Travel: Tempe ““ Bell Rock – Sedona ““ Grand Canyon
Weather: Windy and Rainy

Ants and I nearly missed our bus this morning because we had to re-pack our suitcases to make everything fit. It`s amazing how much of a jigsaw puzzle it is, and if you put just one thing in wrong, it all doesn`t fit. Dumb suitcases. At least we weren`t as bad as Nathan who wound up at a house party last night, and got so drunk he missplaced his passport and couldn’t find it this morning.

Zoe and Anthea fell asleep pretty soon into the ride: time for some evil action….

Scenery was mostly desert and cactus. We stopped at a place not far from Tempe and took photos with the cactus. What most of us had forgotten about was we were in the wild, and there were snakes around. Most of us just bounded on through to the cactus, until another tourist (not part of our group) found a rattlesnake. It was really hard to see him. Camouflage works well. I shouted out to the others who were exploring up higher to watch out for the snakes, and they all kind of went “oh yeah, snakes”. Guess that`s what happens when you`re brought up without dangerous predators in the wild. Arizona has the most snakes per area for it`s size.

Our Bus

The road we have to travel

The road we have come by

“I’m the king of the world!”

Ampy and Heidi on a hill

Mel on a hill

Spot the snake (don’t cheat)

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Here it is!

Here it is up close. A real wild rattler. Steve would be proud

Look how tall it is! Hauge!

Our next wee stop was at Bell Rock. One of the most photographed rocks in the world, so I took lots of photos (of course)

Random housing

Bell Rock

The Brit boys – Bhav, G, Ekrem, Anish, Jipper Dave (Amar missing )

American Fire Engines

The next stop was a tourist town called Sedona. While the others went on a jeep drive through the desert, we hung out and explored the village.

This was seconds after a big downpour.

The asphalt was so warm that the rain immediately started to steam off, and the roads were dry in about 10 minutes.

I loved this statue

Beautiful scenery surrounding the town

Link to larger version of this photo

We got a very expensive lunch ““ two sandwich/bun thingees, and berry + yoghurt muesli mix, and two “free”bags of crisps. We also got some yum, very sweet fudge. We also came across a couple of “What’ the…?!’s”

Yes, because 50c + 50c = $1.20?

How on earth to you chicken-fry chicken?

Through Flagstaff (time for a quick leg stretch), and thanks to a snooze, our next stop was Tusayan. This is just outside of the Grand Canyon, and the closest place that had a grocery store. Because we were staying two nights at the Canyon, we stoked up on some food, trail mix and the like so we would be able to go for a decent walk tomorrow. Some people went to see the iMax movie which is all about the Grand Canyon.

It was bloody cold, around 8ºc, and heavy rain. There`d been snow flurries the previous day. After stocking up on food, we hung out at Pizza Hutt with the others for warmth until the bus came back.

Finally we reached the Grand Canyon, and we got to our cabins. Now we thought we`d be staying in actual cabins, with the bunk bed and such, but no. These cabins were just as everybit cozy as a hotel room. The only down side was that the heater (which worked very well) was very very noisy, so we couldn`t leave it on during the night.

We were just in time to see the sun setting over the Canyon, with Kathy, Anthea, and Zoe.

Moo! I mean… ahh, wild deer nearby the cabins

The all-famous Grand Canyon

The trail you see is the Bright Angel Trail

Naki represent

Anthea and Zoe in their hoodies they brought from Tusayan

Kolb Studio overlooking the Bright Angel Trail

Because of the weather, it just didn`t really happen with all the colours and such the way it is supposed to. Was still beautiful though. Our cabins are only 5 minutes walk from the edge of the rim. We walked along for a little while then back to the main hotel for dinner.

We were given one dinner voucher, and one breakfast voucher each, and we found that each voucher entitled us to a huge amount of food. So Ants and I decided we`d spend just one voucher and share our meal. Good thinking, coz we could both barely get through the meal that we had! We hung out for a bit and chatted, then headed back to our cabin. It was very pleasant outside. No wind, just cold. Not cold enough to have to wear a jacket though. The Aussies didn`t think so, and though we were mad.

We then decided that now would be a good time to get some of our washing done, especially because we had a fantastic heater to dry it all with.

Current Mood: cold & cold

Tags: Bell Rock, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, Sedona, travel, Tusayan