Trip report DLR and NY

[hjd0411]

Thanks Wendy - your TR is great! Loving all your photos too - really good.
Looking forward to your next instalments!!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 10: Help there's too much left to do

Today had been planned to be a lazy "lets explore the neighbourhood" day but there were so many things that were on the "must" list still left that was not to be.

So we set off first to Brooklyn Heights where we enjoyed wandering around the "fruit" streets. A friendly gnome popped out of one door we walked past like a hologram "the house next door is where Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe lived" he announced at random with no perfunctories and then he popped back inside again. We kept expecting him to pop up elsewhere as we wandered. Hilarious and helpful!!

A sample of the streets

We admired the views from the Brooklyn Promenade and walked across the bridge taking in the views and as warned on travel boards taking great care not to get in the way of cyclists.

Manhatten from the Promenade

On the Bridge

Relaxed in more of those helpful chairs and tables provided in New York before I fulfilled a wish and made it to Century 21 that we skipped Tuesday.

Resting near the end of the Bridge

Only one purchase in hand an hour later (but a gorgeous dress) we ticked off some more shopping musts-authentic Converse for daughter half the price of in Aus, Levi's ditto, secondhand books for us bibliophiles from Housing Works Used Book Cafe and since I had not pre-booked a meal at Les Halles French Bistro as I had meant to do (definately next trip), caught the subway a short distance into Greenwich and had a lovely wander including cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery (couldn't believe the queue!). Bought some more books from Partners in Crime and so meandered our way back to our hotel for a rest before it started teaming with rain. Another unexpected observation-we never realised so many neighbourhoods of NY would be so green and tree-lined. Wished we had longer to explore the streets of Chelsea and Greenwich and Meatpackers area-next time.

Infamous gay statues in Sheridan Sqe, Greenwich

I had planned to visit MoMa for free Fridays from 4pm but it was almost 4pm when we reached the hotel and the pouring rain did not encourage us so after an hour's rest we ran to the subway and caught the L train to Union Square which I had entirely missed in our travels-we had to visit Forbidden Planet and The Strand bookstore as well as look at some of the sculptures in the park-a bit tricky in the rain.

Union Sqe from a window in Filene's Basement

A statue of Ghandi in Union Sqe-also very good farmers market held in the sqe several times/week

Walked up to Madison Sqe to get a closer look at the new sculpture we had seen gleaming at night from the bus and to pop into Fish's Eddy store (NY themed homewares) and decided we were wet and tired and an earlier night to pack was in order as we would be catching the Amtrack train early the next am to Washington.

Madison Sqe

So whilst we ended with a long list of "misseds", we also loved every minute of what we did experience and an enthusiasm to return in the not too distant future.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Lovely updates on NYC. Love the picture on the bridge!

 

[shushh]

Enjoying your posts very much. Everytime I read about someone being in New York, it makes me wish that I was going as well!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 11 Sat 9 July

We had bought tickets a day or two earlier for the regional Amtrak train which took 3.5 hours to reach Washington. Have no memory now which train we caught but it was around 8.30am. Quick and easy to hop on the subway a few doors down from where we stayed in NY and walk along the tunnel into Penn railway station.

With DH paranoia we got there far too early. They only announce the track number for your train 15 mins prior to its arrival which is a bit crazy as then there was a mad scramble of everyone to hop on escalators and get to the platform in time but we made it. It was a very pleasant trip with comfy seats and interesting scenery outside. We passed some nice bay/lake areas and woods.

In no time at all arrived at Union Station in Washington. Worked out the fare machines pretty easily and bought a metro ticket to Foggy Bottom where we were staying but when the train pulled in, it pulled up way up the far end of the station half overshooting the platform and everyone-others like us with cases- had to run like mad to get on. The first few doorways soon blocked up and in seconds the doors closed so we had to wait 20 mins or so for the next one. This one had a hassly rude conductor on board who got cross as I held the door open for DH and DD with cases to jump on (it kept shutting on them). So black marks awarded to the Washington metro system cw New York straight away!

At Foggy Bottom the escalators were being worked on but found an elevator to take us up to ground level. Popped up in a lovely flowery area with lots of old houses and gardens and some new shops being built, right next to a University Hospital so lots of Med students with white coats out and about.

Some houses down the street from the hotel

Following my trusty Google map it was just a short walk to the hotel, the River Inn. Found reception here a bit brusque after the delight of Chelsea Pines. We quickly dumped our bags as too early for check in and with no time to breath it seemed, were hustled back outside on the street so set off to find some lunch.

A picture nicked off the net as we managed to forget to take one-drrr.

