Wednesday Catchup, Grand Canyon, More Fun with Family

We were up all together by 7 am with the exception of Gerry. He was awake behind the curtain but still in bed when Clemson had to join his buddy.

 We had a good day yesterday and I apologize for the short summary of what we did. In case you're interested, here is a bit more detail. 

Donna and I walked first thing on Wednesday morning, around the park, me showing her where things were. We were invited to join in the exercise class in the clubhouse but kept on moseying after checking out the puzzles etc.

The boys relaxing while we did dishes up
after brekky

 At 11 am us girls took part in the clubs Water Aerobics and the water was nice and warm compared to the outside temperatures. We hopped into the hot tub to warm up and then wrapped a towel around our wet suits and walked back feeling quite refreshed and warm. While we were getting fit, the boys were doing the same thing and took a really long walk around the park perimeter and roadways.

Happy Hour

We had a bacon and egg lunch, cleaned up and headed into town. We shopped at Smith’s, saved $18 with our savers card and then saved another .10/gal to top the fuel tank up. I love these savings cards and feel like I’m becoming a real snowbird, collecting them all. At the Thrift Shop I found a pretty turquoise windbreaker and a John Deere mug for Bill. It is the perfect size!

Last night we had grilled sausages with a salad. The boys had theirs in a bun. After dishes and my blog was finally posted we all took a walk around again. When we got back we had a banana oatmeal muffin with Tillamook ice cream. Yum. We were all in bed by 10:30.

No words to explain Wednesday night's sunset

Back to Thursday. We were ready and in Black Beauty at 8:45 am for our touring day to the Grand Canyon. The weather at home in Bullhead is calling for a warm 74F and 60F at Grand Canyon Village with mostly cloudy skies. We can handle that but still dressed appropriately with long pants, extra layering and hats. This will be fun!

Gathering of the Gambel's
(thanks FG)

 At 11 we were all ready for a break so we took Exit 164 at Williams to a Mcdonald’s for a nature break and bought coffees and teas for the road. I had brought some muffins and granola bars so we had a bar each. We kept driving and turned onto AZ-64 towards Grand Canyon Village. We are now in Kaibab National Forest. We were all surprised to see the gorgeous sunshine, blue skies and non-windy day.

the scenic drive never lets me down

At 11:50 we found the Fire Road 688 that we overnighted at in March and pulled in to show Donna and Gerry how nice the spots are. We also had our sandwiches, that we (Donna) made up for us last night, before driving further. We were on the road again at 12:20 and happy to have stopped. We discussed that this will be our 4^th National Park and we’ve already gotten the benefit of our $80 pass. This one is FREE. Yay!

What a difference today was from the last time we visited. It was the same kind of weather, blue sky, 15 degrees cooler but no wind. Actually, a perfect day to walk around the canyon rim. Today being Thursday, we found that parking was a snap, pulling into the 3^rd lot instead of the 6^th or 7^th like last time. We walked to Mather Point and then .7 miles along the Rim Trail to the Yavapai Point and Geology Museum before turning back.

Kaibab Ntl Forest for lunch

Lunch break

On the way back, we sat and listened to a geologist giving us a talk on the details of the canyon. The basics of what I can remember and tell you is that it is now 10 – 18 miles wide, roughly 1 mile deep and 277 miles long. It was very interesting to hear how it was all formed from as far back as 1.5 billion years. As we were walking, Bill stopped when he saw a Desert Bighorn Sheep. It was just a small one but very exciting to see.

Donna and Gerry were as awed as we were the first time, it was fun to see the excitement in their faces.

their first sight

For us, our second time, it was almost as thrilling and we are so glad we all decided to make the 3 ½ hour trip while they were here. We were back at the truck by 3:15 and had a snack before heading back to Williams. We’ll all sleep tonight!

I texted Lori to check on Clemson as we were approaching Kingman. She was keeping an eye on and feeding our little guy today for us. Thanks Lori! She said he was fine and encouraged us to grab supper before coming home. He is lapping up their attention I’m sure. We arrived at Bullhead City at 6:25 and drove to the Black Bear Diner to eat. We were all hungry and looking forward to a good meal.

We sat and listened to the geologist

The sights looking over into Laughlin, Nevada are awesome at night. Casinos attracting patrons. We had a very friendly waiter named Devon who offered the special of the night, liver and onions, so Donna and I were set. Bill ordered the Tribeck Sandwich with fries and Gerry ordered the Pot roast meal. Lots of food and I ended up with a doggie box with a piece and a half of liver.

Can you say Forest Gump?

Bighorn sheep

He was so pretty and close to us

What looks like a newspaper was really 

is their menu

My liver and onions
this was after a cheddar broccoli soup and corn muffin

Bill's sandwich

We were home by 7:30, unloaded the truck and downloaded our pictures. Donna and Gerry went for a brief walk before returning to the Suite for the rest of the evening.

 

Since it was Nov. 30^th and our last day for the month’s wifi on our hotspots, we opened it up to our guests to take advantage on their phones. Who says us seniors are not social-media-savvy? Ha ha, there we sat, either on laptops or phones playing on the internet.

So, this has been a great day, another great day I should say. Clemson was good again and Bill walked over to thank our ‘dog-sitter’ and to pick up our key. I hope you have enjoyed your last day of November too.

Goodnight from Ridgeview RV Resort

Thank you for reading. I appreciate all your comments.