Friday May 21st

Farmington, NM to Grand Canyon, AZ

The drive from Farmington to the Grand Canyon was just as beautiful as our drive through New Mexico. Our first stop was Shiprock, a huge rock formation that looked like what else, a ship. It was formed by a volcanic core and rises 20 stories higher than the Empire State building.

Our next stop was tourist central, the Four Corners Monument. We had to wait in line to take the typical tourist picture of a body part in each state, although Fred drew a few laughs when he laid down on the four states. The Four Corners tourist area is located on an Indian Reservation and they collect the admission money and control the vendors.

We stopped at a site on the map just west of Tuba City which was labeled Dinosaur Tracks. An Indian guide took us around and showed us dinosaur tracks and egg fossils. There was a skeleton, footprints and an egg all imbedded in the rock. The Navajo Indians had tables set up to sell jewelry. A young Navajo boy impressed us with a great sales job on the handmade jewelry he was selling. He explained all the stones and their legend. I ended up spending $20.00. As we were leaving a women started yelling at him in a combination of English and Navajo. From what we could ascertain from the conversation, she was mad at him for taking her business. His reply, "It's a free country."

As we were cruising down the highway at 70 miles per hour, we were suddenly slowed by a vehicle with a "wide load" sign. A convoy of vehicles, including two police cars, was escorting a huge boat down the highway. Fred started to pass the tail vehicle and the driver tried to cut him off, pointing to the boat. Big deal, we are not going to follow them for miles and miles when the road is clear to pass . The lead police car waved us past and we were free again.

Our next stop was another rock formation that looked just like elephant feet. The effects of time had turned these twin buttes into a wrinkled leather like finish. We pulled in and walked down to the rocks to take a picture. We saw a flashing light down the highway and thought the boat convoy was coming. We ran at full speed to get back to the BK and pull out before we got behind them again.

We stopped at McDonalds for lunch and guess who pulled in while we were eating lunch? Needless to say, we finished quickly and got back on the road.

We stopped at several lookout points when we reached the Grand Canyon. The Canyon is just as breathtaking as we remembered it. Our first stop, Dessert View was filled with tourists. We worked our way to the front and stared in awe at the view. We climbed the watchtower which was built on the edge of the cliff in the 1930's.

After several more awe inspiring stops, we headed to Yavapai Lodge. Our room was comfortable, in the woods and a half mile walk to the Canyon Rim. After dinner, we took a walk on the Rim Trail. We wanted to take pictures at sunset and walked the half mile from our room to the rim. In typical fashion, as soon as we got there we discovered we only had 1 picture left and no more film with us. The memory of this sunset will have to be mostly in our minds.

My sister Jackie and her husband Barry were joining us at the Grand Canyon. I had been anxiously waiting, peering out our window and even running out when I heard a car which I thought was them. It wasn't and I embarrassed myself by running up to a stranger and yelling "Jackie". Finally at midnight (3AM Lancaster time) they arrived. They had traveled all day, leaving home at 8 AM. (drive to Baltimore, flight to Detroit, layover in Detroit, flight to Phoenix, 4 hour drive to Canyon) We couldn't wait for them to see the Canyon but their first look would have to wait until morning.

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Saturday May 22nd

Grand Canyon Hike

After breakfast in the Yavapai cafeteria, we headed out for our hike. We paused at several sites along the rim for a look at the Canyon. You can't help yourself, the view calls to you. Jackie and Barry were impressed by the splendor and beauty of the scene before them. Within seconds, they had their camera out snapping pictures.

We decided to do the Bright Angel Trail. All the information warns hikers not to overdo it and to plan to take twice as long to come back up as you take to go down. That's the thing about hiking the Grand Canyon-the easy part, going down, is first.

Barry, Mr. Mountain Man, was decked out in full gear. His bright yellow backpack was of the professional variety. He is totally into the outdoors and full of knowledge about all the equipment. His favorite hang-out is at EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports). His backpack even had a handy dandy clip-on spot for his camera and binoculars.

Decked out in our hiking boots and backpacks, loaded with trail mix and plenty of water, we set out. The trail is steep in some spots and challenging, but fun. We passed lots of other hikers. We had to stop every so often because you cannot look and hike. When you are hiking the Canyon you definitely need to be paying attention to your feet. There are no railings along the trail. Last year there were 5 deaths at the Grand Canyon, mostly due to stupidity.

The trail was a series of steep inclines broken up by switchbacks. Shade was available at some of the overhangs and we took advantage of it to rest. Resting is the only time you can actually sit and enjoy the view. We made it to the 1-1/2 mile resthouse and continued on through another switchback when Jackie suddenly sat down on a rock and said "That's it, this is all the farther I am going". She graciously offered to wait if the rest of us wanted to go farther down. We could see down into the canyon to Plateau Point which is a 12.6 mile round trip and only attempted in 1 day by the bravest (or stupidest) hikers. It was tempting to want to go farther, but we took a look at the trail laid out before us and using Jackie as our excuse decided it was time to turn around if we wanted to enjoy the evening. (thanks Jackie for being the sensible one)

Barry and I agreed that hiking up is easier than hiking down. Going down, the steep incline made our toes squished to the front of our boots. Going down is hard on your joints, while going up uses muscle. However, even if you are in aerobic shape, hiking up takes its toll on your lungs. We were huffing and puffing. Several times we were spread out taking turns in the lead (except for Jackie, she was usually last). Part way up as we were resting and admiring the view, a boulder the size of a 40 gallon ice chest came crashing down from the top. Barry yelled, "ROOCCKKKK!". We were about 30 feet away, but another hiker was only about 10 feet away. That incident certainly got the adrenaline going. If we had stopped only 30 seconds earlier, our hike would have been over.

We continued up the dusty trail. Barry, Fred and I stopped at one point with some other hikers to wait for Jackie and catch our breath. We were chatting with these two guys who had full packs and were on their way back up from camping. All of a sudden Jackie comes up around the corner at a steady even pace with her walking stick. We thought she would want to stop and rest, but she blew right by us without a word. Here we were, the tortoise and the three hares. She continued her slow but steady pace up the incline. Go Jackie!

In the evening, we took the bus (why walk when you can take the bus, we joked) to Yavapai Point to watch the sunset. We found a quiet spot away from other people and waited with our cameras. It was peaceful and beautiful. This natural wonder, gently sculpted over the past 6 million years, demanded to be stared at. We marveled at the forces of nature that could create such a spectacle.

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Sunday May 23rd

Grand Canyon to Sedona

The Grand Canyon Rim Trail extends along 12 miles of the South Rim. We had walked some of it on the east side at sunset last night so this morning we decided to ooh and aah at the west side.

At every turn in the trail, the view changes. All four of us were constantly stopping to stare at the picture laid out before us. The Grand Canyon is magnificent! After walking about a mile along the rim, we stopped at a lookout point. From this vantage point, we could distinguish the trail we had hiked the day before. It was our first look from above of the entire trail. We exclaimed over the fraction we had been able to accomplish, but were humbled by how much more there is to hike. The Bright Angel Trail cuts through the canyon like a scar on suntanned skin. From our overlook high on the rim, the trail was amazingly and clearly visible.

Unfortunately it was time to say good-bye to the Canyon. Parting is such sweet sorrow. New views and vistas were waiting for us on the road to Sedona.

At our first stop, Mount Humphries, we had to hold Barry back. Mr. Mountain Man wanted to scale that mountain. Mount Humphries at 12,600 feet is the highest point in Arizona. There was still snow on the peaks and it was an impressive sight.

We stopped for gas in Flagstaff, a town of 45,000 people at an elevation of 7,700 feet. Flagstaff is cooler in temperature than Sedona most of the year.

The drive from Flagstaff to Sedona is beautiful. Route 89A must be one of the prettiest drives in North America. We stopped at Oak Creek Vista and walked the short trail to the overlook point. The Oak Creek Canyon is a baby compared to the Grand Canyon, but impressive nonetheless.At this elevation, the canyon is covered with ash, maple, aspen and oak trees. The view in fall must be phenomenal.

The road descended down through the canyon like a majestic staircase. We could have been in the Pennsylvania mountains except for the huge rock faces visible behind the trees. The Big Kahuna was in the lead with Jackie and Barry following in the possessed Grand Am rental car. On our descent, we traveled through 5 rock layers.

Los Abrigados, our time share resort and home for the next week, is located near the "Y" in Sedona. The "Y" is where route 179 and 89A come together. It's going to be a great week.

Thought for the day provided by Barry Wilson: Life is a map, dreams are your compass.

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Monday May 24th

Baseball Game in Phoenix

Sedona, at an elevation of 4,400 feet, only has a population of 7,700. It is a town of shops, hiking, and gorgeous views of the red rocks.

Once again, loaded with water and trail mix, Jackie, Barry, Fred and I set out to hike. Compared to the Grand Canyon, this was going to be easy. On advice received the night before, we chose Broken Arrow Trail. We had been forewarned to choose the Chicken Point trail at the split and it turned out to be good advice. The trail was well marked with piles of rocks in wire cages. I can't remember what they are called but they do have an official name. Anyway, we finally reached the top of the trail and sitting on the rocks looking out we had to wonder at the marvel that created these striking scenes. Sitting on the rocks, facing the gorgeous view, you felt like you were all alone. What a wonderful place for self contemplation.

