HERMITS REST

The Hermits Rest arch & bell, pictured through the bus windshield.

This last week, and the coming week, 4 of my 5 work days have been spent driving on the Hermits Road. From the Grand Canyon Village, it's approx. 8 miles out to Hermits Rest, with the road on the edge of the canyon for most of that distance. It's a spectacularly scenic drive, and if I had enough seniority, I would probably be on this route every day throughout the summer. But, I don't, and I will only be driving on the Hermits Road, Red Route for 2 days a week, starting in a few more days.

This is my bus yesterday, parked at the Hermits Rest Bus Stop.

The name Hermits Rest is appropriate, as there really was a sort of Hermit, who lived close to where the current building is now located. For close to 20 years before the Santa Fe Railroad built a road out to Hermits Rest in 1912, Louis Boucher, a French Canadian prospector, lived in a rustic cabin a short distance down from the rim of the canyon. He catered to a few tourists, who gained access to the canyon on Boucher's primitive Hermits Trail, and he continued to work his mining claims in the area.

In 1914, when the current Mary Colter designed Hermits Rest building was constructed, the increasing wave of tourists began, and that spelled the end of Mr. Boucher's hermit lifestyle. Today, and particularly during the summer months, Hermits Rest is such a popular destination, our shuttle buses pictured above, drop off several hundred people every hour. I think the drive along the Hermits Road is equally attractive, and I get paid to drive along this spectacular route several days a week. I know, it's a tough job, but somebody has to do it!

WORKAMPING & TRAINS

After writing about the special AMTRAK charter train the other day, I started thinking about the last 10 years, and our workamping experiences. It suddenly dawned on me, that out of the 9 years that we have taken mostly summer jobs, 7 of those were in locations where there was a train. When accepting those seasonal work experiences, did my deep rooted fascination with railroads have anything to do with the acceptance of those jobs? Perhaps, but until just a few days ago, it was never something that dominated the thought process.

After we retired from co-ownership of our Harley-Davidson Dealership in 2001, that first summer was a non-working, 3 month long motor home trip to Alaska. The next two summers, we traveled around the country with the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), pulling the Harley-Davidson Pro Stock Drag Bike Team merchandise trailer. No trains so far.

In the summer of 2004, the call of Alaska took us back to Skagway, a little town at the north tip of the inside passage. We fell in love with everything about Skagway, and for me, the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad was icing on the cake. I rode on every excursion they had to offer, and instead of one or two years, we kept returning to Skagway for the summers of 2004, 5, 6, & 7.

In 2008, even though we hadn't run out of enthusiasm for Skagway, we decided that there were other parts of the country that we wanted to explore. During the summer of 2008, I took a 3 month job as a supervisor for the Glacier National Park shuttle bus system. The passenger train that stopped just outside the west gate of the Park was the AMTRAK Empire Builder. I watched it come and go on almost a daily basis, and vowed that someday, I would ride that train from Seattle to Chicago.

In the summers of 2009, and 2010, we decided not to work, and spent those summers traveling around the country and Canada. Last year, I accepted the job I have now, a bus driver for the Grand Canyon National Park transit system. The train that arrives every day here at the South Rim, is the Grand Canyon Railroad, and an occasional special charter train like the other day.

So, has there been some sort of subconscious, subliminal train thing going on, that has something to do with where we end up spending the summer? Could be, but as long as I get my train fix, I'm not going to try and analyze the reasons we end up where we do. Next summer, it's back to Alaska, where the White Pass & Yukon Route RR, and the Alaska Railroad have reservations with my name on it, and the workamping part of the equation will disappear.

SOLAR UPDATE

Since the installation of our solar electrical generating system in mid March, we've received 2 monthly bills from UniSource, the electric utility company. The system was designed to generate approx. the same amount of electricity that we typically use, based on a years worth of utility bills. Simply put, the solar panels are supposed to put the same amount of electricity that we use, back into the grid. The result as specified in the contract, is that we only pay the usual taxes and fees that nobody understands. Those fees typically are around $8 a month.

At first, I was a bit skeptical, but with most everything in writing, I only had to decide if it was worth the initial capitol investment of a little over $9,000. Based on our electrical usage, the pure return on investment would be in the neighborhood of 8 years. But, I kind of looked at it a little differently. That $9,000 was sitting in a money market account earning 1.3% interest, and now, even though solar panels have replaced the cash, we're now earning just under 10% on that 9 grand, by way of no monthly utility bill.

