Last Few Days in Arizona

Saturday October 18, 2014 Flagstaff
After the complimentary hotel breakfast, we drove up to the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Sunset Crater erupted sometime between 1040 and 1100. There are many other volcanic mountains in the area but this is the most recent.

 Climbing Sunset Crater itself is no longer allowed but there are other older, smaller volcanoes covered in cinders that we could hike up.

 The black lava flows are still mostly barren rock.

 Rugged landscape.

 There are some huge fields of lava flow and cinders. We had a good day of walking around the Sunset Crater area before we drove back to Flagstaff for the night. The next morning, we packed up and drove south along the highway toward the Sedona area. On the way to our motel in Oak Canyon southeast of Sedona, we stopped to hike around Bell Rock.

 Bell Rock is a well-known hiking area with a circular trail that goes all the way around it. We took a snack and water in a backpack and hiked around the whole thing, which took 2 or 3 hours.

 There's a bit more vegetation in the Sedona area and lots of great scenery.

The hike through the red sandstone desert was very beautiful. It's no wonder that Sedona is a famous travel destination.
That night we ate dinner at a restaurant near our motel. The next morning we drove back to Phoenix, dropped off our car at the airport car rental depot and took a shuttle from there to Sky Harbor Airport. From there we were able to get a hotel shuttle back to the same hotel where we had stayed on our arrival.
Early the next morning we flew from Phoenix to Chicago. Naturally, our scheduled flight from Chicago to Montreal was delayed, meaning that we would miss our connection from Montreal to Ottawa. At the United Airlines courtesy desk, we managed to get a flight directly from Chicago to Ottawa so, in fact, we ended up in Ottawa 15 minutes earlier than originally scheduled. And our luggage arrived with us. All good.
That night we stayed at the Days Inn in Ottawa. The next morning we drove home. Another adventure complete!

Arizona, Utah & Colorado Part 2

Tuesday October 14, 2014
After staying overnight in Bluff, Utah, we drove along the San Juan River valley and then took a side trip into the Hovenweep National Monument.

 Hovenweep is a Ute/Paiute word meaning "deserted valley". This community consisted of a number of pueblos of different shapes scattered around the head of a canyon. We followed a circular trail around the rim and through the canyon for about 2 km. The Ancestral Pueblans, as they are known, farmed the mesa top using water from the little seasonal creeks that they dammed. As at many of the other pueblo sites that we visited, it seems that the people moved away over 700 years ago.

 Most of northeastern Arizona and the "Four Corners" area is Navajo Indian Reservation, the largest native reservation in the United States. And quite a bit of it is open range. Occasionally we see horses in the middle of nowhere but rarely do we see any cattle.
After visiting Hovenweep, we continued east into Colorado along a river valley that got more lush and green as we went with nice looking farms and even a few wineries. In the afternoon, we arrived in Cortez Colorado and checked into the Retro Inn, a good, reasonably priced motel decorated in 60s style. We took a walk through town and then enjoyed the sunshine outside our room before dinner at a nearby restaurant.
On Wednesday morning, October 15th, we drove a few miles east to Mesa Verde National Park. At the park orientation centre, we learned that there would be a guided tour of the Cliff Palace ruins in about an hour so we signed up for just a few dollars each. Self-guided tours there are not allowed. The road up to it was paved but long, winding and steep so it took us about 45 minutes to drive there.

 Our tour took us down from the canyon rim and through the Cliff Palace ruins. Rubble has been collected and the pueblos have been restored somewhat but most of what we saw was well preserved due to its protected location.

 We walked along a trail right through the ruins. It was a fairly easy hike, but because of the elevation (7,000 feet above sea level), even climbing a few ladders and steps increases breathing and heart rates.

This is a huge site and one of the highlights of our trip. Again, this community was deserted about 700 years ago.

 Before we descended from the mesa top we had a picnic lunch at one of the overlooks. We had reached the farthest point from Phoenix on our trip. Now we started working our way west and south back into Arizona.

