Friday, April 17, 2020

Wheel of Fortune Trip Part 2

Bags out in the hall by 7 AM, breakfast buffet until 8, bus leaves at 8:30 for Sedona and The Grand Canyon.  That was the message from our guide, Brian, last night.  If you missed Part 1, it's here.  
So, Matt and I set our alarms, he showered and dressed, and went down to breakfast.  I followed a little later.  At first, because of Covid-19, we weren't sure we would have buffet, but the food was great, and we were in a private conference room.  A server was there to make sure we had hot stuff, and it was nice to see the group again.  We did more introductions and more questions about how I won the trip.  A couple from Australia, and Marilyn and Vic from Scotland, a few from Canada, and another couple from Long Island, as well as New Jersey, and Noele from Lake Placid, NY were some of the wonderful people on the trip.  This was Saturday, March 14.  We got on the bus, and got more information about the things we would see and do over the next few days.  A quick bathroom stop included a great photo opportunity with Saguaro Cactus.  





 I loved seeing the topography change.  It was also getting colder, the closer we got to Sedona.  





Noele, who has become a dear friend.  Of course, her mom's a quilter.  She gets me! lol

Our lunch stop was in the northern tier of the shops in Sedona, and it was fun to walk around for about 2 hours.  I liked looking at the art and styles of the buildings, as well as the view.  Matt found a sweet dog bone plaque with Hazel's name on it.  We do love Hazel! 




We drove through Sedona towards the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, again seeing more sights, stopping occasionally, and watching our huge tour bus being expertly driven by Tammy, around a series of switch back turns.  Up, and down, and "There's a bear" and we have time for a 15 minute stop for more photos.  The river along the road was roiling!  It was high, and very fast, and some of the houses on the other side of the river were cut off.  It started drizzling again. 








Between the snow melt further north, and the extreme rain the area had been having over the last few days, this wasn't a surprise, but I was glad we were safe, and that Tammy was excellent at handling the coach.  I took over 1000 photos, many from the bus windows.  With my vision issues, I wanted to be able to see everything again.  It was such an experience, and I wish we could have spent more time, but with the weather, and the possible issues at stops, we needed to keep to Brian's schedule.  But wow, what beauty.  




First time seeing elk.  

 My son, Matthew, at the Grand Canyon.

It was cloudy, and there were sections over the canyon we could see that were getting rain.  






 And then we found a rainbow over the canyon.  


After getting to our hotel, the  Maswik Lodge, at the South Rim, we discovered a lovely rustic room, with a porch, cabin like interior and comfortable beds.  We returned to Angel Lodge for dinner, and to hopefully capture some sunset views over the Canyon.  The photo below shows one effect.  That glowing spot just left of center?  That's a reflection of the sun on the rocks.  In person, it looked like someone put red foil glitter on the rock.  It was stunning, and I was hoping it would show better, but this is the best I could get, in the many photos I took.  Dinner at Angel Lodge was wonderful.  



We returned to Maswik Lodge for the night, and another early call for the bus.  Although I was hoping to get some good stargazing time, the cloud cover prevented it.  A minor disappointment to a beautiful day.  More next time.  Thanks for looking at my blog, and the photos.  

Maryellen



2 comments:

QuiltShopGal said...

What a wonderful adventure. Your photos are stunning.

Pamela said...

So beautiful, even in the drizzly weather! My DH and I are hoping to pay a visit there next year if we can. I've always wanted to see the Grand Canyon.