Day 11 - Phoenix

We slept in late this morning and woke up to noise coming from the bathroom in the room next to us.  Apparently there was a big problem, one so severe that they had to move us to another room.  Once we got settled into our new room, while Randy went online and bought our tickets for an art show under the stars, I searched online for an Asian restaurant.  I was craving Chinese food.  Luckily for us, there was a large Chinese Cultural Center there in Phoenix just a few miles away.  Based on their website, it looked like a large mall and office complex and there were a couple of restaurants inside.  I felt certain that we could find a good, authentic meal there.

We arrived at the Center right at lunch time and went inside.  The place was very crowded which is usually a sign of good food.  When we ordered, I ordered rice and an entree.  The waiter asked "What soup" ? I replied that I didn't want soup and he said, "It come with meal". I said, "But I don't want any."  He said, "It come with meal. Won Ton or Spicy?"  Feeling that I wouldn't get ANY food if I didn't order the soup, I said, "Spicy".

We waited and remarked about some of the sites we had passed on our way to the restaurant.... a club that advertised "naked women", miles of palm trees, and then there was Bill Johnson's Big Apple Restaurant....

They advertised a 72 oz. FREE steak. The catch is that IF you can eat it all, it's free.  Now that's a lot of steak! His motto is "Let's Eat"... just that simple. What a tacky little place it was, but I'll bet the food was good!

Our food arrived and the waiter placed the soup in front of  me. Randy began eating his and I pushed mine aside. The waiter came back by and put it back in front of me. By now it was becoming funny, this little guy insisting that I eat the soup, so I pushed it away again. I told Randy that I was afraid they were going to come and force feed me the soup that I didn't want before they would allow me to eat my meal. We even joked that the cooks in the kitchen might be so well trained that if they don't serve the soup and have it consumed, it makes the workers grind to a halt, not knowing what the next step is.

The waiter got busy and didn't come back by again.... thank heavens.  

We left and drove into Scottsdale, a Phoenix suburb. They have an arts district and we walked around looking into the windows. They have a Thursday evening Artwalk that would be held that night, so most of the galleries were closed in preparation of their late night. The temperature was pretty warm, but as they say, it is a dry heat.  Dry or not, it is still hot. I had spied an ice cream shop when we parked and we went there for something to cool us down. The Sugar Bowl is an "old school" ice cream shop where you can get more flavors and combinations than you care to imagine. They will make any kind of milkshake you want and as many scoops of ice cream as you can stand. After our one scoop of ice cream, we headed back toward our hotel and strategized how long it would take us to get to the botanical gardens for the art show this evening.  

Our art show tickets were scheduled for 4pm so we had a nap and made sure our camera gizmos were charged up. The artist whose work we would see is Dale Chihuly. Please click on his name back there and you can see how his work is done because it is amazing stuff. We got to the Botanical Gardens and started walking around. The plants were amazing and the show was beautiful.  

8

We left the gardens in the moonlight and there was nearly a full moon but tonight it wasn't as splendid as all of the glass we had seen. We headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep because tomorrow we would be heading to Tombstone, AZ.

Day 10 Sedona - Phoenix

We slept in, had a late breakfast and then headed to Phoenix. It was only a couple of hours away and we decided to take our time and get off the interstate for a while. We had heard of the little town of Sedona and decided to stop there on our way. So, from the Grand Canyon Village we headed back to I-40 to Flagstaff and then got onto Alt. 89,  The scenery was beautiful as the road wound around sharp curves heading down, down, down toward the Verde Valley until we were alongside the Oak Creek River.  The rocky hills were so beautiful that we stopped at Slide Rock State Park to take to get out and walk and enjoy the beautiful sites.

A few miles ahead we arrived in Sedona and it sits amidst beautiful red sandstone rocks and hills. The Sinagua and Apache Indian Tribes lived in this area until 1876 when they were forcibly removed and relocated to the San Carlos Indian Reservation about 180 miles away in mid-winter.  At that point the area was settled by Anglo settlers who were ranchers and farmers.  The soil was ideal for apple and peach orchards and then in the 1960s became a tourist area, which it remains today. Many Hollywood westerns were filmed in the area and Sedona referred to itself as "Arizona's Little Hollywood."

