Sunday       March 25

Since our last blog posting we have been hanging out in Las Vegas and the metro Phoenix area.

Last Friday I played golf with Pete and Tony Difranco at the Shadow Creek Golf Club on the north side of Las Vegas.  This golf course was built 20 years ago by Steve Wynn at the same time he built the Mirage Hotel and Casino.  Whenever you fly out of Las Vegas, the golf course is easy to spot by looking for the green rectangle surrounded by brown desert.  With all the pine trees on the course, you forget you are in a desert and it feels like a golf course in South Carolina or Georgia.  The course was in great shape because they are getting it ready for the Michael Jordan Celebrity Golf Tournament at the end of March.

Golf was only half of the fun this afternoon.  Shadow Creek is located west of the Nellis Air Force base.  While we played golf, an air show was going on in the sky above us.  F15's, F22's, KC135's, an AWACS, and a P3 were some of the military aircraft flying over the golf course.  The highlight of the day was the flyover of 3 B2 Stealth bombers.  Watching these three bombers fly over the golf course was awesome.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the planes.  I asked Pete if we were at war.  Our caddy, Scott, said no he gets to watch this aerial display every day over Shadow Creek.

We left Las Vegas on Monday, March 19.  We were not hauling any jackpots away from the casino.  Just memories of good times in sin city with our great friends Jackie and Pete.  The one interesting location we passed was just south of Las Vegas outside of Boulder City.  We drove past an area of the desert which is covered by solar panels.

We have two reasons to visit the Phoenix area, see spring training baseball and visit our friends, Jodi and Art who live in Mesa.  On Tuesday, the Indians had a day off so we went to an Arizona Diamondbacks v San Fransisco Giants game.  The game was played at the newest spring training facility, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.  The Diamondbacks and Rockies were the last two baseball teams that conducted spring training in Tucson.  An Indian casino, Talking Stick resort, built the 100 million dollar training facility for the two teams to relocate to the Scottsdale area.  Now all the cactus league teams are around the Phoenix area.  The ballpark was quite impressive compared to some of the other facilities.  The city of  Mesa is building a new facility for the Chicago Cubs.

On Tuesday night we met Jodi and Art for dinner in Mesa.  We had a great time catching up with them.  An added bonus was seeing their son Joe and daughter Heather.  The last three years we have visited, Joe has been attending medical school.  Last week he took his medical board exams and is awaiting the results of the test and where he will complete his residency.  Heather has worked for U.S Air, but next week she starts a new job with a pharmaceutical company.  We wish them both good luck with their careers.

On Wednesday our destination was Goodyear to see the Indians play the Giants.  Before the game we stopped at a great breakfast restaurant, Matt's Big Breakfast.  

 

Matt's was featured on the food network show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Last year we went to Matt's and I wanted to order the Chop and Chick. This is a marinated pork chop and eggs.  Before we could order, we heard one waitress say to another, "86 the pork chops".  So my goal this year was to get there early before they ran out.  Success and it was delicious!

After breakfast we went to Goodyear to see the Indians play the Giants.  Before the game Cheryl scored two autographs, Carlos Santana and Chris Perez.  The Indians lost 4-2.

On Thursday we went back to Jodi and Arts' house in Mesa to spend the weekend with them.  Today, Sunday will be our last day in Arizona.  We are going to the Indians - Cubs game in Goodyear.  Look for us on WGN tv, we are sitting behind first base.  After the game we will start our drive eastbound for Ohio.  Tonite's goal is to make it to Gallup, New Mexico.

Thursday, March 15

We arrived in Las Vegas on Monday night after spending 2 nights in Flagstaff, AZ.  On Sunday, we drove to the Grand Canyon National Park.  As we were driving, it occurred to me that this is the my 4th visit to the south rim and all have been in March.  The one time we visited the north rim it was August.  We took route 89 north out of Flagstaff and arrived at the Grand Canyon by the east entrance.  The last time we were at the Grand Canyon we drove this way but it was dark so we did not see the scenery.

The first stop was Desert View which overlooks the east side or the start of the Grand Canyon.  On the side of the canyon is the watch tower.  Inside is a gift shop and an observation area on the top floor.  Whenever I see this structure, I think about that Jimi Hendrix song, All along the watchtower.

We drove along the south rim drive and made a few stops and took pictures.

