Arizona Adventure Continued
After I left the hotel at Casa Grande, my camera and I went north, in search of photo ops. And we found plenty! First stop, Sedona. The Native Americans believe that there is a vortex of electromagnetic energy in Sedona that is beneficial to health and spirit. I didn't feel a vortex or anything, but I loved the scenery.
We continued north in Oak Creek Canyon to Slide Rock State Park. Seriously cool place. It's like a natural water park. The rocks are so smooth you can just slide them on down the creek, thus the name, duh. It must be awesome in the summer when it's hot out and you can actually get in the water without perishing from hypothermia. But it was still amazing in January with snow on the ground. I climbed over a lot of big rocks, balancing the camera in one hand, and the next morning I felt some muscles I'd forgotten I had. But it was worth it.
After Slide Rock, I got onto a winding mountain road. I had the GPS on 'view map,' and the road ahead looked like a knot. I was a little freaked out, and then I saw a bridge. I have a bridge phobia, which my husband has never understood. After recent local and national bridge collapse incidents, he feels my fears may have been somewhat vindicated. I crossed the bridge and pulled into the lookout area. It was a nice view, a long ways down, but they had our backs.
A little farther down the road was another lookout where Native Americans were vending their wares. Could have easily spent a couple hundred there, but I managed to get away with only a necklace for our daughter and another for our girlfriend-in-law. Oh, and I encountered yet another interesting warning.
The GPS lady got me lost in Flagstaff, and, when I turned around and went the way I thought was right, she got pissy and refused to speak to me. Wouldn't give me a map, my speed, just stuck a big question mark in the middle of the screen. I'm sure the question was, "Why is this idiot not listening to me?" You'd think an attraction as visited as the Grand Canyon would have better roads into it. But no. I did manage to get there before dark and get checked into my hotel. The next morning, the GPS lady was speaking to me again, so we headed for the Canyon . . .
We continued north in Oak Creek Canyon to Slide Rock State Park. Seriously cool place. It's like a natural water park. The rocks are so smooth you can just slide them on down the creek, thus the name, duh. It must be awesome in the summer when it's hot out and you can actually get in the water without perishing from hypothermia. But it was still amazing in January with snow on the ground. I climbed over a lot of big rocks, balancing the camera in one hand, and the next morning I felt some muscles I'd forgotten I had. But it was worth it.
After Slide Rock, I got onto a winding mountain road. I had the GPS on 'view map,' and the road ahead looked like a knot. I was a little freaked out, and then I saw a bridge. I have a bridge phobia, which my husband has never understood. After recent local and national bridge collapse incidents, he feels my fears may have been somewhat vindicated. I crossed the bridge and pulled into the lookout area. It was a nice view, a long ways down, but they had our backs.
A little farther down the road was another lookout where Native Americans were vending their wares. Could have easily spent a couple hundred there, but I managed to get away with only a necklace for our daughter and another for our girlfriend-in-law. Oh, and I encountered yet another interesting warning.
The GPS lady got me lost in Flagstaff, and, when I turned around and went the way I thought was right, she got pissy and refused to speak to me. Wouldn't give me a map, my speed, just stuck a big question mark in the middle of the screen. I'm sure the question was, "Why is this idiot not listening to me?" You'd think an attraction as visited as the Grand Canyon would have better roads into it. But no. I did manage to get there before dark and get checked into my hotel. The next morning, the GPS lady was speaking to me again, so we headed for the Canyon . . .
posted by Mom Thumb at 6:00 PM
9 Comments:
Gorgeous photos of the scenery...and funny signs.
heather - It's pretty difficult to take a bad picture out there. But the signs - I have to say they were quite amusing.
Great pictures, Linda! I can't wait to see and read more!
We bought a GPS (Tom-Tom) at wally world, and after it tried to get us lost coming home from Tulsa, we took it back! It couldn't even find the Harley shop on S. Peoria, which is a major street. Of course we knew where we were going, but we were just trying it out. It kept yelling "OFF ROUTE" at us, then recalculating, and trying to send us somewhere else we didn't want to go. I was really surprised that Danny didn't send it flying out the window. In fact, I think I had to stop him, so we could get our money back....LOL
tracy - Thanks, I took over 400, so there are plenty more where those came from!
di - The GPS usually works all right, it got us to our hotel in Casa Grande just fine, plus a lot of other places. It sure hated Flagstaff, though!
I'm enjoying imagining I'm on your trip. Especially since it's colder than Pluto here right now.
I love that sign. Is the right side of it suggesting to not throw people over the edge, like they show on the left side?
jeff - It was warm in Casa Grande, not so much in Flagstaff and north. Not as cold as Pluto, however.
The sign says objects, but I think it applies to people also.
The mule ride into and out of the Grand Canyon is really hard on the back, and stinky in hot weather. If a bee stings your mule, you will not notice either one.-Bill
bill - I saw a show about the Grand Canyon after we got home, and they were talking about the mules. Apparently, it can take up to ten years to train them to go on that trail. But more about that trail in an upcoming post . . .
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