Thursday, October 15, 2009

Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona Red Rocks



This was our first view of Oak Creek Canyon, Sedona, Arizona.



A tree with a view.


















Canyon Creatures and Other Wildlife

After our long day hike, we cooked a nice healthy dinner in the gusting wind.




More silliness from Kurt....









And ran into more wildlife right near the showers. This lovely elk couple could not get enough of the oak trees.



Everyone stopped to gawk and take pictures, present company included.




This little guy went straight to the edge. I thought he was going to pull a lemming and jump off!



It was too bloody cold to sit outside so we had a few pints at the El Tovar pub. By this time, I have discovered my bed bug bites and I am scratching from head to toe (courtesy of the El Rancho Motel in Williams, Arizona).

The next morning, we discovered our ice covered water pail and made the decision to head southward to Sedona.

Our last canyon shots taken around Mather Point on a crisp, clear day. Stunning.





Hermit Road Rim Hike



We took the mandatory shuttle bus to the end of Hermit Road with a plan to walk the 11.5 km return to Grand Canyon Village....NOT!
I think we managed 6.5 km but we were beat!







Sunset at Yaki Point

A lovely couple took time out (from groping and sucking face) to take this photo for us....





No Grand Canyon experience would be complete without watching at least one sunset. Ours was at Yaki Point, via Desert View Drive accompanied by a bottle of red wine, cheese, nibblies and a relentless howling wind.





The Grand Canyon (South Rim) - Desert View Drive





I have seen hundreds of photos of the Grand Canyon but none of them prepares you for the vast beauty of this sight.



On arrival, we set up our campsite and set forth to tour the Canyon sights by car via Desert View Drive, the eastern side of the South Rim.

There is always time for silliness....




Wednesday, October 14, 2009

20th Century Marvel Meets Historic Route 66

The great Hoover is always so damn impressive. I forget what me and Kurt were saying when this Aussie took our picture for us....We look like we might be trying to catch flies or something.




You can see the construction of the new bridge which will divert traffic from the Hoover Dam. Fascinating to watch.




It is quite impressive!




Hours of endless desert driving led us to the town of Kingman where we found this great little hole in the wall Thai Restaurant (yeh, who'd a thunk we eat Thai in the middle of the desert?). Great grub though!

The tourist information office highly recommended taking Route 66 to Williams, the last major town before heading north to the South Rim, Grand Canyon. We were glad for the diversion since it is a boring drive.

Thanks for doing all the driving Kurtie. Does anyone believe that I relinquished control for an entire 11 days and let Kurt do all the driving? It's true. It happened. There were many shoulder checks and a bit of yelling but I think it was a positive experience overall....:)

Route 66 is full of kitschy old stuff. It beat the hell out of that boring State highway though.





There is me sticking my head out of a kybo again. (This shot is for you, mate!).