10/9/14 - Grand Canyon / Sedona

Red and rounded, compared to jagged and gray in SD

Funky little place not on the main drag, one block back

Mountains from movie backgrounds

Relaxing with ice cream

Dancing couple being watched by jealous horse

We got an early start and went to breakfast at the same place we had dinner.  I was looking forward to lemon pie for breakfast.  But after their basic breakfast I was too full to have pie, so we purchased a whole pie and took it with us. The main street of Williams looked very plain without the Neon from last night. We loaded up our pie and headed for the Grand Canyon. The travel to the Park was uneventful.  Of course, this is a big tourist stop.  On the way to the restroom Joe saw that a couple of bus-loads of Japanese tourists was opening their doors and a crowd was about to surge toward the restrooms.  He hurried to be almost the first in line.

We walked around the canyon rim in the area where  we were parked  and took numerous photos.  The vistas are so big!  We both experimented with our panorama apps and I got mine to work (I think).  After we found our way around and visited the rest rooms, gift shop and museum, we became unofficial "ask me" volunteers helping other tourists find what they were looking for.  On our way back to the car after filling our phones with pictures,  a tourist asked if he could take a picture of him with the Millennium Bird.   It turns out he has a '51 Chevy in his garage in Japan. His English was lacking and his interpreter got stuck on some of the car terminology, but we got our questions answered and so did he.

We checked the pie.  It was still there looking good.  Then we headed back to the interstate, about an hour and a half away. After filling up the T-Bird we headed to Sedona the back way, through Oak Creek Canyon.  Route 66 has been recently repaved. The route reminded me of the Iron Road we took in South Dakota.  The major difference was the color and shape of the mountains.

We arrived in old town Sedona, found a place to park and headed for Sally's BBQ.  This place is not on the main drag,  You have to go down an alley one street back that is lined with tables and shops to place your order, Then you find a place to sit and eat. After a pulled chicken sandwich with secret BBQ sauce we started our tourist loop.

This part of Sedona reminded me of old town Monterey.  It has a great mix of shops with something for everyone.  One of the places we looked at had information on the movies that were made in Sedona and a list of the movie titles.  Most were made in the 40's 50's and 60's when Cowboys were silver screen kings. Who can forget  "Tall In The Saddle," that 1944 black and white classic with, John Wayne, Ella Raines, Gabby Hayes and Ward Bond?  John Wayne saves the beautiful young woman's ranch from the evil lawyer with the help o his trusty side kick and the horse woman that lives on the next ranch.

Our tour continued to a home made ice cream parlor.  We tried the Malted Vanilla. It was good but did not hold a candle to the Thomas Jefferson Original Recipe vanilla we tried at Mt Rushmore.  What could?!

We continued on into Prescott, AZ to meet Priscilla, Robbie, Gail and Steve, a family friend, for wine tasting. We purchased a couple of bottles and took them to La Bruzza's,  a small Italian restaurant.  They don't have a liquor license, so they loaned us a cork screw and we had wine with a great dinner. We were all so full the pie will have to wait until tomorrow.