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trip overview
May. 12th, 2015 10:14 pmSaturday we flew into Phoenix. We arrived just before noon. We drove to Chandler to visit my cousin. Second cousin, once removed? Shirley is retired. After lunch she took us to the museum where she works (and is on the board). Pueblo Grande is the remains of a village that was abandoned around 1400. The people there build a great irrigation network. Shirley took us through the little museum and gave us the informative talks that she gives to tours. Then we walked outside to look at the walls. It was 100°, so we didn't take too long.
Afterward we went back to her house and looked at some pictures. Then I called my Aunt Barbara to tell her we were on our way. It turned out I had told her we would be there on Sunday. Fortunately, she wasn't (isn't) busy, so could still meet us. We didn't get to meet her son Jimmy and his wife Rachel, though, since he had plans for the evening.
We went to a Mexican restaurant and talked for a while. Aunt Barb is easy to talk with. We had a good time.
Then we drove north to a town called Camp Verde to stay for the night.
The next morning we went to a place called V-Bar-V Heritage Site. It used to be a ranch of that name. The owner had preserved a cliff wall with petroglyphs (images carved into the rock), and it's now a neat little site. We got there right at nine o'clock, but it didn't open until 9:30, so we went for a walk along a nearby creek.
Afterward, we drove to Jerome. Jerome was a mining town, perched on a mountainside. Sometime after the mining died out in the fifties, they turned to tourism, so it's several blocks of old-timey buildings, with shops and galleries. We had to drive all the way through town, to a parking lot, since there wasn't a single open parking place.
The lot was in front of a mine, with some big rusty towers, so of course we had to go over to take some pictures. It was also behind a chain link fence, so I stepped up onto a guard rail post to get a higher vantage. There wasn't enough room on top of the post to turn around, and rather than stepping down forward, wherefrom I'd have to climb back over the guard rail, I decided to jump down backwards. Bad move. The jump down was higher than the step up, due to my having to jump down past the curb. I picked up a lot of momentum on the way down, and went all the way to the ground. I managed to turn halfway, so I fell on my side rather than my back. My right hand hit first, then, as I kept going, my elbow. The pavement was made of gravel, which took a good gouge out of the side of my elbow. It stung. Fortunately, there was no other damage, to me, my clothes or my camera. I soaked up some blood with a tissue, and we walked to town. We went in the first shop we saw - a t-shirt shop - and Cyn asked the woman behind the counter if there was a drugstore or a place to buy band-aids. "No." But the woman went off to find us some. She came back with an alcohol wipe and some band-aids. The band-aid didn't stick due to the amount of hair on my arm, but she gave me a spare.
We went next door to eat, and by the time we were done, the band-aid was no longer sticking on one side. We went back to the car, and I pulled out my razor and shaved that part of the arm. The next band-aid remained on the rest of the day.
The main reason we went to Jerome was for Caduceus wines. The winery is located in Jerome, and they have a shop in the middle of town. Caduceus Winery is owned by Maynard Keenan (singer with Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer), along with Merkin Vineyards. Next door to the wine shop is the Puscifer shop, which carries all kinds of clothing and music related to the band. And there's a barbershop on the lower level. But, the wines... I must admit I was disappointed. We had a tasting flight of four (which was a little expensive for a tasting flight at the source). I only really liked one of them, and it was a bit different. Spicy. We bought a bottle, which was really expensive. Now we have to figure out what to do with it.
Anyway, we walked around Jerome for a while before hitting the road for Sedona. And stopping at a grocery store along the way, to pick up bandages.
A was a little surprised by Sedona. The red sandstone mountains that surround it were just like I expected, but the town itself was bigger than I expected. It's a sprawling suburban landscape. We went up by the airport for a view of the valley, then for a hike on the north side of town. As we left town, we came upon an overlook by a bridge. It was a beautiful look down the valley towards Sedona. Then the drive all the way up the valley to the north was just as beautiful all the way up. An amazing drive.
We stopped in Flagstaff for food. We decided to hit a sub shop for a fast meal, in hopes we could make the Grand Canyon by sunset. The sun was pretty much down by the time we left the restaurant. So we drove up and checked in at the Yavapai Lodge in the park near the south rim.
