Sunday, September 20, 2009
Late Sunday night (continued....read the post under this one first to make sense out of this!). For some reason I can post words but not pictures tonight. Go figure. As Paige says, I am not suppose to be boring you with our pictures....ha. I call this my 'blah blah blah blog'....especially now that I can't seem to make things a tad more interesting with pictures!
Today we went to Sedona, AZ. It was app. an hr. drive from here. What a scenic drive on 89A....the prettiest so far. We saw the Slide Rocks...where bathers slide down these slippery rocks in the river. We stopped alongside the road at a rest area full of Indian vendors selling their beautiful handmade jewelry. Turquoise is supposedly only found here in AZ. We, of course, bought some. Sedona with the backdrop of the red rocks is a beautiful TOURIST town. We likened it to Ocean City back home....we love it best when the tourists aren't there. Since the elevation is several thousand feet lower than where we are staying (in Williams, AZ), it is much hotter in Sedona. We sure felt it!!! I saw a lizard...nothing else (scorpions/tarantulas)...whew. The people were friendly (as we have found on our entire trip) and we figured they must be happy folks. Sedona would certainly be a beautiful town to live in....as long as town wasn't too crowded with the likes of us tourists.
Some interesting facts about Arizona you might not know...
80% of the land here is considered public land.
You can carry around an unconcealed, fully loaded, weapon!
I have seen many men dressed in their camouflaged clothes, so I asked one in the store if he had been hunting....he said yes, he was hunting elk. I told him about back home...hunting deer (not that I do it but that there is a good chance of getting one for a hunter at home). Elk are huge and much more difficult to 'git'. He said the meat to elk was much tastier than deer because of the foliage the elk eat here is different (good ole sagebrush). Man o man....you git yerself an elk here, it might last you a few years....them 'r some huge animals. (snicker) Oh...and when you see 'road kill' here...the carcas stays on the side of the road (fully intact) because they do not have the birds of prey, like we do back home (or other animals), that take care of this for us! We saw a dead elk on the side of the road today and had to wonder what on earth happened to the vehicle....ouch.
Tomorrow starts our big travel East...but still in the Southwest. It will be a long day for sure. We will be in New Mexico somewhere tomorrow night. We THINK we will be in Oklahoma the next night and then on Wed. PERHAPS Arkansas (in hopes to see my cousin Doreen and sister Terri). My hope is to have WIFI sometime soon....but a better or easier connection than what I've had here. I am thinking it was overwhelmed with activity tonight or something and that is why I couldn't seem to post pictures. I have a lot of them, too. Perhaps you should consider yourself fortunate and just go to bed....ha...that is where I am headed.
'til next time....
Mary
Today we went to Sedona, AZ. It was app. an hr. drive from here. What a scenic drive on 89A....the prettiest so far. We saw the Slide Rocks...where bathers slide down these slippery rocks in the river. We stopped alongside the road at a rest area full of Indian vendors selling their beautiful handmade jewelry. Turquoise is supposedly only found here in AZ. We, of course, bought some. Sedona with the backdrop of the red rocks is a beautiful TOURIST town. We likened it to Ocean City back home....we love it best when the tourists aren't there. Since the elevation is several thousand feet lower than where we are staying (in Williams, AZ), it is much hotter in Sedona. We sure felt it!!! I saw a lizard...nothing else (scorpions/tarantulas)...whew. The people were friendly (as we have found on our entire trip) and we figured they must be happy folks. Sedona would certainly be a beautiful town to live in....as long as town wasn't too crowded with the likes of us tourists.
Some interesting facts about Arizona you might not know...
80% of the land here is considered public land.
You can carry around an unconcealed, fully loaded, weapon!
I have seen many men dressed in their camouflaged clothes, so I asked one in the store if he had been hunting....he said yes, he was hunting elk. I told him about back home...hunting deer (not that I do it but that there is a good chance of getting one for a hunter at home). Elk are huge and much more difficult to 'git'. He said the meat to elk was much tastier than deer because of the foliage the elk eat here is different (good ole sagebrush). Man o man....you git yerself an elk here, it might last you a few years....them 'r some huge animals. (snicker) Oh...and when you see 'road kill' here...the carcas stays on the side of the road (fully intact) because they do not have the birds of prey, like we do back home (or other animals), that take care of this for us! We saw a dead elk on the side of the road today and had to wonder what on earth happened to the vehicle....ouch.