Using our Farecards we had bought we caught the metro back to the Smithsonian stop and the Mall. Walked out into chaos. It very, very hot and PACKED! There was a big Folklife festival on and 1000's of people.

They were handing out free bamboo instruments. This older women was getting right into it before I snapped this pic.

Everywhere was so packed and we needed a loo and food so I led us out of the crowds and up to the Old Post Office Tower which I had read was a good place to go when everywhere else was busy. It was a nice quiet, cool oasis. Clean loos and whilst the food outlets were only so so, we sustained ourselves on hot dogs and fries and Ben & Jerry's icecream.

Then out to tackle some sightseeing. First the National Museum of American History-the first thing we noticed was lovely cold air conditioning!

Outside

One of many grand buildings opposite

Knowing we had limited time to see everything I had planned just to see a select few galleries but found it was quite a compact museum and we ended up having a quick look in most galleries. First the Popular Culture Gallery-with a Dumbo from Disneyland marking the entrance!

Also cases with Dorothy's shoes from Wizard of Oz

The origins of the Muppet characters from 'Sam & friends"

Michael Jackson's hat

Fonzie’s jacket and other items from Phyllis Diller etc

In the President’s display

Abraham Lincoln’s hat.

And treasured items from each of the Presidents like Truman's aloha shirt, Clinton's sax and others bits and pieces.

This was the template for the original statue of Washington depicted as a Roman Emperor-American forefathers rightly decided in the end not the best version for the first President of the United States!

Had a quick look at the Gallery called 'Price of Freedom' (I think)- with the Greensboro' counter

and on the same floor (third) a good display of musical instruments -not being foodies we didn’t take a pic of Julia Child's kitchen-sorry. With an engineer on board (DH) we spent time in the gallery on the first floor on 'Lighting a Revolution' with Eddison's and other inventions on light and 'America on the move' on transport.

While we were in the museum they brought out a huge flag of America and had helpers unfurl it (we didn't queue to see the original as not being American it didn't mean a lot to us). We were delighted though as once the flag was unfurled everyone started singing the Star Spangled Banner-everyone in the museum joined in. Quite a rousing moment.

After it finished we decided to head back to the hotel, and decided to walk back home-if I wrote more trip reports you would know this is a common theme-we decide to walk and its always WAY longer than anticipated. In insight, given the heat, this was a mistake. We ambled along checking out the music en route at the festival and stopped off at the WWII memorial-this was impressive-lots of people were cooling off in the fountains though.

The Reflecting pool was being renovated so no good reflection shots this trip.

The Vietnam Memorial was also very effective and sobering (this is a distant shot-names of those lost are inscribed on its walls on reflective dark glass-its described as a slash in the earth).

We stopped off to see the Einstein monument for DD

Finally got back to the hotel very sweaty and tired at 5.30pm.

Inside the room-the kitchenette and bathroom were behind where the pic is taken with a table and 2 chairs just by the side.

Our room had a kitchenette and decided too tired to go out for dinner so headed up the street to where I had noted there was a Trader Joe’s. Learnt to love this supermarket which is all organic but very popular so long queues to pay-had a very efficient queuing system though managed by heaps of exuberant young guys. We noticed here as at so many places in the US, how friendly all the staff were working on the counters and with customers, chatting and teasing you when you are being served-so unlike the often bored youths in our Woolies! Bought some ready-made meals which heated up were very nice so a good if latish (9pm) dinner and hit the sack as had a very full day on the morrow.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks for posting again!

Looks like you had a great time in Washington. Love the Dumbo at the NMAH!

 

[alicia1506]

loving your TR!!!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Thanks. I decided while I was on a roll with Japan I'd try and keep going by doubling back since they are all sites us Aussies go visit and nothing like looking at other peoples pics for inspiration!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 12 Sunday 10

We were meeting up with a friend of DDs today-an American girl (hereafter DDF) she met through a Fan Fiction website and over many years they had become trusted friends-in my teens it would have been called “penpals”. This would be their first meeting face to face as luckily DDF was completing a summer internship in the Capitol while we were there and had Sundays off.

First though I had booked tickets on-line to go up to the top of the Monument (inspired by Dan Brown’s Book The Lost Symbol.) So reluctantly no time for a Sunday lie-in-we headed out to be there by 8.30am. Washington on an early Sun morning was lovely-quiet and cool and no crowds. We were in the second group to go up to the top. There was amazing views though it was very hazy. Could see all the landmarks as the pics show.

First of all a view of the Monument itself

Looking into the sun towards the Capitol and all the Festival tents

Looking back towards the Lincoln Memorial with its dry pond.

Looking south-west over the Tidal Basin towards the Jefferson Memorial

The other half of the Tidal Basin and looking over where they are building the Martin Luther King memorial.

The White House

The pointy bit-its so small and made of aluminium as it was the rarest metal back then that would not tarnish.

Excavation for the foundation of the Monument began in early 1848 but it stopped completely in 1854 due to lack of funds and projected costs. To help pay for it and to encourage support all states and territories and individual groups could donate commemorative stones that were fitted into the interior walls. Some can be seen from the elevator as they no longer allow people to walk and down the stairs. This is George Washington’s one. Rebuilding was delayed further by the Civil War so not restarted until 1879. The monument finally opened to the public on October 9, 1888

We got back down around 10 feeling very pleased we had done this and then met up with DDF as arranged. (Since I haven’t her permission I have left all pics of the 2 girls together out of these pics). DDF was just how I imagined her to be and the two girls got on like a house on fire-talking non stop all day. I thought they might go off and do their own thing but DDF was keen to show us all around.

We wandered down the Mall towards the Capitol itself and I detoured us into the Botanical Gardens en route but missed Bertholdi’s park and fountain.

First the actual Smithsonian Castle itself

Looking back towards the Monument

The entrance to the Botanical Gardens

It was a nice, if small garden and hothouses.

We walked past several sculpture gardens and the National Museum of the American Indian-didn’t explore that this time. Lots of conflicting opinions on the web about the contents of this one-some Indigenous groups like it, some hate it, ditto visitors.

Sculptures I liked in one of the gardens we passed

The Museum of the American Indian

Outside the Capitol Building

DDF was hoping to show us into the Library of Congress but it was shut. In the meantime we learnt a lot about the American political system contrasting it to the Australian one. We also learnt there are tunnels linking the Capitol and lots of the government buildings across the streets surrounding it so the congressmen stay in their offices and if they have to vote they have 20 mins to scurry through the tunnels and to the House of Reps or Senate to vote. It’s also 4km from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial-whew!

DDF led us through the back streets behind the Capitol and into an area with lots of cafes where the locals eat. Had a delicious organic “big” salad (Seinfeld anyone?) -I had curry chicken that came with beetroot and cheese and nuts as well as every salad component imaginable and watermelon lemonade (very popular here).

On the way back passed the US Supreme Court (I think)

Side view of the Capitol

A sculpture I liked-love the sandshoes some-one's slung around his neck

We walked back along the opposite side of the Mall and into the National Gallery of Art. The Capitoline Venus was on display for 6 months from Rome which we admired.

Loved here how the galleries are broken up by atriums with flowers and fountains.

The outside of the Gallery from across the park

to be cont.

 

[becpee]

Loving your pics!

Washington looks amazing, one day i'd love to get there, this trip though i'll have to make do with a flyby

 

[Aussie Wendy]

By the time we had finished in the art gallery, feeling rather exhausted, we all collapsed in the Sculpture Garden on a seat in the shade. Everyone was cooling their feet in a fountain here. I had a horizontal snooze on the grass and an iceblock that dyed my tongue blue for hours.

The Red Horse

A metal tree

DDF was meeting a friend in Chinatown so we walked with her back towards P.O. Tower where we planned to hire bikes to ride around the monuments in the cool of evening and the girls sadly said goodbye til next time.

We passed this building en route-the FBI (Edgar Hoover Bdg)

We hired basic cruisers for $10 each from Rock N Roll. It was fun cycling around but took us a lot longer than we anticipated. We went first around the Tidal Basin to the Jefferson Memorial-in a Pantheon style temple.

Inside with the statue. Jefferson is looking out across the Tidal Basin with apparently a direct view to the Oval Office. It is said that the 3rd President is keeping an eye on the occupants of the White House to ensure that they don't overstep their power.

Good views of the monument from the steps of the Jefferson and this one taken a bit further around the lake.

Next we cycled over the little bridge where the Tidal Basin opens to the river and on to the FDR memorial. This was one of our favourites. Set in 4 outdoor rooms representing his 4 terms of office. Each gallery also showcases his quotes alongside sculptures, granite rocks and waterfalls (some were not flowing).

Here are 3 of the rooms.

Roosevelt saw the US through the Great Depression and much of WWII.

Pressing on as the sun was starting to set and we had to have the bikes back by 9pm. The Korean memorial was one of the most moving.

Finally the Lincoln Memorial. This was by far the busiest.

