A bit of overestimation
I’m so tired I can hardly think. It’s been a good day, but we (the boys and I) may have slightly overestimated what we could do this first day.
We arrived at the airport around 4:00 a.m. Did I mention my neighbor that was kind enough to drive us is sort of a morning person. Actually, that’s is a good thing, considering the hour, but, well, let’s just say I’m not a morning person. And I only got about 3 hours of sleep. So I wasn’t very responsive. Not surely, just a lot of ‘mmm’ and ‘hmmm?’
Boarding was uneventful but we sat at the gate for 45 minutes waiting for NWAirlines maintenance to come and oil or grease the right engine. At least this AmericaWest flight was able to keep the ventilation going. There’s nothing worse for me than sitting in a full airplane without some moving air. I know it’s full of germs and the random dust mites of everyone on board, but stale air only reminds me that everybody is using up my oxygen.
Despite leaving 45 minutes late, we only arrived in Phoenix 15 minutes late. I don’t quite get how that happens but there you have it. We found our luggage (yeah!) and walked out to the ground transport and there waiting for us was a shuttle to the rental car hub.
Rental Car Guy talked me into a "special" upgrade to a standard sized car. I picked a Dodge Status, not really knowing what kind of car that was. (after driving it up and down the mountains, I’m glad I didn’t go with the economy model. if this bigger engine couldn’t give me any giddayup I think we’d still be on our way to the Grand Canyon with a little economy model.)
Directions were easy to the freeway and we pulled off for a drive-thru breakfast after we cleared downtown.
Travel north was smooth and fast. Really fast. Boy! Do they drive fast in Arizona!
We made Williams around 11:15. It took a little bit to find the motel. Right on historic Route 66. Very cute place. A couple checking-in before me had driven down from Missouri, following the mother road most of the way.
We made it to the park entrance around 12:30.
It’s hard for me to put into words what it was like to see the Grand Canyon for the first time. All the old cliches are true and they don’t begin to cover it. Add into the physical beauty of the place the ant-hill quality of a tourist destination. It had a very similar feel to Yellowstone and Old Faithful.
We walked a little around Mather Point, drove to the market and had some lunch and then went looking for the Bright Angel Trailhead.
I was feeling really beat by this point and really hoped the boys would want to take a break. They didn’t so I let them go together to find Bright Angel trail while I shut my eyes for a bit. I really think I would have either fallen off a cliff or just fallen down asleep if I had kept going. Between the altitude (7772 feet above sea level) and the 7 hours of travel on 3 hours of sleep I felt punch drunk.
They returned about 30 minutes later saying they’d found the trail. They finally admitted to being too tired themselves to attempt a hike today so we piled in the car and headed back to Williams. They slept the whole way back.
Back at the motel, I suggested that we just take a little rest. We woke up about 7 p.m. and went to dinner at a steak house across the street. DS1 had a steak, I had a steak. DS2, had a trout. Which he didn’t finish, either because the service was slow and he was over-tired and over-hungry; or because it was a little fishy tasting. Either way, they left me with the check and walked back to the room to get ready for bed.
It’s about 9:00 and I’m going to make them turn off the TV so we can go to sleep. We’ll get up early and head back for the Bright Angel hike and then leave for Phoenix around 11.
It was a good, if exhausting first day.
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A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…
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A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…
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A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…
