tp:  We took full advantage of the internet at the hotel this morning and set ourselves up to be able to stitch photos.  That means we will be able to make large panoramic shots at the Grand Canyon and put them together into big prints or  3D models.  Before leaving Phoenix, we had lunch with Dave and his girlfriend Jen in Tempe, another sprawling “suburb” of Phoenix.  The food was tasty and large as per usual, and the company was fun.  If we had gotten in touch with them sooner we might have been able to get a hookup for our hotel, since they both work in the hotel business.  Next time...we meandered our way away from Phoenix, stopping twice to try and find a western store that sold boots and belt buckles, but without much luck.  After leaving the city proper and getting into the country, we began climbing in elevation.  Flagstaff is almost 7,000 high, and we gradually approached that throughout the day.  After about 90 minutes of driving, we took a detour to Sedona.  Sedona is a tourist / resort town nestled in the mountains.  It is understandable why so many people vacation there as the scenery was beautiful.  The highlight was stopping at the Chapel of the Holy Cross.  the chapel is situated on a bluff overlooking sedona and the mountains.  It was designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright and both commands attention and strives to blend in with the surrounding mountains.  We took some great pictures from there.  The mountains are a deep red color.  There is a lot of vegetation around that is dark green, and the contrast makes it look like something out of a looney tunes cartoon.  the drive out of sedona was extremely beautiful, winding through canyons and climbing from 4,000 to over 6,000 ft.  Out little car handled the hills without complaint.  We finally reached Flagstaff and just headed west to try and make it to our campsite before it got too dark.  There was a 12,000 peak just north of Flagstaff that was shrouded in clouds.  It reminded me of Kili, but on a much smaller scale.  We finally got off the highway and discovered we had 51 miles until reaching the Canyon, meaning about 48 until our campsite.  The sunset was gorgeous and helped the time, and was contrasted by lightning to the east.  We have certainly had our share of dramatic weather out here...so far it has all been at a distance.  We rolled into the campground a little after 8 and got set up.  It’s pretty nice, more about that later.  We had a dinner of rice and beans and did some stargazing, before retiring to the tent to try out the aerobed!  Cushy camping indeed.

 

ef: alright, let’s see if i have anything to add to that. tim certainly had a lot to say. It was great to see Dave (Dave Belden that is), since we hadn’t had a chance to catch up since probably 1995. Plus he paid for lunch, despite my protest.

once we got out of phoenix, today was probably the best day of driving yet. All day I found myself marveling that these red rock formations really exist, and that i was here viewing them. we were off the interstate for the most part, so we really had things to look at the whole time.

on the way out of sedona, the terrain shifted from arizona desert (like from roadrunner cartoons) to a kind of alpine pine forest, which sort of reminds me of upstate ny, except all the rock here is red. we drove through valleys that were completely covered in little sunflowers, and we saw at least 2 rainbows, one of which shared the sky with a lightning storm.

I have rarely, if ever, seen as many stars as we saw tonight. the moon didn’t rise until around 10, so for about an hour before that the stars had no competition.

the aerobed fits in the tent perfectly. it looks like it was built for it. so no sleeping on the ground for us. as i’m typing this i can hear coyotes talking to each other ... and also a very loud group of campers at the site next door. tomorrow we see the canyon and do some hiking. ttyl!