The hospital is small, but really good. They gave him lots of tests, including a ct scan, blood work, etc. and put him on intravenous antibiotics and pain medication. All of his vitals (heart, blood pressure, etc.) are good.
Poor Ben – he slept til 7:30, but the hospital didn’t decide to admit Jack and get him settled until noon, so Ben read and played games on his computer in the RV the whole time. It is considered a whole wellness hospital with rooms adjoining the gardens, muted lighting, carpeting in the hallways and very homey feeling. Jack has a private room, but is still in pain, but the folks are taking good care of him. The doctors think one to three days of antibiotics should take care of the infection.
Once Jack was settled, we returned to the campground to arrange for a few more nights and luckily we were able to get a spot since it is 4th of July weekend and the place was almost filled.
Ben and I spent a little time in the pool and hottub and then drove 10 minutes over to the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River to tour the exhibits at the visitor center and watch a movie about the environment. We stopped to see Jack who still isn’t feeling much better (but not getting worse), and the doctors are still pumping him with antibiotics. We returned to the RV for dinner and were able to watch cable TV and check email.
July 2, Thursday – Grand Canyon North Rim
Ben and I woke up early to walk the campground trail looking for birds. We didn’t see many birds, but it was a nice walk in the cool, cloudy weather. Without any sun, the colors of the Canyon along the trail are muted and grayed.
We drove about 5 miles up to Inspiration Point, but the cloud cover is still with us making photography difficult. We then drove 20 miles out to Cape Royal where the sun began peeking out and we were able to get some good photos of the North Rim and the Colorado River. We did a 1 mile round trip hike to Cliff Spring through red sandstone with views of the Grand Canyon.
After lunch, we said goodbye to Grand Canyon North Rim and drove back through the Vermillion Cliffs and north to Page, Arizona. Page is a small town (9k people) that serves as a gateway to the Glen Canyon recreation area and Lake Powell. It has restaurants, shops, and even a movie theater; in other words, we’re back in civilization!
We checked in at the full service campground and headed out to the new Walmart to stock up on supplies. Jack has complained the last couple of evenings that he thought he had a fever, but it was barely over 99, so he soldiered on, but at Walmart, he started getting a pain in his lower abdomen. We returned to the RV, Jack rested and we had dinner, watched a little cable TV and read.
Jack’s fever increased to about 100, so he called his family physician who returned his call (after midnight Eastcoast time) and said if he develops any other symptoms, to see a doctor. Jack’s pain worsened during the night, so at 4, we decided to head to the small hospital in town. I filled the fresh water tank and dumped the gray and black tanks “just in case” and drove the 10 minutes to the hospital – one benefit of traveling in the RV was Ben just stayed in bed. The doctors checked him out, did lots of tests and weren’t sure what was going on, but knew he had an infection and needed antibiotics.
We checked in at the full service campground and headed out to the new Walmart to stock up on supplies. Jack has complained the last couple of evenings that he thought he had a fever, but it was barely over 99, so he soldiered on, but at Walmart, he started getting a pain in his lower abdomen. We returned to the RV, Jack rested and we had dinner, watched a little cable TV and read.
Jack’s fever increased to about 100, so he called his family physician who returned his call (after midnight Eastcoast time) and said if he develops any other symptoms, to see a doctor. Jack’s pain worsened during the night, so at 4, we decided to head to the small hospital in town. I filled the fresh water tank and dumped the gray and black tanks “just in case” and drove the 10 minutes to the hospital – one benefit of traveling in the RV was Ben just stayed in bed. The doctors checked him out, did lots of tests and weren’t sure what was going on, but knew he had an infection and needed antibiotics.
July 1, Wednesday – Moving from the South Rim to the North Rim
Ben, Jack and I said goodbye to Linnie and we all got on the road around 8:30. Lin is heading hope after a stop in Santa Fe to visit friends and we are going to the North Rim – a first for Jack and I. We couldn’t get any campground reservations at the North Rim, so we are winging it as we have been told that we can just pull off a forest service road outside the National Park and camp for the night.
