Holiday to the Grand Canyon .. New update 7/25 Day 4

[sameerrao]

I was fortunate enough to take my family (parents and brother) to the Grand Canyon. My folks took me to a lot of nice places around the world on a holiday over the years. So this was a small bit of payback for all the care they given me.

Map of the Journey

We flew into Phoenix, rented a car and drove to Flagstaff which was the command center so to speak as it is centrally located with good access to scenic spots.

We spent about 5 days total and visited a number of sites. The colored lines on the map indicate the route I took on each day.

Day 1: Houston to Flagstaff via Phoenix and Sedona ...
Distance covered: ~200 miles
Route color: Red
Flew into Phoenix into a 100F furnace (at least it was dry unlike humid Houston). We rented a Dodge Magnum V6 and set off for Flagstaff. On route we decided to see the charms and beauty of Sedona and the Red Rock Country.

The redness in the rock is due to the high levels of iron oxide. We drove through the scenic backroads. Its wonderful to see the color of the rocks and the contrast to the rest of the landscape.


Besides this, what I love about Arizona is that the scenary changes every 10 miles - its desert like in some spots, then you see cactii, then lush forests, then something else. Its far more interesting than Texas for sure.


There were a couple of forest fires because of the intense heat and drought conditions there - this meant that some of the parks we wanted to visit were shut. But this didnt matter much as there is always something to see in this area. Here is a fire in the distance:
]

Cathedral Rock


We visited Jerome which is supposed to be a ghost town now. It had a lot of gold mining history in the late 1800s but now looks like any town. I was really hoping to see an old run-down town and not a modern tourist trap ... blech

Imagine driving around and seeing sights like these ...


The state parks have taken care to blend the buildings with the background ... red bricks


Our rental car ...


So much for Day 1 ... I will post pics from the subsequent days shortly ... some amazing stuff guaranteed ....