Friday - Much needed rest !

We all felt the mamouth journey from the day before, so the decision was made to stay an extra day in Needles.

By chance we found a great RV site on the Colorado river and set up camp. Also by chance, Needles was holding a custom car and boat show that weekend !!!!

So in the evening we headed into town to watch the parade - the kids were soooo excited !! Sleeping in the bus was much warmer this time - the only snag being that Nat almost fell through his bunk when the old canvas ripped !! Emergency repairs required before we camp again !

Where did the last Few days go !!

The last few days have been great fun although a bit manic - long days, lots of miles, no WIFI and sick kids have all conspired to leave the blog blank for a while! Its now Sunday evening, just sipping Mexican beer in a nice hotel in Victorville CA, while the kids watch tv ! What better time to catch up ! So Thursday ... .

The plan was to get to California, It was hard, but we did ! After a fairly chilled start to the day we finally left Williams, and the Canyon Motel and RV park, about 10

Stopped in Seligman on route 66 to say hi to one of my boyhood hero's !! Although "Live fast, die young, have a beautiful corpse" may not be that apt for a family of 4 in an old bus, at 17 it seemed really cool !!!

Not sure if James would have been impressed by our attempts at train racing ? Probably not as neither of us could manage much more than 40mph on the long up hill drag !!

The old girl deserved a breather after the stirling first place effort !

It was then the long drag through Kinman and up over the pass to Oatman.

An amazing town where Donkeys roam the streets ....

... and certain words mean something completely different!!! That was enough excitement for one day! An hour later, at last light, we had descended down into the gloriously warm town of Needles CA and (after having our fruit confiscated at the border ) stopped at the first motel we saw !! Exhausted we slept like logs !!

4 States, 1215 miles and 12 days !!

Thursday evening - just arrived in Needles California !
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Wednesday - Arizona's largest hole in the ground

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Up early Wednesday morning and off to the Grand Canyon. Stopped by the Sunset crater lava flow first ....

.... and took in the ancient Pueblo ruins. Then started the long climb up to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

What can we say ? Mind Blowing !!Starting at the Eastern end we drove along the Southern rim.

Stopping for a picnic with some of the most amazing views ! Just dont drop your sandwich because its a long walk to go and get it !!

We finished up at the visitor centre where Nat and Amelia took part in a lecture on the forming of the Canyon from "Ranger Jack". This completed their work books and allowed them both to become junior rangers of the Grand Canyon.

Heading down to Williams we stumbled across the coolest aircraft museum so had to drop in !!! Turns out they offer flights in Mustangs and a P-40 on fathers day !! might have to come back !

Dinner was in a great Mexican place in Williams with a really lively atmosphere - no doubt helped by the fact that Margaritas were only 99c !! Exhausted, we checked into the Canyon Motel and RV park. Although we went for a standard room, options for accomodation here include these Railway engines and carriages !! A very cool place and great way to end one of the most amazing days !!!

Tuesday - Arizona's second largest hole in the ground

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Once the dinosaur had been dispatched we headed off towards Flagstaff and the Meteor crater. Stopping first for pancakes in Winslow. Well it was Shrove Tuesday. .

Laying just South of I-40 the crater was formed 50,000 years ago by a meteor that left a hole a mile wide and 550' deep !! It is now a privately run tourist attraction.

From the visitor center we could see San Francisco peaks and sunset crater, part of our journey for tomorrow. First it was off to Flagstaff for supplies......

....Stopping on a section of the old route 66 along the way for a cuppa and to check the map !!! Got into Flagstaff about 3 which gave us time to check over the bus, re-stock supplies and do the laundry before checking out the hotel pool and hot tub! It's a hard life !! Tomorrow the Grand Canyon !!!

Catching up

Sorry that the blog is a few days behind - Since leaving Santa Fe we have been making up for lost time, and packing so much into each day, that blog writing has suffered !! And to make things worse when we ventured out in Holbrook Tuesday morning, Sharon got eaten by a Dinosaur !!

Such an inconvenience!!!

Monday - The Petrified forest.

Full on day ! Woke up in a log cabin, went to bed in a Wigwam. Nathaniel and Amelia became junior park rangers and I got stopped by Arizona's finest for jumping a stop sign ! Well it was never going to be for speeding !!!
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Having left our cabin in Gallup we headed across the border into Arizona, and stopped for a cup of tea ! This fine buisness venture on old route 66 is for sale if anybody is thinking of relocating !

A small detour South from our route took us through the Pertified Forest National Park. The landscape was mind blowing! It was on entering the park that we got pulled for failing to stop at a stop sign ! Apparently I then made things worse by getting out the vehicle to greet the officer ! 20 minutes later (and after getting back in the vehicle) we were sent on our way with a warning! With the kids wanting to know when I would be locked up !!

