Now that our 'summer' escape has ended, and we are safely back in AZ, thought I'd give some quick facts about this past trip. We traveled 8,777 miles with the truck and put 3,479 miles on the RV's tires. We camped 20 miles from the border of Canada in Hungry Horse, Montana and 20 miles from the border of Mexico in Huachuca City (Tombstone), Arizona. We lived through 24 degree temperature in Montana and 103 temp in Utah. We were on the road for 113 days - our longest of being 'out'. We traveled from Arizona to Utah, to Idaho, to Montana, to Wyoming, back into Utah, down to New Mexico, and back into Arizona.
We visited the following national parks/monuments/sites: South Rim and North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Wupetki National Monument, Sunset Crater NM, Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Escalanti
Staircase NM, Pipespring NM, Glacier NP, Yellowstone NP, Lewis & Clark National Historical Site, Fort Benton NHS, Upper Missouri River Breaks NM, Rockefeller National Parkway, Grand Teton NP, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Dinasour NM, and too numerous to mention - lots of Lewis and Clark sights and places of their Corps of Discovery Journey plus lots and lots of local interest places.
We stayed at 15 different campgrounds - and all but two were great. Our elevation at camping was at 8100 feet (Alpine, AZ) to the lowest of 1900 at Williams, AZ. The main theme we thought we were going after before heading out was to see the wilderness of Montana. Had no other expectations. However, in reflecting, this trip we learned 3 main things - geology, history, and how to have fun via a Razors (ATV). We had our first blush with Razors in Wagonhammer Campground in North Fork, Idaho where we talked with our neighbor who is a third generation farmer and his grandfather built the farm and house they live in. He was so enthusiastic about his Razor - couldn't wait to get back home and run it. From that point on we started to see these ATVs being pulled all over the place. Then when we got to Moab - WOW!
We were red-rocked out by the time we left Glendale Utah where Zion and Bryce Canyon NPs were and that is when we first got our scare of wildfires. And never left the smoky haze from then on until we got to Gallup, New Mexico. Only then did we have clear skies. Hope this coming winter is very wet for the west - they need it. Have seen some very poor areas (New Mexico comes to mind) and some very rich areas - Kalispel, Montana. RV held up well after our first boo-boo that happened not far from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, on Navajo Indian Reservations' roads - they are awful!
All in all, a trip we thoroughly enjoyed and looking forward to next spring's trip to the State of Washington. Will not be blogging for awhile - will alert you via email when we do something special while here for the winter in Picacho.
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