When last we left our intrepid adventurers, they were in New Mexico planning the return drive to sunny So Cal. That was then. Now we are home, all pictures have been downloaded, bags have been unpacked, dirty laundry washed. In other words, life is back to the same old same old.
We didn’t stick with the plan, as it would have required a lot more than one day to go to Los Alamos, Abiquiu, Ghost Ranch, and the Grand Canyon and still make it home in two days. In the end we settled for Ghost Ranch and the Grand Canyon. We’re saving the rest for another trip.
Ghost Ranch was a wonderful topper to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum that we visited in Santa Fe. It’s a conference center now, but back when O’Keeffe lived in the area it was a dude ranch owned by Arthur and Phoebe Pack. Everywhere we looked, we could see the real life canvases that O’Keeffe painted, and often from the very spot she painted them! If we’d had more time, we would have taken the hike to Chimney Rock, where you get a view of O’Keeffe’s house (it’s not open to the public). As it was we settled for photographs, and had some fun exploring a cabin left over from the set of the movie City Slickers.
From there it was a long, long drive to the Grand Canyon across the barren landscape of northern Arizona. We made it to the Grand Canyon about 6:30 in the evening, so had a chance to see the spectacular sunset at the Southern Rim. We had dinner at the Bright Angel Lodge, where it was so pleasant that we were able to sit outside and have a glass of wine while waiting for a table. Chuck and I woke up early the next morning and headed out for a 5.5 mile run along the rim. It was a spectacular day, clear and crisp, and we took a bunch of pictures with our little digital cameras. We were out early enough to see the mule riders getting lectured to by the cowboys (muleboys?) and saddled up for the trek down Bright Angel Trail. The porta-potty by the corral spolied the cowpoke image a bit. We had brunch at El Tovar, the beautiful old lodge that sits right on the rim.
Then we hit the road again for the long (seven hour) drive back to Long Beach. I did manage to read a great book along the way called The Grizzly Maze, so that was nice. It was really good to sleep in our own bed again, after a week away.