Snowed out in the dry heat

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We entered Arizona on a sour note, as it was snowing yet again. We decided to try and see northern Arizona despite the weather, as it would be a shame to be in Arizona without seeing the grandest of canyons and the valley of monuments.

But the weather just wouldn't cooperate. We drove on Navajo roads to Canyon de Chelly, managing to catch it in the brief sunlight. Canyon de Chelly is breathtakingly beautiful. Especially at the end of the the south-rim drive, with a view of the convergence of canyons at Spider Rock. To go down into the canyon would've required much better weather and a Navajo guide, but we got our glimpse of the beauty just in time. No more than 5 minutes later, visibility had dropped to a car-length as the snow came down hard. We made a dash for the car and drove onwards, not really sure where we would go or what we would do now that the winter gods decided to laugh at us.

The snow cleared up after lunch, but the weather forecast called for more of the unforgiving white stuff. Our plans to drive through Monument Valley would have to be post-poned. So we decided to head towards the Grand Canyon, taking the scenic route through Navajo country. After almost running out of fuel once and contemplating staying in Tuba City for the night, we finally came to the AZ64. We had not driven more than a few metres onto the road when we saw the sign.

Grand Canyon. Road CLOSED.

So we grudgingly went back down the road to the Cameron Trading Post and had some dinner. We inquired about a room but it seemed every other traveller heading to the Grand Canyon had beat us to it. There was an RV park across the road, but after a bit of head-scratching, the girl decided that if we were just sleeping in our car, there was no need to pay an RV rate. In the morning we woke up to the sound of a car right next to ours. We wondered why they were idling next to us, and about 15 minutes later the school bus arrived to pick up the kids. We hadn't parked in the RV spots...we parked in the school bus waiting lot! We wandered across the road for some breakfast and hopefully better news, but the word was the Canyon had gotten four feet of snow and the roads wouldn't be open any time soon.

The sun was shining brightly, and if we knew the road was open we would've gone for it. But more snow was in the forecast, and rumors were the roads wouldn't be open for a few days (later we found out it opened sooner...darn!), so we were stumped as to what to do next.

We knew that in Flagstaff, plenty of the white stuff had fallen on the area. Sedona was also out of the question, with too much snow on the ground to hike among the red rocks. Lake Mead? Would have been nice if Vegas was on our itinerary, but we wanted to be more south towards Joshua Tree National Park. Plus it was just as far north as the Grand Canyon. Lake Havasu City...maybe. Then it came to us. We recalled a conversation we had on the beach in the Keys...the London Bridge was somewhere in Arizona. We studied the map and it was decided. We were heading to the London Bridge at Lake Havasu.

Seeing the amount snow blanketing Flagstaff, it reaffirmed our decision. We stopped for a yummy lunch at Westside Lilo's Cafe along old Route 66 in Seligman, where we chatted with an Aussie family coming from Joshua Tree. They were on their way to the Canyon. Hope they got to see it!

As we approached Lake Havasu City, we passed through some spectacular scenery and came down out of the mountains to warmer temperatures. We even spotted a coyote at a rest stop. Just outside of town, we found Craggy Wash, a free dispersed campground on BLM land (Bureau of Land Management), and were amused by the appearance that everything was new and recently built in this city in the middle of the Mohave Desert. And on the north side of the city by the airport, everything was brand new...the roads hadn't even been given more creative names other than Commercial Way and Shops Blvd. We picked up a few groceries and headed back to the free campground, which was full of RV's and grey nomads.

The next day, we were amused by the 7:00am rush out of the campground, probably towards Walmart. You see, the free campground had no ammenities, and with 40 other campers and no trees or rocks to hide behind, you can't just take care of business in the bush. So Walmart received a high number of "customers" in the evening and early in the morning. We later drove into town along London Bridge Road to discover the famous Bridge that had been bought and re-assembled in the Arizona desert. There are some odd things in the United States, and the London Bridge has to be on the list along with the world's largest ball of twine, which I have yet to see. We also chose that afternoon to do a not-so-fun but very necessary chore: laundry. At least we got free wi-fi while doing it!

That evening upon arriving back at the campground, we encountered our first and only prejudiced comments towards us. So we're two young hippy-looking folks, traveling in an old, rusty station wagon. So? Well, when we pulled up to the campground, our spot had be taken; we simply parked next to him where there was a nice flat spot and a great fire ring and proceeded to unload our table and chairs.
An old grump came out of his RV and said to us: "You gonna build a fire tonight? I don't want none of that smoke in my RV. I'd appreciate it if you don't build a fire".
Dave: "Well sir, you're in luck as we don't have any wood. We can't build a fire."
"And you parked a little close, huh. Look at all the room out here. Spread out a bit."
"Are you saying you want us to move?"
"Yah, you're too close. Move on. Go on"
And he returned to his RV. Insulted by his rudeness, we of course did NOT move. We simply set up our table and chairs on the far side of the car, away from him, and proceeded to make our afternoon coffee and snacks.
The RV door opened again and he yelled out:
"You're from Australia, aren't you?"
"Yeah?"
"Ah well, then, that's alright then. Go ahead and build a fire. Do what you want. Sorry about that."
We looked at each other, wondering what this crazy old man was thinking. Was he going to explain himself?

He came out of his RV once more and explained that there had been problems with the local kids. We looked like two young hippy trouble-makers, and he didn't want none of those camping next to him. He mentioned there had been thefts and even hinted at murders in the area, but we weren't alarmed because he seemed a bit, well, crazy. He basically told us that if we were two young Americans, we would not be welcome to camp there. Two young Americans, he explained, couldn't travel the country like us tourists were doing. They wouldn't be welcome most places because the local kids have caused too much trouble. We wouldn't go so far as to call him racist, but there was definitely a strong tone of an underlying prejudice that gave us a sour taste. We wondered why he didn't just go camp in any of the other BLM lands, out by himself, since he didn't seem to like having neighbours. He also went on and on about how this was a lousy time of year to travel and we weren't going to find any warmer weather in the direction we were going, which put a bit of a damper on our mood.
Luckily, we didn't have to spend the rest of the night talking to him, and we laughed the next morning when the nice lady from British Columbia jokingly asked us about the neighbour. Chatting with her reminded us that just about everyone else we've met in the States had been kind and friendly.

Upon leaving Lake Havasu City, we figured we need to hit up one more of the desert oddities: Quartzsite. Known to RV'ers as the world largest flea market, their rock and gem shows in January and February attract over a million people to the area. We hit the tail end of it, but we got a glimpse of the vastness of the flea markets. There were tables and stalls everywhere the eye could see. I got my string of turquoise beads, while Dave went on a search for a cheap book.

And so the journey continued further west...

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Photos

Canyon de Chelly
A Navajo guide is required to descend into the canyon.

Spider Rock
At Canyon de Chelly National Park, AZ

And the snow hits!
This is within a few minutes of the last shot!

The reason we missed the canyon!
Darn pretty white stuff!

The real thing!
Weird that the London Bridge is in the Arizona desert

The London Bridge
Is in Lake Havasu City, AZ

Desert Sunset
We climbed the hill behind our free campground to get this shot. Mohave Desert, AZ

Into the Desert
This is on our way south from Lake Havasu City, AZ