 We stopped for a brief photo op near the "Four Corners" where the states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona meet. The Navajo control the actual Four Corners survey monument site where they wanted $20 to drive in. We decided being close was good enough. We have found that the national park sites are all beautifully maintained and reasonably priced. The native or privately owned sites are often very expensive so we've passed them by.
From the Four Corners, we drove west through Red Mesa to Mexican Water, where we turned south toward Chinle. This is all very desolate territory and the little villages are bleak. We had reserved a room at the Holiday Inn in Chinle and when we arrived, we were glad that we had chosen it. The Holiday Inn is a new partnership between the Navajo nation and the hotel chain. It's built and decorated in Navajo pueblo style while still being very modern and comfortable. It was like an oasis because the rest of Chinle is not very attractive. Unfortunately, many of the Navajo communities are very depressed looking, similar to many native communities in Canada. Sad.
On Thursday morning, October 16th, we drove the short distance to Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "Shay"). We stopped at several overlooks and then hiked the 4 km trail down about 600 feet vertically to the so-called White House pueblo ruin at the base of a cliff, built by Ancestral Pueblan people who again moved south and west about 700 years ago. The Navajo have lived here for about 400 years. In 1863-1864, US troops under Col. Kit Carson began a brutal campaign against the Navajo, killing many and forcing the rest to walk 300 miles to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. This is remembered as The Long Walk. Many died. The few that were left were allowed to return in 1868.

 A view of the ruins from the rim.

 It was a beautiful day so the hike wasn't too hot.

The local Navajo people still farm and raise horses and cattle on the canyon floor. Although Canyon de Chelly is not nearly as huge as the Grand Canyon, it is still very beautiful.

 After our hike, we drove south to the pioneer Hubbell Trading Post where we looked around and had a picnic lunch outside. Once again, it's very convenient to have some simple picnic food items on ice in Anita's insulated lunch bag, along with water, a sharp knife and forks and spoons. Anita always looks after this on our travels and it saves us a lot of time and money. Plus we get to dine in some scenic places.
After lunch, we continued driving south and west until we got to Holbrook. We were too tired to stop in Petrified Forest National Park and we just didn't think we were missing a whole lot anyway. We stayed in Holbrook overnight, bought a few supplies and ate at a Denny's nearby. There wasn't much to see in Holbrook.
On Friday morning, October 17th, we continued our drive west. We stopped at the meteor crater west of Winslow but the site is privately owned and the entrance fee was $18 each. We didn't want to look at a circular hole in the desert that badly.
We continued on to Walnut Canyon closer to Flagstaff.

 Walnut Canyon National Monument is a cliff pueblo community built by the Sinagua people in a limestone canyon.

 These dwellings were built from 1100 to 1250.

Around 1250, the Sinagua moved away and were probably assimilated into the Hopi culture.
After our hike around the Walnut Canyon pueblos, we continued the short drive into Flagstaff. We had reserved a room at the Sleep Inn for 2 nights because we wanted to spend a day hiking around the Sunset Crater area.

Arizona October 2014

Tuesday, October 7, 2014 Combermere to Phoenix
After having rafted through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River late last fall, I thought I would like to show Anita the Arizona scenery. I also wanted to see the Grand Canyon from the top since I had already seen it from the bottom.
On Tuesday, October 7th, we drove from Combermere to Ottawa and left our car at the Days Inn. Our first flight took us to Newark for a 45 minute layover before changing planes. Naturally, this being Newark and United Airlines, our layover stretched to 5 hours. By the time we got to our airport hotel in Phoenix, it was 2 am Phoenix time so it was an awfully long travel day. Luckily, our bags arrived and, with a little help, we got our hotel shuttle outside the almost deserted terminal.
After breakfast the next morning, the hotel shuttle dropped us off at the huge car rental depot and we got our car with no problem.

 It didn't take long to get out of Phoenix and off the main highway, heading northwest toward Wickenburg. The desert here has lots of the big saguaro cacti.

 Our rental car became our base for the next 12 days.

 In Wickenburg, we toured the Desert Caballeros Western Museum, which had great depictions of frontier life and lots of cowboy art. We had lunch in Wickenburg and then drove north over the mountains and through the Prescott National Forest to the town of Prescott. On the outskirts of town, we found a good motel for $70 US. At the Safeway, we picked up some food and just ate in our room. We were still tired from our travel the day before.

On Thursday morning, we had the complimentary breakfast at the motel and then took a walk through the old western town of Prescott. From there we drove up the narrow mountain road over the next range and into the old mining town of Jerome, perched on the steep mountainside.

 Once we got down the mountain below Jerome, the desert landscape around Clarkdale was much more open. As we approached Sedona, we could see many red rock bluffs and mesas.

 We got a room at the Sedona Cedars Hotel. The view from the pool area was spectacular. After we settled in, we walked around downtown Sedona, which is filled with art and craft galleries and restaurants. There are also many New Age type spiritual shops. At the Javelina Cantina, a recommended bar/restaurant, we relaxed, drank beer and ate quite a few of the $1 appetizers served in the bar.

 The next morning we had a good breakfast at a restaurant and drove up to the top of Airport Mesa for a short hike. Some people believe that certain areas around Sedona, including where we walked to near Airport Mesa, are "spiritual vortices". Maybe, but we didn't feel it.