The last two monthly electric utility bills have been $8, and some change. So far, the Chance Solar Utility Company has a heck of a lot better track record than Solyndra. The Feds would have done much more in the way of stimulating our pitiful economy, if they would have taken that half billion dollars that they lost to Solyndra, and invested it in residential solar systems. I just did the math, and based on the cost of our system, that 500 million of taxpayer money, that went out the window, would have put over 50,000 solar systems on American homes! That sounds like a better investment in renewable energy, and a better step toward reducing our dependency on foreign oil, than the Solyndra debacle. But, I should know better. My definition of fiscal responsibility, and the expenditure of taxpayer dollars, never matches the so called wisdom of our politicians in Washington.

STEAMIN TO THE RIM X2

For train enthusiasts like me, yesterday was a little bit of heaven for all of us, as we witnessed a passenger train, pulled by two steam engines, arriving at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Watching, and listening to these fire breathing monsters of steam was a real treat, particularly when the last grade into the village is pretty steep. Both of these vintage engines were working really hard to get this very long, AMTRAK charter train up the last hill, and onto the "Y" track, before backing into the depot.


This special train originated in Los Angeles, and it traveled on BNSF tracks out of LA, up the Cajon pass, through Barstow, and out into the Mojave Desert. East of Barstow, it switched to the Arizona & California tracks, bringing it into Parker, AZ where it spent the first night. The next days route was from Parker to near Congress, where it switched to another track, bringing it into Williams, AZ for the second night. Yesterday, it's arrival at the Grand Canyon was 1 hour later than it's scheduled time, keeping with AMTRAK's tradition of not being on time. The extra hour wait was well worth it, as the sight and sound of two steam engines pulling up a steep grade is something that you don't get to see very often. The last time I remember witnessing a double header steam engine combination was on the Sierra Railroad in our old hometown of Jamestown, CA., many years ago.

When the train left Williams yesterday morning, the Grand Canyon Railroad put it's steam engine at the front of the train, leading the BNSF #3751 steamer, and an AMTRAK diesel toward the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon Railroad #4960 only pulls trains to the canyon a few times a year, and it has been converted to burn waste vegetable oil.

This location is the last curve before the tracks reach the Grand Canyon Village.

The passenger cars were a combination of vintage & newer types, including several dome cars.

This photo shows the middle of the train as it's being pulled up the hill onto the "Y" track.

When the train arrived at the canyon, it pulled onto the "Y" track, the same as the daily Grand Canyon Railroad train does. I didn't count the cars, but this train was so long, it just barely fit on the Y, before it backed down the hill into the depot. The daily train had arrived just before the charter train, and it was sitting in front of the depot as the charter was turned around.

This picture shows the rear of the train, as it's being backed off the "Y" track into the depot.

While the train was pulling up the hill onto the "Y" track, I had time to move over in front of the Bright Angel Lodge, and get a few pictures as it backed down the hill into the village. By this time, the crowd was growing by the minute, and when the train had parked in front of the depot, there were hundreds of folks admiring these two steam engines.

Before I drove down to the village, I checked the web site for this special charter train, and I took particular note of the passenger ticket prices. They ranged from about $800 to over $4,000 per person. Naturally, the higher prices included more amenities, and the several thousand dollar fare got you a private sleeper room with your own bathroom.

This special charter, which left the canyon yesterday around 4 pm, was an 8 day adventure, and it included side trips, meals, and lodging if you payed for a private sleeper cabin. Today, I think the itinerary included a bus trip from Williams to Cottonwood, where the activity was a ride on the Verde Valley Railroad.

I'm glad this happened on one of my days off, so I could witness the rare sight of a double header steam engine combination, in a very special place. I was envious of all the passengers on board this charter, and maybe, perhaps someday, something like this might be in my future!

Grand Canyon Railroad #4960 parked near the depot.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe #3751 parked near the Grand Canyon Depot.

Part of the huge crowd that had gathered to take a look at the two vintage steam engines.

OFF TO PARIS

I just got off the phone with Patty, and she was about to leave the house, taking the shuttle van to the Las Vegas airport. This morning is the start of her 3 week trip to France, that will include her brother Michael, and their friend Donald.

Today, Patty is flying to San Francisco, where she will spend the night with her brother, and tomorrow, the three of them will fly first to Houston, then on to Paris. That's way too many hours in an airplane for me, but my wife doesn't even hesitate when faced with a long, overseas flight. Last year, she and her son David visited Greece, and the year before, she and her brother flew to China. This fall, she and her buddy Nancy have tentative plans to fly to Hawaii, and stay in Nancy's condo for a couple of weeks.