Heading back to the bike hire along the Mall DH (he has the steadiest hand so takes all our best shots) couldn’t resist this pic.

Me on my bike to show what they looked like.

We got the bikes back with 5 mins to go-phew so no late fee. It would have been nice to have visited some of the memorials after dark but in midsummer that meant staying there til probably 10.30/11pmish and we were just too tired out after our long day. We caught the metro home to bed. I forgot to mention DDF had said all the crowds Sat was because that morning (before we arrived) the Dalai Lama had been speaking for free to the masses so everyone had come in to Washington and camped out to hear him speak (including DDF-something she said she'll always remember).

 

[ehsmum]

Just discovered your TR and loving it! We did a similar trip the year before you. I so agree on missing so many of the "musts" in NYC, it's just so big and there's so much to do. We definitely need to go back and see the rest . We only had a day and a half in DC so didn't get to explore as much as you did. It was one of my favorites though, such a beautiful city .

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 13 Monday 11 July

Started the day by DH checking out the laundry but there was only one machine which was in use so I hand washed a few bits to keep us going and hung them on hangers over the bath. We had a booking for the National Archives at 10.30 so nice to have a slower start with a leisurely breaky complements of Trader Joes. Caught the metro 9.30ish. Here is the Foggy Bottom metro station-in case anyone was wondering. All the stations here were very neat and clean.

We walked almost straight in to the Archives-I had booked on-line prior as heard queues could be 1-2 hrs long and standing in the heat did not appeal. We walked straight in through our different pre-booked entrance but the queues at the normal entry didn’t seem too long (it was just opening). We spent much longer than I anticipated here -no pics as none allowed except for the exterior of the building.

We saw the original Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution but what I liked most was the public vaults-information of all sorts from the archives-info on how they electronically archive it all, declassified memo’s, letters, voice recordings-so much impressive stuff. Some examples: the doodles made by JFK on hearing about the Kuwait invasion, bedside notes made by Roosevelt regarding the invasion of Poland by Germany, Richard Nixon and various persons cf lead-up to Watergate (they had handsets so you picked up and pressed a button to hear the conversation you wanted to hear). Lots more emails and memos-all fascinating as well as TV footage.

They had a special feature on Reagan as it was the 100th anniversary of his birth (now we know why we have come across stuff on him wherever we have been this holiday). Learnt a lot-I never realised quite how instrumental he was in ending communism and bringing down the wall and how highly Gorbachev thought of him. All in all the displays gave a fascinating insight into the minds of different Presidents. Could have easily spent all day there!

From here we moved on to the Natural History Museum

Entrance Hall

This was meant to be a quick look-we had spent 4 hrs in the New York version after all. But of course…their mammal displays looked a lot more “fluffier” and “fresher” than NY’s and very well displayed. Lots of different stuff to what we saw in NY too. Very good human origins gallery with different (but complimentary) info to what we had seen previously, such as reconstructions of faces of the different branches of the human species-there were 15! I obviously have missed out on some latest anthropology-I never knew there were quite that many. **** Erectus lived for something like 1.5 million years-makes our time on earth very short in comparison.

As an example this is **** Floresiensis

Reaching into the past

There were also displays on theories why other branches of **** sapiens became extinct-climate change is one theory-and how we nearly became like the Dodo’s as well!

Current world population the day and time to the minute we were there

We spent so long in a couple of galleries that we had to quick march through others like various dioramas of animals by continent and dinosaurs.

A Coelacanthe-prehistoric fish in the Ocean Hall.

In one of the mammal halls

Dinosaurs

At work in the Fossil Lab

By now we were getting tired and hungry. The café here was crowded with kids so I led us down to the East Wing of the Gallery of Art and the Cascade Café by the indoor waterfall. Its underground below the piazza between the East and West wings. Very good, wide range of menu choices-different stations you can go to that serve different items - salads at one, BBQ meats another, soups another etc and a bank of tills before you exit. They had lots of tables and it was cool and quiet. Perfect. I went all American with BBQ pulled pork and corn and potato salad and a chocolaty desert.

Walking back through one of the galleries of the East Wing (modern art)

From here we had to visit what I had thought would be our first stop on this part of our trip-the Air and Space Museum-somehow it kept getting shoved to last. Like all the museums it deserved an entire day to itself but we did a superficial look-see. There was an astronomically long queue out front (think Disneyland in peak season, middle of the day). But I had read that there was a second entrance to all the museums around the back off Independence Ave-so around we went and walked pretty much straight in! (Bit like FP-seems you need to be “in the know” even though the info is freely available everywhere). Research paid off as always!

