Sylvia's RV Journey

​ August 19, 2022 Well, it’s over. I arrived home mid afternoon, after almost 5 hours of driving. Most of it was in the rain, surprisingly. The monsoons have been active. I was rather stunned driving through the northern part of Flagstaff to witness the mudslides that I heard about. Much of which came over the highway, and so close by some residential homes. Concrete barricades were put up to protect them from falling into these deep washes. Along with fires, comes mudslides, in the rains. Former entry into the national forests, for camping, were closed. It was hard to keep focused on the highway as I was distracted on these views. I arrived home, and it felt odd, and good, after being gone for months. I unloaded the perishable items in the blistering heat. I guess I’ve acclimated to the cool climate of Colorado, and here I am in reality of summer, as it’s hot, for most of the summer,  everywhere else as well. It will take a while to settle in, but I am so grateful that I was able to t

​ August 18, 2022 Amazing peace overnight, except for the fact that I caught the 8th mouse since I started my journey this spring. When I get home there will be a war waged. It is a bittersweet moment this morning, as I know that this is my last full day and night of this particular journey. I made the right choice to come here to Navajo National Monument. I had no idea how beautiful it was, and how peaceful that it would be. I hiked this morning, 1.3 miles, to the Betataken Cliff dwellings, after a brief visit to the visitor center. At 10 AM, it was already heating up, and on this trail there was little shade, although a bit. With my usual apprehension, I left Jo Jo in the Sylver Gypsy with the air conditioning running. Fortunately I wasn’t gone for more than an hour. It was a beautiful view of the dwellings, as I was the only one at this lookout. I returned to the campsite and made a spontaneous decision to switch my sites to an area that was a little bit more open with a much better

​ August 17, 2022 I feel like I’m back on the road again! I made a brief stop at “four corners,” part of the Navajo reservation. There are bronze placards and a stone monument where you could stand, and literally be on four corners of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. There are also Navajo people, with small retail booths open where you can shop jewelry, pottery, carved pieces, and more. I did buy a T-shirt, and of course my tack/lapel pins, which are my limited form of “souvenirs.” I decided on a Navajo taco fry bread which was a nice treat for lunch. I headed further down on route 160 towards Navajo National Monument. After nearly a 3 hour drive, I bypassed the visitor center as it was getting to be late afternoon, and I was wanting to see about camping. I headed past one campsite, seeking the canyon view campsite, which was at the end of the road. The signs indicated a narrow road with vehicles limited to 28 feet in length. I always smile, and do a little happy dance inside k