Tomorrow starts our big travel East...but still in the Southwest. It will be a long day for sure. We will be in New Mexico somewhere tomorrow night. We THINK we will be in Oklahoma the next night and then on Wed. PERHAPS Arkansas (in hopes to see my cousin Doreen and sister Terri). My hope is to have WIFI sometime soon....but a better or easier connection than what I've had here. I am thinking it was overwhelmed with activity tonight or something and that is why I couldn't seem to post pictures. I have a lot of them, too. Perhaps you should consider yourself fortunate and just go to bed....ha...that is where I am headed.
'til next time....
Mary
Late Sunday night....
I don't understand but I've been trying to post pic.'s here all evening and it doesn't want to seem to let me. Also, it tends to turn my words around (under a picture) and I can't seem to edit it correctly (I am not really wording things backwards in other words!!!). I decided to try to post this little message as a test....I will see if it will allow me to. If it does, I will write more about our day here.
I don't understand but I've been trying to post pic.'s here all evening and it doesn't want to seem to let me. Also, it tends to turn my words around (under a picture) and I can't seem to edit it correctly (I am not really wording things backwards in other words!!!). I decided to try to post this little message as a test....I will see if it will allow me to. If it does, I will write more about our day here.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Sat....THE GRAND CANYON!
We are staying at the Grand Canyon Railroad R.V. Park. It is known for the train ride to the Grand Canyon. We took the train today. I highly recommend this way of viewing the Canyon. As part of the ride, we had a fun Western show to watch beforehand. It was well done and very funny. Today marked a special day for the train. It was the 20th ann. PLUS it was the FIRST day for the steam locomotive to run on vegetable oil! The Mayor, all dressed up in his Western suit, was at the show and on the train as well. Train buffs would love this one. We felt famous, or something, as we watched many people out in the middle of nowhere waving at us and taking pictures of the train! The train ride was 2 1/2 hrs. long each way (through the desert and ranch land) and we had 3 hours at the Canyon. On the train, each car had a special person to talk to us, informing us of so many goodies (facts about the Canyon, the land, animals and what to do or where to eat back in Williams, AZ). Also, on the train, the actors from the shoot out were on board and would roam and talk with us. There were really great country singers with their guitars and harmonicas, too. All in all, we felt the train ride was top notch and lots of fun. It sure made it nice to reach the Canyon without the worry of parking.
The Grand Canyon....WOW. Amazing. Although Bryce Canyon was great, the Grand Canyon is just HUGE. It was advised to us to have lunch at the El Tovar Hotel/Lodge at the Canyon. It is the oldest lodge on the premise and is known for the 'whose who' crowd. Since electrical power is not as powerful there as our 'usual', we found the dining room elegant and warm...on a warm day. The food was wonderful and it had an old charm feel. The big picture windows overlooked the Canyon. Oh...there are 300+ condors in the Canyon. We didn't see any but others said they spotted a few with a baby. We saw loads of the red ant hills (mountains to us) along the desert as we were on the train though. We were told some of them were 100 yrs. old. Oh, and we saw the pronghorns (deer)...the second fastest animal.
One of the amazing sights for me is the sky out here. On the way home, on the train, we could see from one end of the earth to the other. The sky is so eventful. In the distance we could see a double rainbow where it must have rained. I am taking it all in. Somehow the NJ sky just isn't quite the same!
Williams, AZ (where we are staying) is a town of 3,000. It is on rte. 66. What a cute Western town! Don't miss it if you come this way. It offers lots of good restaurants and some souvenir shops....mostly tourist traps, I think. The people seem to be warm and friendly. We had a nice dinner at a place that was recommended to us (voted one of the top 25 rest.'s in all of AZ) and it was relaxing after a big day. Afterwards, we went to the indoor pool and hot tub. Nice.
Tomorrow we head to Sedona. We have been informed of ALL the places not to miss there. The ride alone is to be a very scenic rte. that takes an hr. and a half. I'm thinking we should have planned to stay in Sedona a few days. Hmmmm.....we'll see...the charm of having a hunk of time to do this. I hear there are more chances of scorpions and spiders there....yikes.
Good night my special friends and family,
Mary
We are staying at the Grand Canyon Railroad R.V. Park. It is known for the train ride to the Grand Canyon. We took the train today. I highly recommend this way of viewing the Canyon. As part of the ride, we had a fun Western show to watch beforehand. It was well done and very funny. Today marked a special day for the train. It was the 20th ann. PLUS it was the FIRST day for the steam locomotive to run on vegetable oil! The Mayor, all dressed up in his Western suit, was at the show and on the train as well. Train buffs would love this one. We felt famous, or something, as we watched many people out in the middle of nowhere waving at us and taking pictures of the train! The train ride was 2 1/2 hrs. long each way (through the desert and ranch land) and we had 3 hours at the Canyon. On the train, each car had a special person to talk to us, informing us of so many goodies (facts about the Canyon, the land, animals and what to do or where to eat back in Williams, AZ). Also, on the train, the actors from the shoot out were on board and would roam and talk with us. There were really great country singers with their guitars and harmonicas, too. All in all, we felt the train ride was top notch and lots of fun. It sure made it nice to reach the Canyon without the worry of parking.