The museum was totally packed though so hard to see some exhibits. I had always planned to come here first one of the days and should have stuck to that plan! (but then I got carried away booking other things…) We also were really too tired to appreciate it. We stayed mostly at the Space half looking at interesting info and originals of space suits, lunar landing vehicles, Apollo modules, Sputnik and stealth planes. The queues were too long unfortunately to go inside Skylab. Had a quick look at some of the flight exhibits like Wilbur Wright’s plane and WWII displays and called it a day.

Here is a selection of pics

Original Apollo space suit

Lunar Landing Module

??

Rockets and part of the Hubble Telescope

More flying things

Spy and stealth planes

Wright brothers’ plane

We especially liked the small gallery tucked at one end with a collection of art and photographs with a space theme.

This is a memorial artwork to the Challenger disaster.

Finally decided we had seen enough as we could never see it all.

Exterior of the museum

We needed an ATM and DH didn’t want to use one in a museum (?? his security thing) so walked up Pennsylvania Ave and into Chinatown-so far haven’t actually seen any “real” shops or department stores and none here either.

Love this multi baby buggy though-

Too exhausted to explore any more we caught the metro home-I couldn’t even summon up the energy to get off and check out the White House even though it was on the line and on my bucket list. Next time!

After zonking out for a couple of hours we strolled in the opposite direction towards the river and discovered ourselves in trendy Georgetown which turned out to be a hop, skip and a jump away-really this hotel is very well placed. We found the canal I had read about (very narrow here) and the river with lovely cool breezes. Unfortunately most of the riverside restaurants were closed due to floods in April and still under reno so more open grill/BBQ type take away food on offer but it was a nice spot for a cold beer and a burger.

By the river

As we were eating dark clouds suddenly gathered-and gathered-like a Qld summer afternoon-the temperature plummeted and we knew what that meant so hurried to finish-just had to stop off for some essential supplies from Trader Joe’s. While in there the storm hit with a vengeance and we had to wait the worst out before running home. Glad we hadn’t been caught in the open by the river though!

Home to dry off and pack after our whirlwind visit to Washington. Still reminded us of Canberra with all the big open grass expanses and grand buildings dotted about miles away from each other. I have decided I definitely prefer organically evolved cities even if they are not always as "pretty" to these planned ones but the museums are fantastic and we enjoyed the visit.

Tomorrow a mini road trip!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 14 Tuesday 12 July

We were leaving from the common but more distant airport of Baltimore (BMI) so first we caught the metro from Foggy Bottom, changed at L’Enfant Plaza for the Green line to Greenbelt (about 45 mins all up with transfers) and walked out of the station and straight on a waiting B30 express bus that links the metro to the airport (30 mins). All very easy. We arrived 8.30am so well in time for our 10.30am flight. Found lots of places nice and cheap to eat here-not the usual raised airport prices. Also lots of comfy chairs and tables-so wouldn’t be a bad airport if you had a bit of a wait for some reason. Had superb cinnamon melts (cinnamon bun and they warm it so the icing goes all melty and goey-they give you a knife and fork to eat it with-needed! Sticky yumminess. (Sorry obv. didn’t take a pic). We were flying South West so no assigned seats just called in groups and take what you can get as you get on board-we snagged seats in two adjacent rows so not too bad.

Arriving at Phoenix reminded me of Alice Springs from the air. We caught the shuttle to the car rental which had all the companies together in their own building. Only a 15 min wait and we were soon on our way. We had no maps or GPS apart from a simple Google map I had printed off but it was well signposted and we were soon out of the city on the freeway.

Phoenix heading out

We stopped at a Macca’s service area for an easy late lunch. They had iced tea in big barrels here as an alternative option to sodas. I wasn’t overly fussed on it but daughter liked it. Then back on the road. There was a big cactus outcrop nearby.

It was a very Australian looking landscape-rolling hills, dry like early summer before the rain.

I had planned a route that took us via Sedona for a quick peep at Oak Creek Canyon. The drive through the canyon is one of Rand McNally's Top Five Scenic Drives in America and it didn’t add many miles to the trip. This was well worth the detour. The way was well signposted and we first passed lots of fascinating red rock formations-big buttresses and balancing rocks in interesting weathered shapes. Took far too many pics but here are a few. It was much cooler here than in Phoenix.

Then we drove through the town which looked like it had some interesting shops (just a small town) (pic not very good)

and wound up the valley beside a stream and through pine and other forests. Lots of turn off signs to walking trials, swimming areas and camping grounds.