It is 225 miles from the South Rim to the North rim and it took us about five hours. The scenery through the Vermillion Cliffs is awe-inspiring with the pinks, reds and greens of the 1,000 foot cliffs rising from the desert floor.
I stopped at a Forest Service office in Jacob Lake and found that we could get an actual camp site at the forest service campground, so we stopped and paid $9 for a site. When we got to the North rim, we stopped at the campground Office and were excited to find that there was a cancellation and we got the only spot available right in the Grand Canyon park.
The weather has turned cloudy and as we walked around the lodge area, thunder and lightning made a spectacular display. Lightning strikes on the Canyon rim are common and dangerous, so we retreated to a café in the campground to check the internet. We met some folks in the café that were returning to the forest service campground and we asked them to let them know to release our site so someone else can use the spot. After dinner, we played cards and read.
It is 225 miles from the South Rim to the North rim and it took us about five hours. The scenery through the Vermillion Cliffs is awe-inspiring with the pinks, reds and greens of the 1,000 foot cliffs rising from the desert floor.
I stopped at a Forest Service office in Jacob Lake and found that we could get an actual camp site at the forest service campground, so we stopped and paid $9 for a site. When we got to the North rim, we stopped at the campground Office and were excited to find that there was a cancellation and we got the only spot available right in the Grand Canyon park.
The weather has turned cloudy and as we walked around the lodge area, thunder and lightning made a spectacular display. Lightning strikes on the Canyon rim are common and dangerous, so we retreated to a café in the campground to check the internet. We met some folks in the café that were returning to the forest service campground and we asked them to let them know to release our site so someone else can use the spot. After dinner, we played cards and read.
June 30, Tuesday - Grand Canyon South Rim
Slept in til almost 7 – whoopee! Lin and Ben came over around 7:30 and we had blueberry pancakes and then took the shuttle to the west rim. We walked ½ mile along the rim, but it quickly became too hot for us to do any more walking in the sun. We enjoyed riding the bus to the end of the west rim, enjoying the views from the air conditioned comfort of the shuttle. We stopped at the café for lunch and some internet access.Jack and I returned to move the RV to a campsite that had electricity – a big plus so we can have air conditioning in this hot weather. This was the first available spot with electricity that we could get – the Canyon is mobbed. Ben and Lin joined us for a nice afternoon nap in air conditioning in the 90+ heat.
We packed a picnic supper and drove out to Yavapai Point to have a late dinner and watch the sunset. The changing colors in the canyon were incredible – what a great day.
June 29, Monday – Grand Canyon South Rim
Lin and Ben came over for breakfast at 6am and we drove to the trailhead only to find we weren’t allowed to drive down the trailhead road (apparently, we were supposed to take a shuttle bus). We had to park about ½ mile west at a viewpoint and walk in. On our way, we came across a large buck elk and we decided to give him a wide berth.
We arrived just about 7am while the ranger was introducing the hike into the canyon. We got impatient for the ranger to stop talking, so we just walked on ahead. The hike was mostly deep steps, but it was mostly in the shade so not so bad (a little hard on the knees which is one reason why Jack passed up this opportunity). The canyon was gorgeous with beautiful colored highlights and shadows from the early morning light.
We arrived just about 7am while the ranger was introducing the hike into the canyon. We got impatient for the ranger to stop talking, so we just walked on ahead. The hike was mostly deep steps, but it was mostly in the shade so not so bad (a little hard on the knees which is one reason why Jack passed up this opportunity). The canyon was gorgeous with beautiful colored highlights and shadows from the early morning light.
We made it down to the Ooh-Ahh point in about an hour and decided to go down a little further. We stopped for snacks, enjoyed the view and postponed having to hike back up the 600 feet in 1¼ miles – glad that we decided to do this early in the morning to avoid the heat. It took us a lot longer to hike back up and we got back to the RV about 11am. We enjoyed an early lunch and plotted out the rest of the day – naps first!
We drove to the village area to check out the lodges, walk along the rim and try to see the endangered California Condor. We attended a talk on the patio beside the rim about the condors and when we looked up, there were three Condors circling us – a little scary since they are scavengers. They are incredibly ugly – look like giant vultures with 9 ½ feet wing spans and gnarly red heads. Unfortunately, our camera has a delay in taking action shots and we got lots of great shots of blue skies, but did manage a couple decent ones.
