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! 

Day 7 - Painted Desert, Petrified Forest & The Singing Pig

We got up early, gassed up and headed west on I-40 toward Arizona. The wind was still blowing like crazy and you really had to hang on to the steering wheel to keep from being whipped into the lane next to you. We planned to stop for lunch at Gallup, before leaving NM. The traffic wasn't heavy but it was moving more slowly because of the terrible winds and just when that wasn't enough, wind snow came. I got a text message from my daughter saying that she had just finished mowing the yard at our house in Winston-Salem and that she picked the hottest time of the day to do it.  She said it was 90 degrees. I thanked her for mowing and told her that we were outside Albuquerque and were driving in snow!

After lunch we headed into Arizona and stopped in at the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. We stopped first at the little gift shop and bought a small piece of petrified wood. I love rocks and didn't want to be tempted to snatch a piece while we were touring. I wanted to have it the honest way because I certainly don't need any bad karma. It is just amazing how petrified wood is formed (just click the link). The drive we took through this National Park started in the Painted Desert. The first overlook was just amazing. The colorful layers of the stone hills was just gorgeous. It is hard to describe the shapes because at the same time it looked like eroded mountains and washed out gullies.

The photos above are taken in the Painted Desert portion of the National Park on the north side of I-40. One of the informational signs said that as far as the eye can see is the Navajo

 Indian Reservation. After you cross onto the south side of I-40 you will be in the Petrified Forest area of the Park pictured below. It isn't a modern day forest but is the relic of an ancient one. The dark colored rocks that you see lying along the ground in the photos are the pieces of trees and logs that became petrified and actually feel and have weight like stone. In the gift shop were slices from some of the trees that had been smoothed and polished.You could see the concentric growth rings just as you find when a growing tree is sliced through. They have a dark reddish, rust, burgundy color with streaks of lighter white colors.   

Note the nearly whole log lying on one of the mountains in this photo.

After leaving the park we headed over to the little town of Holbrook, AZ, passing trading posts along the way where petrified wood in large chunks were for sale. We got back onto I-40 and headed to Flagstaff. On the way Randy was scouting for a restaurant where we could have dinner before we arrived at the Grand Canyon. Along the way we passed through Winslow, AZ and I was reminded of the song "Take It Easy" that has a line that says "I was standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona." We continued on to Flagstaff and finally the landscape changed from a barren desert to one with TREES!  

Randy searched online and found a restaurant in Williams, AZ,  a small old west town, where we would leave the interstate to head to the Grand Canyon. The Singing Pig recommended reservations so Randy called ahead. I was worried that it might be too late to get reservations but the proprietor added our name and told us to be careful of elk crossing the highway as we came into the area. We could see in the distance a snow covered mountain standing high above the hills. It was Humphrey's Peak, the highest peak in Arizona and our exit would be just past the peak.

We drove into the small town and it looked pretty rustic and woodsy.  The restaurant was easy enough to find in behind the Red Horse Saloon (the Singing Pig website refers to it as the Sultana Saloon but the sign said Red Horse).  The only parking space was diagonal on the street between two giant Ford trucks.  Our car was dwarfed between them and when I got out of the driver's seat, I felt like a midget standing beside them.  

The sign for the Singing Pig was a white board propped on a chair on the sidewalk. We entered and I immediately thought we had entered through the wrong entrance. There was one long, narrow table sliced from a tree with chairs along either side and that was it as far as seating.  There was a younger bearded man sitting there with a box of papers (receipts?) in front of him and he was sorting through these.  

If this was it for seating, no wonder they asked for reservations. We were there at around 5:15 and there wasn't a line, but still, in the summer months I guess it could get pretty crowded.

There was a gregarious older middle aged woman who immediately greeted us and asked if we had reservations. We said that we did and told her we were the Blanchards. She took us into the attached Saloon and seated us at another long table (there were 5 or 6 of these) cut from a tree. She explained to us that the restaurant had no liquor license so if we wanted beer, wine or a mixed drink with our meal, we would have to order it from the bar and bring it to our table. She gave us the menu... You really must click on that link.  Why, yes... it does have Pig Balls on it. Neither of us were game for that but we were interested in the Pulled Pork BBQ sandwich.  

