Grand Canyon 2017 - Day 5

It's a pre-Christmas miracle - I'm back at my blog after a 3-month hiatus for no reason other than I couldn't get motivated to write/caption/post.  Now to pick up where we left off at the Grand Canyon...

For the 5th day of our Grand Canyon road trip, Todd and I decided to hike down Bright Angel Trail.  We caught the shuttle into the park and once there took another shuttle, the blue line, to the trailhead. We started the hike around 9am, which in hindsight was way too late, but we did it anyway.

Our original destination was "1 1/2 Mile Resthouse" which is exactly that - a rest house 1 1/2 miles down the canyon.  Beyond that, the next point on the trail is the 3 Mile Resthouse.  Todd really wanted to do the 3 mile one, which means 3 miles down, then a 3-mile continuous climb back up for a total of 6 miles.  I thought this would be way too much, but we did it anyway.

The physical exertion and heat was extremely rough even though we had food and plenty of water.  Looking back, the one note I made while on the trail was "Dying."

Looking back up the trail while just starting out on the way down.  Think of this and worse, in the sun, for 3 miles.

A very good place to start

Grand Canyon 2017 - Day 4

A road trip within our road trip today.  We breakfasted at the hotel at 7:00am then at 8:30 left for Sedona.  It's about a 2 hour drive from Tusayan and instead of going all the way down to I40 then over to Flagstaff, we split off at the Flintstones place and took 180 to Flagstaff.  I'm glad we did, as that drive was much more interesting.

180 took us through peaks, ski areas and forest (not right here obviously)

Red Mountain.  That's its name.  There were a lot of hiking and exploring options along this corridor, including a mile long lava tube.  We'll have to spend more time when we come back.

Approaching Sedona.  The drive down 89A from Flagstaff offers some great views once you get closer.  I was reminded several times of Custer State Park in South Dakota.

Grand Canyon 2017 - Day 3, Part 1: The Hike

I'm breaking this one up into 2 posts, a.m. and p.m., because I'm terrible at self-editing and have included a lot of photos.

Like this panorama I took later in the day

Grand Canyon 2017 - Day 2

Taken on the road at 75mph (I love my iPhone 7+)

Day 2 started with breakfast at our hotel at 7am, then we hit the road at 8:30.  On the way we gained another hour and reached Flagstaff at 12:30 local time.  We turned North off of I40 at Williams and drove 50 miles to our hotel (Holiday Inn Express again) in Tusuyan, AZ.

Grand Canyon 2017 - Day 1

Hello again!

Todd and I just returned from a road trip to the Grand Canyon with my mom, aunt Shirley, and my aunt's beau Walt.  We had such a great time - seeing the Grand Canyon in photos or on tv doesn't compare with seeing it in person.

The first day we were on the road at 7:30am and drove from Dallas to Albuquerque, NM  We took 2 cars and stopped in Bowie, TX to meet up with the other vehicle.  Mom transferred from Shirley's car to ours and we were on our way.  We stopped around 1:00 for lunch in Amarillo at Red Robin and were back on the road at 2pm.

Windmills near Electra, TX

Maybe don't let your kids play in the playsnakeground at this rest stop near Quanah, TX

Vegas/Pet Shop Boys - Day 1

Last week we took a short trip to Las Vegas to see the Pet Shop Boys in concert.  We're big fans and always catch them on tour, but this year they didn't come to Dallas.  What to do?  Well...

The Vegas show was the first U.S. stop on their SUPER tour.  We flew out the day before the concert and flew home the day after.

Todd (and my desk) is a mess

That's better.  At Love Field enjoying a Dunkin' Donut before our flight

Hanging above Todd's head is SKY by artist Brower Hatcher