 After our hike, we drove up the narrow and winding back road in Black Creek Canyon toward Flagstaff. Very scenic.
In Flagstaff, we stayed at the Motel 6, where we had all stayed the year before for our Grand Canyon trip. We drove out to the PRO Outfitters office so I could buy a couple of insulated mugs, since I had lost mine when airport security had searched my dry bag last December. The woman in the office didn't remember our Canyon trip, other than she recalled how cold it had been at that time. However, she did remember our son Zack's other trip from a few years ago, when they hadn't rigged properly and lost all their meat in one of the first rapids. That story is famous.
That night we had an early dinner at Wild Buffalo Wings next to Walmart, and did a bit more shopping for the coming days.
On Saturday morning, we knew we would have a long day so we got an early start, leaving the motel around 7 am. We drove north and took the side road through Sunset Crater National Monument, a fairly recent volcanic area, and then along the edge of the painted desert to Wupatki National Monument. There are masonry pueblos scattered through the region. Sometime before 1100, Sunset Crater erupted and spread a thin layer of ash over the surrounding area. The ash helped retain soil moisture so more people came to the area for better farming.

This, the largest dwelling in the area, had about 100 rooms.

 From Wupatki, we drove north and west to the east entrance of Grand Canyon National Park. We stopped at several lookout points along the south rim of the Canyon.

 As we got closer to the main Grand Canyon village, the weekend crowds got bigger. We enjoyed many different views but we chose not to stay too long at the main viewing area. However, in the few places where we could see right down to the river, I did recognize some of the landmarks we had passed in our rafts the year before. We had a picnic lunch and eventually set off toward Page.
I had wanted to stop at Lee's Ferry, where our raft trip had started, but the road between there and Page was closed due to landslides so we took an alternate route. It was relatively barren and we were tired so it seemed like a long couple of hours drive. In Page, we found a Quality Inn that wasn't too expensive so we stayed there for the night.

 Within walking distance up the main street of Page was Big John's Texas BBQ. Everyone sat outside under a big roof, at long picnic tables in the smoke from the huge barbecues and smokers, while a traditional country and western band played. We chatted with a young couple from Switzerland who were sitting next to us.

We had great food and really enjoyed this chance encounter with the local cowboy culture. The next morning, we decided to stay another night so we'd have lots of opportunity to visit the Glen Canyon Dam and rest up a bit.

 On Sunday morning it was quite breezy but sunny as usual. The town of Page is just above the Glen Canyon Dam that holds back the waters of Lake Powell. The dam is 700 feet high and the water of Lake Powell behind it is over 500 feet deep. The lake, part of the Colorado River, is many miles long and has numerous bays in the side canyons.
We had wanted to visit one of the nearby slot canyons but it was so windy there was sand blowing all over so we cancelled that excursion.
On Monday morning, October 13th, we left Page and drove easterly through the desert to the Navajo National Monument.

 The ancient people, probably the ancestors of the Hopi, built pueblos on the mesa top most of the time but for a few generations they built this type of cliff pueblo. Nobody really knows why they did this although most speculate that it was for defence. They continued to farm the mesa tops but lived in the narrow valleys. And then, after a couple of hundred years, they left and probably moved south. Much is left to learn about their culture. The cliff pueblos were better protected than the mesa top pueblos so there are many more of them left.

 We continued our drive north and east through Monument Valley. These red sandstone buttes are very stark 'monuments' in the flat desert. Many old western movies were filmed in this area.
As we left Monument Valley, we travelled through the very bleak desert in southeast Utah, crossing the San Juan River at Mexican Hat. The landscape got a bit better as we approached Bluff, Utah, where we found a motel for the night. Bluff is a small town that was originally a Mormon outpost. The Mormons arrived here from northwestern Utah after a brutal journey across the Colorado canyon and through the desert.

 The local people have restored the old Bluff Fort, the original settlement.

 They have lots of artifacts and recorded history of the families who lived here. Mormons have been very particular about recording their story and lineage so we spent an interesting afternoon here.

 Anita is standing at the teacher's desk in the restored one room school.

That night we ate some good Navajo style food at the aptly named Twin Rocks Cafe. We had originally thought that Bluff would just be somewhere to sleep but we really enjoyed our afternoon there. The first week of our Arizona trip was complete.

Last Turkey and Greece blog post

Monday, May 12th, 2014 Athens
On our final evening in Kissamos, we went to the same restaurant and had exactly the same meal.

 The Cap'n recognized us from the previous 2 nights there so he dropped by to say hello (in Greek, I suppose it was). He just wanders around being colourful while his wife in the kitchen and the employees do all the work. Anita got a photo op with him. Later he dropped by with another free 1/2 litre of white wine and after that, of course, we got our usual little carafe of raki with dessert.

The restaurant is modest but it's right on the waterfront, it's clean and the food and service are great. The sea was very calm when this picture was taken but the 2 nights before the waves were crashing against the sea wall and spraying over it sometimes.
Yesterday morning we had breakfast on the balcony, got organized and checked out about 11:30. In about 10 or 15 minutes we were up at the little travel office and got tickets for the 12:30 bus to Hania. The hour long trip was uneventful but pretty along the coast. At the Hania bus station we got tickets for the 2:00 pm bus to the Hania airport. That too was an uneventful 1/2 hour trip.
We were there in plenty of time to check in. It seems like they're building a new terminal at the airport and it's none too soon. The old terminal is dark and grimy.
Our flight to Athens left more or less on time at 5:30 pm. It only takes 50 minutes. By 7:00 pm we had collected our luggage and went to an information desk to figure out how to get to our hotel. From the online advertising, we thought that it was only 4 or 5 km from the airport. We considered getting a taxi but since we learned at the information desk that the X96 bus would be leaving soon and going right by our hotel, we opted for that.
It was a good thing we took the bus for 5 euros each. When we got on the bus we asked the driver to let us off at the right stop. He said he would. We left the airport at 7:23 pm (I keep track of this stuff for the return trip planning). After about 1/2 hour we were worried that the driver had forgotten us. I asked him and he said, " Twenty, thirty minutes". We wondered if there had been a translation problem but he turned out to be right. An hour and 5 minutes after we left the airport, we arrived at the stop in front of the Poseidon Hotel where we're staying. We were so glad we hadn't taken a taxi which would have cost us a fortune.
Our hotel is fine. It's right across the street from the ocean. I think we're only a few km from the port at Piraeus, so we're southeast of the center of Athens whereas the airport is northeast of the city center. Apparently there are no reasonably priced hotels right near the airport. As it is we're paying $88 US per night.The breakfast buffet was really good with lots of selection so I guess that's not bad. We ate in the hotel bar last night too. We were so tired we just shared a pizza.
This morning we went for a little walk along the sea. There's lots of beach areas and a nice promenade along the water, although, being Athens, everything looks a little shabby and grimy. It's not bad compared to downtown though.
Since we didn't find any attractive restaurants near here today, we'll probably just eat in the hotel again tonight. We're going to try to eat early and get to bed early. Tomorrow morning we have to get up at 4:45 am and get out the door by 5:30 or so. The X96 bus to the airport supposedly comes by every 20 to 25 minutes and should only take 45 minutes to get to the airport at that time. Our flight to London Heathrow leaves at 9:15 am. We change planes there and should arrive in Ottawa at 3:15 pm tomorrow afternoon, since we're gaining 7 hours due to the time change. Annie or Zack will be there to take us home to Beachburg for the night. No doubt we'll be tired since it promises to be a 22 or 23 hour day. On Wednesday morning, our friends Sarah and David arrive to drive us home to Combermere.
It's been another great trip and leaves us with a few random thoughts.
We could have seen all the sights that we saw in 6 weeks easily, rather than 8 but that's okay. Often we could cram in more sights or make the trip shorter but we like to float along taking our time and absorbing the local culture.
At the beginning of our trip, we would not want to have missed the Agya Sofia and the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. Those are must-see sights for us.
When traveling for this long, we can only look at so many 'old stones' without glazing over a bit. This becomes more evident after visiting sites like Ephesus in Turkey or the Athens Acropolis and ancient Agora. They were such highlights that we never even bothered to go to Troy or by boat on a day trip to the ancient city on Delos near Mykonos. And in Crete, the Palace of Knossos was a bit of a disappointment. On its own it would probably be fantastic but after having recently seen many other better and more interesting ruins, it just wasn't that striking. Maybe we're missing something from this attitude but we've never felt that we need to see every ancient site everywhere.
The same is true of museums. After visiting the archaeological museums in Antalya, Turkey and Athens, Greece, other museums just can't compare. We didn't bother with the museums in Hania or Kissamos recently for that reason. Some of the ancient marble and bronze sculptures especially that we saw in Athens were unbelievably beautiful. That spoiled us a bit.
We had to come to Athens because we really wanted to see the Acropolis and ancient Agora. However, the city of Athens is really big, grimy and covered in graffiti. It's just not that nice.
We spent 4 weeks wandering from Athens to Mykonos, Naxos, Santorini and Crete, plus we stopped at several other islands on the ferry. There are over 200 inhabited Greek islands so it would take years to see them all. However, they share similarities. They're usually mountainous and have pretty villages of white stucco houses on narrow pedestrian streets. The town of Mykonos is particularly striking as is the cliff setting of Santorini. Naxos didn't have such dramatic scenery but we had a great place to stay there and really enjoyed it. Crete has beautiful steep mountains and lots of little villages so we liked it too.
Almost without exception, we have been very well treated by the people of both Greece and Turkey. There seem to be very few scam artists and everyone has been very honest, polite and helpful to us. In some places it was hard to leave a small tip because the waiter would chase us to give it back, thinking that we had forgotten our change. That is definitely refreshing. Often when we would get out our map, someone would ask if they could help before we could even unfold it. In Hania recently, a lady took one look at our map and gave us a better one. In the smaller hotels, it's like they're opening up their home to us. We'll never forget Easter Sunday dinner with Dina and her family in Naxos.

