Slide Rock, Not Bedrock. Either Way, We Had a Gay Old Time.

Following up our (much too short) visit to the Grand Canyon, we drove south to see Chris' parents in Phoenix. And what is is between Williams, AZ (where we caught the Grand Canyon Railway train) and Phoenix? One of the most beautiful places in the world: Sedona.

I've only been to Sedona once. Several years before Chris and I had kids - so approximately three rounds of high school. Far too long.

All of my research on what to do with kids in Sedona offered an emphatic endorsement of Slide Rock State Park. For some reason, "Slide Rock" reminds me of "Bedrock" and I had the Flintstones theme song in my head for a couple of days..."from the town of Slide Rock, it's a page right out of history..." And it really was reminiscent of scenes from that cartoon where modern luxuries are replicated with piles of rocks and wooden levers (and Pterodactyls). It was like a prehistoric swim club!

Since online pictures featured people frolicking in the water among rocks (sliding, even), I made sure to bring waters shoes for everyone. I also read that it gets crowed after 10:00 a.m. and knew that we had to arrive early.

I planned to leave Williams at 8:00 a.m. for the hour drive...so of course we left at 9:00 a.m. And the reports were correct. As we pulled in at 10:00 a.m. it was already packed with people (but still plenty of parking).

There was a bit of a walk from the parking lot, but not too bad. And I made everyone "try" at the public restrooms by the entrance. There was a short flight of stairs and then THIS.

We spent almost an hour at the first "pool" where the kids caught currents through natural underwater "slides". I really thought that was going to be it, but eventually, they asked if we could go further into the park for another slide. Before we got there though, we saw people jumping off a ledge into the water. George said, "I WANT TO DO THAT."

If it was only teenagers, I would have told them, no. But I saw lots of kids waiting in line with their parents, so I assumed it must be safe (I'm such a sheep).

I knew that the twins would be able to do it, but Oliver is like me - super cautious and likely to say, "yeah - no thanks" to anything that looks precarious. But he did it!

I was so proud of him.

We were there for over two hours, and I really wanted the kids to see more of Sedona, so I hustled them out. When I tried to plug in directions for another area attraction, my GPS said, "sorry Charlie, you're going to have to find a good old fashioned map because I'm out." Or "no signal" or something.

We drove into town to find a map and ended up with ice cream cones and a consensus of three that it was too hot to do anything else. My plans to walk around Bell Rock and take in the scenery reverted to a drive by viewing.

I did insist on one other stop though. After our incredible experience at New Mexico's Puye Cliff Dwellings, I definitely wanted to check out Montezuma's Castle. Luckily (for my pathetic children) there wasn't any climbing or significant walking involved. We just paid the $10 entrance fee and strolled past the ruins. I think we were there about 10 minutes. And it was made abundantly clear that even this was borderline child abuse.

We're totally calling CPS.

The air conditioned drive down to Phoenix was uneventful, but it was interesting to watch the scenery change from towering red rocks to hills covered with saguaro cacti. Road weary and covered in dust, we were all more than ready for a shower and an evening of rest before our six hour drive to San Diego. More on that next time...

The Land of No

After two nights in Santa Fe, we headed for Arizona. Because there is no way we could drive to the West Coast without seeing the Grand Canyon!

First though, we made a stop for the night in Radiator Springs...

The Wigwam Motel in Holbrook was adorable. I couldn't believe there was a Safeway across the street. We picked up some supplies and had dinner in our wigwam. Perfect for a one night stop over.

Then we woke up early to catch a Grand Canyon Railway train. Oliver has been obsessed with trains since he was two years old, so this was on our "have to" list.

We opted to ride in the Pullman car because I thought it would be fun to experience train travel like they did in "the olden days" with the windows open (i.e. no AC). Also because those were the cheapest tickets. Aside from begging my sons to keep their arms and heads inside the train for two hours straight, it was a relaxing change of pace from all of the time I've spent driving.

The Grand Canyon Railway schedule is one train in and one train out per day. So if we did a day trip, we would have only had four hours there (11:30 a.m. arrival and 3:30 p.m. departure). I booked a room for the night so we would have plenty of time to get lost and wander aimlessly like we do.

After checking our bags at the hotel, we made our way to the rim. And that's when I realized that "the rim" means an actual ledge where children can fall into a city size hole in the ground. Our conversations on the rim went something like this:

Kids: Can we...?

Me: No.

Kids: But those people are...

Me: No.

Kids: Why do they get to...?

Me: No.

Who ARE these fearless people who sit with legs carelessly dangling into the abyss? And why do they make it look so fun? OH - let's get a selfie! Just a liiiiitle further back...just a liiiiittle closer to death by plummeting...that's perfect! Now everyone smile!

