USA Trip: Hi from Arizona

It is mid-afternoon and we have just rolled into a campground outside the Grand Canyon National Park gates. We can’t wait to view the GC tomorrow morning as it is renowned as one of the most spectacular natural sights on earth. Anyway, back to what we have been up to….

We spent Wednesday at Sea World and watched some great shows. While the Shamu killer whale show was awesome and the seal show was funny, the dolphin show – Mermaidia – was spectacular. The dolphins were unbelievably fast and agile, and the human acrobatic performers were just as good. We also saw a pet animal show which was also funny except some of the animals refused to perform their tricks, making it even funnier! What’s that saying; never perform with kids and animals…

Thursday was spent at San Diego Zoo. Although the zoo is in a lovely setting with many exhibits, many of the larger animals didn’t have as much room as they should. We were particular impressed with the polar bears, who decided to have a play fight in the water while we were watching them, and with the baby hippo (Mummy hippo was pressing her baby up against the glass which made for excellent viewing).

That afternoon, Graham wanted to visit the San Diego Yacht Club (assuming he could simply walk in the front gate uninvited) to pick out a suitable vessel for sailing back to Australia. Unfortunately for him (but luckily for the rest of family), Rebecca had already booked plane tickets home. After driving around the block many times before finding a parking spot (you can’t just reverse park an RV anywhere!!), we eventually found a spot. Whilst Rebecca was giving reversing directions to park, she started gas-bagging to a passer-by named Tom (does that surprise anyone?) Tom indicated that, as he was a member of the Yacht Club, he could get us in and show us around, which he did.

This yacht club literally has hundreds of boats moored at the marina, most of which would cost a house or two in Australia. Tom introduced us to his wife, Karen, and we ended up having dinner together at the Club. Tom has experienced an amazing life during his 89 years (yes, 89 but doesn’t look it by a long shot). He was a WW2 navy pilot with over 500 aircraft carrier landings - he has flown planes through the Grand Canyon and under the Golden Gate Bridge – and has travelled widely. Tom and Karen showed amazing generosity by refusing to let us pay for dinner, even after much protest. We exchanged details and may see them one day in Australia to repay the favour.

Friday saw us leave San Diego and start the long drive towards the Grand Canyon. After stopping at a dancewear shop Rebecca had found on the Web (saved a bundle on shoes and clothes for Rhiannon – dance shoes were less than half price!), we drove to Barstow, the town where traffic for Las Vegas goes to the left and traffic to the Canyon heads to the right.

We visited the much publicised factory outlets and were quite disappointed, with Rebecca stating that she had seen better bargains in Oz. Oh well, what else can you expect from a tourist trap?????

We then drove to Calico Ghost Town campground a few miles out of Barstow, where we stayed the night in a real desert setting amongst, what we assume to be meerkats and desert quails. Staying at the campground gave you free entry into the Ghost Town where the kids panned for gold/silver, and we visited the old mines and settlement – quite a buzz for the kids.

We then pushed on to Needles on the California/Arizona border. This town is built on the Colorado River and is around 400km inland. The river is about 75m wide here and seems to be a haven for boating. There were still some huge powerboats using the river when we pulled in late in the afternoon. Quite a few of these were 30ft+ and towed on 3 axle trailers by big V8 pick-ups (quite the American dream!) The kids enjoyed a splash in the pool while Graham & Rebecca watched the river traffic. Whilst eating dinner we saw a skunk walk by and had to keep Jack from following it for fear of him being sprayed and stinking for the remainder of the trip. Graham & Rebecca also saw another creature, either raccoon or coyote, walking along the riverbank later that night. It was too dark to tell which it was.

Which brings us to today. We left Needles and drove through “Indian country” (Rhiannon is disappointed we haven’t seen any as yet, especially as she now has her very own feather headdress) to where we are now – the Grand Canyon Camper Village. Liam is not happy that we have not continued on to visit the Canyon this afternoon but, after four hours driving/navigating, Graham and Rebecca needed some down time. Anyway, the Canyon has been there for million of years and we can’t see that changing overnight.

Until next blog,

Graham, Rebecca, Jack, Liam & Rhiannon

P.S. As Rebecca sits here and types away, little gophers are popping up from the ground as they build new entrances to their networks beneath us.