After the Canyon

I’m home now, and taking some time to summarize the things we did in Arizona once we returned to the rim of Grand Canyon. I’ve been spending the last few days putting up the rest of the photos, so those are all available now.

Hiking in Grand Canyon was a fabulous four day adventure. I did lose my reading glasses somewhere in the canyon, but those will be replaced soon. We did pick up some temporary cheap reading glasses at a pharmacy as it was very inconvenient having Martha read everything for me.

We reached the rim of the canyon a bit before 3 in the afternoon and spent some time sorting out gear and saying goodbyes to the fine people we had just spent the last 4 days with. Then we drove to Flagstaff and checked into our second Comfi Cottage. I don’t think I mentioned the Comfi Cottage in my earlier posts. Comfi Cottage is a sort of B&B where you have a cottage all to yourself, and food is already stocked in the kitchen for you to fix your own breakfast. We spent 2 nights in one cottage just before hiking in Grand Canyon, and then we spent another 2 nights at another cottage after the hike.

So we checked into our cottage on Friday, September 28, and spent the following Saturday taking it easy and hanging out in Flagstaff. That evening we took in a community theatre production of “Proof”.

On Sunday we set out for more sightseeing. We started by heading east to see Walnut Canyon. This canyon was home to cliff dwelling people long ago, and many structures and partial structures remain. Then we returned to Flagstaff and headed north to see Sunset Crater. We had already driven past it when we saw the painted desert and the Cinder Hills Overlook, but this time we had time to walk the trails around the places where lava once flowed in rivers. The black, twisted rock was quite a sight, as was the beautiful flora that has grown in the rich volcanic soil.

Backtracking once again to Flagstaff, we then headed west to Williams where we had made reservations to spend the night in an old west bordello. It’s actually a B&B (Bed & Bakery) built in a restored old west bordello called the Red Garter. It just seemed like such a fun idea, we had to do it.

We decided that Sedona was such a beautiful place that we should spend a bit more time there, so on Monday we headed back there, taking a scenic route. We stayed the night in the Sky Ranch Lodge, which is situated near the local airport on a plateau overlooking the town. We walked around Sedona in the evening and found a place for dinner. The next morning we took advantage of the swimming pool at the lodge, took some photos of the view from the lodge, and then headed south to Chandler.

In Chandler we picked up Martha’s oboe and had dinner at Joe’s Real BBQ. Wednesday morning we packed up our stuff, returned the rental car, and flew back to Michigan.

It was a wonderful vacation. I doubt that my short summaries and bunches of photos really convey what it was like, but it was simply a wonderful adventure.