If I had to sit in an airliner for more than about 3 hours, I know there would have to be some Valium on the menu, or, perhaps the unthinkable, a reversion to a 20 year absence of alcohol. It's not that I'm afraid to fly, I think it's cool when the planes take off and land. It's the middle part that drives me to distraction. After a few hours, in a seat designed for vertically challenged people, the claustrophobic syndrome starts to kick in, and I get what some people call "happy feet". Lets just say that I don't see any 5-10 hour flights in my future. Just flying to the east coast is a stretch for me. Fortunately, when that's necessary, it's usually broken up with a plane change somewhere in the middle of the country.

Today is a day off from work, and there's a very special event taking place here at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon today. I hope to have some pictures of this one of a kind occurrence on the blog tomorrow.

SUMMER SCHEDULE

The bidding is over. By seniority, all of the 57 drivers have picked their schedules, shifts, and days off for the summer months. At #47 in seniority, I had some choices, but all of the desirable schedules, mostly morning shifts, had been taken. I ended up with Wednesday and Thursday as days off, and all of my shifts start around noon. The routes are 3 days of the village (blue) route, and 2 days of the Hermits (red) route.

When the visitor count starts to really increase in a few weeks, the blue route can be a bit hectic, as it's the hub of the system, moving thousands of people every hour. Last year, when I started on Memorial Weekend, working the blue village route was especially challenging, at least until I learned a few tricks that made it easier to keep up with the departure times. The red route also moves a lot of people, but the schedule isn't quite as tight, and even with delays, it's not as difficult to keep up with the schedule.

So, my days off, routes, and times are pretty much set in stone for the summer, starting on May 26th. By the time September 7th, the end of the summer bid rolls around, I know I'll be ready to once again rejoin the "retired" ranks.

THE SOUTH KAIBAB TRAIL

A few days ago, before starting work, I drove out to the South Kaibab Trailhead, and took these pictures. There are two major trails down into the canyon from the South Rim, the Kaibab, and the Bright Angel. For those folks who are hiking all the way down to the river, and more specifically to the Phantom Ranch, the Kaibab Trail at 7.1 miles from rim to the ranch, is about 2 1/2 miles shorter than the Bright Angel. Both of these trails offer unbelievable views of the canyon, and the famous Grand Canyon Mules use both trails. Because the Kaibab is shorter, the mules use this route to take all of the supplies down to the ranch.

Last year, just before Patty and Nancy did a hike down part of the Kaibab, one of the pack mules had fallen, and subsequently died. They saw the animal before the park service helicopter was utilized to remove it from the trail. Fortunately, there has never been any injuries to people, in all of the years that the mules have transported folks down to the river.

This morning, about half of the drivers, including myself, have some training, and then later, I'll be driving the orange (Kaibab) route. Not much time this morning, so, more later...........

OFFICIALLY UNRETIRED

It was a little before noon that I rejoined the work force yesterday, when I started driving one of the public transit buses here at Grand Canyon National Park. For the next 3 1/2 months, 40 hour work weeks will be the norm, and being retired, will once again have to wait until after Labor Day.

Driving one of these 40 foot buses on roads that weren't designed for large vehicles can be a challenge at times, but often, the real challenge is dealing with the public. When you add the fact that there often is a language barrier, communication often resorts to a primitive sort of sign language. Fortunately, most of our visitors speak at least a little bit of English.

Sometime today, the summer bid for schedules will get down to my position, and I'll have a little bit of a choice concerning routes, days off, and shift hours. Last year, being at the very bottom of the totem pole, I had almost no choice. So far, the weather has been almost ideal, with daytime temps in the 70's, a few clouds, and night temps down into the 40's. Last year, I remember being snowed on in early June. Hopefully, that won't be the case this year.

THE CRITTER PARADE

It didn't take very long, after arrival here at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, before the almost daily morning parade of hoofed critters began. I took these pictures a couple of mornings ago, as Gracie peered out the window at these female, Rocky Mountain Elk.

Not the best photos through the window screen, but you get the picture.

As the summer progresses, we watch several things take place with the deer and elk. In another few weeks, the does and cows will give birth, and we'll soon see the babies following their mothers around the park. It's amazing how fast they grow. Toward the end of summer, the big males start to shed the velvet on their antlers, and begin to compete for the right to perpetuate the continuation of their species. Last year, we left before the full scale Rut had begun.

"What Elk? I just want to finish my nap".

