Finally the weather cleared and we made the two hour trip to Monument Valley. I have no words to describe the beauty of this national park. If I could just park our RV at Monument Valley and stay there forever...! We took the 17 mile scenic route which took us almost three hours as we stopped every couple hundred feet to take in the breathtaking views. Cliff enjoyed being able to drive his truck on the dirt road in four wheel drive. Of note: Four wheel drive was not needed. I was so focused on taking pictures with my new camera, that I forgot my sun protection and burned my skin. Again. I even have an interesting sunburn pattern on my arms, reflecting me holding my camera. Overall, I do consider it a small price to pay for all the great pictures I was able to get today. 

Today we woke up to more rain. While the weather cleared here at the campground, our weather app showed rain at the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley. Therefore, we decided to wait another day before making the 2 1/2 hour drive to each national park. They have amazing Lake Powell boat tours here going through the breathtaking canyons, which we would have loved to do today, but unfortunately, they were already sold out. I was also not able to find tickets for Antelope Canyon, but was able to get tickets for Canyon X, which is another slot canyon. It is less famous and less visited, but we are glad we will be able to experience a slot canyon - assuming it does not get closed as well. Our tour is on Tuesday and we are hoping the slot canyons dry out by then.
With the weather not quite cooperating we had another relaxing day, grilling burgers, taking pictures of the scenery around the campground, and playing board games. We watched the sunset over Lake Powell and waited for the stars to appear. I can actually sit out here at night without being attacked by mosquitoes. Only a bat flew by. 
​

Today we mostly stayed on the campground, enjoying the views and taking some more time to relax. We held off driving the two and a half hours to Monument Valley as it was cloudy there with a high probability of thunderstorms. Cliff and I went back to Horseshoe Bend as I wanted to take some more pictures with my new camera. Since I got burned yesterday I hiked to the viewpoints wearing long hiking pants, a T-shirt with a jacket on top, and a wide brim hat. It was 95 degrees at an altitude of almost 4000 feet, but I somehow survived in all my clothing and was able to get additional shots of the breathtaking scenery without burning additional skin. A win!
Unfortunately our tour of Lower Antelope Canyon tomorrow got cancelled due to flash flooding. There is water in the slot canyons and we are not sure how soon tours will resume. This tour was one of the highlights of the trip and we are hoping that we get another chance to see these slot canyons. We have changed the itinerary of our trip to give us more flexibility to visit Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon and cancelled our campground in Williams, AZ, near the Grand Canyon. We will stay here until August 3rd and instead will make day trips to the Grand Canyon.

After five days of driving we enjoyed a relaxing day at our beautiful campground. In the afternoon we visited Horseshoe Bend and stopped at multiple vista points to view Lake Powell from above. I have no words to describe the landscape here; it is absolutely breathtaking and humbling. To view Horseshoe Bend we had to walk about one and a half miles, a detail we somehow missed. Without sunscreen and only  a few half full water bottles we had found in the truck, we followed the trail to Horseshoe Bend. Needless to say, we got burned by the strong and unforgiving Arizona midday sun.
This morning we also discovered that all our IPhones showed different times and compass readings (Arizona is on Mountain Time, but does not have daylight savings time).  We did figure out that some of our IPhones interpreted our location as Arizona, and some as Utah, as the campground sits on the border. That explains the discrepancy in times. We still do not know why our compass readings are different, but I definitely would not want to rely on an IPhone compass in the wilderness.

Finally in Arizona! Our campground at Lake Powell is beautiful and the scenery is breathtaking! We drove 372 miles and are on our 9th tank of gas. It was a pleasant 82 degrees when we arrived and I am loving the low humidity. We can't wait to explore the area!

We made it to New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment. Today we drove 371 miles and gained another 3000 feet in altitude. At 6500 feet we are definitely in the high desert now with significantly cooler temperatures. It is currently 60 degrees here and we are thankful to get a break from the heat. We also survived our first thunderstorm in the RV and were able to watch beautiful lightning bolts over the high desert landscape. We managed to set up the RV just before the storm hit the campground and escaped getting rained on. After 4 days on the road and setting up and packing up the RV daily, we have become much more efficient with our process. What takes the longest time is Cliff connecting and disconnecting the sewer line, mostly because he is married to an infection preventionist, who yells out detailed step-by-step instructions to prevent any contamination of clean items. I also hand out gloves and disinfectant wipes, too many to count. 
Our campground in Grants, NM, is in the middle of a volcanic field, surrounded by black and twisted lava, deposited here by past volcanic eruptions. That was a nice surprise.
Also of interest: We are on gas tank number eight now. 

Greetings from Amarillo, Texas. To get some much needed rest we only drove 271 miles today, passing cattle ranches, wind turbines, and casinos along route 66. It is still extremely hot with temperatures over 100 degrees, but the low humidity makes it more bearable. It looks like we have left the oppressing humidity from the South behind us. The land has gotten flat, as flat as it can get, and yet, we still gained 2400 feet in altitude today. Our campground in Amarillo is located at 3600 feet above sea level and the landscape and climate have dramatically changed. There are very few trees and there is a hot, dry wind, making our eyes feel gritty. 
Of interest: Our campground near Oklahoma City in Tornado Alley had underground storm shelters. I had always wondered where campers would go if a tornado came roaring towards their campsites . Feeling much more prepared for camping in Tornado Alley, I immediately tried to locate the storm shelters at our Amarillo campground, but there were none to be found. Let's hope the weather stays nice. 

Eight hours of driving today and we are on our 5th tank of gas. We have left Arkansas behind us and have made it halfway through Oklahoma, passing farmlands, cattle, more cattle, and casinos. It was a scorching 103 degrees all day today, although the humidity was much lower than what we are used to in Atlanta. The truck handled the heat well and effortlessly pulled our 14,500lbs Fifth Wheel, which could have been a little lighter if I had been able to decide what to bring. After considering all that could happen, I ended up making no decision at all and loaded up the RV with everything I could think of. Except something to secure the cabinet doors, leading to yesterday's unfortunate incident of my camera and lens being hurled out of a cabinet during driving. Camera and lens still check out ok so far.
Tonight's campground neighbors are great, a young family on their way back home to Florida after spending 40 days on the road through national parks in Washington, Oregon, and California, and a retired couple, who has been on the road for 2 months travelling through Michigan, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Montana. We absolutely love the RV community and the collective enthusiasm for travelling.
​

We made it to Arkansas, driving through five states (Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas) in just under 7 hours. As we passed through the states the landscape changed ever so slightly with trees less tall and the land more flat. We arrived in Arkansas to a heat advisory - according to the weather app, the temperature of 94 degrees and 50% humidity made it feel like 101 degrees. And here, as we stood in the sweltering heat, we encountered what seemed to be the first RV malfunction. The auto leveling system did not deploy. I certainly was no help in the heat, my effort just focused on staying alive.  Cliff, at least, managed to perform some actions, although I was not sure if repeatedly pushing the same buttons over and over was going to solve the problem. In the meantime, our tech savvy offspring, had already googled the problem, watched some videos, and presented a solution (resetting the system) which ultimately worked. And that is why we still bring them along!! 
Unfortunately, when we opened our RV, I saw what no photography enthusiast ever wants to see. The camera bag with my brand new camera and lens on the floor - hurled out of a 5 foot tall cabinet. The roads through Memphis had been extremely rough and we could feel the RV bouncing around behind us. After days of excitement about my new camera, panic set in immediately. I quickly took the camera and detached lens out of the bag and while I did not see any external damage it will take me some time to assess for internal damage. Note to self: Secure all cabinets. Lesson learned.
​

July 19th, 2022
Four more days until we embark on our trip across the United States. We, or rather,  Cliff, is going to drive over 5000 miles pulling a 40 ft fifth wheel all the way to California and back. I will be the passenger; the one that cannot help yelling "stop" whenever brake lights go off in front of us, or next to us, or in another lane. And, yes, we are still married, We are delighted that our two youngest sons, both in college, are joining us for this adventure. They have made it clear that they are only coming along to see all the national parks we plan to visit, including the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, Sedona, and Death Valley. We are totally fine with that statement as we have made it clear that they are only coming along to make our lives easier. After all, that is why we have endured 26 years of parenthood.
We created this blog to provide daily updates of our trip for family and friends and anyone else who is interested in reading about our road trip adventures.