After enjoying a beautiful desert sunrise, we started out early and headed north. Phoenix (pop. 1,200,000+, elev. 1900) was sited on an old Hohokan village and named Phoenix to symbolize the new city raising out of the dust of the old ruins. And as we drove towards the city, it certainly rose out of the flat dusty desert in front of us.
We hit Phoenix at rush hour, and even though we took the "loop," we found ourselves in stop-and-go traffic through Tempe, Mesa, and Scottsdale. By the time we actually got to Phoenix, things had thinned out, but a major construction project managed to take up the slack and keep us going at a snail's pace.
We didn't really get a view of the skyline because the freeways are low, surrounded by tall concrete walls. It wasn't bad though because they had decorated the concrete in that southwestern "overpass" style using Spanish/Indian motifs. It was very attractive and left us a good impression of the city despite the traffic.
The architecture in this area is very non-intrusive. The houses are of stone or stucko and painted in warm shades of brown that blend into the landscape. This seems to make up for the lack of vegetation and looks very nice.
We turned off the Interstate to take a scenic drive from Cottonwood to Sedona. Just before we got to Sedona, we had a fantastic view of the red hills and stopped at a scenic view area. Here I had to balance my fear of snakes with my desire to take a good photo. In order to get a good shot, I had to climb the hill behind the parking lot -- watching carefully where I was stepping. I was nervous because there was an insect that kept making a distinctive rattling noise. Then when I hopped up onto a rock, Jim helped by saying, "Snakes like rocks, you know."
We turned off at Red Rock State Park and drove through some beautiful country with red rock canyons and pillars. Did you know that the red color in these hills is rust? Yep, iron oxide. It sure looks prettier on mountains than old cars. We thought we were on a loop until we saw the sign that said, "pavement ends." So we continued on carefully -- still managing to scrape the underside of the car (visions of our buffalo experience). The Nissan is just NOT comfortable being mistaken for an SUV. So we turned around.
Sedona is a beautiful town, nestled in the red rocky hills, surrounded by beautiful scenery on all sides. It has an intersting and scenic tourist area with shops/restaurants. We didn't stop, but Sedona is definitely on my list of places to revisit. (Wilcox -- not so much.)
The drive from Sedona to Flagstaff took us up about 3,000 feet in elevation around a number of hairpin curves. Flagstaff and Grand Canyon Area are at 7,000 feet. We drove through some beautiful country. Jim had been missing trees and wondering if he would ever see one again. Totem cacti just didn't do it for him. His wish was answered today. We started seeing the usual mountain variety of trees and some beautiful fall colors.
We got back on the Interstate for a few miles at Flagstaff and then took the exit for the Grand Canyon. Just a few miles from the entrance we discovered a Best Western and a few other hotels and tourist shops, plus an IMAX theatre. We got a room and suffered from sticker shock. This was more upscale then we were used to. The hotel lobby played music in the background and had a full dining room and gift shop right off the lobby. You needed a ticket to get into the complementary continental breakfast searved in the dining room. They also had several spiral staircases that reminded me of the cruise ship we took to Alaska. But the real shock was that our room glasses were made out of real glass, not those individually wrapped plastic cups.
We stopped at the IMAX theater on our way to the park an discovered that we could buy a park pass there. Jim went off to the restroom, and I got in line to get a ticket ($25 per vehicle). I asked if they had a senior discount -- never hurts to ask -- and the woman asked me if someone in my party was over 62. I said, "yes." Then she said she would have to see ID. I said the person was in the restroom with it, but I would come back with him. When I took him over there, she sold him a $10 pass that is good in any National Park or Monument. And she said told him to hang on to it, because it is good for life. Now that's a senior discount. And it applys to anyone in Jim's vehicle.
So we went off to the Grand Canyon to try out Jim's new pass. We got into the park about 2:00 and stopped off at the first parking area. We managed to get the last parking spot. The place was packed with people speaking all different languages -- but the view was spectacular. There are really no words in any language to describe the sight of that canyon. They had a large platform with guard rails that hung over the canyon (a shire drop of a mile down). I got out my camera and moved to get close to the edge to take pictures. When I turned around, Jim was not behind me. He was back against the steps. I had forgotten that he is afraid of heights. He told me if I couldn't find him, he would be huddled against the back wall. As he said this, another person said, "me too." So Jim started a support group for acrophobics in the corner.
Getting off the view platform, we started walking along the rim trail. Soon the guardrail disappeared -- good for photographers, bad for acrophobics. But little by little Jim got closer and closer to see the view which was phenomonal. We were both tired, so we returned to the hotel and then went to see the IMAX movie -- which was great, but the first scene was a plane zooming around the canyon -- Jim turned green.
