Southwest Day 6 - Grand Canyon

I took the dogs out for the morning walk. It was cold. The windshield was iced over. Mike tells me to remember that we are in "high country". Mike has determined that we will go up route 89 north and then take route 64 into the east entrance to Grand canyon National Park. It seems like we are always climbing higher. The scenery is breathtaking and we have a ways to go to reach the entrance. We see an overlook and decide to stop. This is part of an Indian reservation. There are a number of women from the tribe setting up booths with jewelry, vases, blankets and assorted products. Mike goes and asks permission to enter so we can get a better view of the canyon.

Below are three pictures from this overlook. Absolutely gorgeous and we are still a distance from the Grand Canyon Park entrance. You can see the Columbia River in the third picture. We thank the ladies as we leave. Mike tells us that they often charge a fee to enter. We are early in the day and it is not yet prime tourist season.

We arrive at the park and my Golden Eagle Passport allows us free entrance to the park. We stop at every overlook listed on the guide and several not listed. This is not a place to rush. My pictures and the purchased post cards, while nice, do not do justice to the landscape that nature has painted for us. Mike takes our picture as he will do often.

At one of the many overlooks I offer to take a picture for a couple. I can tell they are from France. When they thank me, I answer them in France and haltingly explain that I have limited knowledge from school. They were pleased and I believe a little stunned. Miss Wood would be pleased that I remembered any thing from French class. During our time there, I speak to a couple from England and another couple from Marseilles. They were surprised that Mike and I had been there and Mike remembered the red tiled roofs. There were a number of Europeans there spending the "euros".

We finally reach the west and most popular entrance. We were going to go to the main visitor center, larger than the one at the east end, but after circling several parking lots we leave. It was not long after that we stopped in the first town for lunch. There was an even larger and reasonable gift shop. We enjoyed lunch and began our drive through beautiful scenery to Kingman, Arizona where we will spend the night.

Kingman is a neat town, Route 66 runs through the center. As we check in there is a small toy train on the desk (not for sale) and the clerk explains that the Union Pacific tracks are nearby behind the motel. Yes they are! We could hear the haunting train whistle often and throughout the night. I found the sound nostalgic and romantic reminding me of a long ago era.

There is a museum nearby and we walk there and spend a good hour looking at the exhibits and reading the history of the town. Here too, mining was important at one time as was ranching. The local boy who made good was Andy Devine. The part of route 66 that runs through Kingman is named Andy Devine Drive. Below is the saddle that was given to him and the one that he used for many years when he participated in the Rose Bowl Parade on New Year's day.

We were fortunate that Calico's Restaurant bordered the motel parking lot. The food was great. When I filled up with gas, I have the car washed.

Southwest Day 5 Jerome and Sedona

We have a big day planned. We will be accompanied by one of my close friends from my Navy days from the early 60's. Mike is from the Denver area and winters in Mesa, Arizona. He will be with us over the next three days as we tour the area.



First we are going to Jerome located at 5200 feet on top of Cleopatra Hill between Prescott and Flagstaff. Jerome is the historic copper mining town founded in 1876 and was once the fourth largest city in the Arizona territory.

Below are some pictures of the wonderful scenery as we climbed the road leading to Jerome. Yes there was still some vestiges of snow on the shaded side of the mountain. We were blessed with wonderful weather on this trip and the air was a bit crisp, but the sun was warming.

Jerome has had a rebirth and is now a thriving artist community and also a tourist favorite. As you can imagine parking is at a premium. We were lucky and readily found a spot. We walked around and visited a local museum dedicated to the mining history of the town.

The homes here are perched on the mountain side and the view from them must be awesome. Below is the local firehouse.

The local hotel below has been updated. The original hotel was destroyed by fire long ago. This is a picture that was taken from near the fire house.

The following picture taken from a higher level in town is the home that the mine owner built for himself and his family during the boom times in the 1800's.

Once we left Jerome we traveled to the Sedona area. My son, years ago, told me it was far prettier than the Painted Desert. Following are a sampling of the pictures that we took. I have to admit that the pictures do not do justice to the natural beauty of the area.

The above rock structure has been named Cathedral Rock.

The town is below us. It must be a mixed blessing to live with such natural beauty, however the traffic is bumper to bumped most of the year.

We finished sightseeing in the Sedona area and headed for Flagstaff our overnight location. To get there we drove through the Oak Creek Canyon area passing by the Slide Rock a natural waterchute. The driving through out all the mountains with the sharp curves and hairpin turns required intense concentration. By the time we arrived in Flagstaff, I was beat.

When we arrived at our hotel for the night Mike and I went in to arrange for our rooms. Carol opted to stay in the car. I told the clerk that we had rooms with queen beds reserved. I was more than dismayed when she told us that she had updated her computer system that day and it had crashed. She did not know who was in what room and what was available and it would be awhile before it would be fixed. I told her it was not acceptable and I wanted rooms then. She said she would call a sister hotel and arrange our room. She asked me if we really wanted a queen bed or two doubles. I smiled and said we need two rooms both with queen beds as my wife was in the car. OOH she said, I see. When we got back in the car, I asked Mike if he picked up on the fact that the clerk thought we were a couple. We all had a good laugh. We were able to check into the second hotel. It was adequate.

Southwest Adventure day 4

Another warm sunny day as we leave Las Cruces for Mesa and Mike's home. He and I were in the Navy in the early 60's. We planned on stopping at the Arizona welcome center. We were very disappointed that it was closed. We later were told that Arizona closed all but three rest areas due to cost cutting. We turn north on route 70 so we can drive the Tonto National Forest. The scenery was beautiful but there were few places to stop to take pictures. In most locations the guardrail was on the roads edge and the drop was immediate. The road followed the contour of the mountain. It was the type of driving that required constant attention.

Below are a few pictures that I was able to take. Unfortunately I was not able to take pictures of the most beautiful and rugged scenery.

We ended the day at Mike's home in Mesa.

South West Day 3

Today we finally will leave Texas. It seems like I 10 is forever. Our goal for today is Las Cruces, New Mexico. The name means "The Crosses". It came about when the crosses for all the dead were viewed. The Apaches massacred the settlers then many years ago. We also plan a side trip to the White Sands National Park.

Below is the New Mexico welcome center. I do believe that it is the prettiest welcome center that I have ever visited. The sky was picture perfect and the weather just great.

This is another view from the visitor center. The air is very dry, but I still felt the heat.

We stopped along the road to take pictures of the scenery. We start to appreciate the beauty of the Southwest.

White Sands National Park is located in New Mexico. The U S Army does its missile testing in the area and sometimes the area is closed. The dunes are a type of sand that gypsum is made from. The loop within the park is 16 miles long. As we drove towards the entrance we were able to see the dunes on our left. Some are 30 to 40 feet high. As we approached the entrance to the park, we had to pass through a border check point. U S Border Guards were checking every car to insure that we were U S citizens. The drug sniffing dog sat by the check point. This was a new experience for us. We were happy that our dogs slept while we were being checked.

My Golden Eagle passport was the only card needed for entry. Anyone over 60 should have one.

We decided to climb a dune and walk along the nature trail. Although it was very sunny, the sand was not unusually hot. However the sun beating down and reflecting off the sand could easily cause sunburn.

This was the start of the climb to the hiking trail. Following are sample pictures from the many that we took.

The visitor center rents plastic sleds and you are allowed to slide down the dunes. If you look closely you can pick out the sled marks. We saw several kids enjoying themselves on the dunes. Carol and I decided that it was a young persons sport.

That night we stayed in a La Quinta Inn in Las Cruces. I was initially dismayed to find several bus loads of high school students staying in the same building as us. They were with FFA. (Future Farmers of America). We never heard them during the night. However they wiped out the continental breakfast.

