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This spring, June and I took a month-long trip to the Southwest to get out of the El Nino spring rain. And, for the most part, we did avoid some rain.
Here was our 3021-mile route:
The ride down I5 was unusually eventful. I borrowed a car top luggage rack from my good friend Will. About an hour down I5, we heard a loud noise from the rooftop. I pulled over immediately and found the lid up on one side and a crack in the plastic. We closed it, drove slowly to the next exit and bought tie-down straps. We cinched it down. In La Quinta, I bought flexible adhesive and glued the crack. Then taped it with Gorilla tape. We cinched it down from then on and never had a problem. The lid may not have been shut correctly along with the 80 mph wind.
We spent the first night with Brandon, Moye, and Rumika in Los Feliz.
Then, our Itinerary:
Thurs - Wed. We rented a home in La Quinta, adjacent to Palm Springs.
This is what we did in no particular order:
Watched tennis Thurs - Mon nights. (1 hr rain delay on Friday night.)
Played tennis with Ed two mornings at public courts in La Quinta
Played one round of golf with June at Shadow Mountain golf.
Hit golf balls at driving range near La Quinta
Made trip to golf Mecca (Carlson's golf and tennis)
Hiked in La Quinta Cove
Hiked with Alicia in Palm (Indian) Canyon
Friday - Golf at Coyote Lakes (Me, June, Mike, Sarah - Rob, Corey, Dennis.) I had a PB (75)
Saturday - Golf at Hilton Pointe - Great course! Me, Mike, Dennis - Rob, Corey, June, Sarah
Sunday Giants game at Talking Stick Salt River Stadium. Dinner at Dennis and Mary's
Monday - Golf at 500 club. Me, Rob, Corey - Dennis, June, Mike, Sarah.
Tuesday - Golf at Falcon (near Luke AFB) watched F16s and new F35s flying. Fun course in 30 - 50 mph winds. I hit a 350 yd. drive with a tailwind.
Wednesday - June and I hiked with Sarah and Wendy (Sarah's sister) at Thunderbird Reserve. Mike and Jim played golf.
Thursday - Drove to Sedona. Arrived in the late afternoon.
Friday - Gary and Geoff played golf at the beautiful Sedona Golf Resort. June and Sue did the shopping thing. We had dinner at a nice restaurant.
We had one full day in each of the Southwest National Parks: Grand Canyon, Bryce, and Zion.
Saturday - Long, uneventful drive, through Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon. A little cold at the 6000 ft rim. We got in a mile long line (literally!) to get into the park. We planned to buy a National Parks year pass for $80 . I happened to mention that I was turning 62 later that month, so she gave us the senior pass for $10. Yippee! We checked into the adequate room at Yavapai Lodge. We bought food at the market, along with gloves for both of us.
Easter Sunday - We passed on the sunrise service on the rim, but we had breakfast in the Yavapai cafeteria. I got a breakfast burrito. June got scrambled eggs and fruit. She didn't like the looks of either, so I ate most of hers.
We took a nice hike about an hour down the Bright Angel trail. Then toured the Kolb brother's art studio. Just as we got back to the room, I had to use the bathroom, and didn't stop until that evening. When will I learn to follow June's instincts on the food? We struggled to find something to eat that sounded good to both of us as the choices were VERY limited. The market deli was sub-par.
We got up early in the morning and headed East, then stopped at Desert View on the East side of the Grand Canyon.
Monday - After stopping at Desert View on the East side of the Grand Canyon, we had breakfast at Cameron where they pushed the Indian flat cakes. The pancakes were big and dry. From there, we headed north to Lake Powell, then West, then North to the very small and very cold town of Bryce at 8000 ft. Just short of the town, we pulled over along with several other cars, to gawk at our first views of the spectacular 'hoodoos'. Eventually, we peeled ourselves away. We checked in at the very nice Holiday Inn. The restaurant looked OK, but we asked about other eating options. Just one, across the street at Ruby's Cowboy Eatery, or something like that. We drove up the road 5 minutes and into the park to take in some more 'hoodoos'. Even more spectacular, but very cold and very windy - not a good combination. We drove to 3 of the various view points and could not stop taking pictures. But the cold won, and we headed back to the room to unpack, clean up, and check out Ruby's chuck wagon. We were pleasantly surprised. We feasted!
Tuesday - We woke to about 5 inches of snow. The forecast showed a high of 28F and 20-30 mph winds. It sounds like a bust since neither of us enjoy the cold. But we bundled up, dug out the car, and headed to the park. It was even more spectacular than the day before. We tentatively suited up for a walk into the canyon. We had our regular hiking boots, plenty of warm clothes, and best of all, our trekking poles. I am not a fan of heights, nor of the cold and snow, and the two together were nerve-wracking. After about 20 minutes of picturing one or both of us slipping over a 500 ft cliff, I had enough and didn't have to talk too hard to convince June.
