The dogs got pretty smiley when they heard us celebrate the Arizona state line. It had been over a year since we left on the epic, round-North-America road trip. They were really looking forward to being back in “Grandma’s” yard and hearing the familiar “where’s my good dogs?” as she fished for treats in her pockets.
We made a stop at our favorite forest, Kiabab National Forest 
for an overnight. And bbbbrrrrrrr did it get cold. But the dogs loved wandering in the woods with us and finding cool stuff to explore, sniff and pee on. 
We even found an aspen tree that had been carved on to delineate a section of the forest. Check out that date- 
(1941 in case you can’t see it)
Then a dash up to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. 
It was fun to be there just before they closed for the season. October 15 is the end of the season for those workers. Everyone was in a cheerful mood. We hiked a little bit and posed for the requisite “rim photo”. 
Then it was off to our home base in Clarkdale, Arizona and an extended visit to the VW shop.
We were rushing to get there in time to meet up with friends from Florida. These folks had hosted us for a stay in their driveway. Now it was our chance to repay that hospitality by showing them around a little bit of Arizona. We started in Sedona. 
Having grown up with this in my own back yard, I had long forgotten to look at the beauty of the area. We even made a fun stop at Slide Rock State Park which is the old Pendley ranch and apple orchard. (Remember Andy Pendley, the guitar player from a previous blog post…… yep) 
And of course, we took them up to the Grand Canyon, but this time only the South Rim was open. 
Mike cheerfully posed for his rim photo in between cloud cover and sprinkles. It was a lot of fun visiting all the sites with them and seeing Arizona through their eyes. Always a reminder to enjoy the beauty. And while all that was going on, we had a driveway guest back at the VW shop! Loren was parked in the yard and waiting out the rain storms in his pop top.
We had intended to return to the Clarkdale place to complete a few different tasks. We are waiting for the youngest sons wedding in May. We need to change out the motor and start with a zero-miles motor in the Bostig. We could all use some quality time with Mom. We can pick up some part-time work to pad the accounts. We have a few modifications and changes to make on the van. And the list goes on and on.
But sometimes, things don’t go quite as you anticipated………..
I hope to never get used to the beautiful views out here and try to look at them with those east-coast eyes of mine that I’ve had for so long. I think my friend Ramen may have found your camping spot – he stayed there for a few days too!
Nice to have you back in the old neighborhood. Lidora told me about your Mom. so very sorry.
Quite a loop! Rest up well and start off again.
I have followed you around the United States and I have to say thank you and I am happy for you! What an adventure of a life time not a lot of people can do. Great pictures, interesting reading. You two are lucky. Thanks for sharing this forum and to keep for the future.