Day 29: Saturday, Oct 13 – Bryce Canyon, UT to Grand Canyon, AZ

  • Just in case you think everything has been going so smoothly, we would like to revisit the lost (temporarily) and found issues we were having about 2 weeks ago.  Here is a list of things we have lost (temporarily) and happily recovered again.  (The last few days have been particularly challenging on this front) : Glenda’s flashlight; Glenda’s cell phone; Glenda’s head lamp (yes she has one, hikers!!); Sue’s camera charger; Sue’s camera card reader; Glenda’s purse; Sue’s reading glasses; Glenda’s sunglasses.

Glenda modeling her head lamp (thanks, Di!)

  • Up early this morning we thought we would catch the sunrise but Bryce was cloudy and snowy so no good sunrise to be seen.  We headed south to the Grand Canyon.  En route we changed our original plan and thought we would go to the North Rim first and then on to the South Rim where we had hotel reservations.  The only problem was we didn’t know the time zone changed from Mountain time in Utah to Pacific time in Arizona.  Add to that our general map issues and so our estimated 4.5 hour trip became more like 6-7 driving hours.  Oh well.

Dark clouds on the horizon…

What else do you need???

  • At the North Rim we walked a short distance to Bright Angel Point for spectacular views.  Sue has never been to the Grand Canyon..it’s HUGE!

North Rim

Also the North Rim

  • Now onto the South Rim which seemed like just  few short miles away….210 actually.  We were now in Navajo Nation and stopped at a few roadside Navajo crafts/jewelry stands.  We each found something to buy.

Tiffany’s west?

Vermillion Cliffs from the car

  • Finally we made it along the South Rim for more spectacular canyon views and even caught the sun setting against some of the canyon walls.

Watchtower at Desert View – South Rim

Sue inside the Watchtower

South Rim

  • We were not able to get a hotel in the Park so we are  in a motel- a real throwback and full of Japanese tourists.  The dinner menu reminded us both of some of our local childhood diners or family restaurants with fruit cup,  minute steak etc.  Here is Glenda’s spaghetti dinner:

    Toast and a radish accompanied the pasta!

Jersey Junction
Two Today:
Our ranger at the North Rim, Jacob, asked us where we were from and, yes, he is from South
Jersey–Cherry Hill area. He was a history teacher but gave that up to become a ark ranger 4 years ago.  He lives here in the Park from April until closing in October and then heads to Pittsburgh where he works as a tutor.

Jacob, Park Ranger, and Sue

At a roadside Navajo Vendor/viewpoint we ran into a young woman wearing a Drew Softball t-shirt. Yes, she is the assistant softball coach at Drew University in Madison, just down the road from Sue (shout out to Carol and Andrea..Go Rangers!!).  She is on vacation after their Fall ball practice and before the season starts in the Spring.  She is from North Plainfield.  We Jersey people get around!

Theme of the Day: Big Rocks

Up next: Monument Valley, Utah

p.s.  We just realized that over the last 5 days we have been in temperatures ranging from 103 (Death Valley) to 33 (Bryce).  Thus the BIG suitcases!!

 

15 thoughts on “Day 29: Saturday, Oct 13 – Bryce Canyon, UT to Grand Canyon, AZ

  1. Mom G

    Keep the photos coming. Fabulous! Can’t imagine how Glenda had the wit to bring a head lamp with her (happily found again among the lost items). It’s nice to know she’s prepared to perform major surgery at night. Go You Girls!

    1. Sue Post author

      Yes…Glenda is always prepared. I hadn’t thought of the night surgery twist but yes I see it now. The only thing is she keeps misplacing the head lamp just when we need it. SO while all the other diners at the restaurant at Bryce turned on their headlamps to walk in the very dark night back to their cabins, Glenda and I had to rest to trying to get our cell phones’ flashlight app to work properly. It just wasn’t the same and I’m sure the headlamp people were looking down on us!

  2. Mom G

    P.S. Remember on my own Thelma and Louise c. 1953 that we rode donkeys on the half way trip down into the Grand Canyon. Nothing like having one leg dangling over a 1500 foot drop while your little beast negotiated the trail that appeared to be about 12″ wide. Claim was they never ever lost their footing!

    1. Sue Post author

      We saw the donkeys…assume they were the offspring a few times removed maybe of the ’53ers…you were braver than we….we did not elect to go with the “sure footed” method down…but they did look like they could handle it actually. Sorry we missed it but we were too busy reading the warning signs about all these uber fit hikers who don’t plan well enough and perish somehow on the way down or back. Too frightening for us wo we went shopping instead which has its own fitness requirements after all.

  3. Trish

    Hey girls, looking good……….. love traipsing after y’all, virtually that is…..I’m feeling it’s like that Flat Stanley year in elementary school…..only it’s Sue and Glenda having their photos taken in all kinds of interesting spots.
    Keep on trucking girls

    1. Sue Post author

      HA!! I remember that Flat Stanley year. A good analogy…however the flat part…at least as far as let’s say…the belly goes…no comparison :).

  4. Andree

    What a cool trip! Eugenie met Steve yesterday and he recommended that I read your blog. I have had a particularly fun afternoon following your exploits and look forward to future adventures! You will get a hard hat if you go on the Hoover Dam tour!

    A

    1. Sue Post author

      Andree
      So good to hear from you. I hope you are on the road to a full recovery. Steve mentioned he ran into Eugenie and he passed along also that Niel was still in Mongolia, which made my other brother Peter chime in in support of his friend Niel!!

      We are having a great trip..seeing lots of crazy and interesting things and laughing every day…most often at ourselves..with good reason :).

      Thanks for checking in!! We’re still driving and snapping pics!!

    1. Sue Post author

      Marge: Yes you should be worried…we almost went off the edge but, narrowly escaped the fate of T&L and are heading east again. Thanks for checking in. There are more canyons to come however!!

  5. Gerry Male

    Hi!! Finally back on the blog. The Grand Canyon is amazing! Did you to to Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley?

    Having dinner with Sarah, Lucy and Kate Foley tonight.
    xo

  6. Diane

    Hello Ladies, Catching up on your adventures. You are getting around…. pictures are great… So which did you get lotto, gun, ammo or beer! Glad the head lamp got some use! Happy travels

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