Back at the rim, we were approached by a young couple asking how it was. 'Cold, slippery, an scary!' They had crampons, so they ventured on. We decided to drive about 20 minutes to the small town of Tropic, about 2000 ft. below the rim. The night before, knowing there was a possibility of snow, I had researched a trail that went up into the park.
We first stopped at the Bryce Lodge for coffee and chocolate.Then we headed out. We pulled over down the hill at a small pullout. There were beautiful 'hoodoos' an a short hike to waterfalls and 'Moss Cave'. The waterfall was the result of a diversion in the late 1800's by some Mormons who were settling the town of Tropic. They still use the water today. We checked it out, and were back in the car in an hour. We found the trail head and ours was the only car in the small parking lot. Usually nervous about something like this, we were comforted to know we were in LDS (Latter Day Saints) country. The hike was much warmer and not windy. We walked one mile, with gentle uphill, taking in the hoodoo sights all around.We finally arrived at the outer reaches of the same trail that we started on the rim earlier in the day. Then we were approached by the same young couple that approached us on the same trail head earlier in the day. They were visiting from Belgium, although neither of them were from Belgium. We turned around just after that as we felt the wind gusting. Otherwise, it was a beautiful walk among the hoodoos.
We drove back to the room, had another meal at Ruby's, then prepared to pack up the following morning for a short drive to Zion.
Wednesday - The drive to Zion took us over Highway 9 into the East entrance to the park. All traffic on this route goes through the park and must pay the entrance fee or have a pass. On the Zion - Mount Carmel Highway, we were immediately greeted with spectacular views of towering red rock. This park is a lot like Yosemite, only with red and white sedimentary rock instead of granite. We stopped and took pictures every few miles. Eventually we made it to the Visitors center and scoured the parking lot to no avail. So we decided to check into the Pioneer Lodge in Springdale and ride the shuttle to the park. The hotel was old but very nice, with a jacuzzi hot tub in the room. The remainder of the day was spent in the park with hoards of young families apparently on Spring break. We hiked The Watchman trail close to the visitors center. It was about 3.5 miles RT with significant elevation gain. Then we rode the shuttle to the end of the line and back, about a 1.5 hr. ride, making about 7 stops each way, giving us a chance to plot the following days hikes. We decided that we would take several shorter hikes instead of doing one long hike. That evening we had a Thai chicken and peanut sauce pizza at a place close by.
Thursday - Our only full day in Zion, we picked up breakfast and lunch sandwiches at the deli next door to the hotel. We drove the 10 minutes to the park to limit the exposure to kids on the bus. We ate breakfast while waiting in the line of cars to enter the park. Delish! Once in, we hopped on the very efficient shuttle system and got off at the Zion Lodge stop to take the 3.2 mile hike on the Emerald Pools trail, ending with a detour to the Grotto. We ate our deli sandwiches at the Human History Museum and watched a video of the park. We then took the shuttle up to the 2.4 mile Riverside walk and Narrows Canyon. We finished the day with a short walk to Weeping Rock. The crowded shuttle ride back to the visitors center was painful for me and I could not wait to get off and out of the park. That evening, we polished off the left over pizza.
This is a squeaky clean, pasty white, small city in LDS (Mormon) country. Even I felt a little uncomfortable. You can buy only 3.2 beer in the grocery stores. To get something harder, you must go to the State-run liquor store. But the surrounding red hills, gorgeous public golf courses, and mostly beautiful weather made it hard to NOT like.
Saturday - Golf at the course on which we resided: Southgate Golf Course. Fun, but June got sick sometime around the end of the front 9. Fortunately we were close to the condo. I dropped her off and then played the back 9 by myself.
Sunday - Drive and hike at Snow Canyon State Park
Monday - Golf at St. George Golf Resort. No driving range. We played by ourselves. OK course.
Tuesday - Started out with a drive to the Red Cliffs preserve. The lot was full (kids everywhere) so we drove further East to check out a trail I researched. We drove out 5 miles on FR 032, all dirt, from Leeds. From there, we hiked 1.5 miles up the mountain. Great views!
Wednesday - Golf at Sunbrook Golf Club, a very hard 27 hole complex. Fortunately, we were paired with two locals and we all had fun. I finished with 38/39 = 77. A slope of 138 (very hard course) yields a differential of 4.4, my best round ever. June played well and did NOT get sick.
Thursday - Packed up and drove through Las Vegas and settled in Bakersfield for the night.
Friday - Drive home.
A trip to the adult pool/ hot tub was a favorite afternoon/early evening activity.