Route 66

We left the Grand Canyon and headed toward Lake Mead with the intent of renting some jet skies and tooling around the lake.

On the way we decided to spend some time on Route 66 instead of sticking to I-40. After passing a few of the famous BurmaShave signs, we started looking for them around each turn. These were "re-plants" and not the orignals, but still fun to look for.

It wasn't long before we hit Seligman Arizona which is supposedly featured on the "Cars" animated movie. It took just one pass down the street to see why. The town has all the elements of the town in the movie. There is even an old "tin lizzie" sitting inside one of the garages (now a store) and several cars from the 40's, 50's and 60's are sitting around the town. I spotted a 1957 Ford Ranchero sitting behind a shop. If I had a trailer or even a trailer hitch on the wife's car, I would have been doing some negotiating to drag it home. I wonder if maybe this is why the wife suggested I leave the truck at home?



We decided due to the time of day to spend the night in the Aztec Motel there in town. A combination of nice clean rooms and a cheap price made it as easy choice.



A few hours sleep and we were on our way once again. We decided to stay on Route 66 as far as we could. One of the guys in Seligman said this was the longest section of the old highway still in existence, something just under 100 miles.

Once we got to the dam it was very clear that the water level at Boulder Dam was wayyy down as you can see from the pictures.






And once when we made it across and over to Lake Mead, it was even more apparent at the marina. We parked our car where water would normally be 20-30 feet deep.



When we got to the marina, the temperature was about 102 degrees, the hottest we'd seen so far. I went in to rent the jet skis and found out that you had to be 18 to rent and drive one. This left both Ethan and Zachary a bit depressed. And they weren't interested in riding on a three seat water ski. Well, Zachary didn't want to. Ethan still wanted to go out and play on the lake.

I decided our options were to wait until the next morning and rent a ski boat for a couple of hours @ $80 per hour. Or we could head on to Los Angeles and go visit Universal Studios for the entire day for about the same price.

With the temps as high as they were and the fact that we would only get a couple of hours in the boat on the lake, the boys decide to do Universal Studios.

I dodged a bullet there *grin*. I wasn't excited about camping in 100+ degree heat.

So, we loaded up and headed to L.A. It was even hotter in the Mohave Desert as we drove across. The top temp we saw on our dashboard was 109 degrees as we drove across.




We searched for a campground as we approached L.A. but couldn't find one. We even took a 30-40 minute ride out into the countryside following signs to a state park. It turned out to be a day use only park once we found it. By this time it was pitch black outside and we were tired of looking. So, we spent the night in a hotel there on the highway. This was the hotel where Ethan locked the keys in the trunk of the car (see previous post). This made our third night in a hotel in 15 days of travel. Not too bad I must say.

It was a good thing we had setup Zachary's phone with a AAA roadside assistance plan. We were able to call them and have someone come over and unlock the car. It took the guy about 15 seconds to open the door and let us in. Once we got that straightened out, we checked out and headed to the theme park.

I'll post some stuff on that later this evening.

We are getting ready to go see the new Batman movie and it's almost showtime.

Until next time!

Squirrel Abuse

Thought you would find this of interest.

Apparently the squirrel spoke with a park ranger and got my email address.

I was sent this picture this morning with a request to never visit the Grand Canyon again. *sigh*



I didn't mean to... Really I didn't!

The Grand Canyon

Ok, so I'm abit behind again. *grin*

We've been in San Francisco a day now and I've yet to post about the Grand Canyon.

Sorry about that. Finding time AND decent speed connectivity has been more of a challenge than I expected. But then again, the fact that in almost every town I've stopped, there was some sort of place I could get connectivity via WiFi (not always fast of course) is pretty cool.

To get to the Grand Canyon, I used the GPS again for directions to the "Grand Canyon Railway". The problem is that the location it directed us to was the main administrative offices for the company, not the train depot.

Once we figured that part out, we headed to Williams Arizona and bought 3 round trip tickets to the canyon. Since the temperatures were down due it being the rainy season, I picked the cheap seats on a restored 1930's Pullman car for us. It came complete with reversible seats, windows which could be opened, and complimentary beverages.