My vacation is over. It's back to work later this morning, and 40 hour weeks until Labor Day. Patty is only a few days away from her trip to Paris, leaving this coming Wednesday, first to fly to San Francisco where her Brother lives, then on to France on the 17th. When she gets home on June 7th, I'll drive the truck to Havasu on my first day off, leaving it there, and we'll bring the Jeep back to the canyon. I have a feeling that this summer is going to pass rather quickly.

BACK IN BUSINESS

With the outside Internet phone connection completed two days ago, it was just a matter of waiting for the modem to arrive via UPS. Rather than sit around twiddling my thumbs, impatiently awaiting Big Brown to show up, I jumped on the KLR, and took off into the depths of the Kaibab National Forest. I started toward the west end of the canyon, and the Havasupai Indian Reservation. After about 10 miles, the landscape turned from dense forest to an open plateau, with scrub brush, and not much in the way of trees. Being completely in charge of my destination, I quickly decided that riding in the Ponderosa Pine forest was much more pleasant than the open desert. A quick U-Turn took me back into the trees, and back toward the South Rim Village.

East of Tusayan and the village, I stumbled across this really cool 123 year old log cabin. It started out as a sheep camp in 1889, and eventually became part of the forest service inventory. There was a fellow doing some carpentry work on the cabin, and he told me that when it was retired as a ranger station, it became available for rent by the general public.

Just a few miles from the cabin, I stopped at an old fire lookout tower, that has been preserved by the forest service. The original Grandview tower was built of wood, then later reconstructed of metal. After climbing about 30 feet up the 80 foot tall tower, my acrophobia overwhelmed the desire to see what the view was from the top, so back down I went. Once again on sold ground, I jumped back on the bike, and came out of the forest on Desert View Road near Grandview Point. Prior to the arrival of the railroad in 1901, most of the visitors to the Grand Canyon came by Stagecoach from Flagstaff, and they traveled very near to this old Forest Service fire lookout tower.


When I arrived back at the motor home, there was a not too unexpected small box by the door. It didn't take me long to hook everything up, and once I got the modem and computer configured, it was Back to the Future, and a rejoining of the electronic civilized world.

Tomorrow is my first day of work, and for the next two weeks, I'll mostly be driving the Hermits Rest (Red Route), with Tuesday & Wednesday as days off. In the next couple of days, by seniority, all the drivers will be bidding on their summer schedules. Out of 57 drivers this year, I've moved up to #47, and with any luck, there might just be a few good schedules to pick from when it's my turn to choose. We'll see...........

PROGRESS UPDATE

The scheduled installation of my Internet connection is tomorrow, however, the Century Link installer was here yesterday, 2 days early, and hooked us up, at least on the outside. The next thing that has to happen is the delivery of the modem via UPS. That is also scheduled for tomorrow, but perhaps I'll get lucky, and it'll show up today. Once it arrives, I'll be able to rejoin civilization.

FROM BAD TO WORSE

Yesterday, I was frustrated with my Internet options, trying to find a better solution, than the very slow Sprint data card. The Sprint phone and data card are on roaming here at the South Rim, and neither one work very well. This morning, the frustration level elevated considerably, when a Sprint pop up said that I had exceeded the data limit, and I had to call them for more access, at an additional cost. Before buying the new computer, and upgrading to the new Sprint USB data card, I specifically asked that my new Internet plan continue with unlimited coverage, as was the case with the old plan. I was told that the new plan (2 year agreement) would be the same, with unlimited coverage. Well, after calling Sprint, that simply is not the case. Because they have to pay Verizon for use of their towers in this area, the roaming charges get passed on to the customer. The apologies were abundant, however there was nothing they could do to change the situation. That wasn't a very good option anyway.

Well, now what do I do? Last year, we had access to an unsecured wireless network, but no such luck this year. I had spoken to a utility phone guy a few days ago, who was doing some work at an adjacent RV site, and he told me that there was no Internet access through the hard wired phone lines. It was beginning to look like the only option was to either switch to Verizon, or add them to our existing plan with Sprint. Not a good option, primarily due to the cost, and the required trip to Flagstaff. I also knew that I wasn't going to go with a satellite plan, just for a period of about 4 months. Taking the computer to a WI FI hotspot at one of the lodges also wasn't a very good option.

