We’ve been wandering around from place to place. You’d think we’re retired. Oh wait! We are.

Escalante, UT – Bryce Canyon – Kanab, UT

We got a fairly early start and said goodbye to a great campground in Escalante. It was well off the highway, had clean bathrooms, and a shady site.

It was an easy, scenic ride to Bryce Canyon National Park.

We decided to start our tour of the canyon by taking the shuttle bus, which stops at a few points with a view of the amphitheater.

We got off the bus at Bryce Point and took a few pictures of the main amphitheater.

We hiked the Rim Trail from Bryce Point to Inspiration Point. The trail was 1.5 miles and a bit of a challenge at 8300 ft. elevation, but it was doable.

We lunched at the shuttle parking lot…

…then rode out to Rainbow Point.

It started to rain, so we rode back to the shuttle stop and moved on to Kanab. Again, we experienced an afternoon rain.

We campsite was at the Kanab RV Corral, which is the same place we stayed at in 2000 with our sons. They reminded us that this was the place where our younger son was stung by a “dead” bee in the pool. There were no dead bees in the pool this time. The park was immaculate – probably the nicest one this whole trip.

A couple of things we have noticed is that the campgrounds we have stayed at have been nowhere near full and there are lots of European tourists. June and July are busier months for Americans, and August is the month when Europeans travel.

Kanab, UT – North Rim – Kanab, UT

We left the trailer at the campground and rode to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. At one of the scenic viewpoints there was this diagram that explains the layers of the Escalante Staircase.

We walked through the lodge to get a couple of pictures. It’s supposed to be good luck to rub Brighty’s nose.

We took pictures from various vantage points. There are a couple of places where they have constructed vantage points complete with concrete steps, walkways and steel railings.

We attended a lecture given by one of the Rangers. She related the story of botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter from the University of Michigan who cataloged over 400 plants in the canyon in 1938. We also learned from the ranger that this is the monsoon season in the Southwest. That explains the thunderstorms we’ve encountered almost every day for the past week. On our way back to the campground we rode through rain that was perhaps the worst we’ve encountered on this trip. We emerged from the shower by the time we got to Jake’s Corner. We treated ourselves to coffee and cookies at Jake’s Corner Bar.

When we got back to the campground, I had to tie a line to the camper to help resist the heavy wind that came up. Rain followed the wind, but it didn’t last long. We hung our gloves to dry in the camper.

Kanab, UT – Holbrook, AZ

This day we rode to Holbrook, AZ. Our route to us back up to Jake’s Corner and through Marble Canyon.

We stopped for coffee and a snack in Cameron, AZ. This shop has room after room filled with tourist items. There were a few items made by local artisans, but most everything was made in China.

Because we got started early, we were able to stop early and get set up and take a dip in the pool before the mid-afternoon sprinkles.

It rained after dinner.

Holbrook, AZ – Placitas, NM

This day we rode to Placitas, NM, north of Albuquerque, to visit friends. We made the usual stops for coffee and lunch.

We had dinner in Bernalillo.

We’ll be staying with our friends for a few days. After that we’ll head farther east toward home, but we have no concrete schedule.