The Grand Canyon....WOW. Amazing. Although Bryce Canyon was great, the Grand Canyon is just HUGE. It was advised to us to have lunch at the El Tovar Hotel/Lodge at the Canyon. It is the oldest lodge on the premise and is known for the 'whose who' crowd. Since electrical power is not as powerful there as our 'usual', we found the dining room elegant and warm...on a warm day. The food was wonderful and it had an old charm feel. The big picture windows overlooked the Canyon. Oh...there are 300+ condors in the Canyon. We didn't see any but others said they spotted a few with a baby. We saw loads of the red ant hills (mountains to us) along the desert as we were on the train though. We were told some of them were 100 yrs. old. Oh, and we saw the pronghorns (deer)...the second fastest animal.
One of the amazing sights for me is the sky out here. On the way home, on the train, we could see from one end of the earth to the other. The sky is so eventful. In the distance we could see a double rainbow where it must have rained. I am taking it all in. Somehow the NJ sky just isn't quite the same!
Williams, AZ (where we are staying) is a town of 3,000. It is on rte. 66. What a cute Western town! Don't miss it if you come this way. It offers lots of good restaurants and some souvenir shops....mostly tourist traps, I think. The people seem to be warm and friendly. We had a nice dinner at a place that was recommended to us (voted one of the top 25 rest.'s in all of AZ) and it was relaxing after a big day. Afterwards, we went to the indoor pool and hot tub. Nice.
Tomorrow we head to Sedona. We have been informed of ALL the places not to miss there. The ride alone is to be a very scenic rte. that takes an hr. and a half. I'm thinking we should have planned to stay in Sedona a few days. Hmmmm.....we'll see...the charm of having a hunk of time to do this. I hear there are more chances of scorpions and spiders there....yikes.
Good night my special friends and family,
Mary
Friday, September 18, 2009
It's Fri. (18th) already!
It was Wed. when I last blogged. On Wed. we left the Salt Lake City area and went to Bryce Canyon, Utah. Wow....what a beauty. Some folks think it is prettier than the Grand Canyon. We stayed there for 2 nights. Saw plenty of mule deer and pronghorns. We also saw baby hummingbirds feeding. We rarely see them back home. We stayed at Ruby's R.V. Park right outside of the Canyon. I think we were the minorities to lots of German and French speaking folks. While the days would be 80 degrees, the nights would be in the 40's.
We headed to Williams, AZ today (from Bryce). We went right through the Painted Desert. Gods hand was definitely into this one.....there were places where I could imagine Him doing sand art...you know what I mean....when you take sand and mix it with water and drizzle it to make sand castles. There were areas that looked like He had done this....just for us. I have never seen anything like it. It took us 7 1/2 hrs. to cover 325 miles today as we climbed to 7400 elevation...through the desert. I think Joli was affected by the ride. She didn't seem herself until we pulled into the R.V. park and she could take a long walk. We are staying at the Grand Canyon Railroad R.V. Park. It was mentioned to us because we can buy the railroad tickets to take us to the Grand Canyon right here....and catch the train. So we will visit it tomorrow (Sat.). It is to be in the 70's by day and in the 30's at night! On Sunday, we will go to Sedona. Williams, AZ is a great location to see several things (or places). They tell me that I might see some tarantulas (NO!!!) and other spiders but that seeing a scorpion here is unlikely because it isn't hot enough. Whew. We gained another hour....now we are 3 hrs. behind home. So far, to date, we have traveled a total of 3, 913 miles. Tomorrow (Sat.) marks 2 wks. into our vacation. We are thoroughly enjoying every bit of it.
Some of you have made comments here. I will post comments to your comments on the page you posted them initially! Got that? So take a look there....and hopefully I won't have a problem doing it. Also, I will post more pictures as I get them. Then you will see Bryce Canyon for yourself...but the pictures never take the place of the real thing. I did not have WIFI at the campground at Bryce (Ruby's). These places will tell you they have it in their ads but when you get settled into your campsite, you can't get it....oh bother. It makes blogging difficult for me....who is already challenged here (on internet)! I am glad I can pull it from my campsite here. We'll be here a few days. Lookout!!!
