Day #8: June 19th - Grand Canyon, South Rim

We told mom that we didn't have to wake up early on this morning, but she got up at 5:30 anyway and told us her glasses had fallen apart.  She was so upset that we got up and Art managed to fix it using one of my hair clips.

We grabbed a quick breakfast at the lodge cafeteria, checked out and caught the shuttle to Mohave Point.

This is when we learned that there was a park newspaper written in Japanese with lots of information that mom loved reading.

I could have kicked myself for not looking into this earlier.

She said the newspaper explained how people can be affected by the altitude.  We didn't know that her chest had been hurting her and that she was having a little difficulty catching her breath.

The canyon was beautiful, but there was a haze over it.  It was a little clearer this morning, but there was still a visible haze.  One person said it was pollution, another said it was a forest fire.

At first I thought this was a blue bird, but a sign posted said it was a scrub jay.

We went to the Visitor's Center and learned that U.S. route 89 was closed due to a terrible landslide.

This meant we'd have to take a much longer route passing Tuba City to get to Page, Arizona.

It was a long drive and we seemed to be following this lone cloud.











We reached Page at around 3:00 and registered at the Quality Inn.  I love it that they have a complimentary breakfast.

The Quality Inn is very close to the Glenn Canyon dam scenic view point.

I let Art walk down to check out the sights.

The Quality Inn had the most unusual angles to their walls.

We stopped at the Walmart again to pick up another case of bottled water. 

We kept reminding mom throughout the trip to drink, drink, drink!

The air was so much drier than in Hawaii and our noses were bleeding all the time.  Our bodies were having a difficult time adjusting to the different climate conditions.

Traveling is always interesting because you have to learn to adapt to changes.

We were trying our best.

Day #7: June 18th - Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Meteor Crater, Grand Canyon, South Rim

Happy 4th of July everybody!!!  Have a wonderful day!

And now on to Day #7.

We got up at 5:30 and had a fruit and muffin breakfast in our Best Western room.

We left Chinle to go to the Grand Canyon's south rim.

We first stopped at the Petrified Forest National Park's Painted Desert.

We loved looking at the wildflowers along the way.





I believe this is the Deadly Nightshade again.

I don't know what kind of lizard this is.










There was a sign posted by this flower so we know it's a Yellow Wild Buckwheat.

When we last came to the Painted Desert in 1993 with the kids, I remember seeing a lot of crows.

They seemed even more assertive now.

We loved seeing all the colors at the Painted Desert.

A short distance away was the Petrified Forest.

Mom was awed by the ancient forest that had turned to stone.

Newspaper Rock had many huge rocks with writing done by ancient people over 2,000 years ago.  The petroglyphs were fun to see.

After leaving the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest we continued on our way to the Grand Canyon's south rim.  A sign advertising a Meteor Crater on the roadside near Winslow caught my eye.  The crater was formed 50,000 years ago when a large meteor fell.

It wasn't cheap to see it.  It cost $16 for adults and $15 for Seniors.

However, it was worth it.  Mom got to touch a real meteorite and even bought a small meteor piece for my brother at their gift shop.  That's mom and me at the side of the crater. 

After driving over 350 miles we reached the Grand Canyon's south rim.

We checked into our room at the Maswik Lodge which was unfortunately on the second floor with no air conditioning.  It was unbearably HOT!

We ate dinner at Maswik's cafeteria and then caught the shuttle to Pima Point to catch the sunset.

We met a British couple on the shuttle and enjoyed talking to them.

This evening mom said, "Thank you, thank you for taking care of me and showing me such amazing sights.  I can die now that I've seen so much.  I mustn't wish for more because I'll be punished for being selfish."

We would ask mom at the end of each day what she enjoyed the most during the trip and each time she would say that what she saw on that day was the best.

Today was no exception.

Day #6: June 17th - Canyon de Chelly

We woke up at 5:30 and had a breakfast of muffins and grapes.  I loved having that full kitchen!








We left Moab by 7:40 and had lunch at A & W Root Beer in Chinle, Arizona.  Mom said that was the first time she'd had root beer.  Good grief!

We met Francine, our local Navajo guide at the Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center for our canyon tour at 1:00 PM.


The flags were at half staff in memory of two Navajo code talkers who had passed away.

We learned that the Anasazi were the first native Americans to live in the canyons.

Their drawings and homes are still in the canyons.

The Hopi came next and planted the cottonwood trees.  The Navajos arrived around 1700s.

Because of all the soil erosion, the Navajos asked the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) for help.  They planted Russian Olive trees and Tamarisk (Salt Cedar) which turned out to be more of a problem because it deposits salt in the area harming other vegetation.

I also enjoyed seeing the Deadly Nightshade and Sacred Datura plants again.  Francine said the Datura is sometimes called the ER plant because it is hallucinogenic and is often abused and can be deadly.  And the Deadly Nightshade?  Well, it can be deadly.

Black streaks on the walls are manganese and iron oxide.  Manganese contains mercury which may have poisoned early settlers in the canyon.

Francine said the real name for Canyon de Chelly is Tseyi (pronounced say-ee) which means rock canyon, but the Spanish couldn't pronounce it and it ended up being called de Chelly.

Navajo is also Spanish for spear or something sharp.