We stopped in and walked around the town area.  It was filled with touristy sorts of shops and  art galleries. We stopped in the Sedona Arts Center and then headed to the downtown coffee shop. We sat outside watching people as we drank our coffee. We walked around just a bit more but I'm just not much of a shopper so we drove outside of town toward some hiking trails. The dirt roads led far back into a canyon where  the plants there were beautiful and exotic and the rocks were a deep rusty red.  

I tried my hand at another panorama and look how this one turned out... Randy's hands and camera are missing!

We headed back into town and on toward Phoenix. As we were at the edge of town I saw a small trading post that was just amazing.... there was a large metal rooster!  "TURN HERE!!!  TURN RIGHT!!!!"  Randy whipped into the parking lot and there was the most amazing western folk art gallery that I've ever seen.  They had so many knick-knacks... it was just unbelievable.  There were indoor and outdoor decorations, small toys for children, large pieces of furniture.  It was mind boggling and the wind chimes made the most beautiful music!

We got bought a sunburst clay and metal sculpture and some ice cream and headed back to the car. Just a few miles up the road was a beautiful rock formation called Castle Rock. There was a trail to the park so we parked at the trail head and I went a little way up the trail to get a picture.

While we were in Sedona we had seen the young man pictured below and I really wanted to take a photo but was afraid to.  You never know how people will react when they are being photographed but his hair was so unusual I was just dying to get a picture.  As I headed back to the car from the trail at Castle Rock, there he stood talking to an elderly couple.  I just couldn't resist. The expressions on the couple's faces were priceless. They were trying hard to keep a blank face but they would steal a look at one another and you could see a smile flit across their face.  I would love to know their conversation when they got back into the car to leave!  

We continued down Alt. 89 to I-17 and stopped at the rest stop where I saw this....

Not much of a welcome to the Sonora Desert, huh?  From this point, I drove on to Phoenix. It wasn't far but it was mountainous. As we headed down from the hills toward the valley where Phoenix, we saw our first tall cacti. They were not really as I expected. There was still other vegetation growing, which surprised me.  I had expected that the cactus would be the only live thing in the desert. They stood pretty tall though, and were very dark green, almost black.

We hit Phoenix at rush hour. We stuck to the interstates, leaving I-17 and getting onto I-10.  My navigator guided me right to the hotel with no problems. We got checked in and rested for a little while before finding a place for dinner. We settled on a nice little Italian restaurant with outdoor seating.  After a quick (rushed by our waitress) dinner, we headed back to the hotel for some rest, check on the balloon ride and to plan ahead on our trip. The winds were still high and the balloon ride over Phoenix at sunrise would be cancelled. But something was afoot! I had looked ahead on the map and was about to throw a curve ball into the mix.

Day 9 - Grand Canyon - Helicopter Ride

We got up this morning and skipped breakfast, opting for just coffee instead. We didn't want to take a chance on getting sick on the helicopter. We headed over to the airport and waited for our pilot to call us. There were 6 passengers and the pilot. They told us that we would take photos after the flight so we put on our headphones and seat belts and took off.

Our pilot assured us that he had a great deal of experience and that we would be in good hands. We found this to be the case as we left the airport, crossing the Kaibob National Forest heading to the northeast end of the Arizona side of the Grand Canyon. The forest wasn't so dense that you could see elk here and there. In the distance to the south was Humphrey's Peak, covered in snow.

Soon the forest seemed to just drop out from under us and the canyon seemed to surround us. The pilot pointed out various landmarks as the helicopter turned and lowered.

I was seated in the center in the back and so my photos had partially obstructed views but they were still just breathtaking.  Randy had a window seat and was able to make a video of the some of the flight. 

At one point we even saw a small herd of buffalo near a ranch. They are very rare and I got a few of them in a photo but it didn't turn out very well. The entire trip took about 45 minutes but the time passed too quickly. We only flew as far as the park boundaries and then headed back to the airport.

