Some men get the world. Others get ex-hookers and a trip to Arizona

Prologue

Both Doug and I had recently earned free flight credits on Southwest Airlines and decided since we had a bit of down time before our move, now would be a good time to use them. The trip choice came down between Arizona, since we’d never seen the Grand Canyon in all our trips out west; and San Diego. We settled on Arizona. San Diego will have to be a future trip. [Doug: As in last year’s blog, I thought I’d put my own comments in. There were two main issues about going to Arizona instead of San Diego: 1) we could fly to Phoenix non-stop, and San Diego would require a change in planes (making it a much longer trip), and 2) I wanted to go somewhere a little bit away from the maddening crowds, which I thought San Diego would be. Little did I know, finding silence and solitude in Arizona wasn’t that easy either.]

We decide to conduct an informal survey during our trip. You may have heard Hank Steinbrenner’s recent comments about Red Sox Nation: "Red Sox Nation? What a bunch of [expletive] that is. Go anywhere in America and you won't see Red Sox hats and jackets, you'll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We're going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order." So we decided to count up all the Red Sox and Yankees hats and shirts we saw in Arizona, neutral territory. Results to follow. [D: Hank – you’re a freakin’ idiot. In the 8 months we’ve lived in North Carolina, I’ve seen TONS of Red Sox gear, and very little Yankee gear. Of course, maybe if you won a World Series in the 21^st Century, those fair-weather fans might pull out those pink Yankee hats again. But since you won’t be winning another World Series until at least 2086, we’ll just get to enjoy the Yankee-Free world we’re living in.]

Thursday, March 6

Going through security at RDU Airport Doug became one of “those people” when he forgot to remove a pocket knife from his carry-on backpack. Luckily they didn’t arrest him and let him go back to the car to drop off the knife. [D: This was really embarrassing, but I have a semi-excuse. Sage and I have these great bags that we bought before we went to Europe a few years back. They can be wheeled, or used as back packs. And the best feature is that they have removable backpacks, which almost doubles the space of the bag when it’s attached to the “main” pack. Well, I had packed my case, which included throwing in my Swiss Army knife into the backpack part. After we had packed, we decided we should bring one of the detachable backpacks onto the plane, in case one of the bags was lost. (Which happened on the way back from New Hampshire the week before.) So we did that, and of course the knife was in that part which I tried to get past security. When they said, “Whose bag is this?” and pointed at my backpack, I really had no idea why they flagged my bag. I just assumed it was a random check. As soon as they unzipped it, I saw the knife and said, “Oh, bugger”. Thankfully they simply walked out the bag with me, and I was able to get the knife back to the car and get back through security in only 15 minutes. And yes, I hated being one of “those people”.]

I’ve always thought it would be cool to fly in one of Southwest’s specialty planes like “Shamu.” For our flight to Phoenix, I was excited to board “Nevada One,” the plane painted with the Nevada state flag. I’m easily amused. [D: Meanwhile I was just happy to get a row to ourselves, and an inflight magazine without the crossword puzzles done.]

We landed a few minutes early in Phoenix, picked up the rental car, and got immediately stuck in the legendary Phoenix traffic for an hour. [D: That was ridiculous. It was just about 3:00 pm when we left the airport, and it took us a good hour to go 30 miles. Made no sense to me. I thought for a second we had landed at National in DC. Until I saw the desert and cacti.]

We finally made it to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon after dark. Our first view of the canyon would have to wait until morning. Supposedly our room at the Thunderbird Lodge has a view of the canyon also. The stars were amazing as they always are in that clean western air. [D: I have to say, walking the rim of the Grand Canyon for the first time in the dark is an experience. It was a new moon, so the sky was pretty much pitch black. It was strange, walking along the rim trail, outside our hotel, and seeing nothing at all just past the trail. You knew that it just beyond, and that it probably dropped into a large abyss, but just out of reach. Also, seeing the stars in that sterile air, without a moon and very little human light was staggering. You just can’t appreciate how many stars there really are out there until you see them under a stark southwestern night sky.]

Friday, March 7

Got up before the sun, still haven’t seen the canyon! It was a rather cold morning, probably in the teens. Luckily we came prepared and had cold weather gear. We grabbed some muffins in the café and finally got our first glimpse of the big ditch. It’s grand.

As most of the roads in the park are closed to cars, you must take the bus everywhere. We caught the 7:00 hiker’s express bus to the South Kaibab Trail. The express bus is a nice feature because the other busses would make about a million stops before getting to the trailhead.

Most of the other hikers on the bus were planning to hike to the Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon to spend the night. I was thankful I wasn’t one of them. [D: Phantom Ranch is about 6.3 miles and 4,000 vertical feet down. Or more importantly, 4,000 vertical feet back up to get out of the canyon.]

One of the Phantom Ranch hikers we talked to was a guy from Birmingham, England. We never did get his name but Doug nicknamed him “Nigel.” He admitted he had everything but the kitchen sink in his backpack, including pizza for lunch. [D: That was quite funny. At the bus stop he seemed a bit put off that his pack was much larger than everyone elses. We said how we were just day-tripping, and a few of the other people mentioned that they were staying in cabins at Phantom Ranch, so they only needed some water and food. Meanwhile he was quite the conservative planner, having a full pack even though he was staying at one of the Phantom Ranch dorms. When he said, “If you name it, I’m probably bringing it”, I said, “what about some chicken wings?” He then opened up his pack and showed us his slices of pizza he was bringing down. Too funny. Even though we weren’t hiking together, we kept running into him down the trail, and he even ended up taking our picture as well. Good bloke, though I hope he’s not a Birmingham City fan.]

