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Our Trip to the Grand Canyon –NOV.07
DAY 1 -- We left for our big two week trip to the west on Sunday the 17th of Nov. We drove to Lisa’s in Louisville on Sunday and spent the night. When we got there we arranged everything in her truck so we could leave early on Monday. Day 2 -- Up at six and on our way at six-thirty. After we crossed into Indiana we gained an hour in time. After a short breakfast stop we drove by the big arch in St.Louis and settled in for a long day of driving.Howard and Lisa swapped driving chores every couple of hours. That way no one got too tired and each one had a chance to look .At three we crossed into Oklahoma. Our first night on the road was spent in Tulsa. DAY 3 -- We were up and ready to go by six-thirty. Our breakfast was waffles; juice and coffee at the hotel .We were impressed with the forever views in Oklahoma. Did you know they have windmill farms? When we got to Amarillo we ate lunch and got gas. . Texas has a huge windmill farm and just outside Amarillo a large cattle feedlot. Since Howard farmed so much of his life he enjoyed all the farm land and seeing them picking cotton and baling it. There were huge cotton bales sitting in fields waiting to go to market I guess. As you leave Amarillo you see some ones idea of ‘”art “in something called ‘’Cadillac Ranch ‘’ six cars half buried in a field. Then we were in New Mexico and into desert and cactus and wind, wind and more wind. In the fields among the cactus, scrub cedar, red cliffs and rocks we can see a cow or two. We wonder aloud what they are eating. Howard was told at a visitors’ center that it takes one hundred acres to support one cow .We have had a little wind since Oklahoma but here it is worse and causing Howard problems with his eye. We are driving some of the old route 66 and it is beside us a lot of the time. We gained another hour of time today so at four we found a hotel in Albuquerque so everyone could have a long rest off the road. Day 4 --After a good night’s rest we were up at six and on the road again at seven. At ten we stopped for gas and had something to eat .T he wind is blowing and it is cold at 43 degrees. We made a stop at wal-mart to see if we could find some glasses that might keep the wind out of Howard’s eye but no luck at anything better than what he has. At ten we got on old route 66 and went to Red Rocks State Park. We took pictures and walked thou the museum. At noon we arrived at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. The first stop is the Painted Desert Visitors’ Center. Then it is a 28 mile drive thou the park. Your first stop is a view of the Painted Desert and it is breath taking. Then a walk thru the painted desert inn and more looking, looking and then more looking as we drove on .We ate our picnic lunch at one of the stopping points while watching several Santa Fe trains go by. After lunch we walked a short path to look at very old etchings on rocks and then on to newspaper rock where a raven was the greeter and posed for pictures. The next section is “The Tepees “lots of tepee shaped mounds of this strange dirt that try’s to be rock. At Blue Mesa Howard and I took a hike thou the badlands among the petrified wood. After holding some of this “rock” are we sure it once was wood? W e did not get out of the park until four. We drove on to Williams and found a hotel for the night. Day 5 --Thanksgiving Day Well what to do? At six-thirty we left the hotel and headed to Phoenix to find Camelback Mt. because everyone said go hike it and we wanted to see Phoenix. Early in the mourning; on the road almost by ourselves and all of a sudden we are being stopped by a cop. Having no fear; we were not speeding and ourseatbbelts are on; so we roll down the window. The nice young cop says Lisa crossed the white line twice. WHAT ????? We think he just wanted to talk to someone from Kentucky .We put in Eco Canyon Park on the GPS and it took us to Camelback. We took a wrong turn and drove thou the ‘Hollywood “part of the town; it was beautiful. We got to the park at ten and the traffic was backed up waiting to park. A fire truck was parking and we would later learn they were on a rescue up the mountain. At ten-thirty we got a parking spot. It seems the thing to do on Thanksgiving in this town is to hike Camelback. Quite a hike; reminded me of New Hampshire AT with all the big rocks and handrails. As we neared the top everyone was made to stop and stay still while a helicopter came in to take a young boy off the mountain. They said he had fallen but he looked fine. At the top you can see afar and it is all the town of Phoenix. As we came down the mountain a man behind us took a bad fall and blood was running down his elbow. We were back at one-thirty and decided to drive toward the Sonora desert to see some more of the area. After miles of open dessert we headed back toward Flagstaff where we hoped to fine a hotel for the night. Just after seven we found a hotel and decided not to go back out to eat. So we had warm soup and crackers. Today I saw a lovely cactus wren , a million” tree cactus”, hiked a neat mountain , drove thou a beautiful town I had never seen before , and tomorrow we get to see the Grand Canyon ,who needs turkey . Day 6 -- We got up at six and after breakfast headed toward the Grand Canyon National Park. We were there at nine-thirty. At Mather point we would get our first look at the Grand Canyon. What else could you say but “oh my goodness’ and of course take pictures. We went to the bright angel lodge and had to wait to get a place to park. I thought this was off season but there are tons of people here. We were told our rooms would not be ready before