Good night,
Mary
It was Wed. when I last blogged. On Wed. we left the Salt Lake City area and went to Bryce Canyon, Utah. Wow....what a beauty. Some folks think it is prettier than the Grand Canyon. We stayed there for 2 nights. Saw plenty of mule deer and pronghorns. We also saw baby hummingbirds feeding. We rarely see them back home. We stayed at Ruby's R.V. Park right outside of the Canyon. I think we were the minorities to lots of German and French speaking folks. While the days would be 80 degrees, the nights would be in the 40's.
We headed to Williams, AZ today (from Bryce). We went right through the Painted Desert. Gods hand was definitely into this one.....there were places where I could imagine Him doing sand art...you know what I mean....when you take sand and mix it with water and drizzle it to make sand castles. There were areas that looked like He had done this....just for us. I have never seen anything like it. It took us 7 1/2 hrs. to cover 325 miles today as we climbed to 7400 elevation...through the desert. I think Joli was affected by the ride. She didn't seem herself until we pulled into the R.V. park and she could take a long walk. We are staying at the Grand Canyon Railroad R.V. Park. It was mentioned to us because we can buy the railroad tickets to take us to the Grand Canyon right here....and catch the train. So we will visit it tomorrow (Sat.). It is to be in the 70's by day and in the 30's at night! On Sunday, we will go to Sedona. Williams, AZ is a great location to see several things (or places). They tell me that I might see some tarantulas (NO!!!) and other spiders but that seeing a scorpion here is unlikely because it isn't hot enough. Whew. We gained another hour....now we are 3 hrs. behind home. So far, to date, we have traveled a total of 3, 913 miles. Tomorrow (Sat.) marks 2 wks. into our vacation. We are thoroughly enjoying every bit of it.
Some of you have made comments here. I will post comments to your comments on the page you posted them initially! Got that? So take a look there....and hopefully I won't have a problem doing it. Also, I will post more pictures as I get them. Then you will see Bryce Canyon for yourself...but the pictures never take the place of the real thing. I did not have WIFI at the campground at Bryce (Ruby's). These places will tell you they have it in their ads but when you get settled into your campsite, you can't get it....oh bother. It makes blogging difficult for me....who is already challenged here (on internet)! I am glad I can pull it from my campsite here. We'll be here a few days. Lookout!!!
Good night,
Mary
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Tues...the 15th...We are alive! Did you wonder? My last entry was on Fri...so I will try to catch you up. I will go backwards.
Sat. (12th) We left South Dakota and went to Sheridan, Wyoming. The mountains in Wyoming just got bigger and better. We stayed in the Walmart 'campground' #2 (our second attempt). What a difference this time though. Wendi and Brian (Wendi has been my email buddy for 4 yrs. and Brian is her husband) came to pick us up (since you are not allowed to unhook from your trailer at Walmart) and showed us their town of Sheridan and took us to dinner! Wow....was it the royal treatment. They took us to the Powder Horn which is a beautiful community of homes, a golf club and fine dining. The evening was a total surprise to us and we had over 3 hrs. of great conversation, dinner, tour and friendship that won't be forgotten. It was if I had known Wendi forever. It was fun getting to know Brian and learn about all of his interests...racing motorcycles up mountains, fly fishing and MANY more! We had the best night and Walmart 'stays' won't ever be the same from now on.....I am convinced of that! Thanks Wendi and Brian for making a wonderful memory of Wyoming, (Walmart) and YOU.
Sun. (13th) We left Sheridan, WY and went to Yellowstone. We traveled through Big Horn National Park (beautiful) and had lunch at Buffalo Bill Cody's hotel and restaurant...The Irma Hotel in Cody, WY. Cody is a great town and full of Western history. On our arrival into the only 'full' hookup campground in Yellowstone, Fishing Bridge R.V. Park, we had a bison alongside the road with us. As we parked to check-in, the people were surrounding the poor bison for a picture opportunity. A lady who was in charge of traffic control told the bystanders to get back because they had just had someone impaled for doing the same thing! On our way to dinner at the oldest hotel on the Yellowstone property, The Lake Hotel, we had a HERD of bison (maybe 30) all over the road, side and in front of us! It was raining but Paige was able to get a video which if we can manage to put it on here, we will. It was amazing to see an entire herd...we had seen many small groups of them right beside our truck or in front of us on the road before this.
