Grand Canyon - Day 2

It seems my posts have taken on a sort of format or order. First the health update, then discussions about what I did, where I stayed and finally, where I’m going next. I only point this out for the sake of doing so. I have no intention of changing it. This paragraph is only a short forward to a very long entry. I am really only writing it to be sure my fingers are warmed up enough to keep up with my brain. That being the case:

At last glance my temp was 98.8 which is close enough for government work. Throat is still a bit sore, my appetite is coming back and I’ve started hacking. Which is usually a sign that I’m over the sickness. I guess that’s a mixed blessing mostly because the coughing lasts for about one month. I can deal with it. So, I believe I’m mostly well. I expect improvement to be the experience for the rest of the trip. I have to thank Jac for her advice on going to a clinic. Evidently these clinics exist all over the place and they accept your insurance. So, if you get sick and don’t want to wait 6-8 months to see your doctor because he can’t take appointments due to his 11-2 schedule then find a clinic near you. They can handle most common ailments. I wouldn’t go to them with a lump or chest pain. I was pleased with my experience. I was pleased that the doctor took my needs into consideration. I may still have been in El Paso if I had gotten a “this will run its course” diagnosis.

Yes, yes I know. Medicine has to be prescribed carefully. And if I could have stayed home from work for a week to recover from this then steroid, tettradol, and penicillin shots would be over doing it. But, that was not the case. I had to get to Phoenix. I think I now know how Judy Garland must have felt when they juiced her up to go on stage. I think in this case it was warranted. I made it to Phoenix, Jeremy was able to pilot us through to the Grand Canyon and by today I felt fine to go out a bit.

We left the motel (I say motel cause this was not a hotel. It was the worst Holiday Inn I have ever stayed at. And we were on the ground floor. At the risk of sounding like a snob I will share with you what it says in my Hilton Customer Profile: “Mr. Felder insists upon a room on a high floor, preferably not facing east and AWAY FROM THE ELEVATOR!” (I stay at Hiltons for all of my work trips) I know this because when I checked in the last time in SFO (San Francisco) the desk clerk laughed and when I asked why he showed me what was written) around 10:00 AM and headed for the Grand Canyon Airport. There we checked in for our 30-minute Helicopter Tour of the North end of the Canyon. The cost was $150.00 a person and that had me a bit up in the air as to if it would be worth it or not (pun intended). After we lifted off above the forrest of pine trees that surround you almost the entire trip from Phoenix and saw the North Rim of the canyon tinted blue in the distance I instantly felt it was worth it. The blue color has to do with the distance. It is so far away that the sunlight starts to refract through the air and make “blue sky.” The pilot pointed us towards the rim of the canyon and we flew low over the forest. At times it looked as if we might brush the pine trees with the legs of the helicopter. As we approached the canyon the pilot said over our headphones, “Here is our Grand Canyon.” I pulled up my camera to begin snapping pictures and had to put it down. At that moment it was an unnecessary distraction. I was so overwhelmed by so many emotions that I could not give an accurate inventory of them. I inhaled and just looked. The pilot slowed the helicopter down and descended into the canyon a bit. We flew across the canyon slowly so we could see how the winding valleys all lead down to the Colorado River below. The experience was amazing. A forest of pine and cedar trees just ends, it does not fade, or grow sparse, it just ends. And then the canyon begins. The contrast so stark that it feels like you’re in another place altogether. We flew to the North Rim and then back across again. The flight lasted thirty minutes which was barely enough time to even comprehend what you were looking at. In that 30 minutes I was able to gain a perspective on the sheer scale of the canyon which I believe affected me the first time I approached the rim on foot.

