Day 7: Joshua Tree National Park

Today we left Arizona headed for California (the coffee stop wasn't the same without Breanne's cookies). We spent the afternoon in Joshua Tree National Park strolling through the cholla cactus garden, enjoying the rocky landscapes, joshua trees and other cacti, and getting some sun.

As we drove through Palm Springs we passed through a high wind area that contained hundreds of wind turbines. Further south, we stopped at Salton Sea State Recreation Area (-227 ft below sea level) later than I had hoped but caught an amazing sunset.

Day 6: Coolest Can

Not too much activity today. Just preparing for the next leg of the road trip to San Diego. We went out to Costco and the grocery store so why would we bring the camera? Enroute to Sprout's (a grocery store) Dan suggested we grab lunch at a restaurant they had gone to earlier in the month - Joe's Farm Grill (turns out it is recommended in

the Food Network's Diners, Drive-in's and Dives).

As we got out of the Jeep I noticed a line up at the restroom at about the same time that Marion had commented about there only being two restrooms. I figured it was kinda strange that such a busy place only had two unisex restrooms. Well I finished my lunch (which was really great) and decided that we had a bit of a drive back so.....coolest can.

Photo credits to Jonathan Moore (http://www.flickr.com/people/jonathan_moore/) who posted these photos on Flickr as we did not have our camera.

Day 5: Rattler

Today we went for a 2 hour hike in the Southern Mountains and got to see some of the Cacti close up. Dan had commented, prior to the hike, that he has been keeping his eyes open scanning all nooks and crannies for Rattler's but has yet to see one. Today was the day, near the end of our walk, Dan passed by a small pile of rocks and we heard the sound. We spent a few minutes watching the snake and snapped a few pics.

We came back to the house for lunch and spent the afternoon in Arizona Mills shopping center.

Tomorrow we will stick around home base and plan the next leg of the trip.

Day 4: Market & Cacti

Today Dan and Marion were the tour guides. They have been coming down to Arizona for the past four years and we suggested they show us some of the things they like to do while they are here. This morning we went to the weekend market in Mesa

(photo from the Mesa Market website) - 1,600 booths with just about everything you can think of. We spent a couple hours walking around, picked up a few small things and some great road snacks then hit the road headed for Roosevelt Lake on another scenic drive.

Enroute to the lake the road transitioned from pavement to dirt track and we saw more great mountain landscapes and large variety of cacti. The highlight of the trip was watching a group of mountain sheep running around on a steep pinnacle.

Day 3: Red Rocks – Green Trees

We both must have needed the rest because we woke up at 7:45 this morning. We stayed at a more upscale Best Western (BW) which included a hot breakfast to start us on our way. We had sun all day with temperatures ranging from 20C (although I'm sure it was negative with windchill) to 18C. (Just jumped to 22C as I type this, looks like a shorts day tomorrow).

Anyway, we drove from Page to the Grand Canyon and spent the morning there and then headed south to Sedona which is the reason for the title of today's blog. Of course the Grand Canyon is huge but you can't really imagine how huge until you see it. There's so much to take in you really don't know where to look.

The road to Sedona had the most crazy switchbacks and fastest drop we've ever driven on. We drove though Red Rock State forest which had some amazing topograhy then south into town. The red rocks are coming up everywhere you look. I was so thrilled I didn't know where to point the camera. Sedona has to be the prettiest little town I've seen.

We are now heading down the interstate toward Phoenix enroute to Ahwatukee to visit with G's parents who are lucky enough to spend the month of March here each year.

Day 2: Scenic Tour

Last night as we were going to sleep the Weather Network announced a Low moving in that would basically travel down the same highway we'd planned to head out on, bringing heavy snowfall. We did wake up to snow and as we pulled out on the highway I was thrilled to see the sun breaking through the cloud, then Gary turned the opposite direction. We headed into the snowstorm, slushy roads and crazy winds. Of course we're used to that and were easily able to get past all the slower traffic. As we got further south we saw the sun, then the snow again and finally the sun – YAY! We headed for Zion National Park and toured around there. Gary enjoyed some off the beaten track 4x4 and I was in awe of the landscapes I was seeing. After a good part of the day in Zion, we took our chances and headed north to Bryce Canyon. Back to the wind and the snow, we couldn't see the surrounding landscapes through the fog and the wind was crazy. We decided to take our chances and keep going through the snow, then the sun, then the snow. You can see our first view of Bryce in some of the photos, Gary has what it should like on the dash and I'm standing outside (freezing) hoping to actually get a glimpse. As I was standing there it opened up and the sun shone through for just a minute and then it was gone again. We decided not to bother waiting for another opening and head back south. On our way out of the park I wanted to stop at the visitor center to see what I was missing - spent maybe 5 min looking around and when we got back outside the sun was shining! You can check out the photos to see what we saw.
Feeling pretty psyched we headed south along another back road for the rest of afternoon. We are spending the night in Page, AZ and will continue south tomorrow.

Day 1: En Route

Bit of an epic day, (bringin back memories Andyman) 22.5 hrs total, 1600 km's, 4 hrs of sleep and 4 hrs of shopping. Vic always makes sure we find the shopping. I must admit, I had partial doing on this one, as we spent 2 hrs wandering around Cabela's.

Tomorrow plan (Red line above) is much more scenic and relaxing, but still a long day. Zion, Bryce canyon to Flag Staff. Hopefully the weather gives us a little more visibility than today.

Day one 14hrs in

Just finsished dinner and checking out the huge Cabella's(see Google Earth above). Borrowing wifi from Best western, going to drive south for a few more hours tonight and then get a hotel. Bryce Canyon tomorrow.

On schedule for departure on Wednesday

We are on schedule to get the final details of our year end work done and start getting organized tomorrow for or planned departure on wednesday.