The Wild West Trip Part 2

June 14, 2020February 13, 2022 Monica Scott6 Comments

Lake Powell, Page, Arizona

When we go back, I want to stay at Lake Powell for at least a week! The pictures don’t even come close to the immensely stunning scenes here. As we planned our trip, we all agreed that we wanted to at least see Lake Powell. We decided to make it our home base for 3 days. From here, we could drive to the North Rim Grand Canyon for the day, see some slot canyons, and explore the lake. This place did not disappoint!

We stayed at Lake Powell Resort campground. https://www.lakepowell.com/lodging/lake-powell-resort/

The Campground at Wahweap Marina Campground

The views at this campground are unbelievable! So, so pretty! The marina rents a variety of boats so you can go explore the lake. This was something we splurged on and I am so glad we did! It was the best day. The only negative was checking in to get the boat took a long time and then checking the boat back in at the end of the day took a very long time. I would still rent a boat if you can but just know that it takes a while to get it and be prepared to stay a while when you bring it back.

The marina provides a map so you won’t get lost. The lake is far too big to explore the whole thing in one day, probably even 2-3 days wouldn’t be long enough. The only way to do that would be to rent a houseboat. What fun that would be!

A Slot canyon entrance
Lake Powell
Noah and Jamey
Love these adventurers!
Jonathan pulling the boat so we can anchor for a while in a slot canyon.
Fun family times!

Exploring Lake Powell, Page, AZ

On our last day at this “home base”, we headed to see the North Rim Grand Canyon. We went from 90 degrees in the desert at Page, AZ to snow falling at the entrance to the North Rim in a matter of 2 hours. The terrain is so diverse!

Parker at the entrance sign.

Jonathan and Parker

Noah and Parker at the Grand Canyon National Park

Snowing in June

Jamey and Noah at Grand Canyon

It was cold and windy!

Point Imperial- Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon Lodge area was beautiful!

Roadside Stops:

The views on the drive from Page, AZ to the North Rim are just beautiful! There are several places to stop along the way and see cool rock formations. We had a great time at this little roadside stop.

The view driving to North Rim Grand Canyon

Fun little place to explore!

Silly Family Photos are the best!

Little Rock House

Family Exploring the Roadside Boulders

Cousins

Crossing the Colorado River

Beautiful Rainstorm

Before we pulled out of Page, AZ, we went to check out the museum at the Glen Canyon Dam. I love museums! This is a very small museum- it requires less than an hour of your time and you can get some great photos of the Glen Canyon Dam while you are there. The history of the dam and the surrounding area are very family friendly!

Glen Canyon Bridge

Glen Canyon Dam

Glen Canyon Bridge over the Colorado River

Lake Powell, Page AZ

There is so much more to explore in the area than we had time for so we will just have to go again!

Tomorrow I will share about our next stop on the Wild West Trip- Bluff, Utah!

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Sanctuary Ridge Adventures in Camping

The Wild West Trip Part 1

June 13, 2020February 13, 2022 Monica Scott2 Comments

Mesa Arch at Sunrise, June 2019, Canyonlands National Park

I think one of the amazing things about living in the United States is the diversity of our land. As an avid camping family, it has long been a dream of ours to take the iconic “trip out West”. I can not even begin to tell you how much time I spent planning this trip! Between the input of our dear friends (who have made the trip multiple times and had great tips for us) and the input of my brother/sister, we had the road trip of a lifetime! There is no possible way I can put everything in one single post so I am going to break the trip down into destinations and I will link places we stayed along with parks we visited. It was amazing. Truly. Everyone should go!

5 Things You Must Do When Planning a Wild West Trip:

Decide how far you want to go and then use Roadtrippers App to map possible routes.
Pick realistic goals- there is no way you can see everything in Utah, Colorado, and Arizona in two weeks. Pick your top places to see but give yourself time to recover too. The altitude and heat can really affect you! There were 2-3 days that my husband really felt miserable because we pushed too hard trying to see everything. In the end, I wished we had planned more down time. And we ended up doing more than we had planned on some days just because we felt like it and we had time. That’s ok too! Either way it will be amazing so just go with the flow!
Plan to reserve campsites at least 6 months ahead because the campgrounds will be full if you wait!
If you are visiting multiple National Parks research the National Parks Pass! It saved us a lot of $$ as most of the National Parks have entrance fees!
Plan age appropriate hikes/activities. There really is something for everyone!

