Grand Canyon-South and North

A quick note to say that we have been a long time without cell service.  But, now we are back!!

At first we thought we had chosen a bad time for the Canyon, because we arrived the Thursday of  Memorial Day weekend.  But, it turned out quite well.  We stayed in Flagstaff for the South Rim.

We enjoyed the drive up and back with beautiful views.



The first day we entered from the East entrance by Desert View.  This worked out well. We could stop at all the turnouts along the rim.  There was enough parking each time for Lady Blue.

Note that there are a lot of pictures in this issue. To see them all, click on "more" at the bottom. 

Also, remember you can click on each picture to enlarge.

Great view from the Desert View Tower.  Designed by Mary Colter( remember the Painted Desert Inn and Las Posada in Winslow?)  It was said that she personally designated each placement of rock in the tower.

One entrance to the Tower. 

         

Inside, the artwork was done again by Fred Kabotie.  You might remember that name from the Painted Desert Inn and La Posada Inn in Winslow.










 We thought some of you would enjoy his work on the leather and wood chairs.

The skins were still the same as well as the rawhide? fasteners.


The seat reminds us of our coffee table from Vermont.

That's the Colorado River way down there.


The white sections are rapids.

At some points, we could see the rafters and their camp way below.

The formations were fascinating.  All along the rim.

We had to keep reminding ourselves that it was 277 miles long and about 10 miles across, and one mile deep.

The South Rim views were a bit more breath taking because the drops were extreme.

We were lucky that the air quality was very good for our visits.


If you click to enlarge this picture, you can see the visitors on the outcrop.

Most of the viewing places had railings. 

However, many visitors did not hesitate to climb out on exposed ledges.  Sure made us nervous.

We weren't totally sure how these people got down to this ledge.

Just note that the drop in front of them is a mile straight down.

This character was in Tusayan, a part of the South Rim visitor's area.  Another area is the Grand Canyon Village. 

There are campgrounds here, but they are usually reserved a year ahead of time.

We did find that the National Forest had campgrounds and dispersed camping spots that might have worked for us.  We especially noted this on the North Rim.  Some very nice forest roads for boondocking.

We explored the South Rim on Thursday and Friday.

Saturday was household chores in Flagstaff.
Sunday was our trip to Sedona--see previous blog entry.

Monday, Memorial Day, was our move to the North Rim.

Eustis is happy!

This is a view out our window at Kaibab Camping Village.  That dirt road is a Forest Service Road.
We found some nice dispersed camping spots along these roads--maybe for next time.

Lots of pine trees.  The North Rim is about 1,000 feet higher than the South Rim.  That meant cooler temperatures and also fewer people.

While the North Rim walls were not straight -up and down--the views were still spectacular.

Jan absolutely loved all the views!



So did Bruce!

Sometimes it was the colors. 

Sometimes it was the light--constantly changing.

Sometimes--it just was !

We did miles of walking each day. 

The rim is to the left and ahead is the North Rim Lodge.

Thank heavens for the railings.










In case you were wondering where Bruce was

Good views from the Lodge porch.

Visitors and guest alike enjoyed the views from inside the Lodge.

 Jan enjoyed many views from along the rim.  Heading from the Lodge to the Camping Area.

Had to show the local variety of brew.  Thought that might inspire some of you to travel.

Bright Angel Point was a favorite of ours.  Went back a few times

And I know some would like to know that the huge fields were home to many deer.  We counted about 100
deer feeding on our way home.

Some walkways were narrow

A Sort of visit to Sedona

You can't accuse us of great planning.  Somehow, with all the time we have, we managed to visit the Grand Canyon and Sedona on Memorial Day weekend.

We knew it would be crowded in Sedona on Sunday, because we had just watched the Phoenix news the night before. They listed Sedona as the Number One destination for vacation!

From Flagstaff we take Lady Blue down Route 89.
Looks easy on the map.

Within a few miles, we realize it's 7% grades down, with 15mph curves and switchbacks.  We lost track of how many.  

But---a beautiful road.  And we did see a number of tour buses coming the opposite way.  Only met one on a sharp corner. 

We were in Oak Creek Canyon with a number of parks and day use areas on the way.  So full, the rangers were blocking off the parking lots and cars were parked all along the road.

Not too many cars in front of us.  That's because we were going slowly.  Eventually all traffic stopped for a backup into Sedona.