If you ever go to the Grand Canyon, this the ONLY way to do it. I've driven to the canyon and have taken the train. By car, you have to sit in traffic for quite some time to just get into the park. Then you have to deal with parking, etc. By taking the train, all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.

The train company provides entertainment and the price of the tickets includes the park entrance fee. Overall, not a bad deal.


Since we are "car camping", we've been living out of the trunk of the car. And believe me when I say it is full. Anyways, this meant that before getting on the train, we had to figure out what we needed to carry with us for a couple of days at the park. Since each of us brought backpacking gear, we only had to load up the packs. We did drag the cooler with us though. I had bought a watermellon and cantelope from a roadside stand on the way up and had them on ice. Nothing like an ice cold watermellon for dessert and fresh cantelope for breakfast. It was worth the hassel dragging the cooler onto the train.

Oh, did you know that the cantelope originated in Pecos Texas? One of the interesting tidbits we learned in Pecos during our visit to the Pecos museum... It is also where the first rodeo was held. See mom? I did learn something on this trip *wink*.

I told the boys they could go tour the various information centers, museums, and overlooks via the shuttle bus while I setup the tents. I gave them a couple of hours to be back at camp. While they were gone I spent all of...err some of my time putting up the tents and the rest I enjoyed by taking a nice relaxing nap.

The next day we hiked down to the first rest stop on the Bright Angel Trail which is 1.5 miles into the canyon. This first stop is just over 1,100 feet down below the rim and the trail is not for the faint of heart. It is only a few feet wide and has a nice long drop off the side.



Actually getting down into the canyon is not too bad. Getting back out was a whole 'nother thing. Those hiking down into the canyon were always smiling and talking away about the beautiful views, etc. Those we passed that we coming back up always had a similar expression, red in the face, breathing heavy and sweating profusely. This should have been a clue *chuckle*.

During the hike, I was constantly amazed by the various people we saw going down into the canyon on our way back out. There were SEVERAL I wanted to tell, "go back, you aren't ready for this." One fellow we passed had to be 55 years old and 295 lbs or so. No water bottle and no hiking partner. And that is just an example of one person... Oh well.

Have you ever heard the comment, "It's a small world"? I'm betting you have. Zachary and Ethan have first hand exeperience in this fact. About 1/2 mile into the decent into the Grand Canyon, we met two of their high school teachers. Now what are the odds of finding two people from Dawsonville Georgia 2,000 miles away and 1/2 mile down into the Grand Canyon on the same day we were there? Go figure.

Remember the incident with the tarantula I mentioned? I guess I'm just not the environmentalist I should be. Why you ask? Well...

All over the park you will find squirrels. And the park rangers tell you every chance they get "Don't approach the squirrels. Don't feed the squirrels". Yet everyone does, and this has made them somewhat agressive around people in search of handouts, etc.

During our hike into the canyon, I found myself with several of them on the trail in front of me. As I was walking, I took a step with the intent of stepping over these little furry rats with bushy tails. As I took the step, one of them decided to dart across the trail. Quite by accident (really it was, I promise), I caught the squirrel between the sole of my sandal and the trail. I'd estimate I rolled the squirrel between the ground and my foot a good 12 inches or so before I realized the problem...

Now everyone has seen cartoons, etc. Picture the most comical scene you can from something like Ren and Stimpy where one them gets electrocuted or something and they are lying on the ground twitching uncontrollably. That is what I saw when I looked back at the carnage I had wrecked. The people just behind me on the trail were standing there, looking down at this poor little squirrel and back up at me. I could just hear their thoughts... "You big meanie, look what you've done!" and "Murderer!". But at this point, what could I do? I wasn't about to give the little critter mouth to mouth and the rangers did say "Don't bother the squirrels" didn't they? So, in my most nonchalant manner, I turned to the guy nearest me and said "Ooops".