I can't sit still for long, so I scrambled up the rocks behind us. I thought it would be difficult to climb them, but it was easy. I waved to Jackie, Fred and Barry and before long they had joined me. Fred continued to climb even higher but since we were on a time constraint we had to return to the trail head.

Today was Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball Day. We piled in the Big Kahuna, all wearing our Fred & Joni Baseball Adventure t-shirts and left for the two hour drive for Phoenix around 2:00. We wanted plenty of time to explore the bars around the stadium. On the way, cacti more than 20 feet tall lined the road like sentries guarding the hillside. We are definitely in the desert.

Amazingly, we did not hit a traffic jam in the city. After driving around looking for parking (we were too early for the lots to be open), we finally found a lot for $6.00. Everywhere else was charging $15.00. Our first bar, was out of coke. Jackie ordered a Jim Beam and Coke and they had to send someone to buy coke. Can you believe a bar being out of Coke? She had to wait 20 minutes. You would think that the drink would have been free, but the bartender charged us for it.

The stadium had a party atmosphere outside with a rock and roll band playing. Inside, was a pool located behind center field that groups can rent to swim and watch the game. We were disappointed at first because the roof was closed. Bank One Ballpark (the first to have a corporate sponsor) has a retractable roof that opens in 90 seconds; a tribute to the marvels of engineering. It wasn't long before the roof opened majestically to music reminiscent of the heavens parting. It was an interesting experience.

Our seats were in peanut heaven. The city of Phoenix supports the new ball team to the tune of 33,000 season ticket holders. That is almost two thirds of the seats so no wonder we were in the sky deck. However, the upper deck seats are at such a steep angle that our view of the field was tremendous. Good job on the design of the ball park.

The game was fun. The Diamondbacks won 5-4 beating the San Diego Padres. Jackie, Barry and I cheered for the Diamondbacks, while Fred, for some stupid reason related to the Phillies, cheered for San Diego. The stadium does a good job of keeping the fans involved with the music and jumbo-tron screen. Vendors were constantly up and down the aisles, even in our section.

Thanks Fred for getting us back to Sedona as you were the only one awake most of the trip.

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Tuesday May 25th

Good bye to Jackie and Barry

Jackie and Barry left this morning at 8 AM for their trip home. It was wonderful having them with us. We had some good discussions over the past few days. We enjoyed having their viewpoints and four dimensional depth to the conversations. There is no one like family!

Our first order of business was to do laundry considering I only had one clean footie left to wear. I don't have a clue as to what happened to the other one. As in the past, we are thwarted at every turn in trying to do laundry. Little did we imagine that it would be such a hassle. Our resort only has 3 washers and dryers, located one per at several different locations. Needless to say they were busy Tuesday so we looked in the phone book yellow pages and drove 10 miles to the only laundromat listed in Sedona. When we arrived, it was in an RV campground and it was locked. The sign on the door said it was not available for public use. I pleaded our case to two people and neither one would open it up for us. Our reaction would not make it past the sensors.

We shopped at the grocery store, went through our mail (which Jackie and Barry had brought) and played tennis. Such a rough life! We had dinner at Joeys, an Italian restaurant on the property. The pasta special, $6.95 for all you can eat plus salad, was tummy stuffing.

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Wednesday May 26th

Sedona-Golf

We played golf at the Sedona Golf Resort. Originally our tee-time was at 12:30 until we found out that by taking advantage of twilight rates we could save $60.00. We teed off at 2:30 but play was slow. However, that gave us a chance to admire the course and surrounding scenery.

The course was in excellent shape. The greens were fast, but fair. The fairways were like a velvety green carpet. Red Rock views abounded from every hole. My game is better at a slow pace; I pared the first three holes.

The scenery was beautiful, but like the rest of Sedona, was in jeopardy of becoming a victim of the malaise of development. Foundations were evident where future housing will be located. Sadly, the red rocks that so inspired us will not be visible to golfers of the next millennium.

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Thursday May 27th

Sedona

Even though we have been surprisingly free of conflict during this trip, we figured some alone time would do us both good. Today was Fred's day for alone time. He went down to the creek and paid bills (ugh!) and caught up on e-mail. I went to get my first hair cut since we left home.

I have been going to Debbie for 6 years and was nervous about trying someone new. I made an appointment for 10 AM through the yellow pages at a salon across from the Circle K convenience store on Highway 179 which was just 1/2 mile from where we were staying. I decided to walk there for the exercise and to browse the shops on my way back. I embarked at 9:20 for the nice leisurely morning I had set for myself. The gorgeous sky and wonderuf views had me feeling at peace as I strolled along. I reached the Circle K in no time. Suddenly, I had this horrible feeling that I was at the wrong Circle K because there was no plaza across from it. I quickly looked in the phone book and realized that the address of my appointment was 6500 and I was as 711. There were two Circle K's on Highway 179. Shit! I jogged back to our place. Breathless, I grabbed the keys and hightailed down the highway. I arrived at 10:10, fortunately in time to keep my appointment. A relaxing morning gone amok.

In the afternoon we went for a hike at Red Rock State Park and then played tennis when we got back to the resort. For dinner, we went to Joeys again. The service was a little slow but the meal was superb!

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Friday May 28th

Sedona

Today was my time to be alone by the creek while Fred went to get his hair cut. (shaved is more like it) I loaded up the lap top and headed down to the picnic table. While I was there a couple from Las Vegas stopped to chat. Linda and Mike own a time share at Los Abrigados and visit every year. I can understand why as this resort and this town are beautiful. Mike, a Dodgers fan was in awe over our trip itinerary. Hey Dad-Mike wanted to know how a guy from PA becomes a Dodgers fan.

We received $80.00 in funny money to spend at the resort for listening to the timeshare spiel. Fred was kind enough (what a great husband) to let me use it at the Spa. I chose the Arizona Mud Delight Masque. Grace, my massage therapist, explained that the masque is made from Arizona desert mud, yucca, sage, saguam flower and maritime pine extract, which are all found locally. Grace slathered the mud all over my body (well almost everywhere) and as it dried I could feel it tingle. I could almost imagine all the bad impurities floating out of my skin. While the mud was drying, Grace massaged my feet, hands and neck. Aaaahhhhhh!

This afternoon, we hiked at Cathedral Rock. This area is one of the most often photographed in Sedona. The sheer rock walls rise 1,000 feet above the Sonoran dessert. The hike was 1-1/2 miles start to finish and we felt a little wimpy doing less then 2 miles. However, we didn't know what was in store for us.

The trail began innocently enough through the trees, but soon started to climb. We had 600 feet to go to reach our destination which was at the base of Cathedral Rock. The trail was well marked with cairns which is the name of the piles of rocks in round wire cages. The trail started to get steeper. We were huffing and puffing, stopping every so often to catch our breath and gaze at the view behind us. The trail continued to get even steeper and we had to crawl up on all fours at places grabbing rock holds with our hands. Fred was starting to doubt our sensibilities and I was wondering how we were ever going to get down. At one point the trail went through a crevice between the rocks and it felt as if we were climbing straight up.

With Fred in the lead, we finally reached the top. The scene was so captivating it took our breath away (and it didn't have anything to do with the climb). We were perched on an 8 foot wide saddle between the rocks. Looking up, Cathedral Rock loomed some 400 feet above us. Looking down, we could see for miles in both directions. Truly a wonder. We were welcomed to the spot by a white tedy bear that someone had left behind. The view of the valley was unbelievable, made even more striking by the backdrop of red rocks Sedona is so famous for. It was such a majestic sight that we could have stayed forever, but the wind had picked up and storm clouds were looming.

Fortunately, the trip down was not as treacherous as we thought it would be. We manuvered the rocks easily and arrived at the trail head just as the rain started. The sun was still out and two beautiful rainbows appeared. We drove like maniacs trying to find a good picture spot as the two ends of the rainbow were in front of rock formations. We have never seen anything so stunning.

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Saturday May 29th

Golf in Sedona

We started off playing the simulation golf course at the resort. Players can choose from 20 famous courses, swinging real clubs and hitting the ball into a picture on the screen We played the first 9 holes of Pebble Beach. It was tough getting the hang of putting to the screen, but we didn't do too badly.

The real course we played today, Oak Creek Country Club, was less expensive and just as nice as Sedona Golf Resort. We were able to walk which rates a course high with us. The red rocks were stunningly visible on many of the holes.

We stopped on the way back at the Oak Creek Saloon. There was a table of four people who almost as soon as we walked in asked where in Pennsylvania we were from.

They saw our license plate in the parking lot and Fred's PSU hat. They were from Pittsburgh and had moved to Phoenix three years ago in search of job opportunities.

The place soon started to fill up and eventually we started talking to Bill who had flown out from San Diego. That's flown, as in his own plane. His dream is to take a month to fly the coastline of the U.S. He sounded like he might do it in the not too distant future.

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A few closing thoughts on the day:

Note 1: We feel extremely fortunate that we are able to do this trip now rather then waiting until we retire. The hike we did yesterday might not have been possible at age 62 or as scenic (see note 2).

Note 2: Sedona is a beautiful area but development is going to ruin it much like Lancaster. From our view at Cathedral Mountain, we could see paved cul-de-sac's ready for houses. The view will be less than spectacular when marred by housing developments.