Francine showed us where Kit Carson massacred the Navajo people in the canyon.

The last time we were in Canyon de Chelly with our kids, it was freezing cold and there was a lot of water in the river.  We'd visited the canyon in early spring, but it was a completely different experience this time.  It was hot and the river was dried out. It made for a very, very bumpy and dusty ride.

We met Cara who was selling her beautiful beaded necklaces.  We did, of course buy one for our little KC.

I was surprised to learn that the Navajo language had not been written down until the 1970's.  Francine despaired that the language is now being lost since young people are not learning how to speak it.  Another reason for the decline of the language is because of the use of Navajo code talkers during WW II.  The U.S. government prohibited the use of the Navajo language in public because the code was classified information for a long time.  Navajo children were also taken away from the reservation to be educated on the outside.  Parents were only allowed to visit them once a year.  Because of all this, the language and traditions of the Navajos are being lost.

We had a Navajo type dinner at the Best Western's Junction Restaurant since Francine recommended it highly.

It was truly an interesting and informative day.

Day #5: June 16th - Arches National Park

At 5:00 we had a quick breakfast in our room and drove to Sunrise Point.

Art noticed then that mom was struggling to catch her breath.

The altitude combined with exhaustion was a bit too much for mom.  Art insisted on staying with her and made me go on ahead more quickly to get some photos of the sunrise.

I was worried about mom, but she was able to walk slowly to the rim and watch the sunrise.  It was a warning for us that we needed to take things more slowly because mom was pushing herself and not telling us quickly enough that she was tired.

At Sunrise Point, a fellow came up and offered to take our photos.  What a surprise to learn they were from Fukuoka, Japan.  In fact we'd just visited Fukuoka last year when we were in Japan.  Mom had a great time talking to them in Japanese.

Now that we were in the mountains, cell phone coverage had been extremely spotty to non existent, but right there on Sunrise Point an e-mail suddenly appeared from Dhaka, Bangladesh!  Our son, Jon had written to wish Art a Happy Father's Day along with a photo of himself holding a Father's Day card.  We couldn't believe the timing of it! It still amazes me to remember that moment.

At 7:00 AM we left our lodge at Bryce and headed out toward Arches National Park.  We saw lots of signs along the way warning drivers of drowsiness.

On the way to Arches, Jon called and we were briefly able to talk to him before we lost connection.  It was an incredible Father's Day for Art.

After arriving at the Arches National Park Visitor's Center, we watched an orientation film and determined where we should go.

The giant stone sculptures carved by nature were almost too magnificent to believe.  Mom could hardly believe what she was seeing.  "God sculpted this," she said.

Here we are at a site called Park Avenue.

The size of the massive rocks absolutely stunned us!

These huge rocks reminded me of giant temples we saw in Egypt.

We saw a lot of rocks that looked like they would fall with a push of a finger.  We walked just part way to the Windows.  I didn't want mom over tiring herself.  We also made sure she was hydrated at all times.

The Double Arches looked interesting and I knew Art was itching to check it out.

I sent Art out to enjoy the walk and I took mom back to the car.

Mom enjoyed seeing all the cactus flowers and other desert wildflowers on the trail.











At 4:00 we left the park and drove to Moab's Rustic Inn.  They had free wifi, a full sized fridge and kitchen.

I was so tired, I fell asleep writing in my journal that night.

Day #4: June 15th - Bryce Canyon National Park

We had our delightful breakfast at the Quality Inn and left the motel by 8:00.  The 2.5 hour drive was a little longer than planned because we stopped so often for photos.

Mom kept exclaiming at what a large country the U.S. was and how amazed she was by all the natural beauty around her.  We couldn't help laughing when she kept saying, "Japan has nothing like this!"

We arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park around 11:00.  Art really made use of his senior pass on this trip.  We bought lunch at the general store.

We then went to the Yovimpa and Rainbow Points at the end of the scenic route and stopped at all the sights along the way back.  The mountain above was quite striking, but I've forgotten the name of it.

Black Birch Canyon was impressive.

Ponderosa Canyon was colorful.

Agua Canyon had interesting shapes and colors.

Natural Bridge was not formed by a stream like true natural bridges.  More accurately an arch, it was carved by rain and frost erosion acting from the top of the rock.










Farview Point offers views of plateaus and mountain.

Paria View looks over hoodoos in an amphitheater carved by Yellow Creek.


Hoodoos are pillars of rock, usually of fantastic shape, left by erosion.


Unfortunately we shouldn't have done this walk because it exhausted mom.

However, mom really enjoyed seeing all the wildflowers around us.

Bryce Point!  By the time we got here, mom was exhausted.  We told her she could wait in the car while we checked it out.  When we saw the view, we went back and told mom it really was something she should see but she could decide.  With both of us holding her arms, we supported her to the look-out.  We should have come here first!!!

I took photos with the iPad which captured colors well, but the wind kept blowing it and making it wobble.  It was also awkward to hold. The resolution of an iPad photo on a bigger screen was also not as good as photos taken by my larger Canon.

We ate dinner at the lodge and then Art and I went to get breakfast supplies for the following morning. Mom was able to rest and have some peace and solitude for a short while.

We saw a short horned lizard outside our lodge and mule deer in the darkening evening.

It was beautiful.