It's Big Trip Time! Part 11 - Heading Home!

Did you see all the cool stuff that was in Part 10?  For real, it's a good one.

Another day, another glamour shot of the rig.

At the Vermilion Cliffs.

We woke up on our last morning of the trip at Zion River Resort, having slept well.  After eating breakfast and finishing our packing (we'd done some the day before), we hit the road right around 9am.

Time to head home!

Our last leg of the trip would take us 400 miles back home; although our initial plan was to do the slightly shorter route, through the Kaibab National Forest and around the bend at Marble Canyon, Chris mentioned that he'd prefer the more interstate-heavy option on the last day.  Although this was just a bit longer, distance-wise, it would probably end up taking the same amount of time.  Also, this route would take us right through Las Vegas, so we could scratch Nevada off our "taken Arlene there" BINGO card.

That's the initial route on the right (highlighted)

and the alternative route on the left.

There's no direct route from Zion NP to Phoenix - 

no matter which way you go,

you have to drive around this giant hole in the ground.

Although we both verified we put the proper address into the GPS and selected the Vegas route, it became clear once we started heading up into the mountains that Google Maps was not playing nice with us.  Since the nearest spot on our current steep, divided highway to turn around was miles in the distance, and we were driving a 40 foot vehicle chain, we decided that we'd just keep going on the initial route (this was handled mostly in stride, with only a few under-his-breath complaints of, "great, more twisty, turny mountain roads..." from Chris).

Even though we were once again heading into the mountains when we would have preferred otherwise, the roads were good, and travel was relatively easy.  We briefly paused after an hour and a half at the Le Fevre Overlook for a pit stop, and we were able to see the devastation that forest fires in past seasons had wrecked upon this area.

A little bit of green coming back,

but mostly brown and black, as far as you could see.

We drove past the Jacob Lake Campground and the road that leads you to the north rim of the Grand Canyon (next time!).  After making it out of the forest, the transition from heavily wooded land to what we saw next was pretty incredible:

Those are part of the Vermilion Cliffs,

which are a National Monument.

Pretty incredible, right?

Descending fully into the valley, we joined back up with the 89 and took it into Marble Canyon, where we stopped for a gas and lunch break (chicken salad wraps, Day 2).  This area is also close to Lee's Ferry, where several of the Colorado River rafting companies are located.  As you might imagine, the River itself is also close by, and spanning it, you can also find the historic Navajo Bridge.

Heading toward Marble Canyon

Our views of the Bridge and the River.

Here's a better one from the interwebs:

(The bridge on the left is the historic one,

which is now open to pedestrians.

The one on the right is the new one, for traffic.)

We stayed on 89 all the way into Flagstaff, and after another stop for gas on the northern outskirts of town, we waved hello at Humphreys and joined up with the 17 for our last push home.

Still some snow up there!

Right around 4pm Arizona time, we pulled up in front of the house, and happily moved our stuff from our tiny home to our normal-sized one.  We spent most of the rest of the long Memorial Day weekend doing laundry (so.much.laundry), buying groceries, and cleaning up Arlene and putting her back in storage way the fork out in East Mesa.  First, though, we had some states to add to our map!

The map, as it was when we left home

Ta da!  All finished.

Nevada, we'll get you some day!

Oh, and of course, we sprung these two from their stay at JetPet, their doggie daycare/boarding spot of choice (seriously, they LOVE it there).

Sleepy monkeys!

They party hard at JetPet.

Truly, we had a great time on this trip.  It was the perfect length - just long enough to see everything we did, make us feel like we really "got away," and allow us to be excited to be sleeping in a king-sized bed again once we made it home.  It also wasn't long enough for us to be tired of traveling or to go too stir-crazy having to sit inside the camper while the weather outside wasn't cooperating.  We saw so many amazing things and places, and while some spots we saw just enough of, there are others we can't wait to see again, should we be lucky enough to do so.

I think that's a wrap!  Here's to a great trip and to blogging about something else for the foreseeable future!

Later!

Amy