| Journal Page 6 |
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| 8/8/04 We decided to split Arizona into two sections because we have already seen so much and we have a few more days to go! Arizona is amazing. We started our travels in Tucson by visiting a Saguaro forest which are the huge cactus that have arms. Some are over 50 feet tall and could have a dozen arms. We then went to Old Tucson Studios which is a studio set of an old fashion western town where they have made hundreds of movies. You can visit the replicas of the Sheriff�s office, a saloon and a mission. They did live shows there too. John Wayne made a ton of movies there and parts of the Three Amigos was filmed there. That night we went to the Van Halen concert in Phoenix. This was a huge highlight because we bought tickets months ago before we even left and it was really the only deadline of the trip. It was my first time seeing them and it was awesome. Keith has seen them many times but he still sang his heart out!! On Friday we went to a place called Montezuma�s Castle which are cliff dwellings that were built by Native Americans hundres of years ago. Our drive took us to Sedona which is surrounded by red mountains and cliffs. It�s amazing and the energy is very strong there. There are 4 places called vortexes where the energy is extra strong, many people come here for mediation and spiritual experiences. The rock formations are pretty awesome and there are many scenic drives around town. There is a chapel that we visited that was built into the cliffs that had a spectacular view. We spent the night in Flagstaff and headed out east this morning. We visited a place called Petrified Forest where there use to be a forest thousands of years ago and for some reason the trees turned to rocks from water and mineral deposits. The area is a national park and it is bad luck (and illegal) to take any of the rocks but you can buy them outside the park. The park is actually 28 miles long and goes thru amazing vistas and views of canyons and mountains of all different colors. The diversity is cool. We then ended our drive at meteor crater where a meteor hit millions of years ago and left a huge hole in the earth, pretty wild. Stay tuned for the amazing things we have coming up in the next few days�.a hint� we�ll be seeing Arizona from an eagle�s point of view!! |
| 8/10/04 Ok, ready for part two???? I hope so because it has been quite an adventure for Keith and I. Did you guess from the hint what we did? We took a hot air balloon ride over Verde Valley, right outside of Sedona! It was amazing and an experience that we will never forget. The ride was gentle and we just flowed with the wind, not scary at all! We went up right at sunrise and we saw some bunnies, otters, tree tops and a few deer. We even did a �splash and dash� where the pilot, Kyle, dipped the basket into the river! They ended the morning off with a traditional champagne toast and small breakfast where they gave us certificates for flying. We had a long drive ahead of us to the Arizona/Utah border where we went to Monument Valley. This is an area where huge natural rock structures were carved out of red rock by wind and rain. It�s pretty impressive but the road through the park was VERY bumpy and took a while even though it was only 17 miles round trip. We spent the night back in Arizona near Lake Powell and we did a drive by of the Glen Canyon Dam. Monday we headed back south to visit the Grand Canyon�s southern rim. I had been years ago but now they have a shuttle bus service that goes along the rim and stop at different scenic points. Very convenient because there is hardly any parking in the different areas. The Grand Canyon is amazing. I can�t put into words what you feel when you are standing at a railing gazing into the richly colored crack in the earth below! The Colorado River is what has formed this canyon over millions of years and you can hardly see the water from where we stood. In the park we encountered a wolf (or coyote, we�re not too sure which), and a mother Elk and her baby. We saw an IMAX film about the Grand Canyon after our touring, which was perfect since we didn�t take a raft ride, a helicopter ride or a mule ride into the canyon. Maybe next time! (Editor Keith�s note��YEAH RIGHT!�) |