Skinny Dippin' with the BIG Boys

Today was a travel day - Williams, AZ to Laughlin, NV to play golf tomorrow.   On the way - Magic got a bath;-)

Magic was the prettiest - but the 'boys' were carrying Indie cars!

Slight change in the travel plans - Death Valley was on the agenda for Thursday until we saw the 103 F predicted temp.  Lemoore and the granddaughter have replaced that nonsense!!

More later - E & G

The GRAND Canyon

WOW!! What a beautiful, grand day we had on Monday.

But, first - how we got there - which was NOT easy.

After that wonderful (not) snow storm we had in Sedona, which blanketed all of Northern Arizona in inches to feet of snow, we headed to Williams and the Grand Canyon a day late. The delay was to allow roads to be cleared of all snow - and to be sure that the National Parks would NOT be closed due to our diligent Congress people’s inability to determine a budget;-( We won on one count - the park was open - but lost on the second. As we approached the first exit west of Flagstaff on I40 at about noon (our destination was 30 miles west of Flagstaff!), we were directed off the freeway and told I40 was closed! Yes - closed. Seems that several semis - followed by several passenger trucks - hit black ice early in the day and it took until almost 3:30 in the afternoon to get things cleared. So - we just kicked back in Magic, fixed lunch and watched the final round of the Masters;-) Timing is everything. Just as the Masters finished, I40 was opened and we were on our way again.

Williams, Arizona, on historic Route 66, is billed as the ‘gateway’ to the Grand Canyon. It has that stereotypical Route 66 look - don’t ya think?

Get your kicks on Route 66..Williams, AZ style.

Monday morning was bitter cold - but the sky was clear and the sun would surely warm things up quickly. So - the car was loaded with all the camera gear, fanny backs full of power bars and snacks and all the travel books we had with even a mention of the Grand Canyon. We were on our way to that immense gorge a mile deep and up to 18 miles wide. As we drove north on highway 64, crossing a gently rolling plateau, there was no hint at what was about to unfold.

The Grand Canyon. Nearly 5 million people travel here each year - most were here on this Monday morning in the middle of April after a snow storm!!!!

Monday, after an April snowstorm and there are so many people we can hardly move.

The draw of Grand Canyon is not just the size, but also in the beauty of its landscape. In this respect, Grand Canyon shares many characteristics with its neighbors - Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands, Arches, and Capitol Reef National Parks. All of these NP’s lie within the geologic province known as the Colorado Plateau, a region characterized by mostly flat-lying sedimentary rocks that have been raised thousands of feet above sea level, then carved by erosion. In fact, the canyon floor is 2,400 feet above sea level - and the elevation of the south rim is approximately 7,000 feet!

How did this happen?? Beginning about 70 million years ago, heat and pressure generated by two colliding tectonic plates induced mountain building in western North America. The Colorado Plateau was raised more than 10,000 feet. Then - in the last 5-6 million years the Colorado River (Colorado is derived from the Spanish for ‘reddish’) did its work of carving the canyon. Water draining off the western slopes of the southern Rocky Mountains carried sand and gravel, cutting down through the layers of rock. Without the uplift of the Colorado Plateau, there would not have been the thousands of feet of topography for the river to sculpt!!

While the ‘uplift’ occurred approximately 70 million years ago, the rocks exposed within Grand Canyon range from the Kaibab limestone, the caprock on the rims of the canyon, at 270 million years to the oldest rocks at the bottom of Grand Canyon, which are 1.84 BILLION years old!! The National Park service has done a wonderful job of providing a physical ‘picture’ of this age by creating a “Trail of Time” - an interpretive walking trail in which every meter (one large step) of the path represents one million years of Grand Canyon geology. We walked all 1.84 billion years!!

Beauty

More beauty

Endless views.

Don't slip!

Gary managed a rare picture of a condor over the canyon. Northern Arizona is one of four release sites in the California condor recovery program, which for the past 25 years has sought to bring these large scavenger birds back from the brink of extinction. Their world population had dwindled to only 22 by 1982 - and now more than 60 condors fly in the skies over Arizona! Their grace and wing span of nine to 11 feet are awe inspiring.

Lucky shot of a condor in flight.

Our 4 mile walk, including the 1.84 billion years, brought us to the Grand Canyon Village Historical District. Now - those of you who have read our blog in the past may remember all the discussions of the RRs building all the wonderful lodges in both the US and Canadian NP’s. The lodges at the Grand Canyon are no exception. On September 17, 1901 the first steam-driven train rolled into Grand Canyon Village after a relatively smooth 3-hour trip from Williams (cost was $3.95!!). Shortly after, the El Tovar, once described as ‘the most expensively constructed and appointed log house in America’, was commissioned by the Santa Fe Railroad in 1902. It cost $250,000 to construct and was considered by many to be the most elegant hotel west of the Mississippi. Many years later - 1932 - there was a need for additional accommodations and the Bright Angel Lodge was started. Designed by Mary Colter - the ten foot high geologic fireplace was her ‘star’ component. It represented the rocks and order of strata inside the canyon. The top of the fireplace is constructed of Kaibab Limestone found on the rim and the base of the fireplace has smooth river stones from the bottom of the canyon. Our NP guide said to be sure and have dinner in the Arizona room at the Bright Angel - so that is how we completed our picture perfect day;-)

Still climbing trees.