Didn't bother us.  We were enjoying the scenery.

A very interesting town.  There was no parking today, but we plan to come back.  Any day other than major holidays would probably offer abundant parking for cars and motorhomes.

Lots of shops, art galleries, and restaurants.

We saw the Pink tour vehicles all over Sedona and the Grand Canyon.

While enjoying the downtown, you also have great views of mountains.

Petrified Forest to Standin' on a Corner

We could have stayed much longer at Blue Water, but it was time to move on.

Into Arizona to the Petrified Forest National Park.

First stop is the beautiful Painted Desert

Even the flowers are quite beautiful.

Some of the nicest views are from the Painted Desert Inn.  A popular stop along Route 66 in the 1950's.

Three names kept coming up .  One was Fred Harvey, who was famous for a number of hotels and restaurants in the 40's and 50's.  Note the movie poster on the wall for the movie Harvey Girls--about the waitresses in his restaurants--starring Judy Garland
Mary Colter-architect--was another.  She was meticulous in designs and building here, in Winslow,Az, and in the Grand Canyon.

Third was Fred Kabotie

A Navajo artist, he painted a number of  murals here, at the famous La Posada hotel in Winslow, and also at the watch tower in Grand Canyon--where Mary Colter again was the architect in all three places.

 Yes folks, we used to call this set-up a soda fountain "back in the day"

Love the prices.

The skylight was an artistic highlight.  You could see why many stars from Hollywood would come here in the 40's and 50's.

You can imagine enjoying this view from the porch of the Inn.

Might want to stay a few days.

But----we must continue on the park road.  We are reminded that this park and further west were popular destination spots along Route 66.

They left the power poles up in the distance--no wires--to show exactly the path of the old Route 66.

And then, here we are in the Petrified Forest.

Some of the logs look exactly like the wooden trees they were millions of years ago.

And they were huge.

Remember the pictures from the painted desert, there are no trees to speak of here.

Turns out that this land was close to the equator back then.  It was a rainforest with 200 plus foot trees.   The trees fell in the river and were washed downstream into the silt.  They were covered with sand and volcanic ash which eliminated the oxygen and rot.  Then the silica and quartz particles began to replace all of the wood with stone.

WOW!

Now, we see the rock eroding and the petrified wood is exposed.

This is just part of one tree

The minerals reveal some wonderful colors, which is why so many tons of petrified rock were hauled out of here before it was made a protected national park.

You can see many of the colors here.  Remember, you can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them.

Just an idea of how large this is.

The tree!! not me.

And on again to stay at Homolovi Ruins State Park in Arizona.

And right in the same town is  "Standin' on a Corner".  The song that made Winslow, Arizona popular--- from the Eagles in 1972.

Written, however, by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey.

Did you sing the whole song, or just that verse?

Jan was there!  In Winslow, not with the Eagles.



You know you're gonna hum that song for the rest of the day at least.

The wall behind the truck----is just a wall.  Like a Hollywood prop.  There are no windows or lights, or people.  Great mural.

And yes, the real truck is the same model as in the mural.





Just down the street is the famous La Posada hotel .

The same names of Mary Colter and Fred Kapotie are involved the artwork.  It was supposed to be Mary Colter's masterpiece, constructed in 1929.

A Fred Harvey masterpiece as well, costing 2 million dollars, 40 million in today's money.  The home of the Santa Fe railroad, it was a bustling stopover.

Like many other relics it was abandoned by the Santa Fe and then almost demolished until 1994.

Now , almost totally renovated, it is on the top ten lists of many travel magazines.

Follow this link for further info
http://laposada.org/

It is an amazing and interesting hotel with a well respected restaurant.  On most days, now, it is fully occupied.

Some famous guests from a long list, were, Albert Einstein, Bob Hope, President Franklin Roosevelt, Betty Grable, and Diane Keaton

 Many interesting art works and sculptures.

But also baskets of varied chard--looking very fresh and delicious.

A giant totem by Peter Toth.  We were told that he has totems in many major cities in the US.

The carving is quite amazing.

You notice in the above picture that the Santa Fe Railroad runs right through town.  This is still the headquarters for much of Santa Fe's organization.

While we were at Homolovi Park, we could watch all the trains in the distance.  Huge , long trains being pulled by three to four locomotives.  All kinds of containers on board from UPS trailers to Hyundai containers and many more.