While we stopped for a picnic lunch, Nat checked out the local rides !

The Park is so named because of the numerous "stone" trees deposited across the landscape. Having been buried, petrified then exposed again due to erosion !

Some hard study resulted in the award of "junior ranger" status for both Amelia and Nataniel. It was then off to the town of Holbrook to stay in our Wigwam ! Pixar fans will no doubt recognise it as the cosy cone motel !!!

Wigwam without WIFI !!

Hello, sorry for the lack of a post yesterday. We stayed here last night and strangely enough it appears that wigwam's dont have wifi !

Route 66 and El Morro

Yesterday we traveled down to Albuquerque via the amazing tent rocks national park.
View Larger Map Having lost a few days with "bus trouble", we decided to miss out our day in old town albuquerque, and push on West.
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So on Sunday morning we set off, with the intention of following as much of old route 66 as we could. Initially this was pretty easy as the old road ran along side the new Interstate.

At other times it was a whole different ball game !! It was a great experience and we managed to get most of the way to Grants without using the interstate. From here we headed off south to take in the El Morro national monument.

The monument was up at about 8000' (2500' higher than route 66) and the weather was much worse. Snow showers had been blowing through during the day and more was forcast..

During a lul in the showers we managed to walk around the impressive sandstone cliffs - but then the snow came back ....

...And it was time to leave. The idea of camping at 8000' in a snow storm didnt get many votes! So we made a dash for it before conditions got too bad !

It was a close call ...but two hours later we were settling into our very own cabin at an RV park in the town of Gallup!!

Tent Rocks and Route 66

Finally on the move again !! Headed off down the old route 66 out of Santa Fe for Alberquerque, taking a detour en route up to Tent rocks national monument. What an amazing place, hope the pictures do it justice.

A breathtaking place to spend the day, we finally left about four and drove down what remained of old route 66 into Alberquerque. It was dark by the time we arrived, so we checked into the nearest motel deciding to leave the old town until tomorrow. As for the bus - the alternator works fine, but there is a constant 12v drain in the system. Over the next few days it should be possible to track down the fault, for now disconnecting the battery at night will have to do !!!

On the road again !!

Woke with real optimism to a beautiful blue sky. The plan was to spend the morning in Santa Fe then pick up the bus before lunch and get on our way....

Morning swim and breakfast first !

Before dropping the bus off at Sanchez VW for her new alternator, and heading off into Santa Fe on the city bus. Then came the news that we had half expected! The work was more complicated than expected and the bus wouldnt be ready until after lunch. So we explored Santa Fe some more !!!

Nat was chuffed to find that St Francis of assisi is the patron saint of Santa Fe. Having studied him at school last year he could educate us all !! Although I must admit I think I was getting mixed up with Dr Doolittle ? Then came the news that the Bus wouldnt be ready until much later in the day ! So we gave in, checked back into the hotel and resigned ourselves to another night in Santa Fe ! All was not lost though - during the afternoon spent in the pool Amelia learnt back crawl, Having been taught by her 7 year old brother !!!! very cool. Then Finally, 2 Days and $500+ later the bus was ready !! We celebrated with Corona and tomorrow the road trip heads west !!

The last 48 hours

Sorry to have left the maths question unanswered for so long ! Been struggling to find wifi and trying to find a way to get the bus fixed! So the last 48 hours .... .

Wednesday night was spent in the "lodge motel", Fort Garland.... !

And we were very glad that we did - in the morning everything in the bus was frozen solid Brrr ! So after a few hours research we decided our best bet was to get to Santa Fe, being the nearest metropolis in which we would be able to get the Generator repaired !
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We were just settling into the journey and enjoying the snow covered scenary, even thinking our luck was on the up, when the engine died and we coasted to a stop about 40 miles into our 150 mile trip ! We had another battery to get us on our way, but having covered such a short distance, it didnt look good for getting to Santa Fe!

So as we drove the new goal became the town of Taos, hoping it would be big enough to get the batteries recharged and a campsite for the night ! Here we found Autozone. They could charge our batteries in an hour ! result, so we pressed on to Santa Fe.

Taos is the highest town in New Mexico. But at 6967' the poor old bus could only manage about 25mph up the hills! Down hill was fun though, "its like being on a roller coaster" Amelia said as she took this picture ! We finally arrived outside "Sanchez VW" in Santa Fe just before six. Here we camped, hoping that in the moring a solution to our problem could be found. Thursday morning was cold and overcast and spirits were pretty low as we struggled to find spare parts. In the end throwing large amounts of cash at the problem seems to have resulted in a viable solution and by midday friday we hope to have an Alternator conversion fitted and be on our way. With that we checked into a local motel, with an indoor pool and hot, tub so we could all defrost after our night and morning hanging around the garage in freezing temperatures. Oh and relax with a corona or two ! Tomorrow is another day ....