Chicken Little Was Wrong

There’s no doubt in my mind that the sky is definitely not falling, but there is one heck of a crack in the ground! (more on this observation in a moment).

As you may have guessed we pulled out the wheel blocks and hit the road, 7 AM this past Thursday the 17th of May to be exact. But before we get too excited, this is only a test run. Some call it a shake down run but whatever you call it we are having a blast. We plan to be back to home base (San Diego) by next Thursday. We will then assess the “test”, make necessary adjustments, take on fresh supplies, attend to some last minutes boring house details and head out on the “great escape” for real.


Friday 18th of May – We are camped at the Grand Canyon Railway RV Park in Williams Arizona. I highly recommend this place to anyone who wants to visit the Grand Canyon. (see: www.thetrain.com ) The park has everything you might need (including a four star hotel for those that don’t haul their own room around), it’s almost brand new and very convenient. 8:30 am we headed over to the train depot to pick up our tickets and browse the shops. Near the depot is an old west town and wouldn’t you know it some of the locals got into it and ended up shooting one of the ugly ones. After the dust settled we boarded the train, destination the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The train is a completely authentic restoration of a 1907 steam engine and Pullman cars. The trip to the rim took around one and a half hours but the time went quickly as the staff provided jokes and performed with various musical instruments.

Now back to that crack in the ground. No picture can do this place justice. You just can’t capture the essence of the canyon without seeing it in person. Walking up to one of the lookouts and leaning on the sturdy railing provided just look down, a mile to the bottom. Human nature being as it is, there’s a natural reflex to pucker up the ole behind. I always wondered why that was until this experience when the pucker intensity seemed strong enough to pull a Buick off of the parking lot behind. Oh I see, it’s a survival reflex.

Road revelations: (these will be lessons we have learned along the way). 1. guys, don’t wear shorts that are too short! It just ain’t pretty. Never mind the blinding white legs or knobby knees, it’s the view afforded when you sit down and, as guys do, forget to keep there legs together. I’m not going to describe this horrible picture any more, let your imagination do the rest.