Phoenix Grand Canyon

Its 7AM, 21 degrees, according to my iPhone, and I am blogging on the rim of the Grand Canyon.  Wow.  Deena and John are sleeping, but I couldn’t resist getting up early to catch the dawn making its was across the canyon.

We saw the sunset last night.  Our drive was a frantic “beat the clock” to get here in time.  We lamented every tour bus, every horse trailer, every oversized Cadillac that got in our way.  Deena, at my urging, even bravely passed a bus on a two lane road.  We could see for a good half mile the clear road ahead, but its still always something of a rush.

It didn’t seem like it was going to be so much of a hurry when we got up in the morning.  The Crescent City Sheraton boldly proclaimed to us its many amenities the night before.   (After all, we were staying in a “Club Level “ room.) Free WiFI!  Continental Breakfast!  Three Story Water Slide!  USA Today Delivered to Your Door!  But after we had eaten, and discovered that the water slide was both “too scary” (John) and “not open” (Sheraton) we had a quick hot tub before packing up to go.

We would have been on our way sooner, except the fire alarm went off.  Unfortunately this is John’s second experience with alarms this trip.  While everything else was lovely at Palm Springs, someone had neglected to disarm the burglar alarm.  “Mama, lets get out!  The police will come!  You will go to jail!” (Fortunately, the company that manages the condos was able to help us over the phone).  SO when the alarm went off at the Sheraton and we were all in our bathing suits John was terrified.  “WE have to go.  The police will come.  We will all go to jail.”

By the time we had exited the building through the back stairwell in our towels and circled around the front, we realized we were the only ones standing outside.  In fact, it looked like most people had never left at all.  As we made our way back to our room, we watched as a man carried a smoking toaster from the continental breakfast room.  We concluded it had been a toast fire, a concept that John found hilarious.  Deena says that this is the price you pay for staying at the Club Level.

But on we go!  Our first stop was our first National Monument – Montezuma’s Castle. Montezuma’s Castle actually has nothing to do with Aztecs, despite early archaeologist claims.  Built between 1125 and 1300 it is a cliff dwelling home for a family of an unknown tribe of Native Americans.  The park ranger told us that all cliff dwellings are built facing east.  The low-lying winter sun warms the dwellings to 20 degrees above the temperature of the valley below.  In the summer, the high sun hits the cliff tops that shade the dwellings making them 20 degrees cooler than the rest of the valley.  Amazing!

John did the junior ranger project identifying plants, animals, and birds.  We looked at the diorama depicting life in the cliff dwelling and speculating as to why the people left around 1400.  Was it because of disease?  Enemy invasion?  Loss of farmland and game?

Deena wonders what answer best explains why the Hines-Shahs migrated.  Loss of game? 

Off we go!

We stop in  Sedona for lunch.  We are amazed by the red rocks and the many, many, tourists. 

More driving.  Then a quick stop in Flagstaff for supplies.  Deena would have us eat nothing but cheesy crackers and vegetables, but Katie insists on fruit and ginger ale to accompany our cold pizza for dinner.

We get to the Grand Canyon just in time to see the sun set with a large group of Japanese tourists.  John is suitably impressed.  Deena took our picture glowing in the light of the evening.  We checked into our hotel by 6:30 (night!) and watched the stars (and the deer) come out. 

We were not able to get a room at the El Tovar lodge or the Bright Angel historic building, but instead are at the Kuchina next door to the main lodge.  Our hotel room is something of a glorified dorm room complete with cinder block walls and institutional carpet.  After dropping our things off, we returned to the lodge for its ambiance (and fireplace).  John looked at maps, Deena and I wished we had brought Scrabble.  We also noted the lodge has internet.

John and I settled into our hotel room for Harry Potter and pretend basketball.  Deena headed back to the lodge for internet, but almost immediately came back to get us.  “There’s an elk right outside our room!”

Sure enough, there it was, a giant elk buck, hundreds of pounds, and a rack of horns four feet high.  I have to admit to being a little scared.  We kept out of his way and watched him graze.  Almost as entertaining was watching other visitors come around the path and spot him for the first time. 

Today we will hike in the Canyon and head through the Petrified Forrest to Gallup, NM and our friends Kris and Sanjay.