Flagstaff

Despite the name of my blog we try to adhere to one
of the main rules for road trips:  avoid at all
costs retracing your steps.  But by the time we were
finished at the Grand Canyon we were finished ourselves.
We needed some down time. We needed to start planning
our route home.  AND we needed to find a place to
do an oil change on the car (warranty requirement.)

So we drove back south to Flagstaff, an historical
mining town that seems to have an active business
section - lots of cool cafes, restaurants and bars to
cater to the university crowd.

We also saw more freight trains go through town than I've ever seen anywhere...the above shot believe it or not is a train of Fedex containers!  Apparently traveling by Amtrack through the west is difficult and slow because all passenger trains must give way to the freight trains.

It's also a jumping off point for lots of great ski areas in northern Arizona and southern Utah and Colorado nearby.

On our first day there, Saturday, I broke down and bought my first pair of cowboy boots.

So guess what we did on our day off on Sunday?

I went shopping again and Blair watched football.

I further retraced my steps to Sedona...and visited an amazing church built into the rocks.

 As I mentioned in an earlier posting, Sedona makes claims to some
great psychic vibes and vortices...and there are lots of businesses to
take advantage of that.

Back in Flagstaff I dragged Blair away from the tube for lunch.  The city is on Route 66, and we took in The Galaxy - one of the great old diners we'd come to appreciate
earlier on in our trip. 

By the end of the day, we'd decided toextend our trip by a few more days...we'd go up to Page and the famous Antelope Canyon ...we found a great apartment to rent in Chcago from the 16th to the 21st...so we should be home by Halloween.

Decisions made...we slept well and got on the road to Page, Arizon, the hub of the Navaho natural world.

Next post - Antelope Canyon - one of the most beautiful places int the world.

Grand Canyon

OK. I'm still catching up.  As I write this, we're in Page, Arizona...heading
to Durango today. 

But first the Grand Canyon.

We'd been listening nervously to radio news stories about a storm
front coming in from California (!) that would turn the high
elevations of the Grand Canyon into a blizzard!  And sure enough
as we headed up highway 89  there was snow - a lot
of it - on top of Mt. San Francisco at Flagstaff. 



As we followed the directions to the south rim, a few clouds loomed,
then receded.  We drove into the setting sun, and stopped for amazing
views at the entrance to the canyon.   The light was perfect although
the car thermometer showed 5 C.  At least I'd switched to sneakers.
Blair was still wearing flip-flops.  He still has a wonderful smile!

It was pitch black when we arrived at the village.  Think thriving ski
resort and that's a good way to describe Grand Canyon Village South
Rim.  Thankfully there was no snow!  And the forcast storm stayed
far away.

We'd originally thought we'd get up for sunrise...but we were so
pooped that we figured we'd settle for an 8 am walk along the rim.

That's where Blair let his fingers do the walking...he took more
than 300 pictures.  He would have taken more but the Lumix battery
died...and we had to go back and recharge.  Of course I have my own
camera plus the cell phone camera.  And a flip video camera...talk
about battery/electricity dependent!  But back to the Canyon...here are
only a few of those snaps!

I'll post more of our pix in a separate blog.  But I wanted to mention the fantastic
meal we had at a beautiful old lodge perched on the rim of the canyon, called
El Tovar.

Our Tuscon friends had insisted we make a reservation.  We were so glad we did
because at our appointed time of 5:15, there were many other guests clamouring
to be let in.  But we were led to our table - white table cloth - and listened to
an elegant waiter named Jaime list off our possibilities.  I chose chicken marsala
and angel hair pasta while Blair picked pork chops and declared them to be
excellent.  I drank Grand Canyon Merlot and soaked up the atmosphere.  The
room was dark and quiet, lined with large paintings from Native American
mythology.  I only used my camera once...for this piece de resistance.  A desert
I could not resist - Chocolate mousse in a chocolate taco!  It was so
beautiful, I didn't want to touch it.  But I did!

Catching Up (1)

(Note:  this is definitely a work in progress...I can't get the pictures to load...so
here's some text!)

The last time I wrote I promised more pictures of the Grand Canyon and more
details on our jam-packed days in Tucson. 

It was exactly one week ago Sunday (hard to believe) that we arrived in Tucson.
We bid goodbye to Albuquerque - Santa Fe and the balloons and headed south. 
There was lots to watch for along the way.  For example the town of "Truth or
Consequences" ?!!! This New Mexico community accepted a bet from the
host of the 1950s radio show Truth or Consequences.  (see Wikipedia for more.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_or_Consequences,_New_Mexico

And the town of Hatch, NM!  The chile (pronounced chilie) capital of the US!

We were greeted with open arms by our hosts in Tucson who have a gracious and
graceful home and garden.

But little did we know that they would make perfect producers for a television
travel series.  Ken is an organizer...a get-up-and-go-for-it guy who doesn't want to
leave any amount of time wasted.  Linda has a different style - more laid-back - but
no slouch when it comes to travel either:  she's the official photographer and artist
of the pair. 

Monday Morning, Ken had us prepare a list of things we 'might' like to do in
Tucson.  The list included a couple of excursions in which we would (if we agreed)
be 'guinea pigs' for Tucson tourism travel expeditions in which Ken might or might not
like to invest.

The list: 
-Visit an airplane 'boneyard' which houses thousands of old military aircraft:  You can't actually get inside, but Ken drove us along miles and miles chain link fence.

-Travel by electric bicycle through the Sonoran desert to the 'Desert Museum' - a combination desert garden and wildlife park.

The bicycles are a hoot!  They carry battery powered motors and whenever you need an energy boost you press the buttom and feel the power kick in.  But that didn't stop us from getting our exercise amongst the Saguaro cactus.  The name is pronounced 'Sawarro' and we learned that it takes a hundred years or so before they start growing those amazing arms.

Once at the museum we met volunteers with various types of raptors - owls and
hawks - not dinosaurs - perched on their arms.  Of course they were tied with jesses but they looked calm and fierce at the same time!

Ken and Linda are avid cyclists.  I was one once too.  Ken has a recumbant bike - easy on the back, but just as demanding on the legs.  He was really keen to get us to try some as well as one of his ideas:  To ride up in a van to the top of a local mountain...and then coast/cruise all the way down to the bottom on a recumbant.  He even convinced a local bike retailer to lend him a brand new one so that we 'newbies' could try it out!  Talk about persuasive! 

One thing I should add about recumbants - they're a lot more wobbly than standard bikes...at least at first.  So there I was at the top of the mountain...helmet on, hands gripping the unfamiliar brakes.  And then we launched!  That's the only word I can use for it...racing down a road at the same speed as the cars.

The views of course are amazing...the forest of cacti, rock climbers and the city of Tucson far below.

You know...There's no room left for the list.  We visited Kitt Peak - the site of the largest number of working telescopes in the world.  WE had a great meal at the Hacienda of the Sun.  We loved Tucson...We're ready for the rest of our road trip.  It's getting longer, not shorter.  But I promise to make the next posting shorter.  I promise!
Ole!

A.W.E.S.O.M.E

It was below freezing on the south rim of the Grand Canyon
last night, but that didn't stop us from getting 'magic hour'
shots along the rim.  At every stop it just kept getting better
and better!

I've got to go for a bit.  This is just a tease of course.  When I come back I'll
recap our visit in Tucson where Blair and I raced down a mountain on a
recumbant bike; our drive through Sedona in search of good vibes and
vortices; and then more from the Grand Canyon. 

A's & B's of New Mexico (Albuquerque & Balloons)

It was clear that something big was happening from the hubbub
of activity at our hotel in central Albuquerque.  We had a booking
for two nights but hoped to extend it to a third to have some
breathing space.  No Way!  Why?  Because the hotel was sold
out thanks to the Great Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta about to
begin on October 1st.

So we resolved to attend the first "Mass Ascension" (hmmm sounds
somewhat Catholic) of the festival...having little idea of what to expect.

Fortunately we decided to do a Park and Ride...so we didn't have to deal
with any of the traffic jams. We now know what it feels like to be cattle.
Thousands of other people had clearly had the same idea as we did!