Insanity.

I told my children that they had to stay on the path or we would spend the rest of the day locked in our hotel room. Eleanor told me I was acting like Grug from The Croods. Apparently we both have very strong feelings about what doesn't look safe.

We all survived our our first stroll around the rim, and even went back for the sunset.

On the second day, I had planned for us to get up early and do some hiking before it got too hot. This did not happen due to amateur hour decisions made by me and a series of mishaps - all of which are too boring to detail. Let's just say that by noon when the sun had officially reached "searing" status, I was beside myself with despair over all of the hours wasted. This may be why I lightened up a bit on the "STAY ON THE PATH! THE PATH IS YOUR FRIEND!" ranting, and gave the kids a little space to explore.

We walked along a very crowded stretch of the rim and ducked into Lookout Studio and Kolb Studio for views and air conditioning (respectively). Then we made our way down Bright Angel Trail for a bit. That's when my children became the naysayers...

Me: Let's go down a little further...

Kids: No.

Me: Everyone stand right there! Let me get my camera...

Kids: No.

Me: Pick up the pace, we need to...

Kids: No.

I practically had to drag them back up the trail. Like they thought lying down and wishing themselves to the top was a option or something. As for getting a good picture, there didn't seem to be any angle where the sun wasn't in their eyes. So much for a Grand Canyon themed holiday card.

Aside from the threat of heat stroke (mostly my kids), stretches of grumpiness (mostly me) and fear of death by plummeting (100% me), we were all blown away by the majesty (there really isn't a better word) of the Grand Canyon. I wish we could have stayed a longer and seen more of it. Even at the risk of death by plummeting.

Santa Fe is So Hot Right Now

Santa Fe is a beautiful city. I really wish I could go without my children. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but I feel like we're in the trust tree here and I can say stuff like that without you thinking I don't like my kids (and title my posts with archaic Zoolander quotes).

I mean - I did chose to live out a car, traveling around the country with them for five weeks.

I would have loved to spend more time exploring at my own pace, taking in the art, architecture and and interesting characters populating the streets... But in the end we did get see most of what I had on my list. 

First though, we had to find parking. I thought I was so smart researching this in advance and finding a covered parking lot close to our planned first stop, the George O'Keeffe museum. Unfortunately, it was full when we arrived, so we had to drive around, looking for other options. Just when I thought we'd have to head back to the hotel and try again in the morning, we found a lot behind the Cathedral Basilica. So that is where we started our walking tour. 

It was pretty spectacular.

We then headed for the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum since that really was a nonnegotiable stop. On the way, we passed through the Santa Fe Plaza and the Palace of the Governors' portal where we viewed some local arts and crafts...

We didn't stop in the New Mexico History Museum, but we did enjoy our walk past it.

Just when they started complaining about needing a break and wanting to sit in shady spots on the sidewalk, we arrived at the museum. Tickets were $12 and kids could enter at no charge. As far as tourism goes, that's practically FREE. While attention spans didn't allow for nearly as long of a visit as I would have liked, they all made an effort to at least look at the art and not race through the galleries like they were being timed.

George took the kids' guide we borrowed very seriously. Each page had a picture of a specific painting and details about its history. I was about halfway through the museum when he appeared at my side to announce, "DONE."

Oliver insisted that I read everything he found in in the way of signage. Not sure if he was really listening or just like the idea of this...but I wasn't complaining since stopping to read anything more than a one word label is usually impossible with this group.

Eleanor was appalled when I explained what people used to do with  Bella Donna.

They knew that THIS painting was of The City before even reading the plaque.

I think we were there for a good half hour, and it's a fairly small museum, so I was thrilled with them.

But then we had to go back outside. And they...WERE...SO....HOT. They couldn't believe it when I suggested that we see a few more things before heading back to the car. But I was in over acheiver mode and wanted to squeeze in a few more stops.

The Loretto Chapel had a nice shady spot on the left, so we spent a little time there. And I told them about the Miracle Staircase, pointing out the rosaries on trees. But we didn't end up going in since it cost $3 per person, and I was feeling cheap.

They thought for sure that we would leave now, but I was all, "one more church!" I mean, we couldn't leave without seeing "The Oldest Church in the United States," San Miguel Mission.

We didn't go in. Even I was kind of over my itinerary at this point. And after one limp attempt to drag everyone to Canyon Road to absorb more culture, I gave in. We drained the last few drops our water bottles trudged back to the car, stopping periodically to stand in the shade.

We never made it to Canyon Road! I thought we might drive through in the morning before leaving Santa Fe, but I had to pack the car - and that takes approximately 500 hours. Maybe next time. Without kids.