We left the airport, grabbed a quick lunch at Wendy’s and stopped by a filling station to get a map of Arizona (the places we were going did not have addresses, only PO Boxes so I didn’t want to have to rely on the GPS to get us there). We also discovered that the Prius, who I have named Genie (because it is my magic car/pet /ride. Squee!) was making an odd noise. We investigated and had some concerns. However, the park was only 2 miles away. The noise went away and we quickly attributed it to the 34 degree temps and Genie being upset because she has been covered in bugs and had to sleep outside for too long. I have to stop here and tell a story about Alpine.

On my way back from Alpine to I-10 my car was instantaneously and unexpectedly blanketed with what I thought were heavy rain drops. After turning on my wipers I soon realized it was not large rain drops, but bird crap. I remember a little poem my Grandma would say to us as kids, “Birdy birdy in the sky why’d you do that in my eye? My oh my am I glad that elephants can not fly.” Well, I now believe in flying elephants because I had a care covered in crap from bow to stern that was delivered at once. So it was either a flying elephant or a super advanced species of hawks who can syncro-crap.

We drove into the south entrance of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. There was a line which took about 5 minutes to get through. $25.00 to enter the park with a 7-day pass. Not bad. We drove for 10-15 more minutes and started to see cars lining the road on either side. I instantly start seeing visions of Washington DC in my head where every free museum is packed with people 3 rows deep gawking at a huge diamond or something. This was not the case. The cars were lined up here because people wanted easy access to the Rim Trail. We followed the sign-age and maps provided to us at the gate and found parking quickly. We could then either hop on a shuttle bus which takes you to all the points of interest along the Rim Trail or we could hike the trail ourselves to get there. We chose the latter. I packed my back pack with some water, trail mix, sun screen and digital camera, put on my wide brimmed hat because I would rather look dorky than have to worry about burns and off we went.

A two mile hike on a mostly flat trail at 8,000 feet is a bit different than 3 miles on the completely flat Memorial Park at 56 feet. I huffed and puffed through the forest as we took the trail up to the rim. The first thing we both noticed was the quiet. It was very quiet. Still, even. I marveled at how much noise I am used to. A moment later we emerged onto the south rim trail. This trail, for the most part, literally runs along the edge of the rim. You are on the edge of the canyon. I could barely walk for just wanting to look. We walked along the path sharing what passerby’s were vocalizing about how amazing it was. We stopped often and took in the views, often stepping off of the trail for a closer look. The trail is raised and paved and very well maintained. I was surprised by this, however, after seeing a family with a member in a wheel chair I understood. This trail is wide and accommodating because it is for everyone. Once you leave the Rim that is no longer the case as I will discuss a bit later on.

We made it to our first stop, this large, flat out cropping where people were just sitting and taking in the view. You really have to stop and look because there is so much to take in. So many layers. We chilled out for a bit and drank more water. I ended up guzzling all three of my bottles during the day. We then walked on to another observatory and walked through there then decided, mostly because I was worried about overdoing it, to take the shuttle back to the other side of the park.

There have been many surprises on this trip. One that I still am getting over is the large number or Europeans. There are as many Germans in rented convertibles as geysers in huge sedans. British families, Germans, Asian it is all here. I believe some of it has to do with the time of year. It was crowded and this is the end of the season. I am glad we did not come over the summer when they say there is no parking, the lines for busses are three deep and people are basically walking in single file lines along the trails. I also was surprised by the number of people on their cell phones on the trail. Then I saw the signs “cell phone tours.” You just call in and get a tour on your phone. THEY HAVE CELL PHONE SERVICE over the entire trail. However, as I stated earlier, this abruptly ends once you enter the canyon. While on our helicopter tour our pilot told us that 1,400 people will hike into the canyon, 20,000 people will raft the river this year, 140,000 will ride in on mules, 300,000 will stand on the southern rim and 600,000 will fly over.

We went to see the Kobil house which was built on the edge of the South Rim by the Kobil Brothers who lived there and worked out of it as photographers of the canyon. The house is amazing and the view is nice. It’s too bad they turned it, along with every other building, into a gift shop. “Look at this ancient Indian Lean To and go explore our collection of DVD’s inside of it.” It just takes away the authenticity of it for me. After viewing the house we hiked a few minutes down the Bright Angel Trail then back up and over to the visitor center to get information on the north rim where we are going on Wednesday. We grabbed the shuttle back to the Genie and then packed up and headed off for our next stop.

