A Quick Post from Albuquerque...

T'was a long driving day today, and another one scheduled for tomorrow, so all I've got for you is a couple of photos that I omitted yesterday...

Pam & Mr Hobbs doing paperwork.

Storm nearby....so cool!

What a sunset!!!

I'll be back with news from Amarillo... Bye for now.

Grand Canyon - Big Time!!! (pardon the pun)

I'm going to summarize the last couple of days as we were in and out of the National Park several times and things start to run together anyway.  Also, I got my best photos today, the last day, as there was no rain and no haze on the canyon.  The Park has a shuttlebus system that works very, very well so we parked at the visitor center and rode the "blue line" and the "red line" buses regularly.  What a fashion show and melting pot of languages just riding buses.  I really enjoyed it.  

We saw our share of wildlife... some we were camera ready, some not.

There's an elk in there!

Resting Roadside

We shuttled along the rim and these are just a few of the beautiful shots we captured:

Beautiful in the afternoon sun

Beautiful in the shadows

See the sliver of the Colorado River?

One afternoon we were treated to a Navajo Indian dance troupe called Pollen Trail.  They danced outside the Hopi House, one of the several Grand Canyon "original structures" that makes this place so special.

Hopi House - on US Historic Register

Native American Dancers

Ceremonial Hoop Dancer - about 14 hoops

Pam wanted to treat me to an early birthday lunch so we went to the El Tovar Inn - another historic register location - and enjoyed a scrumtious meal in a very elegant "formal" setting.  We could almost "feel" the history in the room.

Thanks to the afternoon rains, the threat level for wildfires has been reduced to just "moderate" by my friend Smokey...

Keeping things safe

After days of fire restrictions... no campfires, not even grilling on charcoal, the bans were lifted and we were finally able to cook on the grill and, most importantly, make s'mores! 

We had originally planned to overnight in Flagstaff, but decided to even out our daily driving mileage by continuing on to Holbrook, AZ.  Once again, serendipity at work.  On our way to the Petrified Forest (a slight backtrack) we passed a business named Jim Grey's Petrified Wood.  It looked like your local hardware store but we were intrigued so stopped to see what's what.  Whoa! Amazing! We ended up spending almost 2 hours here in a "rock store".  They had a stone-yard in the back (big as a football field), and inside every shape and size and finished/unfinished type of petrified wood and then an amazing array of gemstones, crystals and fossils.  I shopped for jewelry making supplies, decorator items and was so taken by the landscaping pieces outside that I got busy with my camera and have some new artwork for framing.

Unassuming exterior...

Logs on display outside store

And then these "pretty things"...

Purples & Yellows and Greens

Earthy Composition

You're probably thinking, "she's such a nut", but this place left me breathless!  Good thing I don't live closer or surely my yard would be "petrified" and I'd be yard-of-the-month for sure!  On our way back to the campsite we happened on a town festival and stopped for a look-see.  It was neat as they were giving out ribbons for "best brisket" and "best barbecue" etc.  Fun to watch the crowd get into it!  Onward to Albuquerque today.

Catching up... Relaxing at the Grand Canyon!

Day 48 of 63 and we are settled into one of my least favorite campgrounds of the trip.... but who cares when it's next door to the most fabulous canyons in the world.  But I'm ahead of myself.  Didn't have Wi-Fi or TV the last couple of days so I am behind in my blogging.  Hope you missed me!

After Page, we journeyed on to Jacob Lake located 37 miles north of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  I chuckled when another traveller asked the campground host, "what's there to do in town" and her reply was a non-plussed, "there is no town!"  But the campground was reminiscent of the East Coast in that we had tall, tall pine trees and lovely pine aroma surrounding us. We drove to the North Rim through acres and acres of burned out forest (last year's fires) but then on to meadows full of bison!  The herd is about 300 and I guess we saw about 1/2 of them - lots of babies too. 

North Rim Bison

We were pleasantly surprised by the N. Rim facilities.  The main lodge is huge with stone and log construction and large canyon-facing windows as well as a deck with actual wood adirondack chairs.  The canyon is...well... GRAND!  We are not up to hiking in a big way, but did venture down to a couple of "viewing" areas and down one relatively easy trail. It was an overcast day so my photos do not do justice to the incredible views.  I'll just post a couple here.

North Rim View

Deep, Deep Canyon!

We had to drive about 175 miles to get from North to South rim, but happily there are Navajo vendors set up by the side of the road about every 20 miles or so..... so we indulged our shop-aholism and purchesed items for ourselves as well as doing a fair bit of Christmas shopping.  (no, we did not stop at every one!)  Some vendors seem to buy from some import giant and re-sell.... same jewelry, same "line".  But then there are folks who have quality merchandise, often times working at their craft right at their booth.  So it was the typical buyer beware scenario.  We also traversed an area known as "The Vermillion Cliffs".  Unfortunately, the clouds were gathering and vermillion was just dull clay.

Not so vermillion cliffs...

