tours – The Hermits' Rest

Yes! It’s at the Grand Canyon, South Rim. So were we, but we didn’t get to the end of the road, where the building and trail are. But that does not distract us from the fact that we got to see the Grand Canyon today!

We took a tour with 5 other random folks so Lee wouldn’t have to drive. I enjoyed looking out the big windows of the van quite a bit. I took way too many pictures, of course.

Our first stop was an amazing place, Sunset Crater Volcano. The lava field is huge and so black. It was a bit sad, because the big fire two years ago left a mark. But wow, the area looked otherworldly. I also heard two new birds, so it was a real success.

Then off we went to another stop, with breathtaking scenery all the way. This was the Wupatki Pueblo. It’s been so nicely preserved and cared for. They removed additions from the 1930s and made it more like it used to be. It is amazing that no one messed with it for hundreds of years. I did re-learn that most pueblos were built like apartments, not in caves.

We got back on the main road and headed back to Cameron.

Yep. Lunch was at the Cameron Trading Post, which is actually a very old place with a cool hotel and pretty garden and in the Navajo Nation. There is also much nice Native American stuff I avoided as hard as I could. I did get Cameron, Arizona t-shirts, because I feel they would be amusing back home. The meal was Navajo tacos (fry bread rather than tortillas) for us in a beautiful dining room. It was good to see Navajo folks eating there, too, as well as working in all parts of the establishment. I love fry bread, by the way.

All fortified, we next drove the extra-scenic route to the Grand Canyon National Park. Yay! Check that off the bucket list! There were other canyons and mountains to entertain us on the way.

Unfortunately, the smaller canyon was on the other side of the van.

We were lucky that the Grand Canyon itself was neither too hot nor too crowded (too many people for me, but really not that bad).

We made many stops to look at various vistas, each overwhelming in their beauty and vastness. I loved looking down at the river and the trails at the bottom. My second favorite was watching birds soar on the drafts.

Of course, I looked for birds, plants, and animals. I got photos of two birds I have been hearing all week, the scrub jay and spotted towhee. I also saw many cute rock squirrels, a chipmunk that was too fast to photograph, and elk. Nice.

I would like to have taken longer walks, but I ran off a couple of times to get private vistas. One woman and I fled to a side area by the rock that used to look like a duck, and just basked in the silent grandeur. A kindred spirit.

I definitely liked the less commercial parts and d the canyon, though the Watchtower and lodges were interesting. All the people we rode with were nice, including the tour guide.

It ended up being a very memorable day. Now to get ready for another long day that starts even earlier!

It was a good day for seeing nature in all its glory. After work, Lee and I went on a tour of Sedona and the surrounding area. Wow, was that fun.

By the time we did two of the stops, the tour guide figured out that we were way more interested in scenery and nature than shopping and that we were more to the New Age end of the spectrum than traditional folks.

We ended up going off script because we turned down going into a church. Instead we drove around and looked at all the different terrain and natural beauty around here. I was pretty excited to find some water-carved rocks.

Nice church. Great architecture. Didn’t want to go in.

The highlight for the early part of the trip was driving through Oak Creek Canyon, which has huge trees in it. We even got to see the creek that made the canyon.

We went through town, which was fine, then out to the hills to the west. There were lots of fancy houses, but also places with horses. Then, ah, wilderness. Well, empty land anyway. There was much evidence of the powers that be working hard to shew away campers and people parking on the roadside. I sorta get it.

Our tour guide decided to take the minivan off road and show us some more remote areas. It was fun and very quiet. I liked that. It was fun to find interesting plants out there.

Our final stop was the airport mesa, which has a great lookout. You could see nearby towns.

We were thrilled to find out our tour guide also likes tarot. She also identifies with the Hermit, like Lee. It was sure lucky to get such a compatible guide and to not have any more people than us.

After a wee rest I went for an evening walk to get the rest of my Exercise and Move points. I got bonus adrenaline points when I ran into a guy who said they had just seen some javelinas. Well, of course I wanted to see some (AKA collared peccary). So I went in the direction they were headed (also the way I was heading anyway), and soon saw the whole group of them nonchalantly making their way across the edge of the golf course. It was a big family!

I missed getting a video of them arguing, but here’s one where a wet one shakes off water.

That wasn’t even the end of my nature excitement. I finally got to see the Gambel’s Quail I’d been hearing. I watched them play around in the bushes. And I got to get a photo of a desert or mountain cottontail. I’m not sure which it is. The bonus photos are pollen on the sidewalk and a male Anna’s hummingbird. I do enjoy them.