The desk clerk recommended a Mexican restaurant for us to try. Carol was hankering to have Mexican food. We went to La Posta. It was elegant in a Mexican way. I did try some of the dip, and had a plain steak while she had a wonderful Mexican meal. I did introduce her to sangria.

Another wonderful day on our South Western adventure.

Southwest Adventure DAy Two

Happy Easter

Easter morning and we are up fairly early. The dogs are walked and I begin packing the car. Carol and I went to the breakfast room. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality and variety. The hotel clerk gave me good advice on passing thru Houston and San Antonio via I 10. As it turned out, I received excellent advice. Beyond San Antonio the landscape became what I expected of Texas. I stopped at a rest area and was surprised and taken aback by the sign below as I headed for the puppy area with Gizmo.

Well, I am in Texas. The sign made me aware that I must think about this type of stuff. We did make our goal of Fort Stockton. The 80 MPH speed limit sure helped. Jessica checked us in and gave us directions to K-Bobs steak house. We had a nice Easter dinner and each had a drink. Carol white zin and I had a Bud light draft. All in all, a nice Easter Sunday on the road.

Southwest Adventure Day One

Day 1

Carol and I left for Mesa Arizona on Saturday April 3rd. Our goal was to make Vidor, Texas. There was a La Quinta there. I also planned on stopping at the Texas visitor center for maps and information on the Alamo in San Antonio. Seeing the Alamo is on my "bucket list" for this trip, but a definite low priority this coming week. I was 15 minutes too late arriving at 5:15 PM. After a pit stop and a walk for the dogs we proceeded to the motel. The exit and on ramps were under construction. Quite a mess. There was damn little to pick from for dinner. The Papa John's closed the dining room because several skipped their work shift. We settled for a Chinese buffet. Horrible, easily the worse meal in recent our past two years traveling. It is probably just as well. I had a follow up appointment the day before with the doctor I have picked in Panama City Beach. I have two areas that I must address with diet and exercise. We went to bed early as Sunday was a long day and I wanted to cover 600 miles plus and stay in Fort Stockton, Texas.

Spring Break

Spring Break is in full speed here in Panama City Beach. This is really the third week. Week one is mostly the Canadian College students. They are a quiet group and we hardly knew they were here. Last week there were a number of Mid-West students here. We had 8 Michigan State students two houses away for a week. They were a really nice group. When they went clubbing they left their cars in the driveway and took one of the many shuttle services that seem to materialize each year. Traffic is definitely an ordeal that must be dealt with. The scooter rental agencies are doing a booming business. The kids roam the beach roads in packs with the scooters buzzing an annoying hum as if it was a thousand bees swarming. So far we have had two balcony falls. One the railing broke free when one person leaned on it. The other was a man who tried to jump from a fifth floor parking garage to a fifth floor balcony. A distance of four feet. He misjudged and he bounced off both walls on the way down. Treated and released. God must love drunks and fools. The local police have been averaging about a hundred citations a day for underage drinking. They expect that number to increase as the police chief stated Auburn and Alabama will be here this week. My favorite so far is the young lady who fell asleep in the back seat of her Jeep. The car was towed and she woke up in the impound lot. She found a shed and took the bolt cutters and cut the lock and walked away. She readily admitted what she did when she came back for her car. The tow driver never looked in the back seat So far no one has died unlike last year. The last week of March is when the high schools in Florida and Georgia are out. I'm told a good number of parents also come with the kids. Next week should be the heaviest based on bookings. All in all, I enjoy this time of year. I like seeing young college folks who are still enjoying their youth before they graduate and have to enter the work force. The vast majority are respectful, full of fun and enjoying the sun and clubs. There will always be a few like the idiot from Tennessee that was in the back of a pick up truck when he flipped his empty beer can. I did manage to make them all nervous when I leaned on my horn and held up my cell phone as if I was dialing.

St Andrews State Park - Wildlife

Carol and I visit St. Andrews State Park almost every day that it is not raining. We take our cameras hoping for a picture of an alligator. We will also walk the two mile loop for exercise. Following are various pictures that I have taken during our many visits.