By the time the ride was over we were ready for a quick bite and then we headed back out to the canyon. We rode around Grand Canyon Village for a bit to sort of get our bearings and then parked.  We walked to the shuttle stop and rode to the first overlook. I was finally able to figure out how to do an panorama with my camera.

My first Panorama Attempt

Second Attempt.  Biggify this and you'll see shadows with no people.
I had to wait for people to walk past me so it looks like ghost shadows. Hahahaha!

Our Fearless Photographer......

truly fearless.  He would look around to see if I was watching.

Finally, after thoroughly filling ourselves with the wonder of the views and feeling totally spent and exhausted, we headed back to our car to go back to the hotel.  As we got in the car, I looked across the road and there, right in the middle of the village were elk.

They seemed thoroughly at ease and fearless. Huge and fearless. I was really antsy being so close to them because I know that animals are unpredictable so I encouraged Randy to go on. I was afraid one of them would feel threatened and attack our car. Finally, to my great relief, we headed back to the hotel and stopped along the way at the local Mexican restaurant where we would have one of many excellent Mexican meals out west. We spent the evening going through our photos, reliving our helicopter ride, catching up on correspondence and plotting our trip to Phoenix because we would be leaving the next morning.

The Grand Canyon is beautiful beyond belief. It made me feel very small and insignificant. It reminds me of  the lyrics to a beautiful song by Beth Neilson Chapman...  Click on the link to hear it.

All alone I came into this world,

All alone I will one day die.

Solid stone is just sand and water, baby.

Sand and water and a million years gone by.

Day 8 - Grand Canyon

We got up early this morning and had breakfast in the hotel.  It was sunny and windy and the air was cool, in the upper 30's so we wore our fleece jackets, packed our camera/ipad and binoculars.  Before we  headed to the canyon Randy got a cap (the first time I had ever seen him wear one) and we were afraid that the wind would blow our hats off our heads.  We searched in vain for one of those croaker hat clips that they sell at the beach.  I could just imagine the wind taking a hat and one of us falling off the side of the canyon trying to catch it!

It was a very short drive from the hotel, maybe 10 minutes, to the entry gate.  They charged $25 per car for a 7 day pass.  We drove straight in to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center at Mather Point.  There is a shuttle system that will take you to the various overlook points as well as a walkway for those in good physical condition.  We started here, walked a ways and then once we had formulated our plan, we got on a shuttle to catch the eastern part of the park.  Mather point was our first glimpse of the canyon.  It was unbelievable.

The canyon is so huge, so vast, so beautiful, that it looks unreal.  It looks like an illusion or dream.  It makes you wonder how it is possible for that tiny river, way down there at the bottom could possibly cut away so much ground to hollow out such a canyon.  The canyon is some 277 miles long, as much as 18 miles wide in some areas and one mile deep.  Water can be a powerful thing!

At the park entrance there were signs saying that it is not only dangerous to feed the wildlife in the area, it is also illegal.  Still, it was hard for some to resist feeding the chipmunks that were so used to visitors that they would allow people to get close enough to touch them in exchange for a piece of apple.

We took the bus to Yaki Point where we could see hikers and donkeys heading down zig-zagging trails into the canyon.  You'll have to click on the photo and enlarge it to see them.

 

The landscape along the rim is fairly flat but rocky, with ponderosa pines, sagebrush and various cactus type plants.  

We took the shuttle to the Grand Canyon Market Plaza and had lunch.  There was a gift shop and we were able to find gifts to bring home to the kids - cactus plants.  After lunch we took another hike along the rim toward the Bright Angel Trailhead.   By this time it was getting near 3 pm and Randy wanted to book a helicopter ride for the next day.  We went to the room to do that and rested for a little bit then took the car back to the GC Market and picked up the Cactus plants.  We hunted down the laundry facilities and washed some clothes and then had dinner in the hotel.  Our helicopter ride was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. and we were both EXCITED!