On my recent trip to the Grand Canyon I was there for three full days, each of those days was a full vacation in and of itself. There were three main goals for this trip, celebrating Connie and Jack's 50th wedding anniversary, sightseeing and Kevin's (my nephew) graduation from high school.
Getting There/Priest Smuggling
Our assault on the canyon consisted of two waves the first wave arrived the previous Friday while my wave arrived on Tuesday. Sue, Brenda (Sue's sister), Connie and Jack (Sue's parents) were the first wave. Jay, Sue (Brenda's roommate), Father Art and myself were the second wave. Our task was to smuggle Father Art into the canyon without being discovered by Connie and Jack.
The trip to the canyon only takes 17 hours door to door. I started off taking the direct route to Phoenix by way of Baltimore and Indianapolis. I flew Southwest (AKA Herd Airlines) and if you ever do the same, make sure you pack plenty of food, their peanuts and crackers do not go very far. There I met up with Jay, Sue and Father Art and off we went into a desert sunset in a rented Dodge Durango. We stopped for a nice dinner in Flagstaff.
The plan was to call when we got close, great plan if any of the cell phones worked, not. So we stopped at a McDonalds outside the park and pulled up to a phone booth. A herd of Elk were waiting to use the phone next.
After calling we hung out with the Elk for a while until Judy and Brenda show up. We then stashed Father Art in a motel with supplies. Off we went to Judy's house in the park. They (Judy, David, sons Mathew and Kevin) have lived there for quite a few years; David is the food and beverage director for the hotels at the south rim. They had made extensive plans for this trip. Sue, myself, Brenda and Sue had a 35' RV in the driveway to sleep in. Connie and Jack had a cottage down by the rim and any leftovers ended up in the house. It was midnight (3:00AM to me) before we finally got to bed.
Day One Connie and Jack's Day
The morning was pretty uneventful for myself although I did enjoy talking with local ravens behind Judy's house. During this time the chapel was decorated, flowers delivered, champagne was cooled and Father Art was smuggled to the chapel. We then all went over to the chapel, Connie and Jack thinking they were going to a graduation service.
We had a nice service where they renewed their vows. After the service we took some photos.
We then bused everyone up to the El Tovar Hotel where we checked the newly weds into the presidential suite. After we picked our jaws off the ground, we admired the million dollar view while drinking Dom Perignon (hauled from New Hampshire) and eating a variety of world class hor d'evoures. We then watched a DVD that Brenda had made of all the family pictures over the years.
Towards evening we went down the stairs to the main dining room, a four star restaurant. After a most excellent diner we went back upstairs for some wedding cake and sunset. The figurines on the cake were from the original cake in 1955, the bride's dress was white. We eventually left the newly weds to their own devices.
Day 2; Assault on the Canyon by Air, Land and Sea
This day started early with a group of us getting to the Grand Canyon Airport by 6:30 AM, where we loaded into a modified Twin Otter. We flew east low and slow as the canyon came into view the sun was still low in the sky. We got to see the canyon from the south rim to the Glen Canyon Dam. Way more was seen than could be described.
We landed in Page, Arizona where we ate a box breakfast. We then all loaded into a four wheel drive truck and drove out of town. We turned into a Navajo Indian Reservation and drove quite a ways up a dry river bed to get to Antelope Slot Canyon.
A slot canyon is a very narrow, very deep slot in sandstone where all the water from hundreds of miles around flows when it rains. Talk about a place where weathermen are gods. This canyon is 165' deep by 650' long and most places 6-10' wide. The view inside the canyon was unbelievable but all but impossible to photograph. We had a very able guide who pointed out all the different shaped rocks in the canyon.
We then drove back into Page and loaded unto a huge passenger bus for the trip to the dam. The procedure to get to the base of the Glen Canyon dam is pretty strange but after clearing security we drove through a three mile long tunnel. We donned hard hats and went down to the docks and loaded on powered pontoon rafts.
The raft held up to 20 touristas and would cruise at a pretty good clip if opened up. The trip we were doing is from the Glen Canyon Dam down to Lee’s Ferry about 15 miles. The river above Lee’s Ferry is mostly calm, deep, clear and cold cold cold (this day the air was 100 and the water 47 degrees). The canyon in this section is not as wide or as deep (only 1000’ or so) as further west. The rock is a harder type of sandstone (Apache Sandstone). To the west the sandstone is softer and the canyon gets much wider and deeper.
The trip down was a blast and the guide very knowledgeable. We stopped at a sand bar for a break, another for lunch and a third for swimming. Even my cold New England blood would not allow me to get wet. Sue and Brenda did. At Lee's ferry we loaded into a bus for the three hour drive back to the canyon. On the way we stopped at a Native American store for a break and some trading (beads are not worth what they used to).
We arrived back at Judy's house tired and hungry but with a smile on our faces. Quite a day.
Day 3 Graduation Day
The morning was taken up with preparations for the graduation and party. My job for the day was bus driver getting people and supplies between the two houses and the hotel. We did manage to get in a little sightseeing and took in the Omni theater show on the history of the canyon.
The graduating class holds their ceremony on the north porch of the El Tovar hotel at sunset. How cool is that? There were a total of 26 seniors graduating. They did a great job on the graduation and the speeches were very nicely done. One thing that impressed me is the sense of community shown by all of the participants. Grand Canyon is a very tightly knit close community. After the graduation we took pictures from the rim and went back to the house for the party.
A most excellent party with some great food. Pretty much everyone that lived there cycled through the Judy's house at some point that night. A very nice group of people most from somewhere else.
Travel Home
The next morning Sue and myself went over to the visitor’s center to get some literature. On the way I commented to Sue how I was not happy with how few critter shots I had gotten. At the next stop sign a young Elk was standing in the road and I pulled up next to her and got my picture. We then packed and loaded the two rental car with all of the luggage. On the way out we stopped at a pancake breakfast for a youth group. It was a last chance to spent time with the wonderful people of the canyon. A quick goodbye to Judy, David, Kevin and Mathew and on the road again.
We had to drive to Phoenix for flights home the next day. The other car choose the direct route to Phoenix, we took the scenic route. The first part we drove through the San Francisco Mountains to Flagstaff. Quite a change from the desert. Past Flagstaff we turned off the thruway to go through Sedona. From the north you approach Sedona by following a meandering river valley starting high in the mountains ending in Sedona.
Once in Sedona we had a fabulous lunch sitting in a roof top veranda. I finally got some most excellent southwestern food. After lunch back on the road to Phoenix. One nice thing about the Durango we rented is the DVD player in the back. Jay and Father Art got to watch Lion King and Under a Tuscan Sun during the trip. We arrived back in Phoenix where we dropped Jay off at the airport, his plan was to get an earlier flight (vs. scheduled red eye). We got to the hotel, checked in and I took Father Art to a local church for Saturday evening service. I went back and found the other group had beat us to Phoenix by an hour and a half (but they didn't stop for lunch). After church we found this great little Italian restaurant for diner. I did something that night I love to do, after a long travel day make a point of jumping in a pool at night. It seems to makes the whole day melt away.
The next morning off to the airport and a ridiculous wait to check in for our flight. We changed planes at Midway airport. We arrived back in Manchester to a cold dreary rain. That felt wonderful after all that heat.
Here's a slideshow of the pictures. Not for the bandwidth challenged or Mac users. Right click and select Save As.
Slideshow
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By Cecil Berry (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4145) on Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - 7:35 am: 
