IT'S A GRAND PLACE

Since we retired (sort of), we've traveled all over the country, and have spent several summers working at places like Skagway, Alaska, Glacier National Park, and Grand Canyon National Park.  Each of these places have been special in their own way, and have left us with memories that will last forever.  We wanted Laila to see the place we called home for two summers.

This view is from the rim trail, between the village, and trailview overlook.

 

Yesterday, we started with breakfast at the Thousand Trails lodge, and then hit the road, destination the Grand Canyon.  From the Verde Valley, it's about a 2 1/2 hour drive up highway 89A to Flagstaff, then north on highways 180 & 64 to the canyon.  When we arrived, we realized that a lot of other people had the same idea as us, and we could not find a parking space at the visitor's center.  Some of our coworkers last summer had mentioned that the canyon was very busy during spring break, and we were starting to see it first hand.

It was time to implement plan B, so I drove down to the Hermits Road gate, where I hoped that the gate code hadn't changed.  When I punched the four digit code into the keypad, the gate opened and we were free to park just about where ever we pleased.  Patty wanted to show Laila the fossils, so I parked just beyond the gate, and the two of them walked up the rim trail to a point where the ancient creatures are permanently imbedded into the rocks.

We then drove up the Hermits Road to Hopi Point, where the above picture was taken.  In my opinion, this is one of the best places to take in the grandeur of the canyon.  When you're west of the village, this is the first place where you get a pretty good view of the Colorado River, and it's truly a panoramic view of the canyon.  By the time we left Hopi Point, it was mid afternoon, and time to start the return trip to Cottonwood.  We stopped in Flagstaff for some Chick Fil E, then continued our journey home.

The drive back through Oak Creek Canyon never gets old, but as we were within about a mile from Sedona, the traffic came to a sudden halt.  My first instinct was that there must be some sort of incident ahead, as the line of vehicles was hardly moving.  We crept along, finally reaching the downtown area of Sedona, and realized that it was nothing more than too much traffic for the two lane road.  Sedona is located in a beautiful "red rock" valley, but other than that, driving (sometimes very slowly) straight through is just fine with me.

By the time we got back to the motor home, it was just about dark, and an end to a day of some pretty spectacular scenery.