Advertisement
Published: March 21st 2012
Edit Blog Post
My very good friend Philip Wood once told me that while travelling you will have “wow” moments and he judged this by listening to people’s reactions as they entered a site. I trust Philip’s conclusion as he has also taught me to make some magnificent drinks – like a Negroni at the Winter Palace in Luxor. So with this in mind I think today may rate as a “wow day” although Philip may be less keen on my drink on hand as I write – a cheap can of Miller from the convenience store across the road.
At present I am in a cabin situated in the woods that line the South Rim of the canyon. We have just returned from experiencing sunset over the canyon, which just reinforced the beauty of this natural wonder of the world. The setting sun on the rocks made the rocks come alive and the colours were accentuated by the white of the snow that is on the ground and in the trees. It was a great way to finish the day and I am so pleased that we made the extra effort to do it.
I was not expecting snow but as
it became more visible just outside Sedona we knew that it would be at the canyon. We had left Scottsdale at 8am in relatively warm conditions; sun shining and the bluest of skies. It only got better as we headed to Sedona. I was somewhat disappointed to leave the town as they are in the midst of Spring Training Camps and 15 of the Major League baseball teams have made their home there for the month of March. It is a popular event with many of the loyal fans joining them as it easy to get tickets and a far more intimate way of watching baseball before the season proper starts. They play games every day for the month in what is titled the Cactus League. As our tour guide said it is also popular with the players as they are not sick of the fans yet! What with Spring Training, Payton Manning’s transfer to the Denver Broncos and “March Madness” College Basketball there is little or no other sport on the TV – maybe golf squeaks in with the Masters only three weeks away but only just. I have certainly seen no evidence of Super 15 or the Black
Caps – in the case of the latter I have been thankful!
One of the observations made over the last couple of days has been the Recreational Vehicles (RVs) on the road. They are a constant source of traffic and you often see 4 or 5 in a row. They are huge and come with all the gadgets and the customary car being towed behind to use when they arrive at their chosen destination. Once again I asked Gordon about them and he said you could buy a $25K one or a custom built one for around $3m dollars. I looked at one this morning that not only had all the extras upfront but was towing a BMW 7 Series behind. It is quite the rage to live in these now or just travel the US over a series of months.
Some of the party left the hotel early and went hot air ballooning and by the looks on their faces as we picked them up they had ticked off a bucket list entry. While we waited for them at the meet point we had a chance to see my new favourite Saguaro cactus up close – it
only increased my knowledge after the master class yesterday. Our stop was punctuated by a visit from the local police who had seen our bus parked somewhere strange and arrived with all lights blazing. Suddenly we were all off the bus taking photos and they were good sports. In fact one of the cops “arrested” one of the older ladies on the trip when she asked for a photo – I am presuming that it was her first time in ‘cuffs!
We stopped in Sedona for two things: a group photo and lunch. This was real “wow” territory with the red rock towering above the town and the snow piled up round the streets. It was just like the movies again. I think the photo should be good although in all honesty I would have been happy with a photo of the backdrop – I fear we may just spoil it! Apparently it is all part of the tour and will be supplied to us at some stage. For lunch Narelle and I found a BBQ Diner and had fantastic sandwiches. It was the most fantastic little place with the BBQ going outside and us in at a table
with red and white checks. I loved it! Perhaps my recently completed dinner should not have been a chilli dog with onion rings – my Dr would be having palpitations himself if he could have seen me today. Salads tomorrow I promise. I must remember to Google pins and needles in the arms tomorrow…
And then we had the drive to the canyon. It is a steep climb out of the valley and up to the plateau and being on the right hand side of the coach meant we had the view of looking straight down. More than one person crossed sides so they could see. I think Mother wanted to do this when we once drove Skipper’s Canyon in the South Island but we were in a car. The snow was caked all the way up the cliffs and with the pine trees breaking through made it feel slightly magical if not fairy-tale like. Amongst those pines were empty holiday homes waiting for their summer residents to come back – I was actually gobsmacked at this point with the beauty. Arriving at the canyon we went straight to Mather’s Point and I had another “wow’ moment.
The size and scale of this place is hard to comprehend but I guess it has had 6 million years to get to this point. We had a really informative 30 minute presentation with “Canyon Dora” who explained to us how the canyon was formed and the different rocks present in the layers. The layer at the bottom near where the Colorado River runs is 1.7 billion years old and was once under a huge mountain range that eroded over millions of years. The fact that put it all into perspective was the fact that if I revisited in 1000 years the river would have cut down another foot and the canyon would have widened all of 10 feet – that tells us how long it has taken to produce the wide canyon we see today. “Matt your specialist topic is….”
So that is Day 4 done and dusted. I wish you could all see the view out my window as I see it now. We could have been bathed in 90 degree heat (and they are likely to be by Friday) but I feel we have seen it in a whole different light and the cold has only
added to the adventure. What a day – one out of the box.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.056s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 10; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0252s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
Father & Mother Ron & Judy
non-member comment
Wonderful start to a WOW adventure.
We will follow on May 13 and catch up at Southhampton on June 2. Love and safe travel