I am sorry for the mess with the pictures in the previous post. I spent two hours trying to fix it and ran out of time and patience. The Grand Canyon (and Michelle) awaits!
Peace!
Meanwhile, back in Pheonix
Hey there!
Here’s what’s happening meanwhile in Arizona.
When Heather and Morgane left, I found a foam shop who was crazy enough to redo the upholstering on our back seat (the downstairs bed). It was pretty late so we agreed I would be back in the morning to remove the seat and order the foam. They assured me that it would all be done before the end of the day on Friday.
I spent the evening at a local library, writing, reading and watching a movie. Then I found a Walmart and set up for the night. They had music blaring out of exterior speakers, all night. I am glad I have earplugs…
After I left the seat in the morning, I went off to do some projects on the van. I had been wanting to install a hatch on the battery compartment for a long time. I finally did and looks good. Now I can access the compartment’s gear without having to first empty all our bins from the back. Then, it was time to go get Michelle (my sister offered to keep me company while the girls are in Vancouver).
She arrived at the airport and we went off to get her some mexican food. We then went back to the foam shop, got our seat, paid and off we went. We had some amazing sushi and went to the movies to watch a depressing movie that Oprah recommended. It was pretty good too. It was late and I needed a shower so we went to La Quinta and got a room for us and Carmanah. They had a heated pool and a hot-hot Hot tub. Nice. So nice that I booked our room there again for the girls’ return on Thursday.
In the morning, we went to the Apple store and then to Trader Joe’s to stock up for our little expedition to nowhere. It was noon when we finally hit the road. We decided to head towards a town called “Jerome” in the north. Then, maybe we would keep going north or go to Vegas or go to San Diego or go to Tucson.
We got out of the city sprawl using the highway and then took the Carefree Highway 74 for a long detour by the back roads. Are we ever glad we did it too. We made a sandwich in the Pleasant lake regional park which is definitely not worth the detour (unless you own a boat, there is no access to the water).
The highway branched off onto 89 and we headed back to the mountains. Before we knew it, we got to 7200 feet. It was an amazing drive through a goat path up the mountain. The view points were both treacherous and wondrous. When we got there, I realised I had forgotten to gas up so I cursed and we did not stop until we were in Prescott.
Prescott use to be the Arizona capital. The streets are wide and the downtown area is very nice. Cafes, shops and green spaces make it a nice place to slow down and have a good look around. We spotted the “Raven – Organic Café” and went in. We would not leave until 4 hours later, filled and jolly and a little spacy. We ate well and then a Gringo mexican band came on. The Eric Miller Band were very entertaining and a very eclectic bunch. Eric is the lead singer and classical-spanish guitar player. His dad plays a mean-Santana-like electric guitar. There was also a bass player and a very good low key drummer. We really enjoyed them. When they took a break, we yawned and headed to the Prescott Walmart for the night and had a good if cold night of rest.
In the morning, we packed up and left for Jerome. We were an hour away and the road was even more spectacular than the previous day. We did not climb as high but it was smaller roads with sharper turns, up and up until we got to Jerome. The village of Jerome is an abandoned mining town, reclaimed by artists in the 60’s. It is now a nest in the mountain and they get a million tourists who choose the back road just to come and get lost here just like us every year.
We had breakfast at the Mile End Café. We ate very well on their own, they are worth the detour. After walking around town and taking a lot of pictures, we left and headed to Sedona.
The drive was ordinary and suppose to last only 30 minutes. However, after 15 minutes, you drive to discover a drastic change in the scenery: from desert sands and vegetation, the horizon unveils high peaks and beautiful red rocks. We stopped in a rest area to take it all in. We drove into Sedona and were mute with admiration at the adobe houses and surrounding Red Rock mountains. We spent part of the afternoon driving around and then rest in a cafe. We were directed to an Italian restaurant for dinner “The best there is!” according to the cafe personnel. As we left the cafe, we noticed a high placed airport and decided to go up there and see if we could get a better glimpse of the sunset.
We drove down into town and headed for the restaurant. We met Jay, the manager and he sent us in the corner, to his best table. After sitting us, he left only to return minutes later with a hand full of rose petals. In a hushed voiced he bent to my hear: here, I am doing my part for you… Michelle – my SISTER! – and I started laughing. We had a good meal and they even were nice enough to let us set camp in their parking lot. We had again a cold night and left to go to Flagstaff.
A few miles out of town, we came across Oak Creek Canyon. We had a nice hike and got back in the car. When we got to “Flag”, we were a little disappointed. At first glimpse, the city seem to be just a bunch of houses and commercial stores all slapped together. To be fair, we did not even gave it a chance as we discovered that we were only an hour and a half from the Grand Canyon.
We arrived at Grand Canyon at 2h30 pm. Went to the tourist info at the IMAX theatre. There, I discovered that our National Park pass was letting us in for free. We caught a couple maps and drove to the very end of the south rim park. We then drove back stopping at every vista to take in the view. Words – mine anyway, will not do it justice so I will not even try. Here are a few picts which don’t do much either:
