Day 7

Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park

The pictures are:
Ed in Zion National Park
Driving out of Zion
Entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park
One of the many canyons at Bryce (550 feet down and we are going to hike it down tomorrow)

Well we left the hotel early and took the shuttle into Zion National Park. We only had a couple of hours to explore but we had a fun time. After exploring the park, we raced to the IMAX Theater at the visitor’s center to see a movie about the park and it was amazing to see the entire park in the IMAX format.

The stop at Zion Park showed us another type of rock and canyon formation and we were in awe of the beauty of it all.

Following the movie we all drove out of the park and stopped for lunch at the Buffalo Grill just outside the park. Barb and I both had our first Buffalo burgers and they were good.

Then it was a 68 mile trip to our next destination, the Ruby Inn at Bryce Canyon. The Ruby Inn has been in operation by the same family since 1916 and it is quite a place. We dropped our luggage off in the room and made a fast trip downstairs to the shuttle. We took the shuttle into the park and around to Sunset Point where we listened to a talk by a Forest Ranger about the park.

Bryce Canyon is yet another type of rock formation and I don’t think we can choose which has been the prettiest.

We then boarded the shuttle bus and it took us around the park and back to the hotel.

Next was dinner and shopping and boy can Barb ever shop!! We did have a Utah stone cut in half and inside was a very pretty crystal formation. This rock was many years old and we were then the first people to ever see the inside – pretty neat!!

Well it is time to go to bed as we have a busy day planned for tomorrow – night for now.

Day 5 and 6

Sorry we didn’t post anything yesterday, there wasn’t any internet service in the Grand Canyon.

The pictures are:

Our porch on the Grand Canyon

34 steps from the cabin to the rim

The view from the rim

On the mule ride – notice the edge!

Traveling through Zion National Park

So here is the last two days.

We left Flagstaff and drove 124 miles to get to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. The north rim is the rim that is harder and longer to get to and is only visited by 450,000 people a year compared to 4.5 million who visit the south rim. The lodge and cabins were built in the 1920’s and 1940’s and they are still in use and virtually in their original shape – very beautiful.

We had a cabin that was only 34 steps from the actual rim and the view was unbelievable! We first heard a talk by a Ranger who explained why they do not know how the Grand Canyon was formed and he gave a number of explanations. It was an interesting talk. We stood outside and watched the sunset over the canyon and it was an awesome sight. After sunset, we all ate in the restaurant of the Grand Canyon Lodge.

Day 6 - After breakfast on Thursday, we took a 1 hour mule ride along the rim of the Canyon – that was a lot of fun. In a couple of place we were literally 5 feet from the edge of the Canyon.

Following the ride, we all got into our Corvettes for the 124 mile drive to Zion National Park and our motel in the town of Springdale. First we stopped in the town of Kanab, Utah which has been the setting for a large number of movies. The tourist bureau had an employee who used to work in the movies there as an extra and she told us about a lot of here experiences. She was very entertaining to listen to.

Zion National Park was a fun drive with a lot of switchbacks; however, Barb wasn’t too thrilled with the winding road and the steepness of the mountains – but she made it.

After shopping and eating in town, we headed for the Jacuzzi and then it was time for bed.

Day four –

The pictures are:
Getting into the car at the hotel
The view from the car
Downtown Sedona
Barb at a Christmas store

Well for the first time in what seems like months we were able to get a full nights sleep.

The fact that we got two extra hours because of the time change made it wonderful.

After Ed had a full breakfast, we headed down a very, very winding mountain road to Sedona for a very full day of shopping. Barb must have taken hundreds of pictures of the mountains and we will have to delete a lot of them, but the views were spectacular.

Sedona is a very neat little town, but it is made for tourists and we were one of them. Lots of tour buses and people on the way to the Grand Canyon stop there. We went in most of the shops and of course had to buy some things.

At noon we met Dale and Judy Hammersmith from West Chicago who we met last year on the tour and have become good friends. We also met a couple from Ohio Tom and Lynn Checki who are on the tour and joined us for lunch at a Mexican restaurant on the main street of town. After lunch, we all shopped some more and made the drive back to Flagstaff. The drive is only 20 miles but it takes an hour – it was fun.

For dinner , 4 of the couples went to a “famous” steak house called Black Bart’s, which is very close to the hotel. Black Bar's has great steaks and old-fashioned cowboy entertainment with signing wait staff.

Well tomorrow starts the actual tour – see you in tomorrows blog.

Day three

We made it to Flagstaff!!

The pictures are:
What most of the landscape looks like.
The gift shop.
Our room at Little America.

630 really boring miles and we finally are here. That was two long days and not much to see. The picture is a good example.

We checked into a beautiful room and then took the Corvette and washed it – it was a real mess – but came out looking just fine.

The highlights of the trip today were spending an hour in Albuquerque looking for a Mexican restaurant – we finally did.