We came up onto a plateau and continued through woody areas and then down into Williams for petrol and some grocery supplies (it has a big Safeway if you are stocking up for supplies for a cabin). All up it took us about an hour from the turn off for Sedona and up through the canyon to Williams I guess. It was getting late and I figured we’d miss sunset at the canyon but we all agreed it was worth it to see Oak Creek Canyon.

We also liked the ‘feel’ of Williams-a small country town, lots of route 66 memorabilia and saloon type places. If you arrived in Phoenix in the early am rather than lunchtime I think it would also be worth adding another detour via Flagstaff to see Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monuments. No time for us this trip though.

From Williams it was 25 miles up a straight wood-lined road to the Grand Canyon entrance. Lots of “watch out for deer” signs but we saw none. Finely we arrived in the confusing network of streets that it is Grand Canyon Village. The sun was setting and daughter and I kept telling hubby to pull into one of the lookouts so we could watch the sun set then worry about finding our place and checking in but he was single-minded-get to where we were staying so no go. He can be a bugger at times!! (But he also brings us coffee in bed every morning, a cuppa every evening and is good with cooking meals and washing up so can’t really complain).

We were staying at Bright Angel Lodge-I thought ridiculously cheap prices for the location (around $100) and right on the rim. The cabins here would be good if staying longer and you book early enough. We were in hotel style rooms-one long single storey. It was a nice room with a double and a single bed, ensuite and a covered veranda that faced the road (some face towards the rim).

Our room

Daughter and I dropped our gear and were out the door, 2 steps and at the rim-wow!! The sun had set but the reddish glow remained so we took some pics. The Canyon looked just how it looks in in pics-of course-wider perhaps than I imagined.

Looking down at the drop (not for those with fear of heights)

We figured there would be too big a queue for Bright Angel Lodge restaurant (foolish us for not checking and judging by the next night I doubt there was) so instead we headed across to one of the cafeteria type eateries near one of the other hotel blocks (Maswick Lodge which has bigger rooms and more mod cons than Bright Angel). It was around 8.30pm by now, the village bus happened to be outside so we hopped on and rode it one stop around. The cafeteria here was slammed in Trip Advisor-and we can see why though in fairness we have eaten a lot worse-it just tasted like very mass produced food. Hubby and I got meatloaf and mashed potato and veggies. Daughter just got soup and a roll. We stumbled back not knowing the way following paths through the woods. The moon though nearly full was behind the clouds and it was very dark. Did see several deer-like shapes in the darkness!

The room was very quiet apart from a noisy family next door with kids who kept yelling loudly til around midnight. The bed was a bit hard so hubby’s back wasn’t too happy and I developed a stomach ache around 2am so generally not a successful night. Then it was awake at 4.15 to catch the Hiker’s Express that left at 5 as we wanted to see sunrise and do a walk partly down into the canyon before the day got too hot.

 

[becpee]

Love your Sedona and Grand Canyon pics, aren't the colours amazing!

A place i'd love to get back to one day and take my DS when he's older so he can appreciate it.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 15 Wednesday 13 July

Surprisingly not too tired. The sun came up whilst we were on the bus-which we nearly missed thanks to a useless hotel dude outside Bright Angel (who told us the wrong bus stop-the hikers bus leaves from down the road). There were several die-hard families on the bus set for a long day’s hike and camping on the valley floor.

We had a spectacular walk. The trail we had chosen was South Kaibab which leads all the way down to the Colorado River and Phantom Ranch if you are keen and not walking at the height of summer. It was also in the shade for much of the way. It was very steep and gravelly so slippery and only a few feet off the precipitous edge in places =I wouldn’t do this with young kids who were not experienced walkers.

The sun was striking the rocks yellow and red and it was very pretty. From here the Canyon looks like there are layers of gorges and rocky outcrops or perhaps that is an illusion caused by the twistiness of the Colorado.

Watch out below....if that rock should slip...

We saw a hummingbird here - these are hubby and daughter’s brilliant pics.

We walked as far as Ooh Aah Point (around 2.2 or so km) and you could see the stop many day walkers go to-Cedar Point further down below on a flattish slope. We sat for quite some time as the pics show and decided with the steep climb back up there were few advantages in going down further. We were amused by the antics of the mountain squirrels which had huge bushy tails (a contrast to the ratty tailed squirrels in Washington) and saw some chipmunks.

You can see Cedar Point the next stopping place and the trail to it in these 2 shots. They join each other (when I get round to doing so).

I love this family shot some other walkers took-there weren’t a lot of people on the trail and most kept moving to Cedar Point so most of the time we had it to ourselves.

Same shot as earlier, different angle-can’t decide which I prefer.

We started walking back up the trail when hubby had a major panic moment when he thought he was having a heart attack-he got really breathless and could feel his heart racing and was worried he wasn’t going to be able to make it back up. Unlike me and daughter he hadn’t eaten anything (we had eaten bananas and muffins on our rock). So we made him sit and eat and drink and then set off at a much slower pace and he seemed to adjust with lots of inbetween rests to start with and after a certain point was fine-so now we know who will have problems doing Machu Picchu if we ever get there! Even daughter found the going hard though whereas yes, it was “harder” than normal, I found it OK. Shows how true the warnings are though where they do say take it easy, you might be surprised how much the altitude affects you etc.

A rest stop

And a chipmunk

We were back on top by 7.30am so actually only took us an hour to climb out. We had brought supplies with us so made ourselves cream cheese bagels and bought coffee from the bar and sat on the rim outside drinking in the view munching breakfast looking down on Bright Angel Trail.

Soon tour buses started arriving with passengers given breakfast boxes to sit and eat like we were. Amused as the squirrels arrived in force to cadge their share-there were warnings up do not feed them and they bite-but this did not deter most bus visitors.

After this we went back to our cool, dim room and had a sleep-lovely! (No air con but the rooms are built of solid stone and shaded by trees and stayed cool all day.)

Our front door

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Continuing

We emerged around 11.30 and decided to do the drive along the eastern rim (the western is only accessible by bus). It was a lovely drive and we stopped at lots of lookouts overlooking various parts of the Canyon and the River.

Views from Yavapoi Point

The Colorado River and the bridge that leads to Phantom Lodge

Views from Moran Point

Rapids

Views from Lipan Point (some say best place to see the different rock strata and inner gorge)

Desert View

We climbed up the Watchtower which was designed by architect Mary Colter and inspired by ancient Native American ruins and admired the Native American paintings inside.

Inside the Watchtower-nice souvies inside here too. I bought a Native American sand painting used traditionally for healing and some gifts for friends and daughter bought a pair of silver feather shaped earrings.

I had planned to eat at Desert Plains but nothing in the café grabbed us-there was a lot of Mexican influences-that chilli allergy was a bit of a concern and my stomach still felt a bit “dodgy”.

Then it was back to the Village and the Market Place. There was a very good deli so bought some nice sandwiches (shared 2 between 3 as planned an early dinner before sunset).The grocery store was much bigger than I imagined from travel posts I had read and seemed to stock everything. We were back in our rooms by 3.30 and had an hour rest before an early dinner at Bright Angel Lodge Restaurant.

Entry to the lodge

There is also the more expensive Arizona Room but we liked the choices on the menu here better. The “foodies” would have to try the El Tovar restaurant at the most expensive and original hotel. We had very nice grilled fish and rice and it came with soup and salad. It was a nice, light meal and plenty of time before catching the bus out to the lookouts on the western route.

Now there were dilemmas-where should we hop off? Did we have time to hop off, look at somewhere then hop back on to another stop-didn’t want to miss sunset or be at the back of crowds jumping to and fro. Finally decided along the way to get off at Pima Point which my research had told me had the single best view of the river and in the right conditions can hear the roar of the rapids and was a great place to view the sunset.

I think really though looking as we stopped at each place-anywhere is a good place to view the sunset so long as the view is not obscured by a jutting outcrop of rock.

We could see the Colorado and its rapids really well and at times if the wind was right, could hear the rapids and could also see the flat plains at the top of the canyon opposite.

Daughter taking pics while waiting for sunset

Full moon

We actually would have had time to go further along and then come back. Sunset actually wasn’t that spectacular-the rocks don’t glow in the way Uluru and Kata Tjuka do for example though after the sun has almost set the rocks take on different hues that are the most pretty. We found sunrises more spectacular.

We got back to the room around 8pm and bought teas from the bar and went to bed early after our early start-tonight was a very quiet night and we all slept!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 16 Thursday 14 July

After a great night’s sleep we woke early enough to catch the last of the sunrise. Sunrises seem almost prettier than sunsets here. We walked a little way along the start of the Bright Angel Trail which began just near our lodge. Several pics follow. We love the pic of the baby goat-so cute.

A last squirrel

..and view of the canyon

Breakfast was at Bright Angel Lodge-I had the Bright Angel breakfast-fried eggs, potato hash, ham and toast but DD and I swopped half way so she had the last of my savoury and I had a share of her French Toast with berries.

