Phoenix bound - Volume 4

On Tuesday Mikey and I went to the Grand Canyon. It was quite an adventure. It never occurred to me to be concerned about winter conditions at those elevations, but that's what we discovered. Fortunately Mikey was on the ball and told me that the temps for that area would be in the 30's. I would actually need my wool winter coat! We headed up toward Flagstaff, which took about 1.5 - 2 hours. The higher up we went, the more wet the roads became. Then we hit it....snow-covered slopes among a sea of ponderosa pines. It was so beautiful -- just like a christmas card. We were in Flagstaff country. Flagstaff itself was very much like Iowa in winter. Dirty snow-covered roads that were turning to slush from the traffic. Cars trying to go forward while their tires spun, attempting to find traction. This didn't concern me too much. Mikey is an excellent driver and I knew he'd be able to handle it. Heading out of Flagstaff, we encountered worse road conditions. It became icy and I have to admit to getting nervous. It's a midwestern thing. When I drive in questionable road conditions, my eyes are glued to the road, neck and shoulders stiff with tension, continually monitoring how my truck is handling the road. It was no different this time, even though I was in the passenger seat. Even though he's an an excellent driver, Mikey didn't have any extra weight in the back of his pick up (why would he need it in Phoenix?) nor had he driven in conditions like this in several years. So, without trying to be a "backseat driver", I was also watching the road. I breathed a huge sigh of relief once we got past the ice. After four hours on the road, we arrived at the Grand Canyon.

What an awe-inspiring view! My first sight of it nearly took my breath away. Gorgeous...simply wow! You could barely see the Colorado River at the bottom as it appeared between rock formations. The clouds in the sky were drifting shadows across the canyon while a hazy mist hovered over areas, softening it and giving it an air of the mystical and magical. I could easily envision a young indian sitting on the rim seeking the spirits during his vision quest. It made me want to sit on the rim and just connect with all that existed, but there were too many people around to even try. It was difficult to determine just how deep the Canyon was. I guessed it was probably a mile, but I'll have to verify that with some research. I just knew that it was far deeper than it first appeared. You could see trees far below and while you knew they had to be as tall as some of the closer ones, they appared to be small clumps of bush instead. The best indication I saw to tell me how far down it went, was when I saw a good-sized crow flying high above us who then flew downwards and still further downwards until it appeared to be a very small sparrow. It was still gliding and only seemed to be halfway down. I moved away from the railing at that point. Yikes!

I did get some pictures taken, but because of the intensity of the sun, many will be "washed out". I really do need to finish readhing my instruction manual to see if a filter can be applied for brightly lit pictures. Because I wanted some good images for my scrapbook, I bought a few postcards at the gift shop. I tried to be reasonable and only picked out a few. I tend to go overboard on things like that. On the way back, we stopped by the Market Plaza and wandered through the souvenir area. I picked up a ranger badge for my buddy Kyle (he's 8) and a shirt for me. (I like the simple ones Becky. It's not plain, just simple.)

I did see some odd signs that cracked me up. The Yippee-Ay-O and Yabba-dabba-doo restaurants. There were signs for elk and mule crossings, plus a sign about low-flying aircraft.

The return trip was much better than the trip up. All of the snow and ice had melted, so we made good time. We made it back to Becky's at around 6:00 pm. Mikey didn't stay long, which was a shame. Glen cooked us dinner and it was dee-lisc-ious! He's like me. You just toss a bunch of stuff together that you know will taste good and voila! Dinner is served!