But he really enjoyed it after that.
We are going back to the park tomorrow, then on to Utah.
We hit Phoenix at rush hour, and even though we took the "loop," we found ourselves in stop-and-go traffic through Tempe, Mesa, and Scottsdale. By the time we actually got to Phoenix, things had thinned out, but a major construction project managed to take up the slack and keep us going at a snail's pace.
We didn't really get a view of the skyline because the freeways are low, surrounded by tall concrete walls. It wasn't bad though because they had decorated the concrete in that southwestern "overpass" style using Spanish/Indian motifs. It was very attractive and left us a good impression of the city despite the traffic.
The architecture in this area is very non-intrusive. The houses are of stone or stucko and painted in warm shades of brown that blend into the landscape. This seems to make up for the lack of vegetation and looks very nice.
We turned off the Interstate to take a scenic drive from Cottonwood to Sedona. Just before we got to Sedona, we had a fantastic view of the red hills and stopped at a scenic view area. Here I had to balance my fear of snakes with my desire to take a good photo. In order to get a good shot, I had to climb the hill behind the parking lot -- watching carefully where I was stepping. I was nervous because there was an insect that kept making a distinctive rattling noise. Then when I hopped up onto a rock, Jim helped by saying, "Snakes like rocks, you know."
We turned off at Red Rock State Park and drove through some beautiful country with red rock canyons and pillars. Did you know that the red color in these hills is rust? Yep, iron oxide. It sure looks prettier on mountains than old cars. We thought we were on a loop until we saw the sign that said, "pavement ends." So we continued on carefully -- still managing to scrape the underside of the car (visions of our buffalo experience). The Nissan is just NOT comfortable being mistaken for an SUV. So we turned around.Sedona is a beautiful town, nestled in the red rocky hills, surrounded by beautiful scenery on all sides. It has an intersting and scenic tourist area with shops/restaurants. We didn't stop, but Sedona is definitely on my list of places to revisit. (Wilcox -- not so much.)
The drive from Sedona to Flagstaff took us up about 3,000 feet in elevation around a number of hairpin curves. Flagstaff and Grand Canyon Area are at 7,000 feet. We drove through some beautiful country. Jim had been missing trees and wondering if he would ever see one again. Totem cacti just didn't do it for him. His wish was answered today. We started seeing the usual mountain variety of trees and some beautiful fall colors.
We got back on the Interstate for a few miles at Flagstaff and then took the exit for the Grand Canyon. Just a few miles from the entrance we discovered a Best Western and a few other hotels and tourist shops, plus an IMAX theatre. We got a room and suffered from sticker shock. This was more upscale then we were used to. The hotel lobby played music in the background and had a full dining room and gift shop right off the lobby. You needed a ticket to get into the complementary continental breakfast searved in the dining room. They also had several spiral staircases that reminded me of the cruise ship we took to Alaska. But the real shock was that our room glasses were made out of real glass, not those individually wrapped plastic cups.
We stopped at the IMAX theater on our way to the park an discovered that we could buy a park pass there. Jim went off to the restroom, and I got in line to get a ticket ($25 per vehicle). I asked if they had a senior discount -- never hurts to ask -- and the woman asked me if someone in my party was over 62. I said, "yes." Then she said she would have to see ID. I said the person was in the restroom with it, but I would come back with him. When I took him over there, she sold him a $10 pass that is good in any National Park or Monument. And she said told him to hang on to it, because it is good for life. Now that's a senior discount. And it applys to anyone in Jim's vehicle.
So we went off to the Grand Canyon to try out Jim's new pass. We got into the park about 2:00 and stopped off at the first parking area. We managed to get the last parking spot. The place was packed with people speaking all different languages -- but the view was spectacular. There are really no words in any language to describe the sight of that canyon. They had a large platform with guard rails that hung over the canyon (a shire drop of a mile down). I got out my camera and moved to get close to the edge to take pictures. When I turned around, Jim was not behind me. He was back against the steps. I had forgotten that he is afraid of heights. He told me if I couldn't find him, he would be huddled against the back wall. As he said this, another person said, "me too." So Jim started a support group for acrophobics in the corner.
Getting off the view platform, we started walking along the rim trail. Soon the guardrail disappeared -- good for photographers, bad for acrophobics. But little by little Jim got closer and closer to see the view which was phenomonal. We were both tired, so we returned to the hotel and then went to see the IMAX movie -- which was great, but the first scene was a plane zooming around the canyon -- Jim turned green.But he really enjoyed it after that.
We are going back to the park tomorrow, then on to Utah.
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