Just a few more canyon shots.

Much wonder to you all - Elizabeth & Gary

PS - I knew there was a picture of the Birthday Boy celebrating - just had to find it on the iPhone -

Birthday boy and the Barking Frog in Sedona.

Escape the Snow?? Time to get ‘Back on the Road’ - again;-)

Well - here it is a SNOW day (April 9!) in sunny, warm Sedona, Arizona.  

Are you sure this is Sedona?

So, it’s a ‘snuggle-in’/watch the Masters kind of day - which provides time to get a blog posting done since we have now been gone a month and everyone keeps asking “are you going to do blog postings this trip?”.

March 8 - The skies cleared and stopped snowing for one day to allow us to pack Magic.  Then we were on our way with the usual stop in Las Vegas with warm weather and golf and dinner with friends.

March 12 - Lemoore NAS and three days filled with lots of time with daughter Heather and the grandkids, Haley and Joseph.  In fact - granddaughter Haley had her first sleep over ever - and first sleep over in Magic!!  We enjoyed Marry Poppins, stories and a bed just for her.

Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious movie with Gramma & Gramps

Night-night?  I'm not sure I have enough stuffed animals!!

Breakfast as soon as we finish this book.

A trip to the zoo, gymnastics class and Joseph’s academic award ceremony were also on the agenda.

Look gramps, there's a Camel.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  Yuuuummmmm!

Would you like some hay?

Can I brush you now?

a 5. 6. 7. 8!

Congrats Joseph on your academic performance!!

March 16 - Now the WORK begins.  We arrive in Santa Clarita and the task for the next 12 days is to get Gary’s Mother’s house ready to sell.  After three days of “Estate Sale”, EVERYTHING was sold and the house was empty.  In the next six days the house received its facelift - cleaned, painted, re-carpeted, tiled and cleaned again - ready for sale.  Now all it needs is that interested buyer;-)  

In between the chores, we had breakfasts, lunches, coffees and dinners with ‘old’ friends.  One always needs to make time for those faces and discussions that bring back memories and just make us happy;-)  Oh yes - we also made time for the triple overtime Laker game with Phoenix!!

March 27 - Off to Phoenix to have niece Deme join us in Magic for her Spring break.  After loading her into Magic on Sunday night, we were off to Catalina State Park on Monday morning.  This state park sits at the base of the majestic Santa Catalina Mountains, just north of Tucson, and is a haven for wildlife and desert plants including nearly 5,000 saguaros.  We all learned a lot about the mighty saguaro on this trip.  Did you know that they don’t begin to grow arms until they are 25-50 years old?  And, they live more than 200 years?

After checking into the Catalina State campground (site no. 23 - picked by Deme) and setting up, we were off on our first hike - the Canyon Loop Trail - in search of water and shade to keep us cool.  

Which way do we go now?

Cooling off.

Along the way we looked like the Three Amigos in the desert!

Shadowy characters seen on the trail.

A busy day of travel and hiking earned us a hearty dinner at our wonderful campsite in the beautiful Catalina desert campground.

Appetizers before a well deserved dinner.

Sabino Canyon, in the eastern foothills of the Santa Catalina mountains, called early on Tuesday morning.  It is a world away in terms of climate, vegetation, and wildlife and beckons with towering cliffs, waterfalls and swimming holes.  The tram (no cars allowed) took us to the upper canyon where we began our hiking.  First up - in order to get a good look at the canyon.

High above Sabino Canyon.

Then it was time to find one of those good swimming holes where we could take our shoes off, wade in the water, climb on the rocks and enjoy our PB&J sandwiches in some shade with fantastic views.  

A little water left in the Sabino Creek.

Can't beat PB&J - and shade - on a hike!

Look Mom, no shoes, no net!

After this full day, we were exhausted and hit the bed early.  Especially because we had a VERY early day on Wednesday.  Today it was Kartchner Caverns State Park that called.  Discovered in 1974 by Gary and Randy, the caves were not opened to the public until 1999.  Kartchner Caverns SP contains an extraordinary display of colorful speleotherms.  Formations - some of the tiniest, most delicate growths, as well as the tallest column in Arizona - provide evidence of the role water plays in the creation of caves.  (Unfortunately, we have no pictures of this activity, as NO cameras were allowed in the caverns in order to prevent the introduction of ‘alien’ particles into the caves.)