Both meals were very good. I haven’t mentioned how much like WDW Wilderness Lodge this place was, especially the reception area and some of the hallways. Given Wilderness Lodge is based on Yellowstone National Park Lodge and Bright Angel was the second lodge I think to be built at Grand Canyon, guess that makes sense. Even the carpet was similar other than there were no hidden Mickey’s!

Off we set for Las Vegas.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Cont.
Off we set for Las Vegas. Found the turn off to Route 66 easily and enjoyed our drive through Seligman and various small one-horse towns to Kingsman. This stretch was like driving an outback Aus. road - parts of the Newell perhaps-flat, low hills, saltbush and scrubby low trees. Some pics along the way:

Back on the I40 we headed toward the Hoover Dam-now the landscape looked like a moonscape-we never realised how barren and rocky it was-all wind? carved crags and crevasses. The dam seems plopped in the middle-very narrow and deep. We pulled in to the first parking lot to walk on the new bypass bridge-very impressive and sculptural (and windy-may need a hat for sun but the wind blows it straight off!) Interesting plaques along the way on the building of this bridge.

Hoover Dam from the new bridge

Then it was down to the main parking lot (we were too scuzzy to pay and parked on the far side for free) then walked across the dam wall-it is not as steep and big as it looks in the movies! It was very, very, very hot.

The bypass bridge from the dam.

Used the loo’s along the dam wall-stunning décor-very art deco (but neglected to take a pic). Grabbed some lunch in the packed café and admired the sculptures but the troops weren’t keen on paying to go inside and taking a dam tour and DH was on a mission-we had a deadline to return the car by 5pm hence in his “don’t distract me” mood. We noticed how green the palm trees looked-almost fake green-against the bare rock.

Percy Jackson fans will know these

A scupture honouring the men who built the dam

Those green trees

Back to the car we stopped again on the way out for an overview of the lake behind the dam-now only 30 miles to Las Vegas.

Boulder City, just after the dam, had the same intense green grass and shrubs-presumably more of the contrast illusion (or its all fake to trick the tourists).
We drove down the I95 and into Vegas-arrived at the spaghetti tangle of junctions and thanked Google to help us negotiate our way to Las Vegas Boulevard and our hotel for the next two nights-Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall and Saloon.

Found the entry to the parking lot easily and a petrol station just down the street and were able to return the hire car just next door at the Flamingo after checking in.
Bill’s wasn’t too bad-the casino was small and not too smoky and our room was on the 4th floor with views down the Strip. Spacious with 2 queen beds but no fridge or tea/coffee making utensils (which I had read was typical here and we found the biggest pain). Having to return the car hubby and I explored the Flamingo leaving under 21 DD to happily relax in our room (Bill’s guests have use of Flamingo’s facilities). The over 18’s pool was busy and noisy with party music. The beach pool had a waterslide and looked a nicer pool but was packed with kids. The grounds were pretty with flamingo-and ibis-funny seeing the latter being photographed in the wild bird area when we think of them as pests. Also waterfalls and koi carp in ponds and nice gardens.

On the way back we browsed through the casino which really isn’t our scene, but fun to watch and then collected DD to check out places for dinner.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Caesar’s Palace was close so we walked there and through the Forum shops-loved the Roman theme and the fake sky. Saw the Trevi fountain and the Feast of Gods and Triton but totally missed the animatronic gods that apparently were down a different aisle and the aquarium. Loved the curving escalators and grand main entry.

On the way to the entrance passed this shrine.

Inside the grand main entrance

Like the curly escalators (small things amuse small minds…)

Trevi Fountain replica

Triton (I think-getting muddled now)

It was huge in there and we wandered around getting totally lost. We all fancied Asian for dinner though and nothing here appealed so heading out we stopped to watch a performance of the Bellagio Fountains (very pretty though need coloured lights too).

The Bellagio fountain show

Looking back towards Bill’s and Balleys.

Back to Bill’s and the Victorian Room. The décor here is all stained glass and dark stained wood. They had a Chinese menu as well as a western which had attracted us (and I thought the Chinese meals being served looked much better). DD and I got wonton soup and DH chow mien special noodles. We were given as starters a great big bowl of crispy noodles and dipping sauce and 6 bread rolls and butter-what a waste-far too much for us 3! The meals were huge too and very good-the soup came with wontons stuffed with prawns (which wasn’t advertised so a warning- ask about a dish first if you are allergic to seafood) as well as BBQ pork and vegies. The waiters all sang out loudly some Chinese phrase like koh gong when they served you-no idea what it meant. Anyway we left about half of our meals there was so much and soon headed off to bed. It wasn’t too noisy as I feared it might be and we crashed asleep immediately.