To Ride The High Country And Back Home Again.......

Nope, didn't get lost, just got caught up in day to day living.

When I left you, we were getting ready to head out from Tombstone to head up to Williams Az. and to the Grand Canyon. We stopped in Tucson and visited the Old Tucson movie set. Very much geared to the tourist trade but it was sorta cool to see the sets that I had seen in various western movies and T.V. programs. (Here is a useless piece of trivia for you that one of the tour guides shared with me. The movie " Rio Bravo" was one of four films John Wayne filmed at Old Tucson. Rio Bravo was set in Texas, but when you watch the movie you will see countless Saguaro Cactus in the film. Saguaro Cactus are only native to northern Mexico and Arizona and do not grow in Texas. Now you can see why my wife HATES to go to movies with me. (grin) )

We arrived in Williams late in the afternoon and took a quick trip down the main drag which is also historic Route 66. Williams (Damn I just LOVE that name) has preserved a number of older buildings as well as the old neon signs. It really looked good.

The Grand Canyon left me speechless. I had been told that photos just don't do it justice, and I found that to be true. As much as I dislike big government and all it consist of, I have to say that the government got it right for the most part with the National Park Service. I am very happy that someone had the foresight to save places like the Grand Canyon and other sites both historic and cultural for future generations.

We spent most of the morning at the Grand Canyon then headed back to Las Vegas. We put 1300 miles on the rental car and got a good look at the various landscapes in Arizona. Other than spending quality time with the good wife, what did I pick up from this trip? I got it. I got a better understanding of a historic time and place that I had only until now read about. One of my pet peeves is that I have read many books particularly about battles and military tactics and it is quite obvious that the writers have never set foot on the land they are describing. Until you walk the land, you can't fully understand the full context of what occurred there. I now have a much better understanding of the settlement of the southwest and the men and women that inhabited it. Not only that, I gained an appreciation for the varied and beautiful terrain of Arizona, so different from my own beloved North Carolina. I also fed my book habit by bringing home several new volumes to add to my groaning bookshelves.

All in all a wonderful trip with only one bit of trouble. I will NEVER ever fly Delta airlines again. We were delayed flying out from North Carolina at the begining of our trip due to bad weather (which I can accept) but you would have thought that it had never happened before the way the Delta folks were acting. But what drove me nuts was that on the way back, the flight out of Las Vegas was delayed and required us to rebook because they didn't have enough flight attendants to crew the aircraft. Piss poor management if you ask me.