The top part of the trail was pretty icy. They even had a sign posted at the trailhead that said “crampons recommended.” We didn’t have crampons but my hiking boots have such great traction that I didn’t slip once. Doug did have a few issues with his boots however, and fell several times! [D: Only 3 times, and only on the way down.] He will be looking for new boots shortly. [D: It wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but considering slipping and falling off of the trail might have meant a fall straight down 1,000 feet of canyon, it might have been wise to have been better prepared.]

We hiked down to Cedar Ridge, about 1.5 miles and 1,200 feet down.

Doug had no slipping problems on the way up; a bit of melt had seemed to soften the trail a bit. [D: Well, it’s also easier to keep one’s balance walking uphill instead of downhill.]

We took the bus to the Visitor’s Center and walked a couple miles back to the lodge along the Rim Trail.

We grabbed lunch at the bar in the Lodge. While we were eating, a few hikers came in who had just hiked all the way out of the canyon. I heard one guy who had been down there for five days say “I want a cheeseburger and a beer and I don’t care how much it costs.”

After freshening up, we decided to take the Hermit’s Rest bus loop and stop at a few overlooks. The best view in that area is from Pima Point, one of the few places you can view the Colorado River from the South Rim.

After our bus tour we had dinner at the Maswik Lodge.

Saturday, March 8

We had breakfast at the lodge restaurant. We saw a bride and groom in the restaurant, I assumed they tied the knot at sunrise. The bride must have been nice and warm in her strapless gown in the 20 degree weather! [D: And how disappointing it must have been for her as well, considering there were tons of clouds during sunrise. More like a gentle lightening of a gray sky.]

After breakfast we drove over to the Shoshone Point trailhead, one of the few areas you can drive in the park. After reading that not many people hike this one mile trail to a fantastic overlook we thought we’d have the place to ourselves. It was not to be. Some yahoos were hogging the viewpoint when we arrived and continued to block our view for the next half hour. Nice manners. They finally left and we had the spectacular view to ourselves for a while. Shoshone Point sticks way out into the canyon so the views go on for quite a while. When another hiker showed up a while later, we took off. [D: That trail was almost entirely covered with snow and ice as well, and was slow going. Thankfully it was all through a wooded forest instead of along the canyon edge.]

After exiting the park, we stopped in the town of Tusayan to get gas. At 3.89 a gallon, we got just enough to get us to Sedona.

We arrived in Sedona in the afternoon and checked in at the Southwest Inn. Good views from the room. [D: A pretty impressive drive into and through a canyon to get to Sedona too. I was prepared to be impressed.]

We drove to downtown Sedona to check out some of the shops. It’s a nice town but overrun with tourists. We went to the “Italian” restaurant the woman at the inn had recommended but we got there too early for the dinner menu apparently because all they had to offer were burgers and pizza. Good views of Snoopy Rock from the restaurant anyway. [D: That was quite disappointing. We specifically asked for an Italian recommendation. You would think she might have mentioned, “oh, they only serve pasta for dinner, not lunch”. The first of many disappointments in the town.]

Sunday, March 9

We were up early again, still on east coast time apparently. Grabbed bagels at the inn, they offer a great free breakfast.

We arrived at the Boynton Canyon trailhead by 7:30. Hiked the six mile round trip to the end of the canyon and back, including the Vista spur trail. Some good views of the red rocks along the way. [D: Boynton Canyon, we had learned, was not only a relatively quiet trail, but also one of several Vortexes to be found in Sedona. I have no idea why people think that the area has all sorts of spiritual centers, but on the way out of the canyon we came across 4 people who were standing, facing the canyon with their eyes closed, their arms outstretched and their palms faced upwards. They just kept standing like that, absorbing the “spiritual energy”, I guess. All I felt was a blister on my foot and the sweat going down my back. I find it humorous, that on the website linked above concerning spiritual vortexes in Sedona, they mention how juniper trees respond to a vortex by its trunk twisting and spiraling. I’ve seen juniper trees all over Utah and Arizona, and they ALL have that same twisting. Well, I guess I’m just not a believer.]

By the time we returned to the car the lot was full and the vultures were circling looking to pounce on any available parking space. You really can’t get much solitude in Sedona. [D: True. I was shocked at how many people we saw on the trail to Boynton Canyon. Well, I should say on the way back. We only saw 2 people on our way there, but passed a ton on the way back.]

We didn’t do much the rest of the day, relaxed and ate. Had lunch at El Rincon and dinner at the Red Planet Diner. The diner doesn’t offer breakfast all day which annoyed Doug to no end. He thinks they should not be able to call themselves a “diner.” [D: Well, seriously! I told the waiter, “That’s like a Pizzeria not offering Pizza!” I’m about to send an email to them, telling them they should really change their name. Call yourselves a café, or a grille, or even a restaurant, but you are NOT a diner, my friend.]

We had HBO in the room so we watched the final episode of The Wire. [D: And the final episode? SIMPLY INCREDIBLE. Just like the other 9 episodes of season 5. Just like the first 4 seasons. In all 60+ episodes, The Wire never took an episode off. Amazing television.]

Monday, March 11

We grabbed breakfast at the Inn again and were on our way back to Phoenix by 10:00. [D: We thought about doing more hiking in Sedona, but as Sage said, “I got a sense of it”. Also, this allowed us to hit a cactus league game.] Didn’t hit too much traffic this time and we were able to make our way to Tempe Diablo Stadium in time for the 1:00 A’s at Angels spring training game. A hot day in Phoenix, and we only stayed until the 6^th inning.

Checked into our hotel next to the airport and I finally got the Italian meal I’d been craving at a Macaroni Grill.

Tuesday, March 12

Flew home one day before Southwest decided to ground 41 planes in response to some FAA inspection concerns!

Final count:

Yankees fans – 8

Red Sox fans – 24

Suck it, Hank!