorated with balloons and a sign, and loved her presents I had brought from home - Pet Shops and LiteBrite! AJ made a special “E” pancake for Em and she thought that was just great.
We explored along Route 66 today (gorgeous drive through the desert, with it’s hills and valleys) and stopped in a tiny western town called Oatman. So cool - all the old west still preserved.
Wild burros roamed the town and we fed them carrots, and cowboys strutted around and did shootouts. The girls were not happy with how loud the guns were in the performances but we thought it was good. 
Then driving onward through the vast Mohave to Nevada where we suddenly found ourselves in the big explosion of hotels & casinos along the Colorado River. Grabbed lunch at Harrah's in Laughlin, Nevada and then just had to drive another 15 minuted to cross the border to California - for the record, we made it to California!!! Three states in one day - not bad. Alas, just stayed long enough to grab a coffee then back out again. The Sparkes’ exploration of California will have to wait for another trip.Then back to the trailer for some big giant birthday cupcakes...YUM.
Aug 3 - Arizona
Drove from Kingman to Tucson and have now experienced heat like never before - good lord. About 108 degrees, it was even 102 at night! Once after shopping, we returned to the truck and it read 122 as an outside temp.
I think maybe we took a wrong turn and arrived at Mars instead - I’ve heard it’s hot there. Luckily our RV park had a pool so we happily hung out in there. There was an airforce base right nearby which gave us an airshow each time the jets flew over - pretty cool.And just to continue our streak of weirdness, turns out someone was shot and killed at the gas station up the street the day we arrived. Really. With our knack for choosing headline-worthy places, maybe we should be travel agents for the thrill-seekers. We’ll set ‘em up with a vacation that’ll be sure to put them in harms way!!
Anyway, aside from that, it is so neat seeing all the cacti everywhere - they are huge. I keep expecting to see the Wiley Coyote setting up a trap for the Roadrunner each time we drive through the winding stretches of desert.
Note for Aunt Cath - we drove past “Limberlost Rd” here in Tucson!Aug 4-5 - Arizona
Today we headed out to the real town of Tombstone!
Talk about stepping back in time to the wild west...to be walking the same streets as Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp and his brothers. Very neat. Took a stage coach tour of the historic section of town and learned so many interesting tidbits about the town and all it’s famous shootouts. 
Saw the OK Corral, hotels and saloons that have been restored to their original states. 
World’s largest rose bush is also in Tombstone...somehow that never made it into the movies about this town. Went into a little shop where we got to shoot real guns of the west - FUN! 
AJ and I were actually pretty good shots. We watched another cowboy shootout re-enactment, but the girls made it clear they were done with this loud shooting stuff.One interesting fact we learned was where the term “shot” of booze came from. When cowboys were out of money, as was so often the case, they would give the barman a bullet, which had the same value as a dram of booze. They would then ask for a shot’s worth of liquor. Ahhh...the things you learn when you least expect it.
That evening we had a pretty good thunderstorm which ended with a fantastic double rainbow and lightening show.
Ah, a little break from the heat.
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