three at the earliest. We knew that; we are here to walk the rim and look, look and look some more before we hike in tomorrow. We put on our coats and gloves and went off to explore the rim. After about a mile or so of walking and looking, looking and looking we took the bus to the south Kaibab trailhead. We saw the mules that go into the canyon in a corral there. The trail is a good trail but lined with fine power dust and very dry. At one-thirty we are back at the parking area. We really hated to give up our parking space but we wanted to see the Grand Canyon Imax movie and that was outside the park. It was wonderful; you felt like you were flying into the canyon but you were not moving. After the movie we were hungry and ate before we drove back to the park. The traffic was bad as we went back but we did get a parking spot and our cabin was ready. Daryl called at five and wanted us to meet them at six at the bright angel restaurant in the lodge. [They are at the Maswik lodge across the road.] We got there at five-thirty .It was so full we had to take a number and wait. While waiting Daryl checked on our Phantom Ranch resverations.It seems that he had none under Lloyd; they now said Mcmillian and were all for the men’s dorm. WHOOPS???? By the time that was fixed our table was ready. Howard and I had dessert. Then off to the cabin where I put stuff in my bag; took it out; put it back in .Oh well time to go to sleep. Day 7—Nov. 24 - It is cold, cold, cold this morning as we wait with hoods up and gloves on for the early shuttle bus to the trailhead. Shelton has lost a glove and runs back to look for it with no luck; so Daryl gives him one of his gloves since he has two pair on. Shuttle pulls in at five till seven and off we go for the almost thirty minute drive to the trailhead. Not many people out and some do not understand that this bus stops only at the South Kaibab trailhead. We decided we had to take pictures at the trail before starting the hike. Of course there are four cameras and at some point Daryl has all four. While he is trying to take a picture with each camera while trying not to drop them; these four men who are Japanese and waiting for us to get finished so they can do the same thing ask if they can take the picture. Oh how I wished for a camera to take a picture of these four lined up each one with a camera taking our picture. Daryl asked if they were sure they knew how to use those cameras; not sure they got his joke. I think Daryl then took there picture for them. They were hiking also but they were going down the Kaibab and back out the Bright Angel trail today. Down the trail we went hoods up; cold and windy maybe twenty-five degrees. We are stopping often to look and take pictures. The wind is blowing the fine dust and we are slowly being covered. At some point I covered my nose and mouth with my bandana. This is a great trail for views of the canyon. Two mule trains would pass us today; the first one with people and the second one was a supply train. We had no trouble getting out of the way because the trail is wide in places and the mules are walking slowly so you have time to pick a place. At ten we stopped for a snack and Howard got a nose bleed while trying to get the dust out of his nose. Look, walk, take picture, look, walk, take picture, this is beautiful. At cedar point it began to warm up a little and our coats came off. A man almost ran passed us and said “you are looking at an 81 year old who has crossed the canyon 180 times” ; we would see him later .Sometime we passed what looked to me like a garden of plants and shrubs on the side of the mountain. It was so neat it could have been in a yard. I do not know the plants but I said to Howard that Ed Schell would have been over the bank to take a closer look. Did not see it but at some point Daryl turned his ankle and is now walking slowly. We finally talked him into putting on a knee sleeve that Howard had in his pack. We have reached skeleton point and get our first view of the river. Of course pictures, look, maybe walk 200 yards and do the same again. Then you see the suspension bridge and the rock tunnel that is the entrance. Howard does not like walking or driving on high bridges so he is not thrilled. At twelve thirty we were at Phantom Ranch. A Very rustic place along the edge of a creek. I was put in dorm cabin 12 and the men were in 14. We put our packs in there and Howard and I had our lunch at one of the tables outside. It is still a little chilly. We looked around a little then went to mail some postcards from here; they are stamped as being mail by mule from the canyon. Bill went for a short hike to take more pictures and look around. At two Howard and I hiked a mile or so up the North Kaibab trail; how neat to be here. By the time we got back there was another lady in my dorm and more would arrive. These ladies were from Utah and were staying two nights. They starting talking about going out to the big cottonwood tree to listen to an 81 year old man give a talk on lightweight backpacking. When we got there Howard and I saw he was the man who flew pass us on the way in. He said he once was 170 pounds but got down to 130 pounds when he decided to hike across the canyon. He wears very light shoes that he does admit you can feel the rocks. He is a spokesman’s for go-light backpacking which sells the all cloth backpack he carries. We stayed until Howard got too cold. While we were there we saw our first mule deer. Howard and I brought our evening meal but the others said their steak meal was really good .It was after ten-thirty before I got to sleep ;the others in our room had the second seating to eat and they talked a long time after returning. Ten beds in