![\"\"](\"https:\/\/awanderingjill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/DSC03286.jpg\")
<\/a>\u00a0A gym.<\/p>\nA rustic living room.<\/p>\n A super-soft, super-sweet, super-comfortable awesome queen size mattress (which fits me fine…JA is a little long so he may have not enjoyed it as much).<\/p>\n Rustic decor.<\/p>\n My favorite blue door ever – I want to steal this door when my sister moves. \u00a0But there you go! \u00a0Free is pretty awesome as far as accommodations go.<\/p>\n After some wonderful New Mexican food, we took off to Los Lunas (200 miles) to drop off the other dog, and briefly introduce JA to the family. \u00a0We had lunch with them, but it was rushed for two reasons: a) we were on our way to the Grand Canyon area and b) I figured we’d spend a bit more time with them on the way back to Texas.<\/p>\n The drive from Los Lunas to the Grand Canyon area was pretty uneventful. \u00a0I love the desert and western NM\/Arizona never fail to leave me happy. \u00a0I missed an opportunity to stand on the corner in Winslow, AZ, but I really just wanted to get to our destination.<\/p>\n I didn’t realize that the town of Tusayan (400 miles) existed solely to cater to Grand Canyon visitors. \u00a0It’s been there, supposedly, since the early 1900s, but most everything there was built recently – 2010, to be precise, if you look it up. \u00a0Newer hotels (cheapest a night was about $230), and places to eat. \u00a0We had planned on camping most of the trip. \u00a0We knew that by getting there at night, we probably wouldn’t find any camping in the GC park for the first night, but we tried anyway. \u00a0No luck. \u00a0So we drove to an RV park in Tusayan, near the entrance to the park, and camped there.<\/p>\n Not a terrible place to camp – a little loud – but otherwise fine for the first night. \u00a0A few times that night, there was a coyote circling the town, calling. \u00a0Coyotes are such awesome critters – it’s been a few years since I’ve heard any call, so I enjoyed it, especially when it called from close to our camp. \u00a0The ravens, however, were awful. \u00a0People clearly feed the wildlife here and the birds swarmed the campsite, calling loudly, and expecting people to give them food.<\/p>\n I sure as hell didn’t feed them though. \u00a0Wake me up at 5:30am? \u00a0No handouts! \u00a0JA stayed in the tent while I made coffee (super important) and got breakfast ready. \u00a0From here, we were going to the park – we actually found a walk in campsite a little later at the Desert View campgrounds and came back to pack our tent.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n