I was very impressed with the park and its efficiency. I was also impressed at how accessible they made things for everyone. If you can’t hike a three mile trail, no big deal, they have free busses that will take you to all of the biggest points of interest. Getting into the canyon is not for everyone, but my next trip here will involve seeing the canyon from the bottom up. I want to take one of the many boat day trips. All in all I was pleased with the South Rim. I had read-up on it and knew that it was the busiest of the two park locations. So I knew what to expect. The drive around to the North Rim was completely unexpected.

We headed out of the park on the East side. There are only 2 places to cross the canyon’s 215 mile length: Hoover Dam and Lee’s Ferry. It’s about a 5 hour trip along the South Rim from Hoover Dam to Lee’s Ferry. The South Rim is about half way. We had initially discussed heading to Hoover Dam, but ruled that out this time. It is still on my last, perhaps if I ever end up in Vegas for work or something. So, we had a little more than two and a half hours of driving ahead of us. Some of it on Arizona 64 and some on Arizona 89. Arizona 64 runs East to West through the park and beyond. The road hugs the South Rim for the first 30 miles or so and has a bunch of pull-offs. The views you get of the canyon from these are amazing and not crowded. We stopped at 3 of the 10, mostly because we wanted to get to our hotel before dark. Out of the three we stopped at, Grandview Point was the best. You have to watch for the sign and actually turn off the road and go a ways down towards the canyon because it is at a point where the road and the rim have some distance between them.

The view is everything the name says. You can see two gorges meeting at a bend that you are standing in the center of. The name Grandview was given to it as a marketing ploy in 1880 by a prospector turned hotelier. He built a rudimentary lodge on the site and hosted burrow tours of the canyon for guests brave enough to take a 12 hour stage-coach ride from Flagstaff. Still, the draw of the canyon made the hotel very popular until the Santa Fe Rail Road ran a line to the Grand Canyon Village a few miles away where the national park head quarters is now situated.

We continued through the Kaibeb Pine Forrest and started winding our way down the canyon side as it spread out and began to turn into mountains and cliffs. Over the next hour we would go from 7800 feet to 3000 feet twisting and turning all the way. I would say that this drive was the best part of the visit so far. As the canyon walls slide away they open up on the vast green valleys that seem to go on forever to the east and west only bounded by the canyon walls. I can’t even begin to describe it fully here, but it will be a part of any future trip I make here. I just do not think I could ever take it all in. This part of the country is such a study in contrasts that you would never see if you just stayed on I-10 weaving in and out of clusters of 18-wheelers. As we left the pine forest we entered verdant grasslands that are bordered by red cliffs. In the center was the Colorado River, still hidden, however now only making slits in large, flat rock formations. It was as if the Grand Canyon was scaling down. I even commented to Jeremy that it was like we were in a mini-canyon at this point. As we wound our way North East the sun began to set and the cliffs turned a bright red. The grassland began to become sparser as arid desert claimed more and more of the land between the cliffs. By the time we reached Lee’s Ferry (named after a man named Lee who had a Ferry here) it was almost too dark to take pictures. We will definitely be taking some on our way out of here on Thursday.

We arrived at Cliff Dwellers just after sunset. Cliff Dwellers is this old lodge that I found through a travel writer who wrote about taking a trip around the canyon. She stopped her on here first night. In fact it was her article that made me want to do drive around from the South Rim to the North Rim. The North Rim park area is much smaller, 1,000 feet higher, 10 degrees cooler and much less crowded than the south. It also only has one on park lodge which we could not get a room at. So, we are making the 1.5 hour drive tomorrow morning and will spend as much of the day there as we feel will be enjoyable then it’s back to Cliff Dwellers for the night. The next time I do this I am going to plan well in advance so that I can get a room at the North Rim Lodge. Cliff Dwellers is like deer camp. Well not exactly. The outdoor dining area held the usual assortment of travelers. A group of older brits, a middle eastern couple, a drunk guy, and a crew of river rafters. Evidently they start some of the longer river journeys from Lee’s Ferry.