Typical Navajo Vendor's Stand

On our way through the East side of the park we visited the Desert View visitor center and the Watchtower.  It was my first Grand Canyon view and it did take my breath away.  During our visit, we saw the first rain in 41 days (yes, I've been counting) and also saw an incredible light show as the lightning struck over the canyon and the thunder reverberated on the canyon walls.  

Desert View Watchtower

Colorado River in Canyon

Best shot yet!

As we left the parking lot to head "home" we spotted this little fellow on one of the desert blooming plants....

Beautiful green hummer...

As I write this morning, I'm hearing helicopters fly over, one after another so I guess the tourist business is alive and well.  Since all the helicopter tours run around $200+   we shan't be doing that!  Maybe Jeremy could fly over from Ft. Campbell and give his Mom a tour???  Call it a stroke of luck, serendipity, or just plain ole good neighborliness, Pam was walking Mr. Hobbs this morning, struck up a conversation with some folks, took their group photos for them and they asked if we might like to "help them out" by taking some of their "leftover food".  They have to turn in their rental RV today as they are flying back to Switzerland.  Pam said, "sure" and then next thing she knew we were the recipients of frozen hamburger, steaks, chicken, bacon and then a plastic container full of spices, oils, vinegars, wine glasses, paper products etc.  All-in-all, probably $75 worth of groceries!  A great way to begin the day, for sure.  Well, gotta go.... lots to see and do.

Beautiful Page, AZ

Sure is different watching newscasts and listening to warnings about wildfires, dust storms and flash floods!  Fortunately, they were all either just north or just south of us... so we enjoyed the 4th of July peacefully and even found our way to the local golf course to watch the celebratory fireworks.  Today we headed back to Wahweap National Park on Lake Powell to get photos of the sights I missed when driving the other day....

Lake Powell in the afternoon

Lake Powell Beauty

Lake Powell Marina

By the way, did I show you the "wrinkled sandstone"?

Wrinkled Sandstone

And just as we were leaving the shore area I spotted these...

Pretty Yellow Bird

Sittin' Pretty

Mama feeding baby!

Saying goodbye to John Wayne country...

During our last day at Gouldings, we went to the Museum.   It houses lots of memorabilia from the days the Gouldings promoted business at the Trading Post by hosting John Ford and his movie makers to film many John Wayne films.  What fun to see reruns of the films and recognize the monuments in them as the ones we had seen during our "epic" tour of the Valley of the Gods!  The museum also displayed the store and upstairs quarters where the Gouldings lived. 

The Trading Post

John Wayne Flick

Driving back to Arizona, we stopped at the Navajo National Monument where we saw a couple of educational films (basket-stitching, ancient Pueblo peoples) and did a little shopping.  Heat of 106 degrees helped the decision to skip the nature trail!

Navajo Hogan

We're settled in at Page, AZ for the July 4th holiday week.  Took a drive to one of Lake Powell's several marinas and enjoyed lunch.  We were surrounded by families with ski boats, water skis, wake boards, and last but not least, houseboats!  Made me think about what my next "rig" should be...

Next Rig????

Floating Restaurant

 

Sandstone "beach"

Following lunch we drove to the Glen Canyon Dam.  Prior to 1955 there was no Page, AZ.  At that time the Department of the Interior developed a water reclamation project to build the Glen Canyon Dam to: 1) provide a water supply for Arizona and 4 neighboring states 2) provide recreational opportunties 3) provide hydroelectric power for the region.  Work on the dam took several years and then it took another 17 years for Lake Powell to reach it's present size, the 2nd largest man-made resevoir in the USA.  We took a "dam tour", had a great guide and learned a lot about, well, a lot!

Bridge & Colorado River

Unique Lake Powell Landscape - white ='s 14 year high water mark

View from the top

Today took us to a whole new dimension in canyons, signing up for a guided tour through a slot canyon.  Located on the Navajo reservation, these slot canyons can only be visited "on tour".  No freewheeling here!  And thank goodness.... we drove 20 minutes on paved roads to get to the entrance to the park...

Antelope Canyon Tours

Then the driver jumped out, engaged the 4-wheel drive and we took off on a 4-mile drive over sand dunes...rutted from many, many tour vehicles before us.  What a bouncy, bone rattling ride!  But it was well worth it when we arrived at the canyon entrance and entered a dreamlike world beneath the desert.... our guide was a more proficient photographer than I, she took over my camera, re-did the settings and pointed out the best shots and angles during the whole tour!  Fantastic!!!  It was difficult keeping up with the tour as we were taking photos, listening to "guide talk" and trying to walk on shifting sands beneath (about 4 inches deept and very, very fine dry sand) but the photos made it all worthwhile.

The result of flash floods, wind, rain over eons...

Deeper and Deeper

Truely Amazing

Light Play - sorry for sideways!

More light play

I was there....

Swirls of sandstone

Bottom up view, gorgeous!

A trip to the Navajo Rim is planned for later today.... they tell me Horseshoe Bend is not to be missed.  Back at ya later...