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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)