We sat and looked around the Saloon... the men were obviously rancher types in their worn, authentic jeans, boots and work shirts. There were 2 women and they were uh.... comfortable in the bar atmosphere. They weren't city girls but they weren't tomboys... I guess "well seasoned" is a good description. They looked like the bar was their home away from home, their get away place. Dead animals, mostly elk, hung around the walls. Honky-tonk music played and you could hear the clunking together of the balls on the pool table in the front of the saloon and every now and again cheers and laughter followed the sound of the balls hitting together.

Soon our food arrived.  It wasn't bad... I was able to eat it... and I would recommend that if you stop there, you should try it but personally, I would not order it again if I stopped in. The chutney was just a bizarre addition, totally uncalled for.  

Two other couples were seated there in the bar at their own long table by the Singing Pig's hostess and they got the same line about the drinks, etc... that we got. One couple was from England and the other couple sat far enough away that I didn't hear them say where they were from. Randy remarked that he hoped the couple from England didn't think this restaurant and its setup was typical of restaurants in the United States.  

We paid up and headed north from Williams for the last 45 minutes of our trip. We arrived at Tusayan, the town nearest the Grand Canyon Village, and checked into our hotel room at the Best Western. We got our things ready so that right after breakfast the next morning we could head to the Canyon.

Our Great Adventure (R.C. & Moon Pi Fly by the Seat of Their Pants)

Due to various family and job obligations, we just haven't traveled very much since we got married in 2009.  In fact, we didn't even go on a honeymoon because we got married and immediately moved to the coast.  We joked that our new home was our honeymoon and that actually lasted for 4 years.  We made regular trips back to Winston-Salem to visit family and that was a 5 hour, one way trip, but it wasn't really anything that we could consider a vacation.

Randy retired in June of 2013 and we moved to Winston-Salem.  We took a couple of trips in the fall of 2013...a short trip to Atlanta for my birthday in September and then a longer trip to NYC for Randy's birthday in October.  But we were wanting something epic, something memorable.

In January Randy's son had a skiing accident that laid him up for several months.  In fact he is just now getting back to work on a limited basis.  Randy was busy staying with him during most of his recuperation and once he was able to make it on his own Randy said, "I'm giving you fair warning... get your bags packed because we are going on a road trip.  I don't know where we're going or when but just be ready."

We had been talking about various places in the United States that we had previously visited and places we would like to visit so he was formulating a list.  Randy is very methodical and once he tells you something, he usually has already worked out the plan in his mind so I knew that I needed to contact a pet sitter for Jhett and get that lined up as soon as possible.  Fortunately for me, the woman who fostered Jhett when she was awaiting adoption lives close by and does pet sitting.  She agreed to take care of Jhett and water the plants while we were gone.  I just had to be on standby for when the plan fell into place.

We started out planning the places that were "must see" on our trip and then worked from there.  We really wanted to see New Orleans but found that the weekend we planned to be there was one of 2 consecutive Jazz Festival Weekends.  We love Jazz but are such introverts that we avoid crowds whenever possible.  We also wanted to see the Mexican border at El Paso and the Grand Canyon.  We had decided to sort of make a big circle, returning home via I-40.  The Jazz Festival changed our game plan and we decided to make the circle in the opposite direction and would instead arrive in New Orleans after the Festival weekends.

We got our little old (14 yrs. old) road atlas and determined where we would stop for the night along the way to get to the Grand Canyon and made a tentative plan to drive no more than 6 hours per day, splitting up the driving, to New Mexico.  We would stay a couple of nights there just to get a little rest and then arrive at the Grand on a Sunday evening, hoping to avoid any weekend crowds.

We only booked hotels about 3 days ahead so that if we decided to stay an extra day or take an unplanned side trip, we were free to do so.  We were truly flying by the seat of our pants.  We scanned Trip Advisor, local resources, city pages, etc. to find various things to do and places worth stopping.  There was only one reservation along the way that was non-refundable if we had decided to change plans, but that didn't prove to be a problem.

Some stops were in places that we had studied about in school... famous places that just seemed to stick in our minds and when we saw them on the map we said, "Let's stop!  We may not get the chance again."  The the next several posts will chronicle our trip.  We truly did have a great trip and even though we felt that we had a close relationship before, I think in many ways the trip drew us even closer together.