Sedona & The Grand Canyon

We arrived in Sedona yesterday afternoon and before checking into our hotel room I had to stop at Pet Smart to pick up a little something for some special canines.  You see we were meeting up with more GSP friends that I met through Facebook.  Karen and Cheryl both live in Phoenix and they agreed to meet us at our hotel in Sedona for dinner and just to get to know each other better.  As we were pulling out of the parking lot there were three ladies crossing the road and as I am thinking to myself 'geez two of these women look familiar' a voice yelled out 'Denise!'  Wouldn't you know it, it was Karen and Cheryl heading into Pet Smart.  Of course dog people would meet at a pet store.  We chatted for a bit and agreed to meet at our hotel.  We had a great time and wished we had more time to spend together.  I would of never thought I would meet some of the GSP group members but in this trip alone we have met up with 5 and I'm thinking these friendships will last a lifetime.

 

Our hotel is amazing with a beautiful view of the red rock from our 3rd floor balcony.  The lobby area is both indoors and outdoors and as you go upstairs to our room there is no ceiling, so different than what we are used to. Here are some pics of the hotel and a pic of all of us together.

 

The view from outside looking into the lobby

Momma and baby Javelina, the Arizona pig-like desert dweller

Standing in the lobby looking out onto the parking lot - no ceiling

There are beautiful wrought iron  hanging all over the walls

Karen, myself, Craig and Cheryl

 

We had to get up early today as we were getting picked up at 7am by the Pink Jeep Tours for our visit to the Grand Canyon.  We tried to get the plane tour booked last night but it was fully booked and when we woke up this morning it was thundering and lightening so we were happy that it didn't work out.  Craig was tired of driving and frankly I didn't want to drive the hairpins turns heading up to the south rim.  As we drove closer to the canyon our tour guide was great, explaining certain things about the areas we were in and stopping for pee breaks.  The tour lasted 10 hours and we were home in time to catch the sunset. 

 

I usually don't run out of anything to say but when I first laid eyes on the Grand Canyon I was speechless.  Both Craig and I could of stayed there all day long just looking out on this wonder of the world.  We had 4 stops at different locations at the canyon and below are pictures of our journey today.

 

Our Jeep for today - there was 7 of us on board

A couple of Long Island and their niece and a couple of the Jersey area

More Javelinas - just need to see one for real

One of our stops along the way - great little gift shot

Had some tepees on the grounds

Another tepee

I wish I could take home some of the pottery

Giddy up!

Noticed this lizard while taking pics, he was about 6" long

My first view of the Grand Canyon

 

We stopped for lunch at 11:30 and across the restaurant was this Hopihouse

The downstairs was a gift shop but upstairs has a gallery, guess where I went?

Outside the Hopihouse

Some gallery items - beautiful pottery

The weaved rugs were amazing

This tiny door was at the top of the stairs

Stop number two of the Canyon

Another stop

Can you see the Colorado River below

The viewing tower at our final stop

Cool gate at the viewing tower

Some of the artwork inside the tower

Had to get this picture of the turtle

Outside the tower

So many colours in one spot

Our driver kept on saying that there is so much wildlife

We finally saw this elk just before leaving the park

Too busy eating to look up

The next two pictures are some panoramic photos taken with the IPhone

Heading home - taken from the moving Jeep

Getting close to Sedona

 

 

When we arrived back to the hotel we quickly went up to our room to freshen up and we headed out to catch the sunset.  We drove to a spot where one of the girls from the front desk told us to go, hardly any people and amazing scenery.  After the sunset we drove to a drive-in restaurant for dinner, Craig had Mexican for lunch so we decided on burgers instead.

Just before sunset

The rocks exploded in colour as the sun shone on them

Here's another on of those "my love for trees" pictures

Look Trish, prickly pear cactus!

Prickly pear cactus or Mickey Mouse cactus?

Good night from Sedona.

 

Tomorrow we drive up to Page, stopping at Montezuma's Castle and the Meteor Crater.  The following day we hoping to catch a tour to Antelope Canyon.  We leave Arizona on Wednesday and I can't tell you enough of how much fun we have had.  There is still so much to do and see in this gorgeous state and we are talking about coming back.

 

Talk soon!