Grand Canyon

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Greetings from the Grand Canyon!

Our flight from San Diego to Phoenix was quick and smooth, it only took about 50 minutes. We hired a car from Phoenix Airport, which we will drop off in Las Vegas. It’s really nice having a car, it’s like our own little space to spread out all our stuff as we move from one place to the next. Craig also appreciates not having to walk everywhere.

It didn’t take too long for Craig to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road, although we were both a little nervous leaving Phoenix Airport. Craig is still turning on the windscreen wipers instead of the blinkers, and I keep going to the driver’s side of the car to hop in. (She lies about me hitting the windscreen wipers - Craig)

Our hotel in Phoenix was nothing special but it did have a pool, which was very important because it was so stinking hot! (I’m sorry, I know that’s a really mean thing to say when it’s winter back home) We ended up staying in the pool for a good couple of hours on Friday evening.

We didn’t have much time in Phoenix on Friday afternoon, and we were pretty tired so didn’t want to do much. We went to a place called the Sugar Bowl in Old Town for an afternoon snack of a hot fudge sundae (for me) and a raspberry sherbert ice cream (for Craig). It was a pretty cool place, all pink & retro styled! After that we went to play mini golf at this crazy waterpark/arcade machine/mini golf/bumper boat place, and then came home to chill out by the pool.

We saw a bit more of Phoenix on Saturday. In the morning we took a tour of the baseball stadium which is called Chase Field and hosts the Arizona Diamondbacks. These baseball stadiums are amazing, they put the MCG and Etihad to shame. The stadium has a roof which can open or close in just 4 mins & the entire 49,000 seat stadium is air-conditioned. Chase Field even had a pool right on the side of the field that you can hire for the game! Imagine that, watching the baseball game from a swimming pool!

We then went to Arizona State University to have a look around, although Craig was really disappointed that the big football stadium wasn’t open so we couldn’t go in to have a look around. When leaving the uni, a car pulled up behind us with two black men inside, blocking our way out. One of the black men approached us and I thought, “Uh oh”. Turns out he just wanted us to buy a couple of CDs of his R n’ B group. We bought them for $10, we weren’t going to say no to two big black guys! We listened to the CDs in the car, they’re not bad, although Craig and I don’t like R n’ B much. (R n’ B sucks actually, plus I could’ve taken those big blokes any day of the week! - Craig)

It started pouring as we began to make our way out of Phoenix. A lot of the roads flooded in a matter of minutes. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen rain like that. I decided to stop at Starbucks on the outskirts of Phoenix so I could go to the toilet before our drive ahead. While running into the Starbucks in the pouring rain, two things happened simultaneously. My thongs came flying off, and my shorts fell down around my knees. Let me explain - I’d bought a couple of new pairs of shorts in San Diego. I was in between sizes, so I decided to go for the bigger size as they weren’t stretchy material, and often when I go for the smaller size I think they’ll stretch a bit and they don’t. Well, these shorts stretched. A lot! So all day they had been creeping down and I kept hitching them back up. I forgot to hold onto them while running into Starbucks, and they fell down completely around my knees. Exposing my pink undies! To the people sitting undercover outside Starbucks, and to the people sitting in the window. What could I do? I just had to laugh and pull them back up. How embarrassing! (Hahahaha unlucky - Craig)

Craig and I decided to drive through Sedona on the way to Flagstaff, something we hadn’t previously planned on. Thank God we did - it was amazing! The drive to Sedona had stunning scenery, and there were plenty of look out points for us to get some great photos. And the town of Sedona was so picturesque. There were a few interesting shops in Sedona. There was a UFO museum which I wanted to go in and check out but it was closed. We bought a few things at a souvenir shop, including a stupid Davy Crockett hat for Craig (that‘s awesome, not stupid - Craig). There was also this amazing chocolate shop, which had all these crazy chocolate candy apples like a Snickers candy apple and an M&M’s candy apple.

We also saw about 10-15 deer right next to the highway. We just had the best drive, oooing and ahhhing at everything and stopping frequently. It was too awesome to explain how wonderful the scenery really was, so you’ll have to check out the photos.

We stayed in a hostel in Flagstaff, which was pretty basic but all we really needed. Then we drove up to the North Rim on Sunday. It took about 4 hours from Flagstaff. During the drive a deer ran out onto the road and Craig had to brake really hard so we didn’t hit it. It was a bit scary, but pretty cool too! (We only missed it by a 2 or 3 metres, it sure was a shock to the system driving along at 60mph - Craig)

When we arrived at the North Rim, it was hard to tell that we were even at the Grand Canyon because it was pelting down rain and it was really foggy, to the extent we couldn‘t see more than 5 metres in front of us. We were quite despondent, as we thought we’d come all this way and we weren’t going to see anything! We checked into out room, and I had a nap while Craig went to use the internet.

Craig came bursting through the door at about 5pm, telling me to wake up as the fog had cleared somewhat and we had to go have a look! It was spectacular. The Grand Canyon Lodge is right on the rim of the North side of the Grand Canyon. They have these big sundecks that look out over the canyon, and Craig and I had a drink after dinner and sat out there admiring the view. It’s really green and there are lots of trees on this side, which doesn’t fit with the photos I’ve always seen of the Grand Canyon. But I think all the photos that I’ve seen had been taken from the south side.

Yesterday (Monday) we went for a couple of walks to some look outs. Then I went on a 3 hour mule ride while Craig went on another couple of walks. Craig didn’t come on the mule ride because he’s a wimp. I got a little bit nervous when I saw the size of the mules, I had pictured little donkeys in my head but they looked just like horses.

The mule ride was amazing. The guide was this typical American cowboy, dressed the part and speaking with a Southern twang. It was a bit hairy, the track we were going on was right on the edge of the canyon and the mules had the tendency of walking right on the edge of the track. I just had to relax and trust that the mules would bring me back home! We went down 2 miles into the canyon, and the views were just stunning. My mule’s name was Tom, and he kept stopping to eat grass, way more than any of the other mules, and I had to keep pulling his head up (at the instruction of the guides).

While Stef was off on the mule ride, I went for a drive up to a different spot (Cape Royal) on the North Rim & went on a couple of walks! The views from here were amazing & I would say were the best views I experienced of the Canyon. It is the only spot at the North Rim where you can see the Colorado River, which at one point you could see through a hole in one of the big jutted out rocks, it was amazing! - Craig

We’ve seen lots of squirrels and chipmunks here, they’re so cute! They’re so tiny, I’ve always envisioned them to be the size of possums. One chipmunk came right up to us, wanting some food.

The drive from the North Rim to the South Rim yesterday was a little hairy. We could see this big storm coming up that we had to drive through, but we didn’t anticipate just how bad it was going to be. It hailed marble-sized hail for a good ten minutes, and our rental car has a few little dents in it. We were just praying that the windscreen wouldn’t break! It was crazy. (This was by far the biggest storm I have ever driven through, it was simply nuts! - Craig)

We spent the day at the South Rim today, but we weren’t very impressed having come from the North Rim. The North Rim’s views were much better in our opinion, and it wasn’t so busy or commercialised over there. We ended up leaving the South Rim a little earlier than anticipated because we were over it.

We’re currently in Flagstaff, having a relax before heading to Vegas tomorrow! Very exciting!

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