We did have one neat surprise when we pulled into a rest stop in New Mexico right next to a new Z06. The owner had just been to Mid-America and he used to live in Bloomington having worked for Crescent Electric – it’s a small world.

Then at the border, we were told by the state visitor’s bureau that the gift shop that is pictured was the best between the border and Flagstaff, so we just had to stop – it was really a good shop.

The good news is that we are now get 2 hours more sleep as we have been on home time since we left – and we need it.

Tomorrow we will be up early and go down to spend the day in Sedona before coming back here to join the start of the tour.

Night for now.

Day two –

The pictures are:
Barb at the gift shop
The home of the free 72 oz steak
The customer trying to eat the steak

After a fun day last evening, the day started with breakfast with Jeff, Kris and their family. It had been a long time since we have spent quality time with them and we really enjoyed it. We left Kansas City at 8:00 am and headed for the interstate west bound.

650 miles later, we made it to Amarillo, TX.

We did make one must stop along the way. For about 30 miles we kept seeing signs for Cherokee Village gift shop. Of course we just had to stop.

Barb was all set to buy a genuine Indian basket when we spotted the tag “made in Pakistan” – so much for the basket. They also didn’t have the live buffalo display!!

When we got to Amarillo, we went to dinner at “one of the top 10 steak houses” – they didn’t say top 10 from where but the steaks were really good. The highlight was watching a customer try to eat a 72 oz steak with all the fixings – we left before he finished in the allocated hour. If he ate it all, he got it for free!! If not he paid $72.00.

Well it is time for bed because we have about 9 hours to drive tomorrow to reach Flagstaff. The weather has been great so the drive should be just fine.

Day one –

We packed the Corvette last night – yes everything fit into the trunk and we didn’t have to leave any of Barb’s shoes at home.

We started out at 8:oo am with the top down and it was only 61 degrees out. During the day, we were sprinkled on four times but we never put the top up. It was 84 and beautiful when we arrived at 3:00 pm in Kansas City after driving 400 miles.

We ate with Jeff and Kris and just relaxed for the evening.

No pictures today as there wasn’t anything to take pictures of!!

We will take the next two days to get to Flagstaff.

Night for now.

Bloomington Gold Tours

5-Day National Park Tour:

September 23-28, 2008
Northern Arizona & Southern Utah

The pictures are of Barb in her surprise Chrismas present - a 2003 50th Anniversary Edition Corvette.

As you view our blog, you can click on any picture to enlarge it.

We leave Saturday, September 20 in Barb's Corvette to travel to Kansas City to visit Jeff and Kris and our grandkids, Eathan and Molly. It has been long time since we have been there and we are looking forward to stopping.

Sunday morning we will leave Kansas City and make our way to Flagstaff.

Hopefully the top will be down the entire trip!!

We plan to arrive in Flagstaff, AZ by Monday evening.

We will meet our friends, Dale and Judy from the Chicago area and a new couple Lynn and Tom from Ohio for lunch in Sodna on Tuesday.

The link to Bloomington Gold Tours is:
http://www.corvette-n-america.com/park_tour/default.htm

The Tour begins:
Day 1, Tuesday, September 23 starts in Flagstaff
Day 2, Wednesday, September 24, we drive to North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, AZ – 206 miles
Day 3, Thursday, September 25, we drive to Zion National Park, UT – 123 miles
Day 4, Friday, September 26, we drive to Bryce Canyon National Park, UT – 89 miles
Day 5, Saturday, September 27, we drive to Capitol Reef National Park, UT – 118 miles
Day 6, Sunday, September 28, we leave Capitol Reef National Park, UT and drive home

The Tour Package Includes:
5 Nights Lodging in 1st Class Accommodations
Preferred Corvette Parking at Hotels
85% of Meals (some meals not with group & are open for your choosing)
All Breakfasts (full, hot)
3 Lunches
3 Dinners (including Finale Dinner Banquet)
Activities Including a 1 Hour Mule Ride (Grand Canyon) & Giant Screen Movie Viewing (Zion)
Merchandise
Group Photo
Commemorative Tour Guide with Maps, Tour Route & Day-by-Day Schedule
Bloomington Gold Tour Award

The Tour Highlights are:
“Start Your Engines” breakfast
Grand Canyon (North Rim) National Park
Lodging at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon
1 hour mule ride on the rim of the Grand Canyon
Sunset dinner at Grand Canyon Lodge – “It doesn’t get better than this!”
Spectacular cruise through Zion National Park
Giant screen (Zion National Park) 45-minute film
Lunch at the Buffalo Grille & Ranch
Bryce Canyon National Park
124-mile cruise on Utah’s Highway 12, labeled an All American Road and “the most scenic drive in America” according to Car & Driver Magazine
First rate hotel accommodations including a stay at “1 of the 25 best American lodges” according to Travel & Leisure Magazine
Capitol Reef National Park
4 National Parks in 5 days
Finale dinner banquet with views of beautiful Capitol Reef National Park
The most spectacular scenery in the world
Great Corvette camaraderie