Vacation, Days 5 and 6

Day 5 was long. We did a lot of driving, some unnecessarily, but that’s another story. We did learn that you cannot always trust Mapquest when they put us about 21 miles short of our desired location.
We went back to the Grand Canyon Visitors Center to see the IMAX movie. We figured we could do this because we theoretically only had about 1 ½ hours to travel to Sedona. The IMAX experience was incredible. It gave a lot of history and some amazing shots we would not have been able to see otherwise. We drove another 10 miles to the Canyon itself to retrieve the pedometer I had left in one of the gift shops the day before as I was trying on a t-shirt. I was promised when I called there later that day that they would put my name on it and have it waiting for me at the counter. It wasn’t. They told me to go to this other place and it would be there. It wasn’t. I started moaning about how we had driven ALL that way just to get my pedometer. It didn’t help. They couldn’t find it. I was hot but I left without losing my religion there on the spot and fussed and fumed about it for about another hour and then just let it go.
We drove on to Sedona. BEAUTIFUL!! This is a place you MUST see. The canyon and red rock is amazing. We got in to the hotel around 3:30 pm, completely pooped out from traveling and being hot and cooped up in a mini van or a hotel room for the better part of a week. We pretty much relaxed for the rest of Day 5 knowing Day 6 would be busy.

Day 6 (Sunday)
This was probably the best and busiest day we’ve had on our trip. Bob and I awoke early and were out for a walk by 5:45 am. We both admit/realize that while we have been vacationing we have increased our food and caloric intake and decreased the amount of exercise we usually do, We walked a bit in a nice residential area and saw a small deer which quickly ran from us. We continued and met a couple with whom we visited for a minute. They were of mid-Eastern decent but are living in Ohio. It was interesting to learn they have a son who lives in the neighboring community that we do. We continued on our walk until we came to a hiking trail. We took that for a very short way when my husband said he saw a rabbit or something like that “only bigger”. We continued on for a moment to see what type of wildlife it was. It was quickly apparent that we were tailing a coyote. I was OFF! I ran like the wind, in fear of my life. I came back to the street and met a woman who was off on a hike. She went straight up the path where we had seen the coyote, completely unafraid. My husband, too, came sauntering down the trail. He had followed the animal to see if he could get a closer look. I came as close as I cared to.
That morning we went on a Pink Jeep Tour. Our family piled into a big pink jeep with a wonderful driver, Mike, and he took us on the trip of our lives. We took the Broken Arrow tour which put us amidst the red rocky canyons and mountains surrounding Sedona for 2 hours. It was like 4-wheeling but on a MUCH grander scale. It was like nothing I’ve ever done before and our whole family agrees this was best thing we have done on our trip. I had heard about this experience on Little People Big World which is a TV show on TLC.
After our tour we met up with my brother, D$?#, (he said to write his name like that) who drove up from his home in Tucson. We went out for lunch and he drove us to Mt. Humphreys, which is the highest point in Arizona at about 12,633 feet. We road on a ski lift which took us to about the 11,500 mark. Do you remember, a few posts ago when I wrote how I feel about the heat? That’s the same way I feel about heights. I was mortified for the most part. This was a ski lift, mind you; feet dangling and all. I wasn’t going to go on it but my husband had already bought me a ticket. I figured if my 6 year old could do it, I could too. I’m glad I did it but I don’t think I would do that again. It was a VERY scary thing for me. Uncle D rode with children #2 and 3 and he was sure to point out to them the 3 bras and 1 pair of thong underpants hanging from the surrounding pine trees. They thought it was SO funny.
We got our feet firmly planted on the ground and went to dinner and headed back to Sedona. We stopped at the Safeway in Sedona to grab a few groceries. I had been looking forward to a good, black cup of coffee and we discovered Starbucks in the Safeway. While we were waiting for our coffee to brew, D jumped into a motorized cart and started driving around the store with the electrical plugin cord dragging behind him. What a hoot!!
Poor Uncle D. He was so patient. As a bachelor with no children, I’m pretty sure he was about ready to pull his hair out. Have I ever told you that I have 4 very LOUD children? Imagine all 7 of us in D’s SUV traveling. I’m sure it seemed like an eternity until he was free from us. We stayed at the same hotel and I made sure the kids didn’t know his room number so he could have some peace. The kids LOVE Uncle D. They look forward to any time they can be with him.
Tomorrow, back to Las Vegas.