Here is the link to our Roadtrippers Map:

https://maps.roadtrippers.com/?a2=t!24051440&lat=36.34939146796543&lng=-106.77369269580566&utm_campaign=trip&utm_medium=share&utm_source=copy&z=5.045542790512736

On the Road…

We headed West from Chattanooga, TN on a Thursday afternoon with my brother and his family. Our friends, Steve and Teresa would drive out a few days later and meet us in Moab. We drove to Little Rock, Arkansas. We boon docked overnight in a Cracker Barrel Parking lot. This was our first attempt at boon docking. It was a good experience, really easy to park and there were several other RV’s staying overnight. If you plan to boon dock, make sure to fill your freshwater tank and bring a generator if your RV is not equipped with one.

The next morning we headed further West, driving through Arkansas, Oklahoma and part of Texas. We stopped in Amarillo, Texas for the night. (Along the way, we viewed some of the historic flooding that was taking place along the Mississippi River. One of the campgrounds we had booked for the trip home had already cancelled our reservation due to flooding.) Our third, and final, long day of driving took us through the remainder of Texas and through New Mexico to the first National Park on our parks list.

Mesa Verde National Park

Mesa Verde National Park is a unique park indeed. You really have to see it to believe it! Based on the recommendation of our friends, Steve and Teresa, we spend one day/night at Mesa Verde National Park before heading on to our next destination. We didn’t plan on doing any of the hikes at Mesa Verde because I am terrified of heights and my nephew is unable to climb the ladders required on the hikes here. We drove to the overlooks and walked down some of the trails but we didn’t attempt to do a tour where they take you to the cliff dwellings. I still can’t believe people lived in these cliff dwellings! Just imagine what it was like to have a toddler living there! It’s terrifying and it’s amazing!

We stayed at Mesa Verde National Park Campground. It was a beautiful campground, teeming with wildlife!

Our next destination was my favorite! Check back tomorrow for a continuation of our Wild West Trip!

Sanctuary Ridge Adventures in Camping

Pristine Fort Pickens, Pensacola

April 11, 2020February 16, 2022 Monica ScottLeave a comment

Fort Pickens National Park in Pensacola, Florida

Throughout my childhood, my family spent a week or two camping in this park every summer. The hot summer days were spent swimming in the Gulf of Mexico with our “campground” friends. We met families who camped at the same time every year. They became my pen-pals and we looked forward to seeing each other every summer. One particular family, from Louisiana, became great friends. Between my family, my cousins, and our friends from Louisiana, we had a group of 16 kids riding bikes, playing cards or swimming together for endless hours. We camped in our van, in tents, in a camper- just whatever we had to do to get there. After dinner each night, we would drive to the parking area and lug all our fishing gear to “the point” to go fishing. Some summers we all caught our limit of Red fish. Our friends from Louisiana liked to crab so between our fish and their crab we had quite a feast!

I could go on and on about the great memories I have of this place! Just look at that white sand and emerald water! The sand is so soft, it’s like powder between your toes! And the water- it’s almost always crystal clear. Because it is part of the National Seashore and a National Park, you have to pay to enter the park. This helps keep the crowds down. When we go in Spring, we basically have the entire beach to ourselves.

Fort Pickens National Park campsites are available through this site :

Fort Pickens Campground – National Park Servicewww.nps.gov › guis › planyourvisit › fortpickens-campground

They offer tent, rv, and group campsites. There is no sewer at this park, but they do have clean bath houses with showers available. A few years ago the park was hit hard by a hurricane that took out the roads and most of the trees. There are still some trees but nothing like before the storm. They rebuilt the entire infrastructure. There are great little bike/walking trails between the camping loops. One trail goes all the way to the old fort and the fishing pier. Another trail goes in the opposite direction to a boat launch and picnic area.

There is so much to explore here! Fort Pickens really is an old fort full of rich American history. I highly recommend going on a free guided tour of the fort. The structure itself is something to behold!

The final recommendation I have for this area is actually a 45 minute drive from the park, but it is so worth it! This is my favorite museum- it’s so much fun for kids! They can climb in the cockpits of airplanes, helicopters, and even a retired Blue Angel jet! Check out the website to see when the Blue Angels are home because you can even go watch them practice! Their flight pattern is right over the beach and campground at Fort Pickens so even if you don’t go there to watch them, chances are you will get to see them if they are home.

National Naval Aviation Museum: Welcomewww.navalaviationmuseum.org