Trees, Finally Some Trees

We just saw our first tree in a week and a half.  You never know how much you might miss trees until you visit Nevada and eastern California.  They both have very small struggling shrubs, but no trees.  You can literally see over the top of every growing thing.  Lots of dirt, rocks and small shrubs.  We crossed the state line into Arizona and saw our first green things taller than 3 feet.  The only green thing of any stature or prominence up to this point was me after my questionable dinner choice.

Grand Canyon

Sue drove most of the way.  Don't tell Thrifty Car Rental as she is not a "designated driver".  It was a long, mostly straight roadway.  Her only hazards were tumbleweeds that appeared out of nowhere and ignored all traffic laws.  The small ones weren't a problem.  It was the 4 foot balls of brown brush crossing the roadway at 30 mph that caused Sue to issue her, "*#b#%w2r#**g>*6%#**" outburst.  I don't know what she said either.

By desert standards, Arizona is lush with vegetation.  Green trees, brown hay-like grass and green shrubs. We hit Williams, AZ, about an hour before sunset.  Sue drove for the first 4 hours so it was time for some relief.  Jack to the rescue to "bring it on home" for the last hour.

The GPS got us to the front door of the Grand Canyon's El Tovar hotel.  I got lucky and found one of the rare parking spots nearby.  A quick check in and we dropped our bags in our room and headed for the lounge.  We had the beef tenderloin chili and crab cake sliders.  Yum.  Washed down with a bit of alcoholic refreshment and dinner was served.

El Tovar Hotel

Internet access is weak and TV channels are limited.  All of this is blamed on the remoteness of the park. 

It was dark when we arrived so, imagine our surprise when we woke up the next morning and stepped outside to be greeted by 20 degree air and to find a very large hole next to our hotel.  I now know where all of the sand and rock came from that we saw in Death Valley and Valley of Fire.  It came from this hole in Arizona that they call the Grand Canyon.  It must have taken a team of backhoes weeks to dig this thing.

Major Excavation Site

Since we left Death Valley at minus 287 feet and now are staying at a positive 7,000+ feet, it is lucky we came up slowly so as not to get the bends.

An Indian Pointed Here Once

We are regulars now at the El Tovar dining room.  The food is good by National Park standards and most meals we have had have been good to very good.  One night I had the boneless duck.  I never feel guilty eating boneless duck as I think that, any duck without bones, couldn't have had much of a life anyway.

Our weather has been heading south lately with rain scheduled for our last day.  It was sunny the first day and overcast the second.  We woke up our third day to fog and wet pavement.  We'll have to wait to see how the weather progresses.

El Tovar Lobby Decorated for the Holiday

We may end up spending our last day in or near our 109 year old hotel.  The picture above shows that even the buffalo head in the foreground has gotten into the spirit of the holiday.