Vacation Week for Pat and Kelly

Pat and Kelly ran into an accident that forced them off I-17.  Between their GPS and my checking the map, they made their way to Williams.  They stopped by the park before heading over to their motel and then met us at Mass at 5:00.  I think the priest was a drama major because he spoke as if he were reading Shakespeare.  His message was right on but his delivery was a bit distracting.  It was about 57 degrees and we all had on jackets.  Three hours away in Phoenix it was still over 100. 

I had made a pasta dish with beef and pork in it plus a Caesar salad, garlic bread and a lemon pie.  Despite the cooler temps we ate outside between the two rigs.  We are parked buddy style so our doors face each other and both tables are together.  Since Pat and Kelly had been up since 5 am, it wasn't long before they took off for their motel.  Ted and I did the dishes from dinner, watched the Olympic diving on TV and called it a night.

Sunday we took off for the Grand Canyon.  Pat rented a car that holds six so we can all travel together.  Because we have four Senior Passes that admit the holder and three people, there was no charge to enter the park.  We visited the Visitor's Center, watched the film and then walked to Mather Point. 

From there we drove and reparked in the El Tavar Hotel area 

and visited Hopi House, 

walked the rim path down to Kolb Studio and then had lunch at Bright Angel Lodge.  

We drove to the Geology Museum 

and thunderstorms were building and visibility was diminishing so we finally gave up and started home.  On the way we saw lots of elk by the side of the road.

We had some snacks before walking into Williams.  We stopped at a diner for soup and pie for some and then came home.

We chose to head to Flagstaff on Monday to visit Walnut Creek National Monument.  We saved $30 at the Grand Canyon but this day we saved $48!  Pat and Kelly are loving the benefit of arriving in the same car as us old folks.  

We watched the film on the history of the people who lived in the rock crevices of this canyon.  The walk into the canyon consists of a steep descent with about 250 steps and is a mile long.  We walked about half the steps down and after observing the folks coming back up, only Tom and Pat went any further.  I hate to miss taking photos of many housing areas but we were at 7700 feet and the thinner air makes it difficult to catch your breath.  I kept offering people water as they ascended.  Pat and Tom said it was worth the trip down but coming back up was difficult.  We walked up our 125 steps and headed out.

We stopped at Sally's Beauty Supply and JoAnne's Fabrics before eating lunch at Hickory's.  After a stop at Walmart we drove back to the campground.

Ted asked the campground worker to start the fire near the shelter where we played Mexican Train.  I won!  Pat and Kelly came back to the trailer for some snacks and then went back to their motel.