We left the Grand Canyon and on the way back to Flagstaff we stopped in Williams, AZ on old route 66.  In Williams you can take a train to the south rim of the Grand Canyon for the day.  Right after we parked, the train arrived and passengers we exiting the train.

The next day, Monday, we left Flagstaff to drive to Las Vegas.  We drove through Oak Creek canyon, Sedona, and the old mining town of Jerome.

We arrived in Las Vegas on Monday night.  Here is the view from our room on the 51st floor of the Aria Hotel and Casino.

On Tuesday, we left the hotel to walk the strip.  We first took the tram from Aria to Bellagio.  As we were walking into the Bellagio we could smell the scent of flowers in the air.  It was from the flower display in the Bellagio conservatory.  I think they said on the news that there are over 500,000 flowers planted for the Holland themed display.

We walked the strip to Caesar's forum shops and then back to Aria.

On Wednesday we went to the Hash House a Go Go, a restaurant known for its large portions, for breakfast.  Cheryl had eggs and one pancake.

I had the chicken and waffles.  A strip of bacon is cooked inside each waffle.  Despite sharing, we had a hard time eating half of the breakfasts.

After breakfast we went to the Angel Park golf course so I could hit some range balls.  On Friday I am playing golf with Pete Difranco and his son Tony.  After that we stopped at the outlet mall and then back to the hotel.  This morning we look forward to Pete, his wife Jackie and Tony arriving in Las Vegas for March Madness, St Patty's Day, gambling, golfing, good food, and good times.  Looks like there will be good weather for St Patty's day back home and I hear all next week.  We hope everyone enjoys their weekend.  Take care.

Sunday morning, March 11.  The good thing about being in Arizona this morning is we did not have to spring forward.  Arizona, like Indiana, does not follow daylight savings time.  Last night we went to sleep on mountain time and woke up this morning on pacific time. 

Friday was day 6 of our trip.  We visited the north section of Canyonlands National Park.  This section of the park is also called Island in the Sky.  It gets that name because it is a large plateau and the views are incredible.  On the east side of the plateau is the Colorado river and on the west side is the Green river.

Our first stop was Mesa Arch.  The walk to this arch is much easier than the one to Delicate Arch.  It is a 1/4 of a mile one way and the elevation change is only 100 feet.  The best time to view this arch is at sunrise when the light reflects off the bottom of the arch.  Most landscape photography galleries have a picture of the arch at sunrise.  We chose to sleep in, maybe next time we will make it a point to visit at the crack of dawn.

The next stop was at the end of the plateau at a place called Grand View Point.  This is at the southern end of the plateau and the view is grand because it allows you a 270 degree look at the surroundings.

To the east is the canyon formed by the Colorado river.  To the west is the canyon formed by the Green river.  To the south is a wide expanse of canyon where the two rivers meet and continue as the Colorado river.

We left Canyonlands and drove south to Monument Valley.

 

Along the way we past through the town of Mexican Hat which gets its name from this rock formation that looks like it could tip over at any time.

In Monument Valley we stayed at a hotel called the View.  Obviously it gets its name from the views offered outside every room's balcony.

The two formations on the left, The Mittens, are the two Monument Valley is most famous for.  Being here reminded me of those John Wayne movies, Stagecoach and The Searchers, which were two of the many westerns filmed in Monument Valley.  We watched the moon rise and then the sun rise in the morning.

 

The hotel has a no pets policy.  So if you bring your dogs, they have to sleep outside.

We left Monument Valley on Saturday and drove south towards interstate 40.  Pretty much all of the 3 and 1/2 hour drive was through Navajo territory.  Along many of the roads there have been signs advising that you are driving through an open range.  This open range included goats being herded by dogs.  Cheryl liked seeing the horses jumping and running.

On Thursday we passed cattle on the side of the road.  Look at their hairy ears.

We turned west on I40 and a few exits later we arrived at the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park.  The park entrance is less than a mile off of the interstate.  A 28 mile road winds first through the painted desert and the last section is littered with petrified wood. 

The section that has the petrified wood is called Jasper Forest.

We left the park and headed west to Flagstaff.  We made a few stops along the way on Route 66.  The first was the Wigwam hotel in Holbrook where you can spend the night in a teepee.

At the next stop Cheryl decided she was tired of my driving and jumped on a new form of transportation.

Our last stop was in Winslow, AZ. The town made famous by a line in an Eagles song.

That catches us up to Sunday, March 11.  Today we are off to the Grand Canyon.  We hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend.