Sometimes you need a getaway

I’ve returned!  Most likely, you didn’t even know I was gone……   Well, a few blog posts missed over a few days might have been an indicator.  Or you might have thought I was burned out on blogging.

Nah, not burned out on blogging.  Just burned out.  I needed to get out of “Dodge” as it were.  So, I took a little trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon……..

By the way, lots of cool guesses on where I was based on the two shots uploaded yesterday.  Sorry for not approving the comments yesterday.  I’d found WiFi at a gas station near the North Rim, uploaded, and then went back to being unplugged.  See, cell phone coverage on the North Rim is almost non-existent (unless you’re at the lodge).  And that’s part of why I went to the North Rim.  No network access, no cell phone, no distractions beyond what I chose to be distracted by.  🙂  Ah, kind of like trips to Pittsburg New Hampshire back in the day.

This was my first excursion to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and I’ve got to say it’s amazing.  Driving into the park I felt like I was back in Colorado in one of the Park towns.  Or, there were times, driving to Cape Royal for instance, where I felt like I was driving along densely forested roads like back in New England.

I wasn’t shocked about the scenery change.  Arizona has so many different regions.  Add the North Rim as another area all to itself.  Lush and green!  That’s what I was treated to immediately.  Oh, and super cold each night!  Camped at 8800 ft above sea level!

The most surprising thing about the North Rim?  Tourist quantities are low, really low!  On the South Rim you think one of the many foreigners present at any given view point will push you right off the edge.  Seriously, lots of rudeness going on down there.  On the North Rim, there’s nobody there to push you at all.  Seriously, there were times when nobody else was present!

Oh, and I did a lot of off road adventuring.  No, not with the Airstream in tow……  🙂  But there are a great many viewpoints on the North Rim that are way off the beaten track.  Visiting those locations I was guaranteed peace and quiet every time.  Saddle Mountain, North Timp Point, Timp Point, Point Sublime, “Parasite Point”, and more…….  I’ll tell you more about that in a later post.  I’m beat, 300 miles of driving today.  I need a rest from the vacation!