As I mentioned in my last post, we drove up to Kanab, Utah on Thursday and met Jeff and Deb Spencer at Escobar’s Mexican restaurant for lunch. After a short wait, we were seated at an outdoor table on the front patio. We enjoyed the food, company and conversation for the next two hours. Kanab is only about eight miles from Fredonia where we were staying.

On the way back, we made a side trip to look at the Kane County arena where a rodeo was scheduled on Friday evening. It looked dry and dusty – the parking area was a dust bowl. I decided to pass on the rodeo.

Donna went out for a bike ride on Friday and in her travels, she ran into Deb Spencer. Jeff and Deb are mooch-docking at a friend’s place in Fredonia. Donna stopped and talked to Deb and her friend, Marge.

Dry and dusty has been a theme at Wheel Inn RV Park in Fredonia. On Saturday while Donna took a bike ride, the wind kicked up. I ended up taking down my ham radio antenna and it turned out to be a good precaution as the wind became gustier all afternoon. At times, the amount of dust in the air was astounding. It was a good thing Donna went out early for her ride. She followed a route suggested by Marge and went across the state line to the Jackson Flat Reservoir. Here are some photos from her ride.

I was feeling a little off all weekend – some kind of intestinal bug. So I wasn’t very active.

On Sunday, Donna had an appointment at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab. She drove Midget-San up there before noon. They have a number of tours for a variety of animals – dogs, cats, pigs, goats, birds and rabbits. Donna toured Cat World where rescued cats are housed.

I hung out and watched the Moto GP race from Spain and the Formula One race from Russia. When Donna returned, I loaded the Midget in the trailer and I was glad I did. Once again the wind kicked up and we had several dust storms – so much dust I couldn’t see across the street.

Monday morning we hit the road. We took US89A south and began climbing. In Fredonia we were about 4,800 feet above sea level. Our route on US89A took us past Jacob Lake where we topped out at 7,920 feet above sea level! The highway is twisty and very narrow. I clenched a few times when oncoming tractor-trailer rigs threatened to knock mirrors with us. There is no shoulder at all and dropping a wheel off the pavement probably would not end well.

We quickly lost elevation as we drove past Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. We crossed the Colorado River at Marble Canyon at an elevation of a little over 3,500 feet above sea level and began climbing again. We soon left US89A and hit US89 south. This is a wider road with ample shoulder space and is a divided highway at times. But, it’s a very bumpy road with whoop-de-do sections. After traversing several miles of rough pavement, I groaned when I saw a sign warning of rough pavement for the next 24 miles. If the next 24 miles warranted a sign, things could only be getting worse.

US89 took us up the Mogollon Rim south of Cameron and the road to the east entrance of the Grand Canyon. We entered the Coconino National Forest and were back up to an elevation over 7,000 feet above sea level. Most people think of Arizona as flat desert land. Not so in northern Arizona. We went from arid canyons to thick pine forests with a multitude of landscapes in between.

From Flagstaff, you can see Humphreys Peak – the highest natural point in Arizona at 12,637 feet above sea level. We drove past Flagstaff and made a detour east on I-40 to Winona where we found the Twin Arrows Casino. The casino is closed due to the pandemic, but it has large lots and RVers are welcome to dry camp. We spent last night here and are off to Camp Verde today where we’ll spend the next couple of nights at the Distant Drums RV Resort. We’ve been there before and it’s a nice RV park with amenities.

The temperature is much cooler here, but it’ll be warmer in Camp Verde and warmer still in Lake Pleasant where we’ll check in at the marina on Thursday.

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