The next morning we got up and had some granola bars and fruit in the room. I think it was the only day we didn't have an actual breakfast. We went down to the visitor center and a couple of the overlooks for a view of the canyon. It's big! So big you don't really get a feel for it. After picking up some more food, going back to the room to eat it, change clothes and gather supplies, and a short bus ride, we embarked on a hike down into the canyon. Of course I forgot my camera. Fortunately, Cindy had hers, so I borrowed it a few times. It was almost a two hour hike. The sign said one to two hours, but we stopped for a lot of pictures. We went down just past Ooh Aah Point. Quite picturesque. There were dark blue clouds threatening us with rain, but we just felt sprinkles here and there. Though there was thunder.
Afterward, we drove over to the lodge at the west end of the park. That was a mistake. There's not enough parking over there - we should have stayed parked where we were and taken the shuttle. As we were walking over to the shuttle to take us out to the overlooks on the west side of the park, it started raining. And it was cold and windy. Maybe as low as 50°? Cindy started whimpering. I wasn't feeling that miserable, and still wanted to go out there, but then I realized that with the rain, there would be no view anyway. We rode the bus back to our car and headed east out of the park. So that was a little disappointing.
As we passed one of the eastern overlooks, I saw there was sun shining on part of the canyon (still with rain behind), so I had to stop. And then again at the next one. The next one was Moran point, named for the artist, so I had to stop there too. Not much sun left by that time, but the wet air and rock made for an interesting view. So much rich color.
And we saw a herd of elk relaxing by the road. We drove down out of the park. And through the desert towards Page. We stopped at a scenic view of a canyon below us. And another pullout on the mountainside before the highway went though a cut towards Page. We looked across the Colorado River Valley towards the rain clouds that came north from the Grand Canyon.
We went into Page and stopped at another overlook, where we could see the Glen Canyon Dam... and its namesake canyon. Lots of red rock. We were hoping some cell phone reception would happen, so we could GPS the location of our B&B, or at least call them and ask where they were. It turned out Cyn kinda vaguely remembered what the map looked like, and that the street kinda curved, so I took us to a place that matched that description and we found it.
Canyon Colors B&B was nice. Brenda and Manny were very helpful and Brenda's breakfasts were great. We went out to eat at a nice place, for Cindy's birthday dinner (though her birthday was the next day). We had a very good meal, and they put a candle in her tiramisu. And the waiter asked if we wanted them to sing a song for her. We were grateful that he gave us the opportunity to turn that down.
So there's the first three days of our trip.
Afterward we went back to her house and looked at some pictures. Then I called my Aunt Barbara to tell her we were on our way. It turned out I had told her we would be there on Sunday. Fortunately, she wasn't (isn't) busy, so could still meet us. We didn't get to meet her son Jimmy and his wife Rachel, though, since he had plans for the evening.
We went to a Mexican restaurant and talked for a while. Aunt Barb is easy to talk with. We had a good time.
Then we drove north to a town called Camp Verde to stay for the night.
The next morning we went to a place called V-Bar-V Heritage Site. It used to be a ranch of that name. The owner had preserved a cliff wall with petroglyphs (images carved into the rock), and it's now a neat little site. We got there right at nine o'clock, but it didn't open until 9:30, so we went for a walk along a nearby creek.
Afterward, we drove to Jerome. Jerome was a mining town, perched on a mountainside. Sometime after the mining died out in the fifties, they turned to tourism, so it's several blocks of old-timey buildings, with shops and galleries. We had to drive all the way through town, to a parking lot, since there wasn't a single open parking place.
The lot was in front of a mine, with some big rusty towers, so of course we had to go over to take some pictures. It was also behind a chain link fence, so I stepped up onto a guard rail post to get a higher vantage. There wasn't enough room on top of the post to turn around, and rather than stepping down forward, wherefrom I'd have to climb back over the guard rail, I decided to jump down backwards. Bad move. The jump down was higher than the step up, due to my having to jump down past the curb. I picked up a lot of momentum on the way down, and went all the way to the ground. I managed to turn halfway, so I fell on my side rather than my back. My right hand hit first, then, as I kept going, my elbow. The pavement was made of gravel, which took a good gouge out of the side of my elbow. It stung. Fortunately, there was no other damage, to me, my clothes or my camera. I soaked up some blood with a tissue, and we walked to town. We went in the first shop we saw - a t-shirt shop - and Cyn asked the woman behind the counter if there was a drugstore or a place to buy band-aids. "No." But the woman went off to find us some. She came back with an alcohol wipe and some band-aids. The band-aid didn't stick due to the amount of hair on my arm, but she gave me a spare.
