The Grand Canyon has always been on our bucket list and because of that we planned a trip there for Spring Break, March 2020. Since our time was limited to one week we decided to fly. We normally prefer driving to flying for many reasons which I don't need to go into at this time. At any rate we decided to fly out of Madison which we did on March 15, 2020. Little did we know what lay ahead not only for us but for our entire world. When I posted about our upcoming trip on Facebook, more than a few people commented things to the effect of how they hoped we would be able to fly home. We shrugged such things off and took off on our merry way. The flight was uneventful, and we arrived in Las Vegas. We checked into the Luxor where we planned to stay for one night and then travel by rental car to Flagstaff where we would stay for three nights and then back to Las Vegas for two nights. We had never been to Las Vegas and were excited to experience it on our way back through to fly home in five days. As we were enjoying our dinner that night in the Luxor, our waitress mentioned to us that Las Vegas would be shutting down in two days due to Covid. We were confused, how could a city like Las Vegas shut down and what was this Covid? We spent the next day walking around and exploring the city. It was so much fun and we saw so many cool things. Covid wasn't bothering us yet until we got to Walmart to buy a few necessities for our Air BnB. The shelves were so empty, there were people in masks and gloves. It felt like a scene out of a movie. We pressed on to Flagstaff hoping it would be better there.
We left early on Tuesday, March 17 for our Grand Canyon adventure. It was breathtaking! We spent the entire day exploring and taking it all in. We visited the South rim and rode the trolley which is a wonderful way to see the views without walking all the way. It's a hop on, hop off troller with a number of stops. We sometimes opted to walk to the next stop just to take it all in. It was fairly chilly when we began our tour but we dressed in layers and were down a few by the afternoon. The park was pretty empty especially considering it was spring break for many. I guess the Covid had really scared people. into staying home. We were not too concerned at this point, we hadn't listened to any news and weren't really on the internet, so I guess we were rather clueless. I still thought school would start on the Monday after spring break. Little did we know that neither of us would go back to work for a long time. Covid took us off track on this vacation and it is taking me off track on this post. Our intent was to share places that we thought seniors would enjoy visiting and helping them with some simple tips that we picked up along the way, so let's get back to that. Here are a few things we think you should know about visiting the Grand Canyon.
1. Be sure and purchase your lifetime National Park pass for Seniors. We did not have ours at the time of this visit but for some reason we got in for free. Maybe the Park Personnel knew what lay ahead and wanted to give everyone a free pass that day.
2. We thought the trolley was the perfect way to see the South Rim, especially for those who don't want to walk the entire rim. We like that you could choose to walk between trolley stops and then hop back on. There is a nice snack area and bathrooms at the turn around point. There is also a trolley to the East Rim but we chose to drive to that area.
3. Speaking of Rims. The South and East Rims are open in all seasons, unlike the North Rim which is closed during late fall/winter/spring. The West Rim is on an Indian reservation, and you will pay a fee to walk on the glass walkway in that area. I would google that before choosing that option.
4. Give yourself lots of time to take it all in and take lots of photos. Since for us, it was one and done, we spent an entire day just taking it all in.
5. I have heard that the park can be very crowded at times. We found very few people even though it was Spring break, but I am assuming Covid kept people away.
6. Dress in layers since the weather in this area can be unpredictable and changes come suddenly at least in March. (I cannot speak to other months) We saw sunny, warm weather, hard rain, wind, and snow all in one day, so layers are a must. Also, good footwear even if you aren't taking big hikes, you still want your feet to stay dry and warm.
7. We did a fair amount of walking on the paved trails on the South Rim as we used the trolley, but you can hike down into the canyon. I have read that some hikes are easier than others but the rule of thumb is be prepared. You want to be able to get back up if you got down!
8, There are places to stay in the park and close to the park, so you might want to consider one of those if you are planning on visiting on more than one day or want to take in sunrise or sunset. We chose Flagstaff so we could experience a little more of Arizona.
On Wednesday, we decided to explore Sedona. It's about 50 miles from Flagstaff to Sedona through some pretty areas. By the time we arrived in Sedona, it was pouring and the red rock formations that surround the area did not look as good in all that rain, plus it made hiking impossible. We drove around a bit until we saw a trolley tour that was still running even with Covid. As you know from previous posts we love a trolley tour, so we bought tickets and hopped aboard. At least we got to learn interesting tidbits about the area and were able to make a few photo stops as the rain lessened. After the trolley we were actually able to get a snack in an establishment that had not shut down yet. Sedona would be shutting down in a day or two, also. We took a walk around the downtown area in between rain showers and drove home in pouring rain which turned into snow by the time we got back to Flagstaff!
We live in Wisconsin, we are used to snow, but this storm took us totally by surprise. We had no real snow stuff along and our rental car had no scraper, our Air BnB had no shovel. The Owner of the Air BnB called us and said he would drop some snow equipment off the next morning so we could get out and get to our rescheduled flight. The snow was falling fast and furious and we made a decision to drive to Las Vegas that evening to make sure we got there in time for our flight. Judy, our GPS lady, who never steer us wrong said that part of the big highway to drive to Las Vegas was closed down, we took her at her word and let her redirect us through Prescott. It was dark, it was snowing, and we had no paper map, just Judy. Finally, the snow turned to rain and we pressed on. Las Vegas was still hours away on this back road route and at one point in complete darkness, we saw a sign that read, "Flash flood area, proceed with caution, next 10 miles" We prayed our way through those 10 miles that took forever, but we did not get swept away and finally we saw the big road again and were on our way with an ETA of 2 AM. We did have a reservation at a nice hotel so at least we had a place waiting for us as we pulled in so late. At this point we fully expected to be on a plane home by 11 the next day.
But, as we should have known from the way this trip has been going, the flight got bumped to 2, no big deal so far until it got cancelled with no idea when it would be flying back to Madison. At this point we made the decision to rent a car and drive home. The idea was actually exciting to me because driving puts us in control of things. We rented the car and took off on a big road trip. In Utah we bought a road map so we could travel old school with Judy still guiding us. The scenery was breathtaking. There was a snowstorm going through the Colorado Rockies and the fog near Denver was horrible. We were happy to enter the flat state of Nebraska
Covid was evident everywhere as we traveled. Going back to the breakfast at our Vegas hotel which was served to us in a paper lunch bag. We got most of our meals at gas stations where people were masked and gloved and clearly afraid. Restaurants were closed and a few fast food establishments offered drive through service. We were still a bit clueless although everything pointed to this Covid was taking over our world and not in a good way. What were we going home to? We, at this point just wanted to be back in Watertown.
Here are some photos from our drive home:
We finally made it back to the airport in Madison, which was completely and spookily deserted. There was one woman there with a young child who approached us as we returned our rental car keys to an unmanned kiosk. She happened to work for Frontier and was able to assure us that we would not have to pay for our flight and there would be compensation for the rental car so at least that was good. We headed back to our home where the world as we know it had been turned upside down and life was going to look very different for a long time!
In closing this post, I apologize for how Covid had taken it over but whenever we remember this trip to the Grand Canyon, it will always be overshadowed by Covid. It's a big part of the story.
We hope that if you haven't seen the Grand Canyon, you will do so and we hope you will find some inspiration or at least some helpful hints in our ramblings.
Happy Travels and we will see you at Torch Lake in the next post!
No comments:
Post a Comment