There are lots of places we might return to or lots of other places that we could still visit in both Turkey and Greece. Maybe someday.

Falassarna Beach

Saturday, May10th, 2014 Kissamos Crete
Yesterday we walked up to the little travel office on the main road and got tickets to Falassarna Beach for the day. Naturally, the bus wasn't exactly on time but it wasn't bad. It took only 20 minutes to cross the peninsula that runs to the north and get down the mountain to the very western side of Crete. The bus dropped us off at a little market about 500 meters up the hill from the beach.

 The beach is quite long and also really wide in spots. On the slope above the beach are olive groves and lots of big greenhouses. There are a few little pensions and tavernas here but not very many. All afternoon while we soaked up some sun we kept wondering why it's so undeveloped. I guess the developers just haven't got to it yet. Some people were swimming but we still found the water a little cold. I splashed around a bit to get some of the sand off me but that was about it. The sand here is brown and a bit coarser than the fine white sand on most Caribbean beaches. This is a beautiful beach but, in our opinion, not quite as nice as the beaches we've seen in Cuba and other Caribbean destinations.
At about 5 pm we caught  the bus back to Kissamos, bought some more yogurt in the market and walked back to our hotel. We cooled down with a shower and a beer and went back along the waterfront to "Papadikas" restaurant again. Once we find a restaurant that we like, we often go back. We could try more restaurants but at the end of a day we often feel that if we're happy, why risk being disappointed. I suppose that's not very adventurous but we're pretty lazy travelers.

For starters we had the obligatory bread (really fresh and good), olive oil, vinegar, tzaziki and some other dip plus we ordered stuffed vine leaves with sour cream/greek yogurt - we're not sure which, along with a 1/2 litre of the house white wine (3 euros).

For the main course we had fresh, lightly breaded calamari and stuffed tomatoes and peppers. It was a great combination. When the owner (the Cap'n himself ) stopped by, Anita told him how much we were enjoying the food. A few minutes later he was back with another 1/2 litre of wine, on the house. Later, the waiter brought the dessert and a small carafe of raki (again, all on the house). We ended up sitting there for over 2 hours and didn't meander back to our hotel until about 10:30 pm, which is unheard of for  us.
This morning we did the usual organizing and laundry before going out for a walk along the beachfront and then up into the main part of town to the bakery for a loaf of bread and to a little market for an orange. Anita always has our balcony breakfasts figured out plus at least something for us on the road. This is part of our travel education. That is:
-In a restaurant, never take a seat where you can see into the kitchen. It might be okay here but it was a hard lesson in southeast Asia.
-On a bus, never take a seat where you can see the driver talking on his cellphone, flirting with the young ladies, eating his lunch, smoking a cigarette out the window and, oh yeah, driving narrow roads through little villages or hanging over cliffs on switchbacks.
-Never have no food or water when you're traveling. Being hungry and tired is way worse than just being tired and it's been known to make one of us a bit cranky (at least, according to Anita).
This afternoon we lounged on the beach in front of the hotel for awhile. It's rocky but there is a bit of sand here and there. Not so bad.
Tonight, we're going back to Papadikas on the waterfront again for another great meal, no doubt. We're not the only return customers. Tomorrow morning we'll check out of our hotel about 11:30, walk up to the travel office on the main road and get the bus back to Hania. From the Hania bus station we'll get a bus out to the Hania airport. We already have a flight from there to Athens as well as a hotel there for 2 nights. We didn't want to leave our arrival in Athens to catch our flight home on Tuesday until the last minute because Greece is notorious for strikes and delays. We should be fine.