At my wits end, I decided to check with Sharon, the transit system manager, to see if she knew of something that I was missing. One of her first comments was that there should be access through the phone line, and she thought that all of the sites where we're parked, had the infrastructure installed. Having dismissed that possibility due to my short conversation with the utility guy, I made a phone call to Century Link, the telephone provider. After a short conversation with the representative in Phoenix, he said that indeed, they could provide Internet access through their phone lines. Yahooooo!! I'm back in the ball game, at least I will be when Century Link can get out to the motor home. I almost have an idea how a drug addict feels when his supply is cut off, then he once again gains access to his feel good substance.

So, the good news is sometime this Friday, with any luck, we'll have a sort of high speed (1.5 Meg) connection, and life will return to normal. With me starting work tomorrow, most likely the blog will be out of service for a couple of days, at least until we get hooked up this Friday.
The real headline for today is "from bad to worse to better"!

FRUSTRATED

The daily Grand Canyon Railroad Train's arrival at the South Rim.

As previously discussed, my Internet connection through a Sprint USB data card is marginal at best. This is a Sprint roaming area, and so far, no unsecured WI FI networks are available. I had one more picture of the Grand Canyon Railroad train, that I was trying to load, but after 25 minutes, I gave up. It seems that earlier in the morning (like before 6am), the connection seems to work much better, but when folks start using the cell phone and data networks, then the speed & connectivity come to an almost abrupt halt. Verizon is the strong carrier here at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, and I suppose I could go that route. But, that doesn't really make sense, particularly given the fact that we're only here a few months.

As much as I have gotten into a daily rhythm of blog posting, it's looking more and more like that will have to change when I start work in a few days. Right now, I have the time to deal with the issue, but when time is limited, I won't be able to sit in front of the computer for hours. It's amazing how reliant we sometimes become on certain things, then, when taken away, or severely limited, the frustration level goes through the roof. I'm in the process of transitioning from this 6 year old laptop, to a new Dell laptop, which in some respects, is adding to my increasing lack of patience.

I took this picture of the moon last night at about 9 pm. According to the astronomers, this was the brightest moon of the year, as it's orbit was as close as it gets to mother earth. Here at the 7,000 foot elevation of the Grand Canyon, there is virtually no light pollution. When you want to look at the stars, or the moon, this is a pretty good place to be. The moon light last night was so bright, you certainly didn't need a flashlight to see where you were going.

A RIDE IN THE FOREST

Since arriving here at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, I've been looking forward to getting on the KLR, and doing some exploring in this middle section of the Kaibab National Forest. About 10 am, I took off, armed with a forest service map, and my Garmin GPS.

It's no secret that one of my passions is trains, and when I found a road that paralleled the Grand Canyon Railroad tracks, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I crossed the tracks a couple of times, but was a little late to catch the daily train on it's journey from Williams to the South Rim. South of the canyon, I stumbled upon some old buildings adjacent to the tracks, that at one time, probably had something to do with the maintenance of the railroad. The sign near the tracks named this location Imbleau. I'll have to check at the library for information about these abandoned structures.

"Sure hope there's no high speed train coming"

After about 50 miles of riding several forest service roads, I re-emerged into civilization near the airport at Tusayan. When I topped off the fuel tank before heading back into the park, I had only used a little over a gallon of the 6 gallon capacity tank. Sure wish the motor home got that kind of fuel mileage.

I still have a few days left before starting work, and that first day has been moved up to May the 8th. That's going to be National Park orientation day for the 10 or so new drivers that are coming on board this summer. The transit manager asked me to drive a bus, that will take the new employees to a few different locations within the park. Hey, that means I have seniority on more than just one or two people, and will have a little better pick, when the drivers bid for routes and days off in a few weeks. Seniority is good when you have it, and not so good when you don't.

LOTS OF PINE TREES

Most people think of Arizona as nothing more than a whole bunch of Desert. If they were talking about the western, or southern parts of the state, they would be mostly correct. Conversely, the northern part of Arizona is home to the largest ponderosa pine forest in the world. At an elevation of 6-8,000 feet, this forest covers much of the vast Colorado Plateau, and Grand Canyon National Park sits right in the middle of this huge forest.

Yesterday, I drove just outside the Park, to the Tusayan Forest Service Office, in order to obtain a map of the area. One of my motives for bringing the dual sport bike to the canyon this year, is to do some exploring on the forest service roads surrounding the National Park. It will also be my main transportation to and from work, which is a distance of about 2 miles. During a couple of scenic flights last year, I realized that there are a vast number of dirt roads adjacent to the South Rim, and after picking up a map, I can now take off and have some idea where I'll be headed. I also have a GPS that makes it virtually impossible to get lost.

