We woke up to gorgeous blue skies and sparkling new snow. The camper steps, truck, and running boards were covered with ice and there were icicles hanging from the gray water outlet, but no pipes were frozen.
We headed east on US 89A with a detour to enjoy driving in the snow on USFS 205. The truck handled great and the woods were beautiful. We found a campsite near AZ 67 where we could have stayed last night but it was not on any of our maps.
As we descended down US 89A the snow lingered in shady areas and at the higher elevations.
The Vermillion Cliffs were so breathtaking we stopped briefly near Cliff Dwellers Lodge to admire them. We crossed the Colorado River on the Navajo Bridge and drove into Page for lunch at Big John’s Texas BBQ.
From Page we took AZ 98 to US 160 until we reached Mexican Water where we turned north on US 191 and camped at the Sand Island BLM campground on the San Juan River. The campground had drinking water, vault toilets, level sites, cottonwood trees, and petroglyphs. The campsites furthest from the bridge had much less truck noise than those closer to the San Juan River bridge.
When driving through the Navajo Nation we saw many school busses transporting students from the far flung homesteads. Most homes were small and often had a hogan and an RV or truck camper in the yard.
Lesson Learned: Don’t fold in the truck mirrors in snow or freezing weather; they won’t unfold in the morning until they thaw out.