Back at the RV we had pulled BBQ sandwiches, played games, made a fire when it got dark and roasted marshmallows. A great day!
We drove to the village area to check out the lodges, walk along the rim and try to see the endangered California Condor. We attended a talk on the patio beside the rim about the condors and when we looked up, there were three Condors circling us – a little scary since they are scavengers. They are incredibly ugly – look like giant vultures with 9 ½ feet wing spans and gnarly red heads. Unfortunately, our camera has a delay in taking action shots and we got lots of great shots of blue skies, but did manage a couple decent ones.
Back at the RV we had pulled BBQ sandwiches, played games, made a fire when it got dark and roasted marshmallows. A great day!
June 28, Sunday – Grand Canyon South Rim
We cleaned the RV, did laundry, and stopped for groceries before heading up to the Grand Canyon – an easy 45 minute drive. We arrived around 1pm, checked in and found our site – a great spot that is a pull through with a nice, deep site with enough room for Lin and Ben to add their tent if they wanted. We set up camp, and sat in the shade and read waiting for Lin and Ben. They arrived around 3:30 and they decided to keep their spot on the other side of the campground. We sat and talked and checked out some of the Grand Canyon literature and decided to start with the visitor center. We talked to a ranger about a hike inside the canyon and we decided to do the 2 mile roundtrip down the South Kaibab trail to a wide open vista. Forecast is in the high 80s, so we decided to do the hike the next morning before it gets hot.
We stopped at the Mather Point vista and took a lot of photographs. The crowds are huge – we’ve never been to Grand Canyon when it was this busy. All campgrounds are full and the areas of the park that we are allowed to drive are really busy and parking spots are difficult to find at the viewpoints.
We returned to the RV, made a nice dinner and relaxed – we are all very tired.
We stopped at the Mather Point vista and took a lot of photographs. The crowds are huge – we’ve never been to Grand Canyon when it was this busy. All campgrounds are full and the areas of the park that we are allowed to drive are really busy and parking spots are difficult to find at the viewpoints.
We returned to the RV, made a nice dinner and relaxed – we are all very tired.
June 27, Saturday – Flagstaff, Arizona
We had made campground reservations in Williams, AZ so that we would have an easy drive up to the Grand Canyon the next day. Williams is a small town on the old Route 66 that is home to the train that goes to the Grand Canyon. We arrived there shortly after lunch, relaxed for the afternoon and went downtown to a 50’s style diner for supper. Early to bed because we gained an hour due to Arizona not using Daylight Savings Time.
June 26, Friday -- New Mexico
Up early – another beautiful day. We got to the station for the Sandia Mountain tram just a little after 9am. It was 78 degrees at the tram terminal (around 6,000 feet). We rode the car that holds 50 people 2 ½ miles up to the summit at 10,368 feet where the temp was a cool 59 and windy. The summit afforded beautiful views of the whole valley, but it was a bit hazy making it difficult to get good photos.The tram rides up the west side of the mountain and at the summit, the ski trails and lift are on the east side of the mountain. We decided not to walk any of the trails because at over 10k feet, hiking is difficult and jack hasn’t really gotten back all his stamina yet.
The tram operator was very informative and chatty on the return trip down the mountain explaining what her duties were in case of emergency that included climbing the ladder and getting out on top of the tram car to do any repair work or release the car if it had been stopped using the emergency switch. 
After the tram ride, we drove on to the museum area near Old Town (we had toured Old Town on a previous trip) to visit the natural History Museum. It lived up to it’s excellent reputation with more dinosaur fossils than we have ever seen in one place and a great planetarium show – well worth the stop. We ran out of time, so didn’t get a chance to visit the International Balloon Museum. Albuquerque is the site of the huge balloon festival in October – added to my bucket list.We headed west on I40 after lunch, passing through fabulous red mesa country in western New Mexico. We stopped for the night at a seedy campground just outside Holbrook, AZ. No TV and the WiFi wasn’t strong enough to read email.
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