Advertisement
Published: June 14th 2013
Edit Blog Post
We finally got to sleep in, sort of, today, given that we didn't have a long way to drive. It was nice, because it's getting hot and gave us more time at our ultimate destination.
Nine years ago, Jeff and I drove through Petrified Forest National Park very, very quickly. It was technically after closing time, so we basically got to drive the road and look at scenery, but couldn't stop at any of the pull-offs for fear of the National Park Service ranger coming after us. It has been on my to-do list for a return for a while, and do it we did. We came in from I-40, so saw beautiful vistas of the painted desert. We saw a few animals, ravens, etcetera. Liam took many pictures of them, not so much of the scenery. We visited most of the stops, including the Painted Desert Inn (where there was a cache), and the old car on what little remains of Route 66, before finally getting to the park's namesake. The petrified wood is as beautiful as ever, but getting less and less, even now. I don't get people. They still lose tons of wood on a regular basis.
Our stop in Holbrook was much longer than anticipated, given 45 minutes spent at a Dairy Queen! It was fine, but good grief. Mom and I went and stood on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, and then we high-tailed it to the Grand Canyon. The last time we were on the South Rim, Liam had begged us to go. (I believe we were in Scottsdale when he made the pronouncement.) We got there, took a long time to find a parking spot, went to the overlook, and he decided he'd had enough. Twenty minutes in the Grand Canyon.
We spent significantly longer there today. Around mid-afternoon, we entered from the east, and stopped at many of the overlooks, starting with Desert View. Everyone's seen photos, but I think Mom and Dad were quite impressed with just how expansive the views are. It was late enough in the afternoon that the colors were phenomenal. We saw deer and elk. Our reservations were for the Maswik Lodge Cabins, which concerned Cole quite a lot. His last remembrance of a cabin is when the boys saw a brown recluse spider at a historic cabin in Arkansas. We convinced him it would
be fine, and they turned out to be lovely--wooded setting, adjoined with the one for Mom and Dad, windows that open, even a couchy thing for him to sleep on.
We had hoped to see sunset, but we were also starving, so settled for dinner at Bright Angel Restaurant. The boys had pasta, of course. Mom said her lasagna was the best she'd ever had. We just missed sunset, but were quite happy to just get some sleep.
- - - - -
Miles: 317
Highest Gas Price: $3.57/gallon
Low Temperature: 58 (Gallup, NM)
High Temperature: 99 (Cameron, AZ)
Conversation of the Day:
C: You're not at all funny, Grandpa.
D: Oh, really.
C: You're never gonna make me smile again.
D: Oh, you think so? You think so? I see a smile.
C: If I smile, it's because I'm mad. I tricked you.
Geocaches Found: 7
New License Plate States Seen: ?
Projects Completed: 2, another dishcloth for Mom, a pair of socks for me
We learned the Lexus with nearly 320,000 miles is still our preferred trip vehicle.
We forgot water bottles.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.312s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 11; qc: 62; dbt: 0.1684s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb