Nothing but Song

Feeling :  hungry  Listening :  Justify My Love - Madonna  Reading :  League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1

I went on a camping trip with my family to the Grand Canyon Caverns and Inn this weekend. It was probably one of the best camping trips we’ve had so far.

Friday night, as soon as I got home from work, we loaded up what was left to load up from that morning (we all had work and school) and started winging our way out of Vegas.

Traffic was really good. I reckoned it was because it was still early for tourist season in the area. Drove over the Hoover Dam without incident, and marveled at how much work was done from the previous summer (The Hoover Dam Bypass Project), what was still left, and how low the water level has gotten.

The Grand Canyon Caverns are really hard to find. They don’t even have an official address. If you put it in Google, all you get is “25 miles west of Seligman, Peach Springs, AZ 86434.” The mile marker is 115, in case you wanna know, haha. I fired up my dad’s GPS that we got him for Christmas (we christened “her” Rihannah Montana Magellan) and used her to plan the trip up. After three hours of driving in the dark, my sister’s eyes were bothering her.

So towards the end of the night, driving in the dark like that, she was pretty irritated. She made a U-turn, but I had a gut feeling that if we just kept on driving, we’d find the Grand Canyon Caverns. So I urged her to keep going, and we found it. It’s pretty isolated.

Since it wasn’t busy, none of the spots were assigned, so we just chose a random one. Set up was a pain ’cause we were all tired and didn’t want to do any of the work. At least we had air mattresses. Unfortunately, we thought that cramming 4 people (2 adults, 2 kids) on one queen sized air mattress would be okay, but alas, I was on the end and spent most of the night trying to not fall off! It was great! No sarcasm intended, it was annoying, but I look back and see the fun. Also, when I was filling up the air mattress, my hand that was holding the pump slipped and sprayed dirt everywhere.

It was cold too! I didn’t realize how cold it still gets at night in the desert. We learned our lesson by the next night though.

We woke up leisurely and made breakfast: eggs and corned beef. My niece and me sang Panic at the Disco songs from “Pretty. Odd.” because we planned to see them on HCT but won’t because her mom made other plans. We put on our hiking boots and walked over to the restaurant. I bought our tokens for the guided tour of the Caverns.

It was so cool for a 45-minute tour. There’s so much history underneath the surface. 210 feet below the surface, to be exact. People have gotten married there, and left their bouquets behind from as far back as the late 90s, and hardly any of them have deteriorated. The Caverns used to be used as a fallout shelter, and the supplies are still there. There’s also a mummified bobcat, and a Mystery Spot. Although they don’t use it anymore, they have the original entrance still around for show. It was built by public works employees from the 30s/40s. The local university put up a representation of a three-toed sloth, based on the nail marks left behind by one from a few millennia ago. Thing was huge, well over 7 feet tall!

I bought my postcards for the memories (since I collect ‘em), and we walked back to camp.

After the trip, we loaded back into the truck and winged our way back to Kingman for lunch, gas, and some shopping. I suggested we stop at the little park that we stopped at last time, but instead, we ended up at the Powerhouse across the street from it.

“Built in 1907, it is the largest historical industrial building in Kingman. The Kingman Area Chamber of Commerce in 1997 relocated the Tourist Information Center to the building. Other uses include: the Carlos Elmer (Arizona Highways photographer) Gallery, Route 66 Gift Shop, Memory Lane 50s Diner, Model Railroad Store, Western Gifts Shop, Powerhouse Route 66 Museum, and theater.”

We watched a little documentary film at the end, and it made me wonder how much history has really been created on that little highway. It was decommissioned in the 80s, and subsequently removed from maps and things. But because of a resurgence of interest, people are referring to it as Historic Route 66. It’s been making a comeback because people don’t want to let go of that history.

We had lunch afterwards, right outside the Powerhouse. And by buying our entrance in, we got a free pass to go to the Mohave Museum of History & Arts. We had a run-in with some bikers for some reason, they thought my sister was gonna run ‘em over. And they yelled at us, “watch out for the bikers,” all sarcastic-like. Then he called my cousin an asshole for staring at them, which she wasn’t. Kinda put a damper on the beginning of that excursion, but the Mohave Museum was lovely.

“Offers a good introduction to the history of northwestern Arizona. Dioramas & murals show development from prehistoric times to the present. A special exhibit on Andy Devine, local-boy-turned-movie-star. History buffs can dig into the museum’s library. Outdoor exhibits display ranching, mining machinery, plus a 1923 railroad caboose.” I got all that from a map I snagged from the Route 66 Museum.

Speaking of Andy Devine, he was in Stagecoach with John Wayne! And if you know me, I love me some John Wayne.

Then we got back into the truck and went back to camp. We had bratwurst for dinner (one of them suckers and I was done), and we kept the fire going for s’mores. They were delish! We watched this husband and wife team of Western performers put on a little show for the Boy Scouts who were making too much noise nearby, haha. Their troop leaders were in on the joke though. But it was still nice of them to do that. We packed what we could in the truck because we had to leave super early the next morning. We stuck blankets underneath the cover of the mesh windows to block the cold air, which helped immensely.

Woke up at 5AM and took an hour to pack up the remaining gear. Hit the road and made good time. We got back an hour and a half before I had to be at work (I couldn’t get the day off). I was able to take a shower and get out of the house on time. Whew.

All in all, this trip was very laid-back. Our previous camping trips felt like cramped for time affairs. We couldn’t really sit and enjoy the scenery. During breakfast on Saturday, they ran to buy firewood and crap, I just sat on the table by the tent and breathed. “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode was running through my head. Then after dinner, I was sitting around waiting for the fire to die out. I just sat in front of it, and watched it burn.

Anyways, I had a great time, and luckily, it wasn’t too busy at work. I was able to just chill and relax.

I also decided to use my Muxtape for Three. So I have the subdomain pointing to my Muxtape. Go check it out. They’re a day late, only ’cause I was recovering from the trip and work yesterday.

?: “Last trip you went on?”