Many mornings I walk with my parents before they go to work. This way, I ensure they get their exercise and relief from the stress of dealing with
the high volume of park visitors within a fast-paced store environment. Mom and Dad, who had not worked in the retail
sector previously, have been quite enlightened. Mom, who prefers pets to people, is simply exhausted
from being pleasant, helpful, and accommodating 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Not to mention the insanity they both experience of refolding
shirts, straightening plush toys, and reorganizing the store to
its original condition every few minutes as a new swarm of people come in and
create havoc. It is hard to believe how
destructive people are, with no respect for store property. My Grandma in heaven never would have tolerated my Mom
or even me behaving so badly.
Ironically, some of the parents cause as much damage as their
children. Sorry, I digressed. Anyway, one morning’s walk brought us to Yaki
Point, where we witnessed a magnificent sunrise. A spiritual experience, it certainly left us
with a sense of serenity, at least until my parents’ work
shift started at 11:30. To quote Lloyd Braun
from "Seinfeld", “Serenity Now, Insanity Later.”
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Sunrise View from Yaki Point |
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Sun Rising Above Wotan's Throne and Vishnu Temple |
We hiked recently to Cedar Ridge Point down the South Kaibab Trail. This trail, though less populous than Bright Angel Trail, is much steeper. Cedar Ridge may only be 1.5 miles down into the Canyon (which our pedometers converted to 5.75 miles round trip in “steps"), but the elevation changes 1,140 feet. Additionally, there is no relief from the sun nor any water refill stations. So we were sure to get on the trail by 6:30 a.m. Once again, we were in the minority of folks who made better time coming up (1.25 hours) than going down (1.75 hours), finishing within 3 hours. Cedar Ridge is a beautiful view point, offering a panoramic expanse of Canyon rock formations.
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Look at the layers of rock, clearly defined just by their color |
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Beautiful blooming flowers grow right out of the rock |
There were lots of aggressive squirrels on the Ridge, looking to pilfer hikers’ snacks, as evidenced by the pic we captured of one culprit. Ironically, squirrel bites are the No. 1 injury at Grand Canyon. They look so cute, beg for food, then attack your finger likes it is a Cheeto Cheese Puff.
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Squirrel trying to pilfer snacks out of my backpack |
We rode our motorcycles along another section of Historic Route 66, with the first stop being Ash Fork. It is so sad how “progress” killed entrepreneurship. There are few remnants visible of the small town businesses that once prospered from cross-country travelers along the Mother Road. Today, the only businesses still alive and well are the flagstone quarries. In fact, Ash Fork is known as “The Flagstone Capital of the World.”
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Location of The Hotel Escalante ,1876-1905 (when it succumbed to fire), part of the Fred Harvey chain along the Santa Fe Railroad |
We continued along Historic Route 66 to Seligman, passing a series of Burma Shave® signs with quips like, “The man who drives when he’s been drinking depends on you to do his thinking.”
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Had to include a horse picture for my Aunt Maureen! |
Once upon a time a popular railroad stop, after World War II Seligman was a thriving town with its roadside attractions and eateries to accommodate motorists, earning the distinction of being the “Birthplace of Historic Route 66”. After visiting, you clearly see the similarities between Seligman and Radiator Springs in the Pixar movie “Cars”, with its few businesses trying to stay alive, mostly through the patronage of nostalgic tourists.
We stopped for lunch at the Roadkill Café. Owned and operated by the same family since 1983, this place is a real gem. It may look a bit worn from the outside, but the interior is homey and clean. And what a carnivore heaven! With catchy menu names like “Fender Tenders” (chicken—get it, as in the chicken crossed the road—too funny!), “Ground Round of Hound”, and “Big Bagged Stag”. Calm down plant eaters—they have vegetarian options, too, like “Weeds and Seeds”. Dad ordered “Tire Tread Buff”, a.k.a. Buffalo Burger, while Mom tried the Elk Burger. The burgers came with a heaping helping of fries, were garnished with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and red onion, and were served on a sesame seed bun. We ordered a short stack of onion rings to complete the burger experience. I taste-tested both burgers. The juicy buffalo cooked medium rare and the sweet taste of the elk meat, both topped with gooey, melted cheese, provided me with some decent, reasonably-priced eats! We quenched our parched lips with bottomless Diet Cokes (i.e., free refills).
With my belly full, it was time to check out the saloon area, with its memorabilia and gift shop. How do you like my new souvenir shirt! Combining the food, prices, great service, history, and fun ambiance, the Roadkill Café earns a 4-cheese rating from Rambling RV Rat!
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Glad I didn't see these guys BEFORE I ate! |
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My new shirt from Roadkill Cafe! |
We walked around town a bit to transport ourselves to yesteryear. When heading back to where we parked, we saw some foreign tourists posing on our motorcycles. Guess they were getting their Kicks on Route 66, not realizing these bikes were not part of the memorabilia and nostalgic displays!
There are several prescribed burns in the area which are obscuring our views of the San Francisco Peaks. Furthermore, we wanted to visit Wupatki National Monument yesterday on our way to Flagstaff for food shopping. Unfortunately, an out of control prescribed burn has Highway 180 closed, prohibiting us from achieving our goal. So our trip to Flagstaff did not contain any “fun” sightseeing. Although in addition to stopping at Sam’s and Wal-mart, we visited the Sprouts Farmers Market. Though they operate in 15 states, this was the first time we ever shopped in one of these grocery stores. Sprouts is similar to Whole Foods, but more reasonably priced. We loaded up on fresh fruits and vegetables, something that is hard to come by at the Grand Canyon General Store.
TV, too, is scarce for us here in the Canyon. Mom’s too cheap to pay for satellite, and our over-the-air antenna picks up only a half dozen stations. We get only one major network (CBS). All the others are PBS channels, two of which are strictly kids’ programming (I’m too old for "Sesame Street"). So we rely heavily on streaming, although we don’t have an unlimited plan. We supplement our addiction to streaming "24" with borrowing DVDs from our Grand Canyon Community Library. Our latest DVD obsession is "Dr. Who." We also fill our evenings with watching sunsets, an activity with which we never tire, especially since no two sunsets are alike. I'll sign off with sharing these photos from Lipan Point in the Eastern section of the Park.
