April 22 found us heading back to Arizona, the northern part of the state this time. We were headed for Parker, Arizona but stopped in Lake Havasu City to view the London Bridge, first built as a pedestrian bridge over the Thames in London. In 1968, it was dismantled, brought to the US and rebuilt.
Lake Havasu 
Our campground in Parker is really neat. It is on the Colorado River and has a fun floating bar on the river. There is a lot of money here with HUGE boats!
We drove to the Parker Dam on day two, the other end of the dam project (Hoover Dam at the top end), then drove the California side of the river, back down to Parker.
Wild burrow 
Our park, from California side
For our last day in Parker, we went to the iconic Desert Bar, Nellie E Saloon. It is only open Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 6 from October through April. I’m glad we were here during that time period. We had actually made some changes to our plans, to make sure we were here on one of the days it is open. We got there for the last weekend of 2021.
Entrance to Desert Bar 
The band 
Looking down on the bar
The band was terrific, playing songs from the 70’s and playing them well. After a couple of hours, we returned to our campground and went back to the floating bar for the last time. We took a few pictures of some of the big boats on the river. On one of them, if you look closely, you will see the boat passengers, or one of them, having a good time.
On Sunday, April 25, we left Parker and headed north toward the Grand Canyon. I had never seen it and Dave was anxious to show it to me. It was too early for our traditional Bloody Marys when we left the campground but nevertheless, we managed, finding a dead end road.
Continuing on, we reached our campground, Grand Canyon Camper Village for 4 nights so we could explore the Grand Canyon south rim. Dave went into the park the first afternoon, to get a map so we could make our plans. The next morning, I packed a lunch and we headed into the park. Our first stop was the visitor center but we didn’t go in. We walked to Mather Point for my first glimpse of the canyon. We then hiked 1 1/2 miles to another view point. We hopped on one of the free shuttles and saw more scenery. When done, we went back to our pickup for a quick lunch. Because it was a chilly day with strong winds, we ate in the truck.
After lunch, we drove to another parking spot to pick up another shuttle. We had to park a ways away so had quite a hike just getting to the shuttle but it was worth it. We ended up at Hermit Rest, the farthest point that a shuttle can go on the south rim.
That evening, I was hungry for a good steak dinner, not just the Kwik Trip steak we carry with us. Dave had gotten a recommendation for one of the steak houses, The Big E. It was the most expensive place we have ever eaten but it was worth it. The food was great and so was the decor. We ordered separate meals and took leftovers back to the trailer for future meals. They even had a 30 screen large screen movie showing vistas of the Grand Canyon and surrounding national parks.
Day 2 was raining, snowing, hailing and sleeting so we didn’t go to the canyon. However, we went to the park visitor center, 1/2 mile from our campground to view an IMAX movie about the canyon.
Day 3, our last day here, took us on a driving tour. This time we took Boo who has spent a lot of time alone in the trailer. The sites are majestic. We got as far as the Desert View Watchtower so we had traveled the entire south rim. Along the way, I learned some interesting facts.
When leaving the canyon we saw a helicopter towing a rescue net, heading to the canyon. We later learned there was a boating accident the day before with two injuries and one fatality. A rescue coptor was going in for them the next day so it could have been the one we saw but we have no confirmation. Either way that was a sad situation.The canyon is 277 miles long, a mile deep on the north rim, averages 10 miles wide and 18 miles wide at its widest point.
Last view of the Grand Canyon 
We dropped into the second steakhouse for a quick beer, the Yippie-ei-o steak house. The prices were the same as the Big E so we didn’t feel ripped off. The service was not great though. We think it was because we weren’t going to eat.
We went a bit south to Flagstaff for 2 nights at Greer’s Pine Shadows Resort. What a neat campground!
We wanted to explore Sedona, which many people have recommended to us. We packed a lunch and headed to the Slide Rock State Park, by way of Oak Creek Canyon. This was another fantastic drive. After getting to the park, we ate lunch then walked around the small park. There is a popular swimming area at the river but Boo was not allowed, so Dave went to take pictures.
Mt Humpheys
We continued to Sedona, just to get some more pictures. I was not feeling well so we didn’t stop to doing anything in the cute touristy town.
The next day we went to the Petrified Forest National Park. We had been near here last year but had not stopped. What a wonderful surprise! This area was a swamp 13 million years ago, with giant trees. as weather conditions changed, the trees toppled and were buried in sediment, silt, mud, sand and volcanic ash. The pressure from this burial caused the wood to become saturated with these materials which eventually replaced the wood fibers. The result is beautiful multicolored stone. This is a ‘must see” park but it is much more than just petrified trees. In the pictures, please see the Arizona version of Badlands, grays and blues here.
