A Hole In the Ground of Ginormous Size
Jul. 1st, 2024 11:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
billroperToday, we departed from Jeff and Carol's place in Phoenix and headed for the Grand Canyon. The trip north to Flagstaff in sunshine was much better than the trip south from Flagstaff last week at night in the rain. For one thing, there was scenery. For another thing, you could always see the lane markings in the construction areas.
After grabbing lunch, we headed towards the Grand Canyon, which is about 80 miles from Flagstaff and 50 miles north of the interstate highway, which explains why my dad never drove by there with us when we were passing through this area. We eventually made it there, used the annual park pass that we purchased last week at the Painted Desert, and headed for the visitors center.
Unfortunately, the combination of altitude and bad knees meant that Gretchen decided she was not leaving that vicinity. But the kids and I hopped on a shuttle bus and saw some spectacular views of the Grand Canyon.
The problem was, as Gretchen reminded me, that my only previous trip to Grand Canyon had been with my wife, but my wife at the time was not her. Gretchen had never *seen* the Grand Canyon, and it certainly wasn't visible from where she was sitting at the visitors center. Oops.
But the shuttle bus trip had given me an idea, because along the side of the road was an area where we could park and she could see the Grand Canyon by simply stepping out on the sidewalk or even from her car window. And that's what we did after getting everyone back to the van, so everyone has now seen the Grand Canyon once.
Except for me. I've seen it twice. :)
When we got to Flagstaff, I had my second Expedia booking mishap out of three so far on this trip. The hotel that we booked our upgraded room in doesn't have an elevator and the only available upgraded room was on the second floor. There was no way that Gretchen wanted to go to the second floor given the condition of her knees, so we are now in a downgraded room with less sleeping space.
The fact that there's no elevator is tucked away in the very last line on the Expedia information on the property. I suggested in my review that Expedia might want to highlight this, since half of the rooms in the hotel are completely inaccessible. *sigh*
Meanwhile, Gretchen has asked me to add that this new trend of hotel beds that require a ladder for her to get into can stop any time.
Tomorrow, we have a long leg from here to Amarillo, Texas, so we'll be heading out early. No tourist stops are planned for that section of the trip, since we nabbed Meteor Crater, the Painted Desert, and the Petrified Forest on the way out.
Yay!
After grabbing lunch, we headed towards the Grand Canyon, which is about 80 miles from Flagstaff and 50 miles north of the interstate highway, which explains why my dad never drove by there with us when we were passing through this area. We eventually made it there, used the annual park pass that we purchased last week at the Painted Desert, and headed for the visitors center.
Unfortunately, the combination of altitude and bad knees meant that Gretchen decided she was not leaving that vicinity. But the kids and I hopped on a shuttle bus and saw some spectacular views of the Grand Canyon.
The problem was, as Gretchen reminded me, that my only previous trip to Grand Canyon had been with my wife, but my wife at the time was not her. Gretchen had never *seen* the Grand Canyon, and it certainly wasn't visible from where she was sitting at the visitors center. Oops.
But the shuttle bus trip had given me an idea, because along the side of the road was an area where we could park and she could see the Grand Canyon by simply stepping out on the sidewalk or even from her car window. And that's what we did after getting everyone back to the van, so everyone has now seen the Grand Canyon once.
Except for me. I've seen it twice. :)
When we got to Flagstaff, I had my second Expedia booking mishap out of three so far on this trip. The hotel that we booked our upgraded room in doesn't have an elevator and the only available upgraded room was on the second floor. There was no way that Gretchen wanted to go to the second floor given the condition of her knees, so we are now in a downgraded room with less sleeping space.
The fact that there's no elevator is tucked away in the very last line on the Expedia information on the property. I suggested in my review that Expedia might want to highlight this, since half of the rooms in the hotel are completely inaccessible. *sigh*
Meanwhile, Gretchen has asked me to add that this new trend of hotel beds that require a ladder for her to get into can stop any time.
Tomorrow, we have a long leg from here to Amarillo, Texas, so we'll be heading out early. No tourist stops are planned for that section of the trip, since we nabbed Meteor Crater, the Painted Desert, and the Petrified Forest on the way out.
Yay!