Sometimes you just need a "down" day.

Apr. 11 - Apr. 17, 2013 Trailer Village - (Part of Grand Canyon Park), AZ

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RV LIFE: Last night's temps went down to 39°. Brrrrr. The propane heater was off and on most of the night even with the electric heater in the living room.
This morning we woke to high winds and overcast skies. Yippee! What a great day to stay in my flannel jammies and just putter.

So what did I putter about?
A cup of coffee and email & blog reading time.
Walk the dogs in my jammies. That's the great thing about the transient life. My neighbors can judge me, but we'll be gone in a couple of days, so who cares?
Baked Sweet Potato & Pecan Bread. Yum!  Link to recipe.
Another cup of coffee & 2 slices of delicious Sweet Potato & Pecan Bread.

Watch a little TV...stupid stuff like those small claims court shows.
Change the sheets. Huh? This is supposed to be a down day. Changing sheets in an RV is work! Unless you are one of the lucky ones with a larger sized bedroom. We sacrificed some wiggle room for more cuddle room in bed. We have a King sized mattress. Nice! Enough room for humans and 2 Setters+ if needed.
Clean the flatware drawers. It's amazing how much dirt collects in there. Yeck!
That's enough work for the day.
On to finishing up my 6"x9" rectangles for charity. These are made into afghans and sent to VA hospitals for soldiers injured.
Now on to blogging!

I get very lazy the morning of a move. I become quite the procrastinator until it's late and I have to RUSH AROUND, to pack up and last minute cleaning. Why? I don't know, but I'll have to work on that. Maybe start packing the night before, so my morning can be relaxing like most mornings.

We are enjoying ourselves here at the Grand Canyon. This is Scott's first time. I took a plane ride into the Canyon about 30 yrs. ago.
I get motion sickness and yep, I had to use the barf bag. I was single and in my 20's and trying to make a good impression on the cute pilot. I guess that didn't happen! I'm sure I made an impression though.

We are at 7000 feet above sea level. When we were in Santa Fe, NM, we were about 5500 feet and I was miserable. I felt like I constantly had a cold, I was tired and breathless.  At 7000', I'm doing ok. I get dizzy once in a while and it is a little difficult taking in a breath while walking an incline. But other than those little nuisances, all is good way up here.

REVIEW DESTINATION:
Grand Canyon, South Rim, AZ
Our rating 5 out of 5
It truly is an amazing sight. It is huge! It is beautiful! It is frightening.

There is a $25.00 vehicle entrance fee which we did not expect. But it is worth the view and all the free services that are provided.
There are many free Ranger programs available.  We chose to attend the "Geo-glimpse" talk. This was a lecture trying to explain to us plain folks how the Grand Canyon was formed. Stupid me thought it was a meteor hole. Nope it is millions of years worth of water, sand, rock, lime, fault lines, earthquakes all influencing the making of this canyon.
Ranger Kristi was very informative and funny at the same time. She really involved the group in her talk.

Scott's first glimpse of the canyon

There are free shuttle buses to get you to most parts of the South Rim of the canyon. We never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a shuttle. It is a well run system with maps and announcements to help you go where you'd like.

There are enough paved walking paths on the rim to get your fill of canyon views, or you can be more adventurous and take trails down into the canyon. There are some less strenuous trails, but none that are easy. There are many signs stating that once you start going down, you are committed to having to come back up. I am totally impressed that Howard & Linda of RV-Dreams hiked a trail to the BOTTOM of the canyon. This was a two day hike, so they had to also carry their supplies and stay overnight in a shelter. Read about their hike here.

How brave we are to stand at the edge of the canyon when there is a metal fence hopefully protecting us from falling. There are many, many places to go to the edge unprotected. I am surprised at the openness of these areas. Why are some edges protected by fencing and others are not?

We did see some fools that climbed out onto some narrow rocks. I almost get sick thinking of that. I have had nightmares of dogs running after a ball or a bird and unknowing jumping off a cliff and impossible to save them. We saw a Mom holding her approximately 7-10 year old child near the edge. Oh my gosh! All it takes is a wiggle to lose your balance or footing. What were you thinking? I also see other folks looking over the edge. All it takes is some stupid jokester to give a push like near a pool and game over. Can you tell I'm scared to death of the edge? We may attempt the easiest trail down into the canyon, but I may end up freaking being too close to the edge and head back up to safety. We'll see.

Scott has a walking stick there are little thingies you can purchase to nail into your stick. I bought this one of the Grand Canyon for Scott.

Nice way to add a souvenir without taking up space.

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We see this sign displayed in many business windows. A little culture shock. I've never seen this displayed in NJ.
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FOOD/RECIPE: And to finish off my easy day, I actually cooked dinner! I brined chicken tenders in salt, sugar, water and lime juice. Then I made fajitas! Yum!

The photo does not do the dish justice. It was delicious. I'll have a repeat for tomorrow's dinner!

Tip: Save some money and make your own seasonings. Here's the recipe for Fajita Seasoning. I've also made Taco Seasoning. Much cheaper than buying those little packets at over a dollar a packet/serving.

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WHERE WE'RE GOING:

Apr. 18 - Apr. 24, 2013 Meteor Crater RV Park - Winslow, AZ

Apr. 25, 2013 (Tentative) Calizona RV Park, Needles, CA

Apr. 26, 2013 (Tentative) Sierra Trails RV Park, Mojave, CA

Apr. 27 - May 5, 2013 (Tentative) Sequoia RV Ranch, Three Rivers, CA
June 14 - 24, 2013 Armitage County Park, Eugene, OR 

NV, CA, OR, ID, WA, MT, ND, SD, WY, then south for the Winter of 2013/2014