The drive out of the Grand Canyon area is almost as spectacular as the canyon itself. We drove up from Kanab, UT and connected to I-70, heading to Colorado. The drive was so fast because of all the changing scenery… and the copious amounts of coffee helped, too.
The goal was to get to Kentucky to see my sister-in-law and her family as soon as possible. We had nixed our plans for South Dakota and Mount Rushmore, so we just went for it and pushed out across the US due east. Once we passed over the Rockies (I recall seeing a sign with 11,000-plus feet in elevation at one point!) we landed in the beginning of the Great Plains. It flattened out like a crepe and we breathed a collective sigh of relief. Mountain driving when you’re almost 25,000 pounds combined weight is… how do I put it?… well, it requires your full attention. Thankfully, the Chevy truck is equipped with a 6-speed Allison transmission and it’s totally amazing. Also, our Safety Hitch brakes eased our minds significantly.
But still, driving an RV up and down a gigantic mountain is exhausting. I never thought I would look forward to the plains as much as I did.
After Colorado, we stayed in Missouri for a few days and enjoyed the lush southern surroundings and the daily lightening storms with tornado warnings. (Seeing a tornado warning on the news takes on a whole other meaning when you’re watching it from your 35-foot RV.)
Illinois was fun, as fun as Illinois can get, I guess. We drove past Lincoln’s birthplace. We didn’t stop for it. We saw lots of corn fields. And farms. And it was flat.
Man, I’m falling asleep recalling this.
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How Bella travels: Stuffed unicorn and water bottle are musts. |
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Clara: “Driving again? See you in a few hours.” ::snore:: |
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A typical Ben activity during a long drive: wolfing down anything edible. |
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Sophia goes art crazy. |
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And she loves her mother. Aww! |
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One of the most beautiful drives ever. |
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See? |
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Okay, this is cool: We stopped at a cafe for lunch and parked next to a rig filled with boxes of watermelons. The guys driving the truck were shifting boxes around and yelled over to us to come get some watermelons. We got two and put them in the back of the Chevy. |
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Loveliness. |
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Loveliness: Part II |
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Around every corner, there was something new to see. |
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These… |
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are… |
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beautiful… |
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photos… |
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aren’t they? I’m tellin’ you, a blind monkey could not have taken a bad picture. (Apologies to any blind monkeys reading this blog.) |
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