We did our day trip to the Grand Canyon today. We left around 7:45AM and returned around 4:45PM. We watched the weather before we left and saw that the temperature was predicted to be 20-30 degrees colder than Sedona. We also saw that they were calling for rain in northern Arizona but I guess we thought (hoped!) that wouldn't pertain to us or the Grand Canyon.....we were wrong. We drove out of Sedona up through Oak Creek Canyon to Flagstaff and entered the Grand Canyon through the South Entrance. We saw no wildlife on our trip to the Grand Canyon but [View Full Entry]

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Our plans got updated for today. Our helicopter tour was supposed to be at 2PM but the tour company called this morning and asked if we could come at 10AM instead because the winds were supposed to pick up this afternoon and they thought we would have more enjoyable flight in the morning. I am attaching another one of Adam's edited videos from our helicopter ride. It was a short flight (15-20 minutes in the air), we saw some of what we had already seen in the hot air balloon but the helicopter covered more distance. In case you are wondering, [View Full Entry]

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Sunday was another day filled with spectacular views of Sedona. After attending the timeshare presentation on Sunday morning we headed back towards uptown Sedona with our Jeep tour voucher in hand. We had a late lunch at Ken's Creekside where we sat outside on the patio and had good food with breathtaking views. We then headed out for our Pink Jeep - Broken Arrow Trail tour. Our driver, Steve, was great. He told us his story of being a lawyer in Oregon and after visiting Sedona a couple of times just couldn't get it out of his head and walked into [View Full Entry]

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October 19, 2009 “That’s a keeper!!! Those are the words that John (the button and switch man) utters every time he takes a picture. This is what happens…Donna and I are literally wedged into the backseat…(the condition of the van at this point is the subject of a future blog) and when a photo op presents itself she’ll often ask John to hop out and snap a picture with the camera on her phone so that she can send it home. Now she sets EVERY THING up for him on the camera so that all he has to do is [View Full Entry]

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voici les photos du Grand Canyon [View Full Entry]

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October 18, 2009 Today John dropped Bill off at The Canyon…that’s what you call it if you’re visiting and you’re really cool…The Canyon…”Meet you at the Canyon”…”We were just over at the Canyon”…”Don’t fall in The Canyon”… Bill spent the morning exploring while the rest of us slept in. John and I went to the National Geographic Visitor Center and watched the IMAX film of The Canyon…it was really incredible! Donna waited for us in the center because those types of films make her head [View Full Entry]

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It was a full but uneventful flight from Columbus to Phoenix yesterday afternoon. There was a minor incident at the car rental where after we got situated in the car the “service airbag” message appeared, so we had to transfer everything to another car. We hit rush hour traffic out of Phoenix but still made it to Sedona in 2 hours. The part of the drive we did see was beautiful but it turned dark about ¾ way through. We made it to the resort where we found a spacious, nicely appointed unit. After settling in for the night we heard [View Full Entry]

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October 17, 2009 Before today’s itinerary, a word about the little town we stayed in last night…It turns out that John-O LOVED the hotel and the town!!! He spoke to any person with a pulse, made friends with some winos in the next room and sat on the stoop in a plastic lounge chair (the building is made of cement blocks) drinking his cocktail and smoking a stogie…He thought he was the mayor!!!! And all this while poor Donna is hanging wet laundry all over their room in hopes that it would dry!!! Anyway…we left the “little piece of heaven” at [View Full Entry]

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After a day of exploring the Painted Desert, Meteor Crater, and other areas of Arizona wilderness, we woke up and headed to the Grand Canyon. We had both been looking forward to reaching this part of our trip as it was a major item on our list of to-do’s. This was a place both of us had always wanted to see and it was thrilling to finally have the opportunity. We planned on taking our backpacks down to the bottom and camp on the banks of the Colorado River. I had been keeping the wounds on my ankles and back clean [View Full Entry]

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October 16, 2009 Before leaving Las Vegas this morning we drove down “The Strip”. What a ride! I had been to Vegas 30 years ago and at that time it was one narrow road…maybe a mile long. Today…I don’t know what to say. Predictably Donna LOVED the hotels with their incredible entrances and adornments. For me, well, when they finally come from outer space…I want it to be clear…I think it’s NUTS! Moving along, we arrived at the Hoover Dam. Lake Mead is beautiful and the dam, amazing. We didn’t go on the tour…just looked from one [View Full Entry]

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