Hanging Around & Making the Climb

It was a slow and steady start to Saturday after our concert the night before; we all (including the kids) had a late, but great night. Not heading to the Grand Canyon until Sunday has allowed us to have the option to get a bit of shopping done, before a lunch and afternoon with the extended family to watch Sunday afternoon football.

Our plan to get to the shops didn't eventuate as Miranda hadn't been able or shake her sniffle, cough and sore throat, so it's off to the Doctors. Heading to the remote area of the Grand Canyon means we wouldn't have access to medical facilities should Miranda's condition worsen, so for peace of mind, it was a trip to the medical centre or what is called 'Urgent Care', much like an emergency room at our hospitals. Peter decided to take Miranda while I washed clothes, and Hayley went with the Barmettler's to the cousin's place. We knew it would be a bit of a wait, like any medical facility without an appointment. Three hours later, they were back with a prescription for a basic antibiotic for a sinus infection.

Medicine in hand we headed to Gretchen & Mikes house for a late lunch and to catch up on the football. So the tradition for many people (not the Barmettler family nor extended family) is to sit on a Sunday and watch five games of college Grid Iron, which literally takes all day - and this is done every Sunday. A bit different to watching one or two games of League for us on a Sunday. This get-together, however, was purely an opportunity to catch up with family before one of the families head back to San Fransico before the New Year. Each family certainly know how to cook and entertain; the meals we have eaten are not only lovely, but the choice of foods is numerous. As an example, for lunch we could have:
* chicken pieces
* warmed cheese burritos
* chilled pork casserole to make your own burrito
* spinach, nuts, goats cheese and pomegranate salad
* fish fruit salad (to have with your meal)
* homemade nachos to make using corn chips, smashed avocado, chilli beef, chicken & cheese melt and shredded three blend cheese.
Then, there was dessert ...... Then we had dinner later that night!!!!

Gretchen and Mike enjoy cooking when they have time and have an incredible BBQ, which grills/BBQ's, bakes AND smokes - which can be purchased in Australia (Peter has discovered on-line). We finally left at 9.30pm; we are officially members of the family, at times feeling like we are outstaying our welcome. However, we are never made or feel like that, in fact in would nearly be offensive if we said 'No' or 'We can do something else so you can have time with your family'.

Sunday: An 8 am start to get organised for our travel day to the Grand Canyon. It will take 4/5 hours to get to the canyon, and since we can't check-in until 4, we won't rush. The Grand Canyon sits 7000 feet above sea level, and as Barb suggested, the drive climbs very quickly, it has taken under an hour and 15min to climb 6000 feet. Elevation sickness can be quite significant with such rapid climbing, so it's important to drink, drink, drink ..... regardless of the number of wee-breaks we need to have. So packed with bottles of water, Gatorade, snacks, lunch stuff and our bags we are heading to the cooler part of the desert for a couple of days.

Lunch at Flagstaff (halfway) at a "Five Guys Burger & Fries" restaurant proved VERY enjoyable and VERY filling and very helpful with restrooms. With a bottle of water and Gatorade consumed on the trip up, everyone was desperate for a toilet. The philosophy (on the wall lined up to the toilets) according to the article for the restaurant, is for a customer to be in and out in 25 mins, eating freshly cooked and prepared burgers with hand-cut chips which are cooked in peanut oil. The company uses local produce and so on the board near the ordering counter is a sign stating where the potatoes came from "for today's fries". Peter ordered an All-The-Way Bacon burger for each of us, a cheeseburger for Miranda and Hayley finally received a hot dog!! I have included a picture of our burgers, which with two fresh meat patties, lettuce, bacon, tomato, gherkin and cheese, were huge and VERY YUMMY!!

At 7300 feet, Flagstaff and its surroundings are quite picturesque with patches of snow dappling the countryside. It sits at the same elevation as Mount Kosciusko, Australia's highest peak, and yet there are mountains on our drive to the Grand Canyon which are still much higher. We have just seen an image of a small grizzly bear, apparently advertising a Wildlife Bear park, to which I responded: "they are so cute, it's a shame they grow up to a size where they can rip you apart,". To which Bear Grylls replies "it wouldn't get me ..." I turn "What? Are you suggesting you can out wrestle a bear?", "No, I would feed you to the bear first, then run"!!!!!

It also appears that Dick Johnson is enjoying the drive on Arizona roads with a speed limit of 75mile or 120klm .... the locals seem to travel at 130klms, and yes they're on the phone also!! Climbing, the countryside is breathtaking with some moments of steep edges and so a small comment from Mr Johnson, while sharing my thoughts on how steep these were, was to suggest how he was thoughtful and slowed down ...... yes, I replied, from 130 to 120klms. At one stage we even had to drive at 100, how frustrating and it felt like we were walking .... and yet the roads in Arizona are the same as Queensland, straight, open and single-lanes yet 100 or slower is our limit back home.

At we get closer to the Canyon, now at 6000 feet, the temperature is a tad warmer - it's now 4 degrees Celsius rather than below zero and no snow. I feel like we are driving to Dalby; big open planes but with snowy mountain peaks in the distance, and no crops.

We finally arrive at the Grand Canyon Village and our hotel after entering the national park and paying a $25 entrance fee. There is a little ice/snow on the ground, and as we checked in, the lady at the desk said it would get very cold very quickly very soon. So we dumped our bags in the room and raced back to the car to get to a lookout to take a photo of the sun setting over the magnificent canyon. Then a race back to the car to get back to the room in the cold.

Can't wait for our day of walking along the rim tomorrow.