Since we happened to be near the very end of the section we had planned to hike, I continued a few yards up the trail to the bathroom park services had built for the rest stop. When I finished my business and headed back toward where I had left the boys, they had found the squirrel lying in the middle of the trail (yep, still twitching). They immediately yelled, "Hey dad, come look at this squirrel."

Now I had a decision to make. Do I admit to my second fatal encounter with the local wildlife or do I act as if I know nothing of the events which have led to this poor creatures untimely demise? Plunging forward, in good ol' bubba fashion, I told them, "Umm, I may have had something to do with that." Zachary and Ethan looked at the squirrel, then each other, and back to me. "You didn't!... Did you?" It didn't take them but a second to come up with "YOU STEPPED ON HIM??!! How could you!".

Luckily for me... and the squirrel of course, it had stopped twitching and sat up. In my defense, I hastily pointed this out to the boys. "I didn't kill him, see, he's going to be just fine" as I nudged him with my foot.

"He's got blood coming out of both ears dad. You've probably killed him! How could you?". Again with the how could you statement. It wasn't as if I intentionally decided to squish the little bugger...

As I continued to profess my innocence, the squirrel began to show more signs of life by first dragging itself in a circle and then shortly running around in a circle. "Aww, he'll be ok. He just got his bell rung is all boys." You can imagine my relief when he finally reached the edge of the trail during one of his loops and disappeared into the brush.

Of course at this point we had an audience. Did I mention that this trail is loaded down with other crazy people who think hiking down into the canyon is a fun way to spend a couple of hours? Now the boys are telling those closest about how this isn't my first deadly encounter with nature on this trip. Thanks guys *smile*.

You know, when I started this trip, I didn't set out to kill. It really wasn't on my list of things to do. Visit New Orleans, go into Carlsbad Caverns, hike the Grand Canyon, go to San Francisco, kill poor little critters... Nope not on the list. Oh well, what can a feller do?

All I can say is that anyone who might live on my route back home should probably be sure to keep their pets indoors as we drive by...

After we determined that the squirrel had apparently made a full recovery and had run off to join his friends (much to my relief), we headed back up the trail. About a half mile into the climb out, I hear someone yell "hey watch out!" from down below. I stop and turned around to see what the racket was about. Coming up behind me in a dead run are three mules with their packs and no rider. One of them even had a portion of his pack dragging on the trail behind him as it ran up the side of the canyon. And down below some 1/4 mile or so away someone yells "Stop those Mules!". Luckily for him, stop they did. Somehow or another he had lost control of them somewhere down the trail and they had decided to head back to the house. He was one of the park rangers who was involved in the mule rides down through the canyon. It was then that the boys started pointing out my wheezing behind them while hike up the trail sounded a lot like the mules they had just witnessed careening up the trail.



Between breaths I think I threatened to toss both of them off the cliff once I caught up to them. There may have been a few four letter words uttered on my part. I'm not sure. *shrug*

But of course they both laughed and danced up the trail out of my reach. Well maybe danced is a stretch. Ethan did jog a few feet down the trail while laughing. They basically continued up the hill while I tried (valiantly I must say) to continue my way up the hill. At times 50 and 60 plus year old people, small kids, and two people with walkers, passed by me on the trail, making sure to give me ample room due to odd noises I was making as I inched forward. Did I mention how steep this thing was? Geez! Whose bright idea was it to do this hike anyways! Ummm, ok, maybe I had something to do with that.

Much to my amazement, I did make it back up the trail to the top of the canyon. I was even breathing somewhat normally by the top. The grade lessend quite a bit the last few hundred feet, which allowed me to recover some of my dignity before leaving the trail. I was bound and determined not to top the hill sounding like an 80 year old emphasima patient. Plus I didn't want to give anyone else a warning as to what was to come. No one warned me, why should I warn them? *grin*

And as I stated before, I really did enjoy the hike. Really I did. But you probably won't get me back down in there again. Been there, done that, almost killed a squirrel. *smile*.


