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Dee's mom came out from the UK to spend some time with us after the tragic lost of Chas two years prior and her life's ambition was to go to the Grand Canyon! I had been before with Garry Wingreen in 1994 so I was more than happy to make another trip - it was one of the the highlights of the 1994 trip across the USA. We left Friday 19th November on our long trek to the Grand Canyon. We stopped over in Amarillo about six hours later, it is a straight forward trip, nothing to see. Sat morn we went to Palo Duro Canyon, a few miles out of Amarillo, very pretty area - which we will come back and visit another time (we said for the second time). We passed the "Cadillac Ranch" on the way out - 10 old Cadillacs stuck in the ground in the middle of a field that people go and spray graffiti on, you have probably seen pictures of it...) We then moved on into New Mexico, crossing a time zone on the way. Starting to get into hilly country, past a big plateau (biggest in the US), though Albuquerque – pretty – to Gallup – NM, about 8 hours away.

This was the first time to see any form of poverty in the US, with a couple of shanty towns and shacks along the way – not on the scale you might be thinking – ten here or there dotted along the way. This seemed to be the norm for New Mexico – perhaps somehow linking the name to Mexico. We got to the hotel only to find a sign saying that the indoor pool was closed for repairs, so headed instead to find a better one, which we did, in a better part of town, too. The boys had by now insisted that we stop at every Burger King, as there was a toy package containing Pokemon items, so their selection was growing. We insisted on a decent evening meal and went to “Cracker Barrel” – a “country-store” chain with paraphernalia you can purchase before going in to eat, we all had “Chicken Dumplings”…

Sunday. We stopped for breakfast at an enormous Indian Teepee around a “Indian trading village” built into a rocky outcrop (red rock like in the movies). Pretty scenery, moved on to the “Painted Desert” – also something you have seen in photo’s. This is part of a petrified forest that you come off the highway and detour through for about 50 miles. The landscape was incredible with different rock formation, the petroglyphs (100’s of year old rock painting, difference between them and hieroglyphics actually that they don’t know what these forms mean – have to speculate. There are also Pueblo ruins and then a walking trail around various outcroppings of petrified wood. For education: The trees were washed down hundreds of years ago when the area was covered in water. They ended up in a type of mud which seeped into the tree over time replacing the water which made up the tree elements and crystallizing over time. The trees show actual white crystals in places, unfortunately a lot stolen out of the trees over the years.

Made it to Flagstaff, Arizona and headed the last hour + of the trip into the Grand Canyon. Got in at about 5PM just as the sun was going down and stopped at one of the lookouts. This is one of those experiences which are hard to describe. Kind of like childbirth and going overseas. You HAVE to experience it for yourself. The canyon is ENORMOUS, up to 18 miles across, 1 mile deep, who know how many miles long – 50 miles? The temperature was dropping rapidly, so after a quick look we headed for the hotel. Mom decided to get a room of her own as the rates were reasonable, as we had been using a spare bunk bed up until now. We ate at a buffet kind of service at the hotel, and in fact had most of our meals there over the next few days.

Monday we headed for the local store to buy some gloves and woolly hats before heading out to explore. We found somewhere to do laundry and then headed to the rim. We also went looking for the hotel that Garry and I had stayed at in 1984, and I eventually identified it as “Bright Angel Lodge.” We planned a picnic lunch and headed to the East rim is 25 miles away, with many “pullouts” to look over the canyon, each with their own unique perspective. It was hard to choose a favorite, as each has their beauty. At the East Rim there is a tower built to authentic standards by a famous architect who is feature here and there, using canyon rock and “blending” as much as possibly whilst resembling an Indian design represented elsewhere in ruins. We all climbed the tower – to the impressive lookout from the tom floor. The center is hollow, so you look down on an Indian sand sculpture on the ground (first floor as they call it here). We were grateful for the gloves and warm clothes, as the Canyon is 7000 feet above sea level… Headed back and went in to the nearest town which had an IMAX theatre (six stories high screen) and saw a breathtaking presentation of the Canyon. We bought the tape, it was that good!) and then had an early night.

Tuesday we headed to the East Rim, which is an 8 miles trip. We stopped at the Bright Angel Lodge to videotape my memories on Garry and our arrival. We came in on bus, and when it stopped, we still could not see the Canyon. We saw the hotel and decided to check in anyway, as that is what most people were doing. There was a sign “no rucksacks” (still there!) so I left Garry outside with the rucksacks and went in. There was a queue (line) at the check-in so I decided to walk out a large door on the other side – and there it was… about 30 feet from the door was the canyon edge with this ENORMOUS canyon I have been describing. The size of the mule train WAYYY down below was so small it was hard to see. I was stunned and just stood there for a few minutes. Then I went back, took the rucksacks from Garry and told him to “just walk through that door over there”. He was gone for what seemed like hours and also came back with wide eyes!

We took a few minutes to walk down the trail but is was pretty cold, and they tell you to plan 2X the time to get back up, and although the Canyon is apparently 30 degrees warmer at the bottom, we did not get any way down to feel any warmer air! Dee has threatened that we will return to celebrate our 45th birthdays and hike down (I will take the mule train…, on my new Millennium health motto – no pain, no pain) We then went to the West Rim – once more with it’s own beauty and stopped at all the lookouts along the way. We got back and went to a Ranger presentation, which was informative and well presented with a droll sense of humor.

On Wednesday we had a last look at the Canyon and then headed off for Pagosa Springs in Colorado. En route we stopped at “Four States”, a memorial depicting where 4 states meet. We took photo’s with a body part in each states and clowned around for a bit before heading off. Pagosa was as pretty as we remembered, but with the unseasonably warm temperature, little snow was in evidence. The mountains were as pretty as ever and it was a pleasant drive toward the end. The hotel was empty and they upgraded us to a suite so we were quite comfortable for the next 2 nights. For Thanksgiving (Thursday) we went to a hotel with a great buffet, then took a drive into the mountains to look at some frozen falls, and then took the kids to see the “Pokemon” movie which they thoroughly enjoyed (tiny little theatre, extremely uncomfortable seats….)
Friday we headed home, and decided to push through instead of stopping. There is just that something about your own bed…

Highly recommended trip for everyone!