Two weeks ago we headed out west after a very busy week, especially for the kids. Scott had just returned from a week of boy scout camp in Pennsylvania. Thank goodness he was able to get a ride home a day early and we did not have to drive up and get him. Allison had finished her week up with a Field Hockey camp at Hopkins University in downtown Baltimore. She also finished up her summer piano lessons and even squeezed in a night at work before our trip.
On Saturday we headed out to Indiana to drop Cookie off at Tom's sister's house. Sue and her husband John graciously agreed to watch Cookie for the two weeks we were traveling along with their big Ridgeback dog Gus. The two pups seemed to settle in nicely per Susan's reports after Gus stopped treating Cookie as his girlfriend. I think they all wore Cookie out with lots of walks and runs around their fenced in neighborhood school. Cookie was especially happy to have nice laps to curl up on at the end of the day rather than spend all her time in the kennel. Thanks again Sue and John!
On Sunday we drove through Missouri with a stop in St Louis for the Busch Brewery tour. We especially enjoyed our free beer. On our way to Springfield Missouri we dropped into the Meramec caverns for a cave tour.
On Monday we drove through Oklahoma City and stopped in for a steak at the historic Cattleman Restaurant in the Stockyards outside the city. President Bush has eaten here. I was not as excited about the steaks as Allison and Tom. I would have rather visited the downtown area, but we were on the move. We were trying to follow Route 66 when able. We pulled into a place I saw on the Food channel-Pops. It is a combination gas station, diner and soda fountain. They sell over 640 different types of soda. The walls of the building are all glass with glass shelves full of soda bottles. We quickly picked up several 6 packs of various sodas including Butterscotch Root Beer and Brain Wash with hot pepper oil.
And outside Amarillo Texas we pulled over to spray paint our names on the old cars at the Cadillac Ranch. 6 cadillacs are buried halfway sticking up into the air and people stop in to help decorate the cars.
We were then on to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We stopped into Old Town for lunch-an area that is Tex-Mex. I thought New Mexico was beautiful with their large red rock formations. Our next stop was Flagstaff Arizona which really surprised me as it was quite mountainous and wooded with large pine trees. I would have thought all of Arizona was more of a desert climate like Phoenix. Flagstaff is another favorite new city.
The next morning we drove into the Grand Canyon National Park early in the morning. We planned to take a ranger guided tour which started promptly at 9am. We had a bit of a drive into the park to the visitor center, and then had to take a shuttle bus out to our tour route. We had a wonderful 2hr guided tour along the southern rim of the canyon before heading out on our own down the Hermit's Rest Trail. Our biggest highlight of the hike was spotting two California Condors up close. These birds are 4ft tall and have an 8foot wing span. The two were nesting on some rocks just below our path and checking us out! We were in awe of the whole place and especially enjoyed learning some new facts about the Grand Canyon including the fact that up until recently uranium has been mined in the canyon for nuclear power. WE attempted to hike the full 8 miles of our trail, but after 4 hours we opted to grab the shuttle to the end. A stone house was built at the end of the trail with a large fireplace and long front porch and the place overlooks the canyon with large flocks of Ravens greeting the visitors. We felt right at home! The only problem we had with hiking along the edge of the canyon was the altitude sickness. We were not aware that this could be a problem, but you get a horrible headache and stomachache or nausea. Scott got it first and then Tom and I felt the symptoms over the next few days. There does not seem to be enough oxygen up there at 8000 feet, so it can be difficult to get out and hike. I had hopes of hiking down into the canyon, but figured I would have to be air lifted up by helicopter! So I think hiking the rim will have to be enough for me!
WE then traveled over to Las Vegas for the night. We checked into the Mirage hotel, the old hangout of Siegfried and Roy. They don't have the white tigers on display for free anymore, and we opted out of paying for the dolphin, tiger show. Instead we managed to catch the free volcano and fountain show out front. We also saw part of the Bellagio huge fountain show. And of course we ate way too much food at the buffets. WE had a special deal for 4 buffet meals for about $10 per person/per meal. Can't beat that! We had dinner at Planet Hollywood and called it quits. In the morning we headed out to take in the Hoover Dam tour. Very amazing and very hot standing on all that cement. In the afternoon we had lunch at the Flamingo and caught a family Vegas show-part comedy/part magic show. It was a lot of fun. Dinner was after a dip in the Mirage pool at the Imperial Palace. We then headed down the street to catch the pirate ship show outside Treasure Island(they actually sink a full sized pirate ship in the fountain in front of the hotel). Tom and I were a bit disappointed in the new and improved Vegas-they did away with the tokens and buckets of change. Now you gamble with credit cards and obtain a receipt to turn in for your winnings. Yawn. We loved the old sound of the clinking coins and pulling the handles on the slot machines. Not pushing buttons. Oh well. We saved lots of cash by not gambling.
On Friday afternoon we drove over to LA to visit with my brother Michael. Of course we had to stop for McDonalds in the Barstow train station. In LA we had time to watch the opening of the Olympics.
Here is a small selection of photos from our trip-In Missouri-the Arch, Busch Brewery Tour, Meramec Caverns, In Oklahoma-Lunch at the CAttleman in Stockyard City, In New Mexico, Old Town Albequerque and Pops for soda off Route 66.
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