Sunless sunrise some sunny car fun and a sunny sunset.

This is not one of my best posts. Its really just a listing of what we did and where we did it over the last 3 to 4 days. There is a reason for this.... I am sat now at home, in Winnipeg. An old couple are slowly walking past thefront garden wearing huge coats with furry hoods, boots, gloves and probably at least 2 pairs of thick underwear. Its only minus 15, but with wind chill .......(you know what I am on about, so Ill just leave it there).

Its not sitting by a pool, drinking a cool beer or walking a beach, listening to the waves crash. At the moment, I am insanely jealous of all of you who have that feeling today, wherever the hell you may be.  Enjoy it.  At least I have a new scarf and in a couple of weeks I shall be sleeping in a Teepee/Wigwam depending on your word preference. For now, I am sad that we are home from a good holiday. So read this, live vicariously with me as I live vicariously with myself from last week.  

to continue from my previousl blogocks....(I just made that word up Blog and bollocks. BLOGOCKS!) 

after getting up early, driving north and hiking for the afternoon including going down into the Canyon as far as we could in the few hours we had, we needed some food, drink and rest. So, we booked into our hotel for the night – Literally a stone’s throw from the canyon itself – (I now wish I had tried to throw a stone from the window to prove this, but alas I did not) We even had a view of the Canyon from our room, which was nice. We settled in, showered and headed to the cocktail lounge where we enjoyed a couple of drinks and a nice Valentine’s day dinner before a good night’s sleep. (We don’t normally do anything for Feb 14^th and didn’t this year either, but just happened to be here for it, so what the hell.)

The view from our window hole

Two days after the day before Valentine’s day.

Up before the sun we headed out into the dark to see a spectacular sunrise but it was cold, icy and cloudy. The soft top on the car was covered in ice and it took a minute or so for the heated windscreen to clear so we could drive it. (Why does a car in Arizona have a heated screen, when you can’t get one on a car in Winnipeg? Seems weird to me!) didn’t stop us though and we arrived at a lovely spot looking eastwards to try and catch what we could of the glory of a new days beginning. We were the only people up and about for a good hour until we were joined by a couple from just outside Toronto. The sunrise was nice, but with a lot of grey clouds about we didn’t get the spectacle we had hoped for. No worries though, as we spent the next couple of hours driving along the rim side road stopping at all the viewpoints. Some of these were spectacular as the low clouds hung like a grey roof over the canyon with streams of sunlight streaming through every-time there was a gap. It really was a nice crisp morning by now and as we started our return journey to Phoenix, we knew we had seen as much as we possibly could.

Sunrise wasn't quite as nice as we had hoped

 But how did the time lapse video turn out.....

Ok ish...?

It was a wet cold! Icy too.

Got some interesting views though

Bloody white stuff!

The drive south started with rain, but as we arrived in the lovely little town of Williams, it cleared a little. This gave us the opportunity to take a good look around the last town on the old Route 66, to be bypassed by the interstate highway. The town is still like something from the forgotten past, with wild west taverns, old wooden storefronts and traditional diners. It was at one of these where we ended up stopping for a great brunch served with a malted shake. Also, while we ate it started to snow outside, getting quite heavy and then stopping just at the right time to let us walk back to the car without getting wet. A perfect hour.

Ok.

On the mother road.(Will Buffy get the joke?)

We followed Route 66 a short while longer before turning south again and leaving the interstate for some more fun windy roads through the hills and valleys as we headed towards Sedona and Oak Creek. Stopping when we saw something fun, we ended up clambering in to a red rocked valley called Sliding Rock, where there is a clear stream and swimming area. Unfortunately, it was too cold to swim and started to rain soon after we got to the stream, so we continued our drive.

                                                          We found this curvy road.

Suddenly out of the blue the clouds lifted. The rain stopped. The sun came out. Our hopes raised and we stopped to take the roof down on car. The next few hours were amazing as we drive through a beautiful picturesque valley – red rock formations sprang at us from all sides and the views were just amazing as the sun shone down on the brightly coloured rocks. We did stop a few times to take in the views and take some photos, as well as finding an old back road to have a bit of fun with the car. We couldn’t have hoped for a better afternoon and a day where we experienced all 4 seasons in a little over 8 hours.       

                                                         Messing about in the car

                                                Messing about in the countryside in the car!

                                                                   A cool drive through the valley

We arrived back in Phoenix in time to drop the car at the airport and check into the hotel before dinner – a nice little locally run Mexican place only a short walk from the hotel.

The only things we had left to do on the trip were to relax and hopefully get some time by the pool. Unfortunately, when we woke the next day, it was cloudy and cool. So, we set off out to explore the local area, finding cute old drive through stores and diners, weird little vintage shops and a nice little canal to wander along. Luckily, we arrived back at the hotel just as the sun started to show its face and got an hour or so by the pool before getting dressed for a night at the theatre and dinner at a lovely little pizzeria.

Here's a few of the sites from our wander around Phoenix - Its not the most interesting city I have ever visited but its nice enough.

The theatre show was called ‘Hand of God’, and is about a kid who has a puppet apparently that gets taken over by the devil. The show was funny, but the best bit was the audience. In the first half we were in front of a couple who laughed so loud and at the wrong times we thought we might be missing something. 

Then in the 2^nd half we moved to some empty seats to get away from the noise and ended up behind a couple in their late 40s or early 50s. But they were completely shitfaced or high or something and constantly shouted abuse and heckled the actors before turning to each other and making out like horny teenagers. It was a bit woeful to see but even more so when the guy tried to talk and could only slur his speech. I felt a little sorry for them as they seemed to have some sort of drinking issue. Oh, well at least it was entertaining!

The start of the weekend.

The one thing I wanted from our holiday was to spend a few hours by a pool doing nothing and today was that day. We got up. Walked the 12 feet or so to the pool and lay down. We swam, enjoyed the sunshine and I drank a few beers. That’s it. Lovely.

In the evening we watched the sunset from the roof of the hotel, while a wedding took place just a few feet behind us in the rooftop bar. Then a lovely dinner and a few drinks before a few more drinks and bed. The perfect way to end the holiday.

Don't tell digby!!

Baby thing by the pool before the sun came out properly. 

Sunday 2.

I had enough time and warm enough weather to take another dip in the pool before we checked out of the hotel and made our way to the airport. We got there in plenty of time after nearly being killed to death by the Lyft driver who didn't slow down for corners!

Our flight was by about 90 minutes but we have a 3 hour wait in Vancouver so we should still get our connection. We won’t find out for an hour though as I type this halfway to Vancouver on the first flight.

It’s been a lovely holiday and exactly what we both needed to get away from the frigid Winnipeg winter. Only a few short weeks and we shall see some warmer days beginning to melt the snow and ice before spring and then summer! There are some exciting times ahead and I know we both can’t wait.

So that's it. The end of our holiday and I must admit, I am a little happier now that I have re-read this. Hope you are too. Think Ill go paint the bathroom roof now. While I do that Ill remember the sunset we saw the other night..... nice..

Seeya.