We got there at 6:45...the sky was lightening and as we got to the gate,
we saw a number of balloons rise into the sky - Trace Balloons sent up
to test the currents.  It wasn't even very cold...perhaps about 15 degrees
celsius...with a light breeze.

We were in a park the size of about three football fields.  The balloons were
being inflated and it seemed as if they were everywhere. 

The opening ceremony included the singing of the national anthem
 by a Marine Choir and the rising of a balloon holding the Stars and Stripes.

Then at 7 and for the next two hours, more than 500 balloons rose in
waves, to cheers.

As the sun rose and more balloons did it became obvious there shapes and sizes
of all kinds ...and a delight to kids of all ages.

 Darth Vader

 Spider Pig!  Our fav!

 The butterfly is from Brazil

 Nellie B - the elephant!

We'd been on our feet for two hours but we weren't tired...the crowd was friendly
and excited and the adrenalim pumped through us everytime another balloon lifted
off the groud.

But we had to dashback to the hotel and check out.  On the way back we saw some of the balloons landing...their landing spots were empty fields or people's back yards.  Each crew included chase trucks...

Pictures of this really are worth a thousand words.  One of the TV stations in Albuquerque is streaming most of it live.  So if you want moving pictures...check it out: www.krqe.com

We'll leave you now...we'll be staying in Tuscon with a pair of fabulous hosts.  Good-bye Route 66...hello South West!

Texas to Albuquerque

No bull!  We're in Texas!



We're at the big travel info centre on I40 on the Texas
Panhandle.  We're about 100 miles from the New Mexico
border.  At this point we realized we'd be bailing the
Route 66.  But let's backtrack abit.

We realized there are only so many restored gas stations to
hold our interest.  The last one was in a dusty,
run-down town that survives from the taxes it makes from
the chain hotels perched on the interstate interchange.   Hard
to believe but the little town of Shamrock, Texas features an
Art Deco design gas station!

But the rest of town was pretty sad - a 21st century version of a one-horse town.  I
never found the source of the name - Shamrock - except for the obvious one - a
powerful Irish heritage. 

 We were told the only good place to eat was at Big Vern's - the home of The Real Texas Steaks!

So off we went ... we felt like the proverbial strangers in town: 
the only thing missing was the set of saloon doors swinging as we walked into the bar. 
There were guys in cowboy hats and boots, elderly men and women, and amply endowed waitresses with yellow hair.  Oh, and a life-sized pair of bobble-headed mannequins sort of like Texas Gothic.  Very bizarre. But the food was good.  I had one of the real Texas Steaks.   Sorry...no pictures.  Blair says they were afraid we'd steal their souls!

We were glad to leave Shamrock behind and stopped at our last Route 66 landmark:
the Midpoint Cafe...proving that we've driven the 1139 miles from Chicago ...and
had a terrific burger at the Midway Cafe - used as a model for a diner in the cartoon
movie Cars.

 
We loved the laid back atmosphere and the chrome kitchen sets.  And I might add, this is more proof that we have not eaten once in any of the ubiquitous roadhouse chain
restaurants that overload the freeway landscape. 

We were headed to Albuquerque with no particular agenda.  But then I bumped into a
lovely lady who seemed to be on her own.  Her name is Joyce and she was waiting for
65 more women to arrive, all towing their own vintage trailers!  (www.sistersonthefly.com)
Joyce appeared to be a healthy, active women in her late 70s...but she said she and her
group of trailer towing ladies were on their way to Albuquerque too....to witness the
launch of hundreds of hot air balloons at the 40th anniversary Balloon Fiesta - the largest
such gathering of hot-air balloon enthusiasts in North America.

Blair's eyes lit up and I have to tell you it was an amazing experience.  I'm taking a break now
but will leave you with just a few of the images we captured at 7 am this morning (4 o'clock
wake-up, followed by a bus ride to the 'balloon park' where we joined many thousands
of people from all over the world.)  More on that in my next entry:)

This is just a tease...more pictures tomorrow!