Family Travel and Autism

The drive from the Petrified Forest to the North Rim was going to be a long seven or eight hours.  We left early from a nearby state park, Homolovi State Park and drove up the west side of the Navajo reservation.  The campground at Homolovi was beautiful.  Flat with open campsites and clean rest rooms.  What more could you ask for?

We opted for the north rim because A) the drive would eventually be the same if include the drive after to Zion B) less crowded C) campsites with trees and D) cooler temperatures.  That is why we made the decision and it all worked out except for the cooler temperatures.  Even in the Petrified Forest, we were still wearing jeans and sweatshirts in mid-June in Arizona.  A weird freaky cool front had settled and wasn't going anywhere.  Cold, cloudy and rainy.  Felt like home.

I was tired of riding shotgun.  My  husband was worried about the tires and didn't know the roads as well I did.  Months of map studying made me a natural navigator.  I was ready at this point to give up the reins.  Time for my daughters to learn how to read a map.  I opted to sit in the back with Adam.  We played games, read books and fiddled together with the cameras.  My middle daughter sat in the front with the maps and visited with her dad.  My oldest plugged herself into her iPod and read a book.

I tried very hard to not pay attention to the new navigator.  I focused on spending time with my son.  Every now and I then I would hear my husband throw out a question like "Where does that road go?"  She would diligently follow the tenous line on the map and answer "I don't know."  Sounds like they had a system going.

The road wound up a cliff circling back and forth as we rose several thousand feet from the desert floor.  The higher we went the greener it became.  The sky turned blue and the views were incredible

There is only one road into the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Just prior to the park entrance, there is small gas station and coffee shop with hotel.  The first gas station we had seen in a hundred miles.  And they knew it.

Jacob Lake is a monopoly.  A mormon run family establishment that has been there for centuries.  And the prices reflected it.  Of course we stoped like the other 200 people milling around.  We all looked grateful for a sign of commerce.  As if all of us wanted to sign Alleluia there is a large store.  Until you see the price tag.  Eek!

Next up, the North Rim.