THE CANYON

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!
The air is clean; the sky was clear. At 7200 ft elevation the air is thin. Asthma sufferers might get a little short of breath with exertion. (I did use my inhaler before leaving the hotel.) When we got up the temp was 31 degrees but warmed up to a high of 71 degrees. Tomorrow it should be 34/74.

You can walk to the edge of the canyon. Some areas of the South Rim (Arizona side)can be only be reached by taking a free shuttle or hiking. Going down to the river would require hiking,mules or one of the jeep tours. Some of it can even be seen from one of the roads. You really don't have to pay for a tour. Unless you're daring and rich and would like a helicopter tour.

The skywalk is closer to Las Vegas and run by one of the Indian tribes. It is on tribal land and is 5 hours from Grand Canyon National Park.

Admission to the park is $25 per car. It would be cool to rent an RV and camp. There are lodges in the park but they are more expensive than staying in Tusayan--only 5 miles to the rim.

We have heard so many different languages--German,French,Japanese,Russian,Korean,Navaho,Spanish, Cajun and Texan LOL. We also met a couple from Alaska. They are Texas snowbirds. Can you believe they came to see The Canyon? They have Denali out their back door :-)

Tomorrow Albuquerque and Santa Rosa via Flagstaff (more Route 66!).
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Trip to the Canyon

After our breakfast with a couple of Razorbacks (One was even an ATU alumnus!) we headed for the canyon. After realizing our trip to The Canyon would be over 400 miles,we decided to skip the side trip to Vegas. We'll have to do that another time.

Of course it was raining when we left Ontario, but our first clue there would be a problem was the first "limited visibility possible in the pass" sign. To put it mildly it was pea soup. We could not see the mountains until we were right at them. I started to volunteer to drive but it would have bothered my DH even more than driving through it himself. Suddenly it was gone and the scene in front of us was amazing--truly heaven-sent. Another time on this trip that a scene could only be recreated on canvas. The colors of the southwest are truly amazing!

I drove the remainder of the trip to our hotel in Grand Canyon,AZ. For those of us who grew up on I-40, it is a magical moment when you take I-40 where it begins (I-15 goes on to Las Vegas). I-40 reminded me of a wide mountain road.

We saw more of Route 66 and stopped at Seligman,AZ. It's a cute little wide spot in the road and totally plays up the Route 66 history.

From Williams we took Hwy 64 up to the hotel. It's a 2-lane mountain road with occassional passind lanes. The limit is 65 and there aren't a lot of curves just a nice gradual climb to over 6000 ft elevation. The sky looks fake! It is so blue and the puffy clouds just don't look real. It looks close enough to touch. Once again a picture just will not capture this.

By the time we got checked in and settled in it was dinnertime and already dark so we'll start our visit to the South Rim tomorrow.

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Tuesday

I had a great visit with my cousin Pat. She and her boyfriend drove an hour to get out to Ontario. Quite a feat for someone who gets carsick very easily. I really appreciate it!

After Pat's visit I had a little time before Leo's class would be done so I decided to go out and look for Wal-Mart (of course I would need a Wal-Mart). One of these days I will realize that the rest of the world is not populated by Super Wal-Mart and Super Target. Why are they not all Superstores????

The good part is that my little excursion took me to old Route 66 and a nice shopping area called Victoria Gardens. OK I didn't do more shopping BUT I did eat myself silly. There was a Sees candy store--my favorite. I also found Pinkberry--the Pachugo of frozen yogurt--YUM. (Today's pictures are from that area--Foothills Blvd in Rancho Cucamonga.)

We had a great time visiting with our new friends from Houston and Anchorage. Praying for a safe trip home for everyone.

Today we're heading back east in the rain. Once we leave the area heading east I think we'll be out of the rain. They've had a lot of accidents in LA because of the rain. (See people in Dallas aren't the only people that can't drive in the rain:-)

I have to plan another trip just for fun. There are a lot of things I didn't get a chance to see and do. Guess I'd better start saving my money. We also have to take a trip to Nashville soon.

Anyway on to The Canyon!



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Shopping

The weather held so far. Nice, cool and cloudy,but late in the day the clouds broke enough to see the bottom of the mountain. I don't have a camera that can get a good shot of it but trust me it was awesome--God is good!

OMG!! The Coach store was packed. There were some great deals (some 50%). People had so many purses they had to use the huge canvas bags that the store gives you to carry everything while you're shopping. They were buying purses to sell in Japan/China where there is no Coach outlet. Too many purses not enough$$$

Ontario Mills is Grapevine Mills with Allen Premium Outlet thrown in there. My feet hurt so bad I had to wear tennis shoes to dinner.

Dinner at Chevy's. I was so busy shopping that I forgot to eat lunch but I made up for it at dinner and I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

We met a guy from Anchorage, Alaska who's here for the BMW classes. He and his wife rode their bikes from Indiana to Alaska 30 years ago and decided to relocate. There is one guy who rode his GS (one of the BMW motorcycles) from Albuquerque. There are two other guys and two girls from Texas so we are well represented.

Tomorrow I get to visit with my cousin Pat!

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Weather

Great weather until we finally make it to LA. Storms and mudslides in the forecast. At least we sat out by the pool yesterday. Leave it to me to get a few nice weather hours here before the forecast changes to drizzle and then storms--oh joy!
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We made it!

The Beverly Hillbillies finally made it to Cali.
We left Phoenix this morning and six hours and 350 miles of desert and mountains later we arrived in Ontario (and I drove most of it including the LA area traffic!) We traveled through some of the most beautiful parts of this country. I think the word in the car was just "WOW". If I were a better photographer I would still be out on that road taking pictures.
We finally got our first In-n-Out burger! Nobody warned me--it is a total zoo in there!!!!
Now we're resting up for tomorrow. Poor Leo has class for the next two days but I get to play! The hotel is adjacent to the mall so tomorrow is shopping for me.
(The pictures are One In-N-Out picture and one picture of the scenery from the hotel here in Ontario with a little smog included.)
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Chandler

We made it to Chandler,AZ (Phoenix). It took forever because we just played around, made lots of stops and just enjoyed the ride and the views. Love the desert and the mountains. Oh yeah I just gotta say it,"it's a dry heat!" LOL
Tomorrow Ontario (LA)....

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