By the time we got out of the canyon it was about lunch time. I had reserved two nights for the campsite, but we had done everything we had planned on doing at the canyon. So, we packed up our campsite, changed our train tickets and headed back to the car on the 3:00 p.m. train back to Williams.


People always talk about spending time with the kids and making memories. I doubt the hike into the canyon is something we will ever forget.

I know that squirrel won't.

Until next time!

Zachary's Two Cents

Well its been fun so far. We got a little wet at the Grand Canyon but that was ok. It was so hot that everything dried pretty fast. And I forgot to tell you the way we got to the big GC was by a train from the 20's. It was cool.=]

The worst bumner so far was that you have to be 18 to drive a jet ski at Lake Mead at the marina. Could you imagine me, my dad, and Ethan on one jet ski? =] No thank you.

So we decided to go to Universal Studios in California but as we are about to leave the hotel, we noticed that no one has the keys. Guess who had them last? Ethan and they are in the trunk. So I had to call Road Side Assistance on my phone. So now we wait.

Another Word From Ethan

Howdy folks! Its been a while since the last post, sorry about that. Well since the last one we have been to many places. Some of them include the ancient cave dwellings, all of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and The Grand Canyon. Right now we are in L.A. and planning on going to Universal Studios...but i just locked the keys in the car and now we can't leave.... crap. Well I'll talk to you later. Have a nice day.

Road to the Grand Canyon

Our next campsite was supposed to be just outside of Tucson, but with the rain the road into the park was washed out. So, we ended up at a KOA outside of Mesa AZ.


On the way, we discovered the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, home of what is believed to be the largest natural travertine bridge in the world. A hike down into the canyon provides a tremendous view of a beautiful waterfall and arch.





From there, we drove toward the Grand Canyon taking some of the backroads suggested by Ron. Thanks Ron!

Since it was getting late,we ended up camping in a small state park near Camp Verde.

Zachary and Ethan ended up in the creek to cool off and built a small dam. Of course they had to build it once they saw the signs telling them not to dam the creek *sigh*.


I made the boys get up at 5:30 a.m. the next morning so we could possibly ride the train to the Grand Canyon. This meant that we were on the road toward Williams AZ at 6:00 a.m. pacific time.

The early morning ride through Sedona was beautiful. And both of the boys slept through it of course. Sedona looks like a nice place to take Donna for a getaway. It reminded me a bit of San Jose California but with a bit less water *smile*. Since I was driving I didn't take any pictures. You'll just have to take my word for it.

We made it to the train with a couple of hours to spare. So, we repacked our gear (car camping can spoil you!) so that we could carry what we needed in our packs and got on the train headed to the Grand Canyon.

Here are a few more pictures from Zachary's camera



Until next time!

Tombstone Arizona

By the time we got to Tombstone, it was probably 10 p.m. and I was beginning to wish I had picked a campsite quite some time before. There are plenty of RV parks in the area, but I couldn't find a place to put up a tent. So, I broke down and paid for a room at a hotel in lovely downtown Tombstone.

I was expecting a normal town of some size with a section that is setup for tourists. It is no where near the size I expected. If you are driving into town at night in the dark, and you blink, you will have missed it.



The main road through town has a few small hotels and such, but to find the old west everyone pictures, all you have to do is go one block west. There you will find the Tombstone of the old west. That one block takes you back in time over a hundred years. Disney it ain't, but it does have its charm. It would be hard to make it into something Walt would approve of, considering that in its prime silver mining days, Tombstone had over 160 saloons and over 8,000 prostitues or "soiled doves" as they were called.



Tombstone epitomized what I've always pictured the old west to be.

I highly recommend to anyone visiting "The town too tough to die" that your very first stop needs to be the OK Corral. Spend the money on the show and visit the actual location of the shoot out. It will give you the proper perspective on the town and its history. While you are there, be sure to catch one or two of the gun fights that are staged for the tourists. We watched the comedy show titled "Helldorado" that was pretty good.



Ethan found a replica of a .45 Colt that he couldn't live without. *smile*


And Zachary almost bought a hat. Looks good on him, don't ya think?