We arrived back in Albuquerque, New Mexico in bitterly cold weather (at least to us) and found all well with the Silverado and fifth wheel. We had booked the fifth wheel in for a full service and while they were doing this we visited the nearby Petroglyph National Monument where ancient Indian petroglyphs have been scratched into volcanic stone.
We stocked up with food and wine from that great store Trader Joes and headed west on Route 66. It was blowing a gale force wind from the west and it was a hard slog. Then suddenly Wendy heard it. Boom. She immediately told me that a tyre had blown and I pulled off quickly to the side of the road and discovered that the tire had completely delaminated. It looked bad news but a closer inspection revealed just superficial damage and easily fixed. We phoned the insurance company who sent out a breakdown truck to change the tyre, and they arranged for the fifth wheel to be brought back to new again. Our plans to visit Monument Valley were cancelled as we didn't want to risk unnecessary travel without a spare tyre. We headed instead for Gallup, New Mexico and awaited the tyre shops opening the next day on Monday. We decided to replace all the tyres with high quality Canadian tyres. Whilst in Gallup we headed down the road 60 miles and visited the Petrified Forest where ancient logs lie everywhere in amazing colours and preservation.
It was very cold but not as cold as it was to become. Next day we headed along the I-40 from Gallup to the Grand Canyon. A long drive but using the Interstate most of the way would make it easier. The wind was howling at 60 mph kicking up dust everywhere. At Winslow, 50 miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona the freeway was closed for 50 miles because of the wind and dust, and we either had to wait it out along with the hundreds of trucks doing just that, or take a 80 mile detour to the south, which is what we did. We eventually arrived at the Grand Canyon which was very cold - down to 15f at night (-8c). We had to leave the water running all night to stop the taps freezing and use the gas heater for almost the first time to keeps us from freezing at night. But it was worth it as the canyon was at its best with clear air and not too many crowds. It just got above freezing each day.
The campsite we had was very nice and we had elk grazing around our rig a lot of the time.
We visited the canyon lots of times in varying light and at different lookout points. Always it was captivating.
After a few days there we decided it was time for warmer weather and headed for beautiful Sedona around a 100 miles south but not at the same high altitude as the canyon. The weather here is delicious. Not hot enough for aircon and not cold enough for heaters. Perfect Goldilocks weather. The air is clear, the skies are blue and the countryside is so beautiful. Lots of things to do and restaurants to try. On one trip we visited Montezuma's Castle, and ancient Indian ruin set up high in the middle of a cave in high cliffs.
We visited Tlaquepaque which is a pseudo mexican village housing lots of (expensive) arts and craft shops. But the village was beautiful with its inner courtyards and fountains and trees and lovely flowers.
Today we have gone walking in the Sliding Rock State park which shows off the rich red rocks of Sedona and Oak Creek cascading gently through the middle of it. All under deep blue skies and the first greening of spring.
One more day here alas, and then we head south to Tuscon and the Sonoran Desert where the temperatures even this early in Spring are in the 90s. 'Til next week...