We went next door to eat, and by the time we were done, the band-aid was no longer sticking on one side. We went back to the car, and I pulled out my razor and shaved that part of the arm. The next band-aid remained on the rest of the day.
The main reason we went to Jerome was for Caduceus wines. The winery is located in Jerome, and they have a shop in the middle of town. Caduceus Winery is owned by Maynard Keenan (singer with Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer), along with Merkin Vineyards. Next door to the wine shop is the Puscifer shop, which carries all kinds of clothing and music related to the band. And there's a barbershop on the lower level. But, the wines... I must admit I was disappointed. We had a tasting flight of four (which was a little expensive for a tasting flight at the source). I only really liked one of them, and it was a bit different. Spicy. We bought a bottle, which was really expensive. Now we have to figure out what to do with it.
Anyway, we walked around Jerome for a while before hitting the road for Sedona. And stopping at a grocery store along the way, to pick up bandages.
A was a little surprised by Sedona. The red sandstone mountains that surround it were just like I expected, but the town itself was bigger than I expected. It's a sprawling suburban landscape. We went up by the airport for a view of the valley, then for a hike on the north side of town. As we left town, we came upon an overlook by a bridge. It was a beautiful look down the valley towards Sedona. Then the drive all the way up the valley to the north was just as beautiful all the way up. An amazing drive.
We stopped in Flagstaff for food. We decided to hit a sub shop for a fast meal, in hopes we could make the Grand Canyon by sunset. The sun was pretty much down by the time we left the restaurant. So we drove up and checked in at the Yavapai Lodge in the park near the south rim.
The next morning we got up and had some granola bars and fruit in the room. I think it was the only day we didn't have an actual breakfast. We went down to the visitor center and a couple of the overlooks for a view of the canyon. It's big! So big you don't really get a feel for it. After picking up some more food, going back to the room to eat it, change clothes and gather supplies, and a short bus ride, we embarked on a hike down into the canyon. Of course I forgot my camera. Fortunately, Cindy had hers, so I borrowed it a few times. It was almost a two hour hike. The sign said one to two hours, but we stopped for a lot of pictures. We went down just past Ooh Aah Point. Quite picturesque. There were dark blue clouds threatening us with rain, but we just felt sprinkles here and there. Though there was thunder.
Afterward, we drove over to the lodge at the west end of the park. That was a mistake. There's not enough parking over there - we should have stayed parked where we were and taken the shuttle. As we were walking over to the shuttle to take us out to the overlooks on the west side of the park, it started raining. And it was cold and windy. Maybe as low as 50°? Cindy started whimpering. I wasn't feeling that miserable, and still wanted to go out there, but then I realized that with the rain, there would be no view anyway. We rode the bus back to our car and headed east out of the park. So that was a little disappointing.
As we passed one of the eastern overlooks, I saw there was sun shining on part of the canyon (still with rain behind), so I had to stop. And then again at the next one. The next one was Moran point, named for the artist, so I had to stop there too. Not much sun left by that time, but the wet air and rock made for an interesting view. So much rich color.
And we saw a herd of elk relaxing by the road. We drove down out of the park. And through the desert towards Page. We stopped at a scenic view of a canyon below us. And another pullout on the mountainside before the highway went though a cut towards Page. We looked across the Colorado River Valley towards the rain clouds that came north from the Grand Canyon.
We went into Page and stopped at another overlook, where we could see the Glen Canyon Dam... and its namesake canyon. Lots of red rock. We were hoping some cell phone reception would happen, so we could GPS the location of our B&B, or at least call them and ask where they were. It turned out Cyn kinda vaguely remembered what the map looked like, and that the street kinda curved, so I took us to a place that matched that description and we found it.
Canyon Colors B&B was nice. Brenda and Manny were very helpful and Brenda's breakfasts were great. We went out to eat at a nice place, for Cindy's birthday dinner (though her birthday was the next day). We had a very good meal, and they put a candle in her tiramisu. And the waiter asked if we wanted them to sing a song for her. We were grateful that he gave us the opportunity to turn that down.
So there's the first three days of our trip.
