Hi all,

To all that are not up to date on our travels, we are currently in Flagstaff, AZ. We have been here for 6 weeks because our truck has been in the shop. We have had an on going problem with the emission control system. So we have been in Chevrolet dealerships in Las Cruces, NM- Yuma, AZ- Casa Grande, AZ and now Flagstaff, AZ. The result of all our problems is that GM has finally decided to give us a new truck. The truck is in Flagstaff and the dealership will be moving our equipment from the old truck to the new truck. That will probably be done sooner that the paperwork which is required for the transfer. The result is that not only did we spend Memorial Day here, but we will also spend July 4 th.

Our time here has not been wasted. The area is rich with National Parks and National Monuments that preserve the ancient Anasazi ruins. We have been in 18 parks. The last one we were in was Chaco Canyon. There are extensive ruins which have been restored. The ruins were unique because the area was not used as a village but a spiritual site. There is evidence that natives came on pilgrimages. The building were oriented to the cycles of the sun and the moon. We drove to Gallup last week so we could be at the Canyon for summer solstice. At solstice the sunrise hits a window in the Grand Kiva. The event was made more interesting with with Laguna tribe chanters that sang until the sun hit. Then there were dancers that celebrated the event.

If I could get the blog to operate properly I would put the pictures in order along with the words. However the system is not working for me. So the pictures are at the top and the words at the bottom. The top left hand picture is of Montezuma's Castle a cliff dwelling out of Cottonwood, AZ. Many of the ruins in the area were cliff dwellings, probably for protection from raiders. Imagine if you can carrying water from a stream up those cliffs using a timber ladder. It was called Montezuma because the Spanish thought natives were originally tied to the Aztecs.

The picture on the top right is of the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We also went to the north rim. The north rim is higher (8800 feet vs 7000 feet). Thus it does not open until 5/15.

We had reservations to be there on 5/15, but since we got towed into Flagstaff on the 15 th, we made it there the following week. There was snow on the ground because it snowed over the weekend. The north rim is more dramatic, but less accessible.

We also stayed a week-end in Kanab, UT so we could visit Bryce, Zion and Pipe Springs National Parks. Pipe Springs was interesting because it documented the early Mormon pioneer activities. On our way back we stayed in Page, AZ one night so we could do a half day raft river trip on the Colorado River. We went from the base of the Glen Canyon dam to Lee's Ferry. That is the river picture I posted.

That is probably enough information for now. With luck we should be out of here next week and on our way home. I should not complain since the weather here has been good and the weather in Seattle has been awful. But I would like to get home finally!

I have no idea where I left you in my last post so I am going to go back a bit in the history here.

We finally left a cold Junction City, KS on Sunday 1/16. It was just before Martin Luther King's BD and we were singing "Free at last". We made out way that day 300 miles south to Liberal, KS. The next morning we headed out of town and before we got very far down the road, Mel noticed that we had no trailer brakes. Well a call back to the factory and we headed on back to Junction City. We figured that it was one of their longer test drives (600 miles).

Shortly before we got back to Junction City an engine light went on in the truck. So come Tuesday morning the truck went to the Chevy dealer. They reprogrammed the emission control. NH put a resistor in the controller to make the disk brakes work. By mid morning we were back on the road again to Liberal, KS. We made it through 4 states the next day and spent the night in Tucumcari, NM. From there we headed to Las Cruces, NM. On the way there the engine light came on again. So the next day the truck was back in the shop in Las Cruces. That technician indicated that we had gotten bad fuel and the tank needed to be purged and the sensor replaced. That sensor, of course, had to be sent from elsewhere. So we spent the weekend in Las Cruces. That did give us an opportunity to go out to the White Sands monument. We also had the opportunity to go to the old town of Mesilla. The town dates from the 1850s when it was settled by families from Mexico.

We headed out of Las Cruces $1400 poorer (Chevy does not pay for bad fuel damage we were told). We were headed to Casa Grande, but only made it to Benson, AZ when the engine light came on again. We contacted the technician from Las Cruces. He indicated that we should drive another day. That perhaps we were still having carbon issues in the emission control. So the following day we took off for Yuma. That was a weeks ago. The truck is still in the shop waiting for parts. One part is a full particulate filter for the exhaust system. The parts are heavy enough that they are coming by truck from Lansing, MI. Given the weather who knows when that will arrive. The other part is a sensor coming from some undisclosed location, with an unknow delivery date. Isn't this fun. The only good part is that we are in Yuma, which until today has been warm.

We are now at the two week mark. We spoke to the Chevy dealership on yesterday. The sensor is in. They traced the particulate filter and it was in El Paso, TX. So maybe today it will be in today. With luck we may be on the road tomorrow and all this hassle will be behind us.

Think good thoughts.