After Kartchner, Deme’s request was the Tucson Reid Park Zoo.  This little zoo was quite wonderful - and enjoyed by all!  Just as Haley enjoyed feeding the giraffe’s at the Fresno zoo, so did Deme at the Tucson zoo;-)

I like carrots, are there any more?

March 31 - Finally time to return to Scottsdale - where we celebrated birthdays;-)  First, it was Gary’s turn as he turned 64!!  (Again, no pictures as the photographer was the subject and no one else picked up the camera;-(!!)  Then, mother’s friend, Nat, turned 92 - and we celebrated at Magic.

Happy 92nd, Nat.

April 4 - Our stay in Scottsdale came to an end and we packed up and moved to a beautiful spot in Sedona - Rancho Sedona RV Park.  

Great spot on the creek in Sedona.

Our campground was also home to several crane couples who were ‘nesting’ in the tops of the trees that surrounded us.  These birds are so prehistoric and yet so graceful when they fly.  We sat and watched for hours at a time.

Two cranes canoodling above their nest.

We shared part of our time here with our friends - the Stinsons.  Our first excursion was Montezuma Castle - a five-story, 20-room dwelling that the Southern Sinagua (Spanish for “without water”) farmers began building early in the 1100s.  It stands in a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley and reached its maximum size in the 1300s.  It was occupied for another century, when the Southern Sinagua mysteriously abandoned their pueblos. Early settlers marveled at the structure and assumed that it was Aztec in origin, hence the name Montezuma Castle.

Montezuma Castle

Linda & Jim at the Castle.

On the way back to Sedona we stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross - a striking, slender building built into a red rock butte with a 90-foot cross as an integral part of the structure.  And, a well known landmark of Sedona.

A view from the Chapel of Holy Cross.

Like it sprung from the Red Rock.

Golf courses were now calling - so we spent the next two days golfing - AND CELEBRATING GARY’S 64th;-)))))!!  And our timing was perfect.  A whopper storm moved in on Friday and dumped several inches of snow in Sedona and about a foot in the Flagstaff area - our next stop.  Because of the storm we extended our stay in Sedona, as we did not want to be on the roads during the ‘dump’.  However, watching the tree branches falling all around us in the campground was not fun either!!  (The staff here said it was the worst storm this winter;-(  )

Glad these two branches missed the bus!

Well - that is our first month on the road.  As you can probably tell, we are now into the National Parks with a little golf mixed in.  (Another reason to stay in Sedona an extra day as we were not sure the NP’s we planned to visit would be open on Sunday when we got there!!)  We are now off to Williams and perhaps a visit to the Grand Canyon.  A quick stop in Laughlin for golf will break up our drive to Death Valley.  More on all of this later.

Hope all is well with all of you - Elizabeth & Gary from Magic

Bear Tracks

For any of you that didn't get enough of our Katmai Bear Adventure, here is a slideshow of some of our shots, put to the music of one of our favorite songs...Ole Slew Foot by the late Chris Ledoux.

25,000 MILES!!!

Friday we hit the end (or the beginning) of the Alaska Highway! Yep - Mile “0” of the 1942 wonder.

Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, British Columbia

The Magic Bus traveled EVERY mile of this highway dubbed the AlCan Highway by the Army when they built it in 8 months in 1942 - seen as a necessity of World War II to get troops and supplies to Alaska. The literature says it is paved?!?!? In fairness - it also says there may be long stretches of gravel where road work is being done. UH - you think so?!?!?! Magic came through fine - BUT, we have a car that will definitely need a paint job some time soon;-( The literature also says “For many people the Alaska Highway is a great adventure. For others, it’s a long drive.” We fall into the first group - IT WAS A GREAT ADVENTURE!! Didn’t see as many wild animals on the road as Gary would have liked - BUT, Denali and the bear viewing made up for all of that!! So - Mile “0” proved to be the rainbow at the end of the road for us - literally!! How fitting -

As we settled into our campsite in Dawson Creek we encountered a weather front which brought with it heavy rain and a dust storm. It made for some interesting colors, a double rainbow, and

a very colorful sunset.

Another fitting ‘happening’ in the last two days. Just after leaving Mile “0” Magic passed 25,000 miles!! In exactly one year we have put 25,000 miles behind us and in the memory banks!!!!

One year and 20 days after Magic joined the family, we recorded 25,000 miles.

Gary and I had to laugh hysterically as we stopped to take this ‘memorial’ picture. After all the beautiful, wonderful scenery that we have viewed on this trip - Magic turns 25,000 miles in a coal ‘dust cloud‘ at a coal burning power plant!! We decided NOT to share this picture with you;-(((

Sunday morning we sat at at a KOA campground just outside of Jasper NP making a blog posting (due to the long Labour Day weekend here in Canada, we could not get into a camping spot in the Park until Sunday night). The next four days we are visiting two of our favorite spots here in Canada - Jasper NP and Banff NP. Then back into the US and home.

Hope there are more rainbows in our future;-)

XOXOXO - Chasing Rainbows Elizabeth & Gary