GRAND CANYON.....OH MY!!!

We're all up by 4:30 am each morning. It must be because of time zone changes or eagerness to hit the road. The mornings are cool and progressively getting hotter and hotter. This blog is all about the GRAND CANYON. We left Flagstaff, AZ., which is about 80 miles from the Grand Canyon, in time for the canyon entrance gate to open.

   

It didn't take long with a very helpful ranger to have our day's journey mapped out. Words or photographs can't convey the awe factor of this amazing place. The following photographs are personal treasures we will keep as mementos.

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

Our day ended by viewing the setting sun at Hopi Point. A haze and cloud cover obstructed the brilliance of the sun setting on the canyon rim, but didn't diminish our amazement of this world wonder. 

      

STRANDED ON SANDIA PEAK!!!

Friday morning, June 28, we left Amarillo for Albuquerque, New Mexico. West of Amarillo was like East of Amarillo. There was mile after mile of barren landscape and more and more huge wind mills. We drove through a 20 mile stretch, which had hundreds of these wind mills. 

Reaching Albuquerque, we went to its Historic Old Town which was comprised of small shops and eateries. We had some excellent authentic Mexican food. The main entrance to the Historic Old Town is shown below.

A center piece of the Old Town is the beautiful church--San Felipe De Neri Catholic Church.

Later in the day, we road an aerial tram to the top of the 10,378 foot Sandia Peak. The FFA considers this tram as a low flying aircraft. Our flight was Flight number 31. While on the Peak and viewing the awesome views of the Albuquerque area sights, the tram pilot notified us that an approaching storm with high winds and lightening forced them to ground our flight. We were stranded atop the mountain for an hour or so until it was safe to return. Dwain enjoyed the flight and I did too once the color returned to my knuckles! Nancy was smart enough to sit this one out.

Some scenes departing Albuquerque and heading to Flagstaff, Arizona.

Petrified Forest and Painted Desert

We're now in Flagstaff only 80 miles from the Grand Canyon--tomorrow's destination.