2 April: We escaped back to Hot Wells a few days ago becuase of a huge cold front that blew down from Canada and left most of everything just north of us (Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, etc) covered in snow and with minus temps, unfortunately we didn’t escape the wind which is not a pleasant thing when camped in the desert – brings back memories of windy days at Afika Burn! The pools however have been a nice relief from sitting in Mr J for hours at end as we ride out the wind and dust with twice daily soaks.
3 April: Today we encountered the most bigoted, misogynist, angry person we have ever come across in all our travels and perhaps even life!!!
When we went to the hot spring for a late afternoon soak, he practically ordered us to rinse off in the overflow area before getting in (this is not a posted requirement and at no time has anyone else who has been using the pools suggested this – including the camp host). When he discovered we were from South Africa the level of aggression just increased with rants about what a hell hole of a country we come from (thanks to current popular news) and that we as South Africans don’t know what we are talking about when it comes to genocide when it is happening right in front of our own eyes in our country (an issue he has with us and the ICC), to laying into Tania about her appearance and so on and so on. Despite trying to de-escalate the situation and suggesting we all just sit in the pools quitely and mind our own busines, the final straw was when he started chanting in Hebrew between his ongoing rants. He come very close to hearing the infamous SAFFA saying “Listen my friend” followed promplty by a good snotklap. We eventually got out and went to the other pool which had 3 noisy mexicans in it, who welcomed us and offered food and drink. So, in the end it turned out to be a great afternoon witth many laughs (despite language barriers) – what a stark difference across people and cultures. It has left us feeling a bit unwelcome in a country which until now we have loved.
4 April: Thankfully our “friend” from yesterday is not camping here, making todays soaks far more pleasant.
5 April – Gila Box River campground: The weather looked like it was improving, so today we headed into Safford for the usual town errands of grocery shopping, etc before moving on to a stunning litttle camp area in the mountains outside Safford. We think it is $5 per night but not yet sure how to pay, there are signs for leaving your cheque in a box but of course we don’t have cheques – who does these days???
7 April – Cosmic Campground, Gila Nat Forest: A very scenic drive today ( and we have eventually left Arizona, entered New Mexico), on the scenic 78 and 180. Made a brief stop over at Catwalk Canyon for some sightseeing.
9 April – Petrified Forest National Park: A day of very different landscapes: from the high mountains and juniper forests of New Mexico to big flat grass plains when back in Arizona and then the dryness of Petrified Forest National Park. The park was “so so” interesting but honestly we feel places like Tonto basin were more inspiring.
10 April – Flagstaff, Arizona: A weirdly frustrating day (despite the cool stop in Winslow on Route 66) as we travelled along the boring Interstate 40 westwards to Flagstaff. Also at times quite scary as the trucks here travel in excess of 120km/h and are not scared to drive right up your ass before pulling out at last minute. As we need to be up early tomorrow (for wheel alignment) we are camped just outside town in a National Forest (usual no facilities number)
11 April – Kaibab National Forest – Cameron: Got Mr J wheel alignment done), followed by some grocery shopping this morning before setting off for Grand Canyon. Now camped just outside the national park in a pretty spot, although we struggled to decide on a campsite/clearing as we kept losing cell signal which resulted in a small meltdown by Tania. There is however good signal on top of the hill just behind where we eventually decided to park, which even has a nice breeze so all is good in the end.
12 April – Kaibab Nat Forest, West side of Grand Canyon: After a leisurely start this morning we spent the day cruising the south rim of Grand Canyon. Many viewpoints and many people leave you a little drained after the first awe inspiring views. So we didn’t participate in the “must do” sunset spots and instead heading out of the park early to find a campspot in the forest nearby.
13 April – BLM Big Wash: After a leisurely start, we thought we would be stopping around lunchtime but eventually only stopped at 5pm but overall a good day. Filled up with fuel and water in Williams then onward to Seligman for a walk around the old Route 66 town. Our planned stop for the day was only 50km further at an RV park which was meant to be reasonable value and had a laundry but when we were told it would be $50 per night by a very unfriendly receptionist we quickly decided to move on. A little down the road we stopped again to assist a family with a puncture (who had just come from the bar in Seligman after attending church there…). Eventually ended up in a beautiful canyon/valley but will probably only stay one night as there is no cell signal.
14 April – King Wash Bay, Lake Mead: Despite last nights spot being really pretty we moved on as we had no cell signal. An hour up the road and we are almost on a different planet (perhaps Mars), with a much more barren environment bordering onto Lake Mead. We however come prepared with extra water (for a few more showers) and hope to stay here a few nights.
