Arizona Vacation

4/20/06
I just got back from Arizona with my family. We went to the Grand Canyon for several days, then drove back down to Sedona to see the Red Rocks and then went further south into the Sonoran Desert. The vacation was much too short (only 6 days), but we crammed a ton of activities during that time.

During the vacation, I only did a total of 3 miles running (and no blogging). I really didn’t feel like spending the time away from my family training, when we had so much to see and do. We awoke everyday before sunrise and spent our time until after sundown checking out the vistas, viewing historic sites, hiking or studying various desert vegetations. My daughter was extremely interested in this, since she just finished covering the Sonoran Desert in her third grade class.

Right away I knew getting in a workout or two would be tough. Our first day on Friday, we spent flying into Phoenix and then driving up to the GC. We arrived around 4pm and spent the time walking around and then an early dinner.

On Saturday, we woke up early to do the Bright Angel Trail, but it was much too cold and windy. The temperature at the GC varied from 35 degrees in the morning to mid 70’s in the afternoon. One person remarked at how early we were getting started when he saw us. At this time, hardly anyone was around and it was like you had the Canyon to yourself. I guess being on NY time helped. Instead of the BAT, we went to the GC Visitors Center where my kids earned their Junior Ranger Badges. This meant filling out a booklet that had various activities and asked them to find various items around the canyon. Afterwards, we spent the day hiking along the GC rim. During this time, I learned the meaning of real fear when I saw my kids get a bit too close to the edge.

The BAT was tackled on Sunday. We started down the trail around 7:30am with the goal of reaching the 3 mile rest house. We packed plenty of water and were dressed warmly to fight the morning chill. However, this day wasn’t nearly as cold and we quickly ended up shedding layers. After a while, my son said he was tired and didn’t want to go anymore. However, my daughter was eager to continue on. We stopped and had a snack and he soon found the energy to continue forward.

The Canyon is Grand by every definition of the word. It is as impossible a place to fully take in even with the grandest of imaginations. It is fascinating how different layers of rock are stacked one on top of the other. The contrast is so striking, that it is hard to believe that it was created naturally. At different places the canyon walls looked stacked together like a layer cake.

We reached the 1.5 mile rest house, where we took another break and my son started building a rock castle. We spotted a couple of small animals while we hung around. We rested here for about 25 minutes and then continued into the canyon. About another .5 mile down we stopped for lunch. After eating, it was decided that my wife would start heading back down with our son, while I continued down with my daughter. I was concerned that she would have difficulty getting Lucas back up the trail, but she assured me they would be ok.

Sophia and I walked about another mile. We stopped short of the 3 mile mark when she started to complain that her feet were hurting. I think she realized that for every step down, the return step would be a little bit harder. We rested for about 30 minutes, taking in the sites. I had her take of her shoes and socks to let her little feet have a chance to breathe. I rubbed her little feet, while we talked or sat in silence looking around.

The trip up is supposed to take two thirds as long as it is to descend. When we started back up, we were at the 3 hour 30 minute mark. Sophia was a trooper, and marched up the trail without complaint. We took the occasional rest and we were making up back up much faster than we made it down. For a while I thought I would catch my wife and son.

We made it back up in 2 hours flat and we started to walk around the village to see if we could find her brother and mom. After a short time we found them in one of the gift shops. We bought some souvenirs and then went for ice cream. While sitting around eating it, we saw one of the canyon’s famous hawks flying overhead. He landed a bit ways down the canyon and I was able to focus my camera through my binoculars in order to get a decent picture of him.

4/21/06

The next day we woke up early to make the trip down to Phoenix by way of Sedona. We were out in time to make one last stop at the canyon to take some pictures of the rising sun. It was a beautiful way to see the canyon for the last time (at least until the next trip).

The highlight of going through Sedona was our stop in Sliding Rock. This is a small narrow canyon of beautiful red rock that had a clear fresh mountain stream running through it. You were able to go in the water and flow down the cold water if you were so inclined. We only went in up to our shins, which took a few minutes to adjust to the cold. We splashed around for a while and had a lot of fun. Lucas collected some fine specimens of the red rocks.

I found the actual town of Sedona to be a disappointment. The main strip is comprised of schlocky stores selling typical tourist junk. We walked around for a sort time and took pictures of Snoopy Rock and Lucy Rock. After this, we decided to just head to our hotel in Phoenix – the Arizona Biltmore, courtesy of American Express membership miles. The kids were anxious to go to the pool and check out the water slide. Unfortunately, the slide closed the moment we arrived at the pool. However, for the next several hours we had fun in the pool, floating around and playing catch with a water football. Lucas really got into diving off the side of the pool and trying to catch the ball in midair.

The next day it was an early start to the Saguaro Desert National Park. The place delivered on its name as many hundreds of Saguaro Cacti filled your view for miles around. The visitor center had another Junior Ranger Program in which you were supposed to look around for various animals and plant life. We signed the kids up and then headed out into the desert.

Sophia was excited to see many of the things she learned about in school. However, walking around the desert got a bit tough on them under the heat of the sun. The temperature difference between sun and shade had to be at least 20 degrees. It was actually quite comfortable when you could find shade, but you felt like you were roasting once you were under the sun.

We walked several trails, including one that let to a large rock formations filled with Petroglyphs – ancient drawings carved into rock made by people indigenous to the area. The path leading to the Petroglyphs had a shade covered picnic bench and we headed back there after viewing them to fill out the Junior Ranger booklets. I was dismayed to see the remains of an Easter Egg hunt lying about this area. There were small clumps of Easter basket grass entangled in several cacti. I picked up the larger clumps of it and my kids were able to write in their booklets that they saw and cleaned up some litter.

After filling out the booklets, we headed back to the visitor center where they got their badges and the Park Ranger made an announcement to everyone present to give a round of applause to the two newest junior rangers. They both smiled at this, but I think they were as embarrassed as they were pleased. We then headed back to the hotel to make it in time to use the water slide.

4/22/06
On our last day, we traveled to the Desert Botanical Gardens. When I saw where it was, I realized that the run on last year’s Ironman Arizona went right through this area. Upon this realization, I thought what a fool I was not to have explored the surrounding areas when I had the opportunity. However, I made up for the lost opportunity by visiting it this year. The DBG had many cacti in bloom and I was able to get some great pictures. There were activities for the kids and I was glad we went.

We left the DBG for the Heard Museum. The kids enjoyed it as there were many craft type activities to keep them busy. Other than the activities, I find museums dedicated to Native American culture to be very depressing. I think it is terrible how they were treated, how their cultures were destroyed and that the history of it should be memorialized. However, listening to recordings of long gone NA’s just creeps me out.

The final hours before our red eye flight out were spent in the pool. It was also during this time that I made the mistake of checking my email for the first time in days. I had largely kept my Treo off, but I thought that it was time for me to finally check in. I should have kept it off as I saw several urgent requests for me to call the office. So instead of flying home and resting for the next couple of days at home, I was ripped from the womb of vacation and went to my office as soon as I showered and changed at home. The transition from desert to subway was a difficult one and my mind felt twisted until today (4/22)

I just asked my kids about what they remember the most about our trip to the Arizona. I was pleased to hear my son say the walk down into the GC. My daughter couldn’t decide what she remembers the most. Perhaps that means she appreciated everything equally. I think we will go back one day, but not until the kids are tall enough to qualify for the mule ride to the canyon bottom.