LTRVD Episode 15 – RV Road Trip to the Wild West Part 3: Page, Arizona

Living the RV Dream episode 15. In this edition of the podcast we talk about Class B vans, and we continue our chronicle of the epic trip we took on the 4 corners region: Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.

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Class B Vans

I received an email Vivian Oliva about Class B camper vans but I think I will dedicate a whole future episode to Class Bs and the pros and cons, also go into some of the B+ units we’ve been looking into. In a nutshell, build quality aside, there are very few comfortable or innovative floor plans, in my humble opinion. There are all kinds of configurations and different length models, mainly on the Sprinter and Promaster platforms, but they all boil down to the same thing. Galley on the passenger side, bathroom and closet on the driver side, an ultra narrow hallway in the middle, sofa bed in the back, rinse and repeat. I have only found two units with a permanent table, and a permanent, or at least semi-permanent bed. One of them is the new Hymer Aktiv, formerly the Grand Canyon. The other one is the Winnebago Travato. Still both units seem a little cramped for more than one person full timing, but I’ll try to interview owners of both in the future and get their opinions.

The Wild West Part 3

I the second segment of the program I continue with the last leg of our Four Corners road trip to the Wild West. We left off as we were arriving at Page, Arizona. This small town can be the home base to visit many points of interest in the area, mainly Lake Powell, Antelope Canyon and the Horseshoe Bend. Here we deviated from our original plan to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in order to enjoy this area a little more.

Lake Powell

We took one on the cruises offered at the Wahweap resort, which covered the Glen Canyon Dam, Antelope Canyon and Navajo Canyon. Overall is was a very pleasant trip, and very informative, if a little expensive at around $70

Antelope Canyon

Antelope Canyon is divided in two parts, three actually if you count the underwater part on the lake. The two parts are the upper and the lower. The upper is more accessible and wider, but you must book your tour at Page, Arizona, and they take you by Jeep. Lower Antelope Canyon is just a crevice in the ground, but you can just show up, pay your fee and follow the guide down a set of steep stairs. The slot canyon is of incredible beauty.

Horseshoe Bend

This iconic place is just a deep meander of the Colorado River. There is a little bit of a hike to get there, but the views are truly breathtaking.

Bryce Canyon

After our stay at the Wahweap RV Resort, we continued towards Bryce Canyon. The canyon is full of these rock formations called hoodoos, that almost look like people standing in formation. A truly otherworldly place this is. There is a network of trails you can take, either by foot or on horseback, but we just didn’t have the time to do any of them. We had to content ourselves with admiring the breathtaking views from the many viewpoints.

Capitol Reef National Park

Our next destination on this action-packed day was just driving through Capitol Reef National Park. Here we also had the ambition to hike to one of the arches, Cassidy Arch to be exact, in which you can stand on top of the arch, and take that Instagram perfect selfie. Of course we didn’t have time.

Goblin Valley

Our last stop in Utah was Goblin Valley State Park. The valley is covered with all these mushroom shaped little hoodoos, some of them resembling giant Hershey Kisses. Another very interesting place that used to be an ocean in prehistoric times.

Continental Divide

As we crossed the mighty Rocky Mountains on our way back east, I decided to get off Interstate 70 and use US-6, the old road that goes over the continental divide at the Loveland Pass. I even suffered from some mild altitude sickness on the way up.

Echo Lake and Mount Evans

We spent the last night among the clouds at the Echo Lake campground, a fitting end to our road trip. This campground sits at over 10,000 feet above sea level, but this is just halfway up to the 14,265 feet that is Mount Evans, if we were to continue up on North America’s highest paved road. Unfortunate the RV is too long to travel on this road, so we decided to save Mount Evans for a couple of days later with a rental car. In the morning we descended onto the Mile High City, Denver, emptied our holding tanks and returned the RV.