Speaking of that, and in closing (and how!?) I was reflecting today on what this experience had meant to me so far. There are two unique parts of this trip for sure. One, this is the most time I have taken off of work since I was 19. I have never been away from my work for this long. Two, unless its Austin, San Antonio or Dallas I fly. Guy’s golden rule: if it takes longer than 4 hours to get there I’m going on wings. You see, when you fly someone tells you where to go to leave. They tell you where to put your bags, to sit, what to buckle and most importantly someone else handles the gas and the directions. You just sit back, read or whatever to pass the time. When you drive it is completely different. Especially out here. You can’t see the next gas station from the one you’re at. You have to use math and maps to figure out if you need to pull over here or can you wait until the next stop? The process is infinitely more complex, stimulating and tiring as you are paying attention because no sooner are you familiar with something then around the bend comes something new. When you drive out here you should know how to use lower gears to control your speed on downhill grades. Cruise control and one leg holding the stearing wheel won’t cut it. Most importantly I have a better idea of what is between here and there. Much of it is uninteresting, but I wouldn’t have ever seen the interesting things. The next time I visit the Grand Canyon I will most likely fly much of the trip. I am glad I did this though. We’ll see if that holds through on Saturday when we hit Centerville and I’m ready to puke on the dashboard because I hate that drive from Dallas so much. It’s like someone said “how can we take beautiful rolling hill country and make it boring?” Then the plan for I-45 was born.

Grand Canyon, First full day

It's a little after 7:00 AM, I'm awake after having taken my meds and temperature. 98.8 this morning! My throat is still sore, but it feels like the sore area is much smaller. The temperature right now is 36 degrees outside with a high of 76. We will be checking out of the hotel this morning after getting a few things together for the next two days. Today we are planning on doing some exploring along the south rim of the canyon. We are also thinking about taking a helicopter tour, though nothing is decided on that yet.

Sometime in the afternoon, 3:00 PM at the latest we are going to take the following route:


View Larger Map

As you can see it will take us along the south rim for a ways and I am told this is a great way to see much of the South Rim. We will stay two nights at Cliff Dwellers.

We had originally wanted to stay at a lodge on the North Rim but it is booked solid a year out. I did find another Holiday Inn on the North Rim but at this point I think we'll just spend our two nights at Cliff Dwellers. I think that we will spend Wednesday at the North Rim, then head back to Cliff Dwellers for the night. On Thursday we can explore Lee's Ferry and the Vermillion Cliffs before making the 7 hour drive to Santa Fe. We'll be traveling down I-40 which follows Route 66, In-fact if you sing the song backwards you'll know all the town we're going to hit between Flagstaff and Santa Fe. Currently we plan on spending two nights in Santa Fe. We want to go to Los Alamos, and the quaking Aspens. Then on Friday we are going to this Japanese Spa called 10,000 waves. It comes high recommended. The perfect way to relax and refresh before Saturday.

On Saturday it will be time to make the long 14 hour drive back to Houston. I highly doubt we will do this all in one day; though with 2 drivers and a motivation to be back in our house we may just do it. I drove 12 hours by myself with a 2 hour break about 8 hours in. If we switched every 2 hours we might be able to do it. However, if we get too tired we will will stop and continue the trip arriving in Houston on Sunday. I took a day off of work on Monday just to have some time to get laundry done and hang out at the house.

I know this was a long post but I wanted to let everyone know what our plans were as we will most likely be "off the grid" for the next day or two. I am amazed at the places that have internet around here though. I hope everyone is well, and keep me in your thoughts and prayers and I continue to get better.

Grand Canyon, finally.

I posted a few more pics to my album. Arrived at our hotel on the South Rim around 4:30. The drive was pleasant enough. It was nice to be the rider for a change. 2 days of driving a total of 1200 miles had taken it's tole on me. At this point, honestly, I'm ready to go back home. I don't plan on doing that. But it's how I feel. When you're sick you just want your own bed and your own place to bum around. I have just crossed the 24 hour mark with my antibiotics and I'm hoping to see an improvement tomorrow. I've already seen some improvement, it's small. I still get tired really easy and need rest. Enough about that.

Today was spent collecting Jeremy from the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and then loading up the car and hitting the road for a 3.5 hour drive from Phoenix to Grand Canyon, Arizona. We had no idea what we were in for. Our little Prius loaded with luggage, food and whatever else had to go from 3,000 feet to 7,000 feet and it lest us know it was not happy about that at all. We went from forests of Sequoia Cactus to dense pine trees. We drove down historic Route 66 for a bit and found a historic looking Jack in the Box. I'm not sure what we'll do tomorrow, I need to see how I feel.

Phoenix

I went to an urgent care facility earlier today. Turns out I have an infection in my throat along with a high fever et al. I got three shots and six medications to take. I gotta say I started to feel better almost instantly. So much so that I went ahead and decided to drive on to Phoenix.

What a boring drive. I-10 through New Mexico really only hits on major town, Las Cruces. The other three are small. It was amazing. Just miles of nothing. What was really odd is they didn't have any warnings about the lack of gas stations. Of course, this was not a problem for the Prius which made the 6.5 hour drive to Phoenix on one tank. I got into Phoenix around 8:00 in the evening. After checking into my hotel I met up with Chris. We had dinner and enjoyed getting to catch up with him.

My throat is still sore and I still get tired easy. I think I'll be ok for the trip I just might have to rest a lot.

Houston to Alpine in 7 hrs 30 minutes

I do not know how long I will have to write, my sister is on her way here right now. The drive was not that bad. I would not call it fun, but it was different, lot's to look at. I think I'm timed it just right. By leaving at 4 a.m. I was just leaving San Antonio as the sun came up. So the boring part of the drive that I'm used to went by in the dark. I left Houston with half a tank of gas and had to fill up in Boerne (sp?). Made it to Alpine with two bars left. Whew. I got gas in Alpine for $3.79/gallon most expensive yet. Not a problem I budgeted for gas to be at $4.00 for the trip. I have to say to any of my Prius loving family who is reading this, going 85 in the hills brings the Prius back into ranks with other cars. I was averaging 38-41 mpg and you should have heard that little engine on the hills.

I'm sitting in a park in front of a court house with a church playing "Holy, Holy, Holy" to let us know the noon hour has begun. I will update this post more later I'm going to start writing about the drive right now while waiting for Abbey.

I am actually sort of surprised with myself. I didn't get to bed last night until midnight and what sleep I got was filled with anxiety dreams.


I'm not surprised anymore. By the time I got to El Paso I was obviously getting very ill. I barely made it into the hotel room. Fever and then cold. I laid down right away and slept from about 6:00 pm until 10:00 pm then back to bed at 10:30. My throat is killing me, my back hurts but the headache is gone and I feel like I have more energy. Right now I'm not sure what's going to happen. I think I have a fever, but I'm not sure. I may just stay here another night and see how I feel on Monday.

Now back to Alpine. I had a lot of fun. The ranch that Abbey works on is amazing. It was stunning. It looked like something out of Lord of the Rings. Evidently they shoot movies there. We went and visited one of the sets, the Old Mission. This Brooks & Dunn Video was filmed there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyNzkrnzvx4

Pictures that I took: http://gallery.me.com/casperey1978/100034

Of course after I left for El Paso things started to go downhill fast.