Day 9 (220 miles - 2300 total miles)

Today we drove to the Grand Canyon. We started the day at an elevation of 1100 feet we went up to 8046 feet and ended up at 7000 feet. When we were going up the mountain to Flagstaff AZ the van started to heat up. I had already turned off the AC, but the temperature was still climbing. We got stuck behind a truck that was only going 30 mph, so I turned on the heat. There is nothing like going up the mountain when it is over 100 and you have the heat on. I was able to switch the AC and heat off and on and I kept the temperature under control. We did see several vehicles on the side of the road. Once we were in Flagstaff everything was fine and the rest of the drive was uneventful. This was the shortest distance we had to travel, but somehow it took us 6 hours. Colleen’s Dad came with and he had Alyssa and Alexis in his car (that saved us a whapping 140 lbs).

We got to our campsite around 4 P.M. and got setup. I did not realize it when I was unhooking the camper, but our campsite was on a hill. The moment the camper came off the hitch it started to roll away OOPS! Luckily Colleen, her Dad and I were able to grab it before it got away. Hey Tim next time put something behind the wheels before you take the camper off the hitch. After that we needed a snack we had apples cheese and crackers. Finally we went to the canyon. Colleen’s fear of heights did not go well with the canyon. As long as the kids were not near the edge she could muster up enough courage to peer over the edge (especially if there was a tree to hold on to). Colleen just told me she did not know she could shake like that.
Back at the camper we cooked diner. We had red beans and rice, apple chicken sausage, fruit (cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries, and raspberries), green beans, and bread. After diner we started a fire, and roasted marshmallows. The campsite was great it is too bad we couldn’t stay longer.