Not much on the schedule for today, so it might be a good time to take off on the bike, and see where some of these dirt roads go.......

WHAT A VIEW

This is how my day started to unfold yesterday, as Miss Gracie decided that a little lap time was in order. When Gracie became a part of this family a couple of years ago, this type of activity was a rarity. Now, it's more the rule, rather than the exception.

After stopping at the Bus Yard to complete some final paperwork regarding direct deposits, withholding, and some other routine forms, I drove over to Yavapai Point. This was my first look at the canyon, since arriving on Monday. Even after spending the entire summer here last year, the view of this magnificent landscape never seems to loose it's WOW factor.

This view is looking west toward Powell Point.

Looking down into the canyon toward Phantom Ranch.

Later in the afternoon, the urge to create my famous fried potatoes, overcame the desire to eat a more healthy diet. This is what the finished product looked like, before the appetite made a large portion of this picture disappear. Along with a big BBQ'd steak, I didn't go to bed hungry.

This morning, I had considerable difficulty loading these pictures, primarily due to the very poor Sprint data card connection. It took forever, and I'm not sure if there's an answer to improve the situation. Perhaps an external antenna might improve the connection, but at this point, that's just a guess. When I start work, and time becomes a little more critical, the obvious answer is that posts will only occur when I have sufficient time. Hopefully, another unsecured wireless connection will make itself available, and solve the problem.

FIRST FULL DAY AT THE CANYON

Lots of stuff accomplished yesterday, while getting reestablished at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The last things I had to do yesterday, was unload the Kawasaki KLR 650 Dual Sport motorcycle, and get the EZ up placed at the front of our RV space. Unlike last year, where the RV space was not level, this year I'm parked on level asphalt, and getting the motor home parked, was much easier.

About mid day, I reported in at work, and learned a little more about what to expect for work in the coming few weeks. At the end of the month, all the drivers will be bidding on the their work shifts and routes, and that's when I'll know what my schedule and days off are going to be. This year, I'll have a little more seniority than last summer, when I was pretty close to the bottom of the list.

The medical clinic at the South Rim Village.

The first order of business was a trip to the medical clinic for the required drug test. I could get into a long diatribe about drug testing, especially when some organizations like the ACLU, and a few activist judges think that drug testing of some groups like welfare recipients, is an unreasonable search and seizure under the 4th amendment. But, I won't, sufficing to say that if you don't have anything to hide, what's the big deal?

After leaving the clinic, I stopped at the library, renewing the card for another year. At Park Headquarters, I picked up the vehicle access sticker, then stopped at the General Store, before heading back to the motor home. The last order of business was the preparation of a batch of stew, before retiring to the recliner for some reading and TV. Today, I just might have to take my first peek at this big hole in the ground called the Grand Canyon.

This is "Sami's Road", that now has an overlay of gravel, rather than just dirt, like last year.

SLOW, BUT WORKABLE

My first attempt to load pictures of yesterday's drive to the canyon was futile. However, the second attempt was a little bit more successful. Each picture took about 5 minutes to load, but at least it worked.

Two lazy bums on the floor behind the driver and passenger's seats.

"Yep, I'm the co-pilot on this trip".

Driving into the Grand Canyon National Park.

Even before the busy season, there's always lines of vehicles at the entrance gate.

TRAVELING TO THE CANYON

Yesterday was a travel day in the motor home, from Lake Havasu, to the Grand Canyon. I said adios to Patty, and pulled away from the house a little before 8 am. The drive east on I40 was pretty uneventful, as I only made one stop in Kingman for fuel and propane. When I passed through the National Park Gate, it was about mid day. Before I parked the motor home in our tentatively reserved space in Trailer Village, I first checked with the Xanterra Housing office. Space 94 was still being held for us, so by late afternoon, I was parked, and had most everything set up.

That's the good news. Now, the inevitable bad news. I'm posting this edition, with an Internet hookup by way of our Sprint Data Card. The south rim of the Grand Canyon is a Sprint Roaming area, and the connection is almost non-existent. The speed is so very slow, that if I'm even able to load any pictures, it will probably take forever. Last year, we had a nearby, unsecured network, that we utilized, but this year, I doesn't look like we'll have that same option.

I haven't given up, but I guess even a slow connection is better than no connection. I may be able to boost the reception with an external antenna, and if that's the only way to enhance the connectivity, I may look into that option. Otherwise, my routine of almost daily posts will be considerably less, and without a faster speed, photos will be far and few between.