our dorm and only seven people. Day 8---At five the “bellboy” came in to say that first seating for breakfast was at five-thirty and do not be late. Well the ladies in our dorm were late; it was after five-thirty before they left the room. Daryl is real upset that we are on for the second breakfast at seven but he could not get it changed. It is maybe 35 degrees this morning; not hot but not too cold. Howard and I walked around a little before it got light; you could still see the moonlight on the walls of the canyon. We brought our packs to breakfast so we could leave as soon as we ate. They opened the door for our breakfast at seven and we ate our bacon, eggs, pancakes, etc and were on our way just after seven-thirty. We walked out thru the Bright Angel campground; a lot of people camped there this cold morning. Then we crossed the Bright Angel suspension bridge; of course more pictures. Look, take a picture, look, talk about the canyon, walk a little, repeat. Daryl is a little slow but says he is fine. He finally took something for pain. By the time we reached Indian Garden there were lots of people. Some hikers were from Knoxville; small world. We stopped for a snack and Daryl seemed to be feeling better. I got cold and decided to start walking instead of putting my jacket back on. A mule train came in while we were there and shortly after we started up the trail another one came down. We walked on and kept looking back for the others. The garden area has lots of building and trees so of course birds. I caught a red cap of a tiny kinglet. We are also seeing lots of mule deer today. There were lots of them at the ranch this morning. Soon Bill caught up and said Shelton was with Daryl and they were walking at Daryl’s pace. Lots of people on the trail so we kept moving. We were doing our usually walk a little, look a lot and take pictures. After stopping several times to wait and look back for Shelton and Daryl we decided to eat lunch and hope they caught up; they did not. Tired and getting cold we moved along and after a hard long climb we got to the top at one-thirty. They have started to work on the trail here and it really needs it. Lisa was there and took pictures for us and also got some pictures of us coming up the trail. She had walked the very narrow rim trail out toward Hermits Rest while we were in the canyon. She said it was so narrow and straight down in one spot she climbed up thu rocks and trees to get off until she got her nerve back. On her shuttle bus this morning they had to stop for elk in the road. We went to our cabin to clean up and see the Hermits Rest end of the canyon before the shuttle stopped for the day. I also had to pick up gifts that Lisa had scouted out for me since I had no time. Before we left we called Daryl’s cell phone; it was busy. We tried again; it was busy so we assumed he was out because there was no service in the canyon. We went on our way and got back in time to eat with them at six. We were there at five-thirty and Bill came out to get us. They had eaten early and Daryl had gone back to the room to get off his knee. It seems he and Shelton got out at two-thirty. Shelton had carried Daryl’s pack out to make it easer on his knee. Bill and Shelton stayed with us while we ate. They had dessert while Bill told Howard how to eat his Mexican food correctly. We agreed to meet for breakfast at seven. Day 9—Howard woke up at three this morning with a bad pain in his shoulder; what has he done? Daryl seems to be walking well. We ate and talked and talked. When we got up to go Daryl had some pain. After more see you back home and be careful on the roads, we parted. Howard and I walked out to the rim of the canyon for one last look. At eight-fifteen we are on the road again [hey that would make a good song’]. We went by the Desert View Watchtower and saw some more of the canyon. There were mountain bluebirds in the trees eating cedar berries. Also lots of the red-backed and dark headed [my book calls them Oregon Juncos] juncos that we have been seeing at the lodge. I also have a titmouse new to me; the book says juniper titmouse. The mountain chickadee is also new to me. We have decided on taking route 89 out of the canyon area. Turned out to be a beautiful drive and at one-thirty we had a picnic lunch on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. While we ate lunch Stellers jays joined us. We fed them crackers. We walked the rim trail here; different look over here. While walking here I got to see some pygmy nuthatches. Here they have the Grand Canyon lodge which may be all cabin rooms; there are a lot of cabins here. Of course they are closed for the year but have not shut the access road. We saw the Kaibab Lodge on the drive in and we checked out the North Kaibab trailhead. At four-thirty we got on scenic route14 to find a hotel for the night in Cedar City, Utah. It was a beautiful drive and goes up to 10,000 feet; snow up there. Day 10—We were up at six and off to the hotel breakfast at seven. This hotel had sausage and gravy, biscuits, cold cereals, eggs, toast, waffles, hot chocolate, orange juice, apple juice and coffee. After lots of breakfast we were on the road again at eight.We had to backtrack a little to get to Zion Canyon but it was worth it. You drive up the floor of the canyon; Lisa loved that because she did not get to the floor of the Grand Canyon. We stopped to watch deer and people climbing the sides of the canyon. We took a short walk to the” weeping rock”. Just as we entered the park Susan called to see how our trip was going; after a couple of minutes my cell phone quite working and we had no cell phone service until the next day. We got back on route 89 to go on to Bryce canyon. We