16 April – Las Vegas: Driving down the strip in Las Vegas, a milestone that just seemed so wierdly significant and a real reminder of how far we have come from little ol South Africa!
17 April – Stewarts Point, Lake Mead: After a chilled start this morning in which we enjoyed the creature comforts of a hotel room, we went off to do laundry and got to see the more dodgy side of Vegas. Then a a grocery shopping run and finally around 4:30 we were heading out of town. Vegas drivers have big city attitude and the roads are many lanes wide meaning we missed an interchange and thus via our detour got to see the real homeless & drug issue that the many big cities have. In the end we found our way out of town and are now camped once again on BLM land near Lake Mead. It’s good to be back in Mr J but also having an en-suite was super nice
19 April – Beaver Dam Wash BLM, “Joshua tree” campsite: After a very windy day yesterday in which we had to spend the whole day inside Mr J (but at least we dodged the huge snowfalls that occurred not far away in Grand Canyon and Flagstaff – 11inches) we decided to move on when it was still pretty breezy this morning. Our camp spot is very pretty, tucked up into the mountains and surrounded by Joshua trees
22 April – BLM near Zion NP: After a very relaxing few days in the last spot, we took a leisurely drive on a very scenic drive on dirt (Bulldog pass) to St George for shopping, water and diesel before heading out of town towards Zion NP. Of course, everything takes longer than planned especially seeing as in Utah wine can only be bought at a “State Liquor store”. The BLM area near Zion is the busiest we have encountered but thankfully our neighbor invited us to share his spot, really nice guy (Marty and his cute dog Aida) from North Carolina/Alabama.
23 April – Casto Canyon BLM, near Bryce Canyon NP: A longish day of driving in spectacular scenery, first through Zion National park and then across the highlands thereafter. Zion NP is spectacular but unfortunately very busy and so unless you take the shuttle bus to trail heads and then hike you are confined to the road that passes through and that has very small pull offs and not much parking (already all occupied) so often difficult to just stop, admire and soak up the grandeur. We did find it easy once past the big tunnel, even found a pull off to take lunch in and got to watch some mountain goats with only a few people around.
24 April – Bryce Canyon National Forest: Did a short hike up “Arches trail” near our campsite this morning which nearly caused Tania to have a heart attack due to the steep trail and loose rocks. After lunch back at the car we packed up and drove up the road to Bryce Canyon National Park. As with all NP’s (so far) there were loads of people but nonetheless spectacular and for us perhaps nicer than both Grand Canyon and Zion.
26 April – Escalante, just off Route 12: Feeling frustrated today, the last few days spot was nice but cold and windy so we moved on but then really struggled to find somewhere to camp as all spots on the one BLM road where occupied. Eventually backtracked and headed down a much smaller track and are camped in a less official area but actually quite pretty. This is where Mr Jones comes into his own as while not an outright 4×4 track it is narrow, has soft sand and a few rocky sections meaning most vans, skoolies and even big Dodge 4×4 trucks would be too scared too attempt and hence we are now on our own!
Filled up with lpg this morning and finally got to use the adapters that were bought from the UK 7 years ago, although thanks to a math error (converting kg to gallons) by Stuart we will need to do this again soon but at least we know we have the adapters needed
27 April – Temple Mountain Canyon BLM: A challenging day: the cold and wind is getting to us along with constantly camping wild. The wind (and cold) makes showering a massive challenge and we are starting to feel like squatters. And because it is cold (and windy) we are skipping along faster than we would like or at least not stopping and appreciating places. Mr J is constantly coated in an indoor layer of dust and we don’t have any idea when we might be able to probably cleanup or that issue will stop. A small positive is we have found a very cute spot for the night which in different circumstances would be a multi nighter Bottom line: if we could teleport back to home we would on days like today!
29 April – Edge of Canyonlands NP: Yesterday the wind died and so we decided to stay an extra day which was a great decision. Had a super chilled day, disconnected from the world. Spent a bit of time in Green River “town” today, first to refill water, tacos for lunch and then time at Ace Hardware to hunt down an o-ring for our American type gas connection as it leaks a bit when refilling. Also added an extra little bit of “propane” to our cylinder. Now camped on the edge of Canyonlands NP, hoping over next couple of days to do an off-road track down to the river/canyon.
30 April – Edge of Canyonlands NP, spot no2: How the simple things, make such a difference! Today we have a campsite on smooth rock which means slipslops and clean feet, plus it is warm enough that we have the awning open – we are happy campers even if we don’t have cell signal.