Roadtrip Day 8

"Today, we decided to go on an all day Jeep tour with major with major features being the Grand Canyon Caverns, the chance to see the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and the fact that all of the helicopters were grounded due to the high winds.

We spoke tour organizer to help select the tour.  Unfortunately, Aaron could not attend and spent a restful day lounging in room watching Mad-Money, C-Span, and the Weather Channel.  After picking the all-day tour we provided a putty sample along with an explanation and went to get a coffee while we waited for the start of the tour.

While traveling to the Grand Canyon Caverns on motor coach we passed through Seligman, a kitschy, Wild West town and the birthplace of Route 66.  Once the interstate system was built, the need for Route 66 diminished.  Towns along the old main thoroughfare created roadside attractions to bring hordes of people in.  If you’re looking for the best place to pickup first-hand junk, entertainment, and your own Americana experience, Route 66 is the place to get your kicks.

At the caverns, we took a 1963 elevator  and descended 250 feet into the ground.  Johnnie, our tour guide was most knowledgeable.  Many of the stories included the founder, Walter (whose last name escapes us).   The caverns, one of the largest dry caverns in the world, were discovered in the 20s and the site has changed hands three times.  About a third of the way through the tour we discovered that the current owners were lawyers from California, perhaps they are even politicians. During the Cuban missile crisis the caverns were a potential bomb shelter.  There were rations – nutritious saltines and hard candies (vitamin-enhanced) stored down there with water allowing for the survival of 2,000 people for two weeks.  Certainly, enough time for nuclear fallout to pass (not).  As Johnnie explained, it was more expensive to take the rations out of the caverns then let them sit there. The caverns were not all gloom and doom,  as we found out three weddings have been held down there, generally people who worked there. Their bouquets are still down there, pretty well preserved.  Right up a cement path from a mummified bobcat and a giant stuffed sloth. 

Then on to the bottom of Grand Canyon! We were loaded onto the a modified Jeep with couple from  Sacramento, Tony and Dreama, and a another couple from Arkansas,  Doug and Anita (she pronounced it “AH-NITA”).  Following a wind-blown, open-air trip down the highway, we entered the Hualapai reservation.  We got our permits and headed down one of the only roads to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  The views along the way were spectacular, Robert our guide, pointed out various plants including several varieties of cactus (Tim, we’re bringing a big one back for you:) and a century stalk that lives 35 years and blooms only once.  As we traveled closer to the bottom of the canyon, the temperature rose 25 degrees. 

We stopped at the bottom, in Granite Gorge, and ate a box lunch. We chatted with a family from Canberra, Australia, and Jim – in a very animated manner – explained his speeding ticket experience Down Under.  We gave some putty to the kids, in this case, one that changes color with heat.  It was already yellow, so we had the children run down and dip it into the 52 degree Colorado River to see what happened.  They ran back very excitedly to tell us it changed color –  to orange.

On the way back, Jim baited Dreama, our resident photographer by boasting of taking more and better photos.  Every time Dreama took one photo, Jim took two.  This continued until the two separated at the end of the trip. Tony and Dreama, Doug and Anita, all received putty samples.

On the way back, there were two coaches. Close to Williams, our coach, the lead coach slowed, until it stopped at the side of the road. The second coach was notified by walkie-talkie (our driver loved  the walkie-talkie and the 10-number language).  The second coach pulled up behind the first and passengers were consolidated, standing room only.  As we started, Doug shared with the vanload of passengers “the putty is hurting my bootie” (in fact, he was sitting on the tin which was in his back pocket).  The remainder of the trip back to Williams was crowded, if uneventful.

Robert, our tour guide, insisted on meeting Aaron.  We went back to the room and had to turn off C-Span to get his attention.  Aaron, Cris, and Jim headed back to the tour office where Aaron posed with Robert for photos and handed out several putty samples.  Unlike the women from the day before, Robert was very interested in being on the Internet.

Jim, Cris, and Aaron stopped by a café for dinner where Aaron handed out some more putty.  When we left the café, a woman in a biker jacket outside of a bar across the street mistook Aaron for a snowman.  Jim went across the street with Aaron and clarified this situation.  During the conversation, Aaron thought he might have to help this woman stand-up, as she was quite, ah, fluid in her movements.  A putty sample was provided and Jim and Aaron rushed back to the Jeep before more patrons left their stools for putty samples.

Calling it a night, Jim, Cris, and Aaron returned to the room.

more to come ...."