Mon. (14th) We woke up early (sunrise) since we were told that the best time to see the wildlife was either sunrise or sunset. We saw elk feeding in two different places. It was fun being on the road basically alone. Doug and Paige took in a hike that was led by a park ranger. They said it was very informative (how to preserve the forest in a natural process). They saw a few little critters (marmoset). We saw Old Faithful and mud pots, many geysers and hot springs. There are over 10,000 of these in the park. Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S. Paige took a video of Old Faithful and will put it on here if she can.
Tues. (15th) We left Yellowstone around 8:30 a.m. and on the hour and a half of winding our way through the park, we saw elk and bison. We traveled through Montana and Idaho (had potatoes for lunch) and are now in Ogden, Utah (outside of Salt Lake City). We arrived here around 4. We have WIFI!!! In Yellowstone we were disconnected (from computer and cell) the entire time. The mountains here are just beautiful. We are surrounded by them.
Tomorrow we will be in Bryce Canyon, Utah for a few days. I will have WIFI so will be more 'timely' here. We hope to get to a Target or Walmart to get some pictures done. Then we can put some on here. It is just amazing how different the terrain is from the farmlands of PA, OH, IN, IL, IA, and some of SD to the mountains of SD, WY, MT, ID, UT. What a pretty country we live in.
We did NOT see bear in Yellowstone though! Grrr.....
I do NOT want to see scorpions or turantulas in Arizona and beyond.
Hope all is well with you,
Mary
Sat. (12th) We left South Dakota and went to Sheridan, Wyoming. The mountains in Wyoming just got bigger and better. We stayed in the Walmart 'campground' #2 (our second attempt). What a difference this time though. Wendi and Brian (Wendi has been my email buddy for 4 yrs. and Brian is her husband) came to pick us up (since you are not allowed to unhook from your trailer at Walmart) and showed us their town of Sheridan and took us to dinner! Wow....was it the royal treatment. They took us to the Powder Horn which is a beautiful community of homes, a golf club and fine dining. The evening was a total surprise to us and we had over 3 hrs. of great conversation, dinner, tour and friendship that won't be forgotten. It was if I had known Wendi forever. It was fun getting to know Brian and learn about all of his interests...racing motorcycles up mountains, fly fishing and MANY more! We had the best night and Walmart 'stays' won't ever be the same from now on.....I am convinced of that! Thanks Wendi and Brian for making a wonderful memory of Wyoming, (Walmart) and YOU.
Sun. (13th) We left Sheridan, WY and went to Yellowstone. We traveled through Big Horn National Park (beautiful) and had lunch at Buffalo Bill Cody's hotel and restaurant...The Irma Hotel in Cody, WY. Cody is a great town and full of Western history. On our arrival into the only 'full' hookup campground in Yellowstone, Fishing Bridge R.V. Park, we had a bison alongside the road with us. As we parked to check-in, the people were surrounding the poor bison for a picture opportunity. A lady who was in charge of traffic control told the bystanders to get back because they had just had someone impaled for doing the same thing! On our way to dinner at the oldest hotel on the Yellowstone property, The Lake Hotel, we had a HERD of bison (maybe 30) all over the road, side and in front of us! It was raining but Paige was able to get a video which if we can manage to put it on here, we will. It was amazing to see an entire herd...we had seen many small groups of them right beside our truck or in front of us on the road before this.
Mon. (14th) We woke up early (sunrise) since we were told that the best time to see the wildlife was either sunrise or sunset. We saw elk feeding in two different places. It was fun being on the road basically alone. Doug and Paige took in a hike that was led by a park ranger. They said it was very informative (how to preserve the forest in a natural process). They saw a few little critters (marmoset). We saw Old Faithful and mud pots, many geysers and hot springs. There are over 10,000 of these in the park. Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S. Paige took a video of Old Faithful and will put it on here if she can.
Tues. (15th) We left Yellowstone around 8:30 a.m. and on the hour and a half of winding our way through the park, we saw elk and bison. We traveled through Montana and Idaho (had potatoes for lunch) and are now in Ogden, Utah (outside of Salt Lake City). We arrived here around 4. We have WIFI!!! In Yellowstone we were disconnected (from computer and cell) the entire time. The mountains here are just beautiful. We are surrounded by them.
Tomorrow we will be in Bryce Canyon, Utah for a few days. I will have WIFI so will be more 'timely' here. We hope to get to a Target or Walmart to get some pictures done. Then we can put some on here. It is just amazing how different the terrain is from the farmlands of PA, OH, IN, IL, IA, and some of SD to the mountains of SD, WY, MT, ID, UT. What a pretty country we live in.
We did NOT see bear in Yellowstone though! Grrr.....
I do NOT want to see scorpions or turantulas in Arizona and beyond.
Hope all is well with you,
Mary
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