Summer of Hell - Days 1-2: Pick up RV; Sedona
Days 1-2 were all about getting started: we flew into Pheonix, met up with the Sheffields, picked up our RVs, provisioned, and drove to Sedona AZ for our first night. The next day we hiked the Devil's Bridge Trail, visited Flagstaff, and drove to our next stop at the Grand Canyon.
Picking up the RV
Flight was easy, United SFO-PHX direct. Ed, Beth, Orion, and Quinn met us at the airport.
Pheonix in June is misery - it was 115F in the shade. The airport, Uber, the Cruise America building, all running their AC non-stop full blast. The RV? An oven. The parking-lot walk from the car/RV to anywhere else? MELT YOUR FACE OFF HOT! Oh, don't worry though, it's a dry heat. Just don't leave your sunglasses on the dashboard, they'll melt.
Cruise America made the paperwork easy, we were in and out in an hour. Word of warning though: make sure you do a thorough walk-through of your RV before you leave, open cabinets and look inside. Our convertable table/bed was held together with screws that had fully stripped the wood, and Ed and Beth's RV had a leaky sink pipe that made a funky smell they didn't notice until later.
RVs are surprisingly easy to drive. No special license to drive an RV, even the larger 30' rental.
Pro-tips: close the curtains, buy ice and use it to kick-start the fridge/freezer cooling, and don't forget the 3.5mm AUX to Lightning (or USBC) connector if you want your music on the RV speakers.
We turned up the AC and started the propane fridge/freezer and went to Walmart for provisions. We didn't prepay for sheets or towels, we bought them new and donated them later. Our shopping list:
- Sheet sets, towels, blankets, pillows
- Hand soap, bar soap, dry + regular shampoo, conditioner
- Sunscreen, lip balm, insect repellent
- Corkscrew, ziplock bags
- Paper towels, trash bags, tablecloth, aluminum foil, spatula/tongs
- Disinfecting wipes, cleaning spray, sponge, trash bags, air freshener
- Rapid dissolving TP, scented toilet treatment tablets, elbow-length kitchen gloves
- Pocket knives for all the kids!
- First aid kit, flashlights with batteries
- 12V-to-USB converter, Apple lightning to 3.5mm AUX connector (important!)
- Ice, flats of water, food, snacks, pancake mix, bread, butter, oil, condiments
- Food, beer, water, gatorade, snacks, dinner, lunch, breakfast, snacks, gummies, snacks, gummies and more gummies
The RV has a ton of storage space. The back storage area is underneath the master queen bed: it could fit maybe 20 full-size airplane roller bags.
Drive to Sedona
The kids swapped between the two RVs every chance they got. There were lots of phone calls saying "Do you have Quinn?" or "I hope Charlie's there!". I think Charlie wore a seatbelt for the first hour, but everyone else skipped it.
We registered both of us to drive, but I did all the driving. Sara was our DJ, navigator, and peace-keeper. I think I got the better half of the deal.
Sedona
Pheonix is scrub-brush desert, but Sedona is beautiful red rocks, cooler, and a much more laid-back vibe. It was cool to see a hint of what was coming the rest of the vacation.
We stayed at Rancho Sedona RV Park with two side-by-side spaces. Nice place, easy to check in, good facilities, and they have a nearby creek with nice cool water for wading. Harriet lost her brand new sandals in the first two minutes, but I went downstream and somehow managed to find both. Whew!
Devil's Bridge Trail
The next morning we were up early to go hiking! There's no RV parking at Bell Rock Trail or Devil's Bridge Trail, which set us back almost two hours as we drove back/forth trying to figure out what to do. We eventually parked in the Safeway parking lot a few miles away and took a pair of Ubers to the Devil's Bridge Trail parking lot, sucky. Get your act together Sedona!
The hike is listed as "moderate" on AllTrails, but there were busybodies (aka good samaratans) at the trailhead warning hikers about sun exposure, extreme heat, dehydration, and certain death. I thought it was overkill but apparently they have medical rescues out there all the time.
Not for us though! We all were wearing sunscreen, hats, and carrying backpacks with water, gummies, first aid kit, gummies, emergency clothing, gummies, and extra gummies.
Easy 2mi sandy approach, mostly flat with a climb at the end, very little shade. Beautiful red rock mountains.
Some steep stuff, but stairs cut into the rocks make it nbd.
Devil's Bridge itself is very cool, a natural rock bridge caused by erosion.
We got another hiker to take our picture. It's not very wide up there!
The heat was getting to us on the way out, peaked at 100F, it would have been better if we had started earlier. 3.7mi, 614' elevation from 4600', took us 1:45. Thunderstorm and a bit of rain rolled in as we were waiting for Ubers back to the RVs.
Drive to Grand Canyon
We got donuts at Sedonuts and hit the road. There's the Sheffield RV!
We didn't let the kids on devices too much. Here they are sneaking a few minutes of screen time. Harriet napping.
We stopped at Flagstaff to do some exploring. Famous Route 66 rolls right through downtown.
Back on the road to the Grand Canyon! Another thunderstorm blew in that afternoon.
Grand Canyon National Park
Going into the Grand Canyon National Park was our first experience with the Every Kid Outdoors pass. Harriet got an ID card and - most importantly - got us in for free! Pro-tip: print out the registration page, they don't like to see a PDF or saved image on your phone.
We stayed at Trailer Village RV Park. Two side-by-side rentals with picnic tables between the RVs. Great spot!