were driving along enjoying more beautiful scenery when we saw buffalo. “Buffalo Grill” said the front of the very nice building here in the middle of no where. We stopped for a closer look at the buffalo. Since it was noon we went in for lunch and had buffalo burgers. There were lots of windows so we could watch the buffalo while we ate. We got to Bryce canyon at two. They call the” skinny” rocks “Hoodoos”; they are neat to see. Of course the views here were great also. At three we got on scenic drive route 12. This was a very, very beautiful drive; we see Dixie Forest sign often. The part near Escalante canyon was unbelievable. At 9600 ft we have a lot of white birches, snow on the ground and some driving that made Lisa nervous. At one point the road dropped off steeply on both sides and then came to a top and disappeared from view; so you went over the top and hoped there was still road. We found a hotel in Torrey where route 12 ended. It was cold today from 31degrees to 44 degrees. Day11---Today we drove on 24 to Green River where we would get on Interstate 70 and take the exit to Canyon lands national park. Everything out here is so different from home so it all is great to see. This park would be great to live near and do some hiking. As we drove out a coyotes crossed the road in front of us. We stopped and he poised for pictures; I think he was begging but Howard and Lisa would not let me feed him. Back on route 91 we drove thru Moab on our way to Arches National Park. They are in a curve and have such a small sign at the road that we drove pass. We have seen so much that we debated not going back .Thank-goodness we did it was one of the best for unusually rocks. It had the “Courthouse towers” which included “the three gossips” [three rock people that really look like three people],”the organ”, “sheep rock” and more. Then on to the petrified dunes and balanced rock. Then comes “the windows section” with the north window, south window, parade of elephants, Garden of Eden and more. Next came Wolfe Ranch a 1800s homestead and then on and on .I would have loved to hike here but we must head on home. There are few people out at these places now and you can stop in the middle of the road to take a picture or look which is great. When we left this park we got on route 128 which follows the Colorado River between two great canyon walls. All over out here you see “cow” crossing” signs [you know like deer crossing only this is a picture of a cow] and lately we have been seeing the cow sign with “free range” under it. At some places we saw the sign and wondered how on earth a cow would get to such a place. Well today we saw cows with no fences and now we wonder how on earth they ever fine the poor cows they can go forever out here. We knew we were low on gas but now the truck low gas buzzer has gone off and we are no where near a gas station. WHOOPS???? We have been so good up until today at being sure to fill the gas each morning. Lisa says we have 40 miles maybe; she has never tested it. So we go 55 miles an hour to conserve gas and I hunt Howards AAA card. We are now near a town on the map called Cisco and we are hopeful of maybe a gas station. Cisco turned out to be a small desert town of shacks. It was here I saw a golden eagle. We finally get to 70 but no exit as far as we can see. So we coast down the hills and Lisa is talking to the truck. In the back seat I don’t get the big deal; stop the truck and I will call for gas. Well it seems we can not do that; you do not run out of gas as a matter of pride. So on we go and finally a very small town but it does have one gas station and Lisa and Howard are thrilled ; no calling for gas.We are in Mack, Colorado. Gas is 3.39 a gallon; not as bad as I figured. At Grand Jt. we went to eat and then on to near Aspen where we spent the night. They have had snow here. Day 12----I learned last night that long time JCHIKERS club member and hike leader Bruce Richardson had lost his battle with cancer. We left at seven headed toward Denver. At the first rest stop we learned we were near where big horn sheep are often seen. We took a short drive to a viewing area but no luck. Back on the interstate I am looking at the side of the mountain when I see two coming down. We took the next exit and went back for a closer look and saw a small group. Of course we took the next exit back and stopped along the interstate to look and take pictures. One of the larger ones stood on a big rock and seemed to pose. This was just before we got to DENVER. We took a brief side trip to Buffalo Bill’s museum and grave. Denver Mountains are snow covered but the Denver area is not what I had expected. The other side of Denver we stopped to watch a field of prairie dogs. We had planned on eating breakfast at ten this morning but with chasing sheep and more buffalo that never happened and it is now after lunch time so we took a long break for a sit down lunch. After Denver the mountains are gone and we have miles and miles of open farm land. At two we crossed into Kansas and after switching drivers every hour or so we got to Abilene where we would spend the night. Howard has spent the whole drive home with a bad pain in his shoulder but with heat patches he has helped with the driving. Day 13---HOMEWARD BOUND—At six-thirty we were on the road again[Lisa says we should sing but then thinks better of it when she remembers what I sound like when I sing.] A couple of stops for food, looking at miles and miles of almost flat farm land [Howard enjoyed that] and a lot of driver switches we were at Lisa’s house.
Day 14--- OUR HOME BOUND----We told Lisa to forget breakfast and headed for home.
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