Friday, May 8, 2009

My Birthday Trip

For my birthday, Mike took me to Phoenix, Arizona. We've wanted to go for a couple of years, now, to Scottsdale to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West. Here's the cool part: we had a total ADVENTURE!!! We visited 6 major sites in less than 60 hours! Here's a synopsis:

We drove to Scottsdale last Friday night. We went through Kanab and down to Marble Canyon, where we crossed Navajo Bridge. We stopped to walk across the original bridge and read all the historical markers.



We continued on down through Flagstaff and on to Scottsdale that evening, pausing to sleep just a few hours before we got up for the 9:15 am tour at Taliesin West.

The tour was incredible! It was a 3-hour "behind the scenes" tour. We were taken through all the buildings on site, but the tour was also interspersed with mini-talks from experts and even some people who had grown up at Taliesin and who had known Mr. Wright! We even had a brunch in the dining room there.


We were so lucky, too, because we happened to be there right when everything, even the cactus, was in bloom!











This tour was amazing. It was SO worth the drive down! We were in heaven!

After the tour, we decided on the spur of the moment to stop by the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Miraculously, we were able to reserve a room for that night in Tusayan, just outside the park's gate. We headed toward Flagstaff, but stopped along the way to see Montezuma Castle.




We then drove through Flag and on up to the Grand Canyon. We were able to see the rim that night before it got dark!


Sunday morning, we drove along the whole South Rim, stopping at many of the viewpoints.









We also took a tour of The Watchtower at Desert View Point before beginning our trip home.



We went, on the way back, through Page, where we stopped at Glen Canyon Dam.





After getting a good look at the dam, we headed back through Kanab and then on to Zion Canyon. We decided to get in just one more fun site!







This trip was amazing. It was better than I could ever have planned. Thanks, Mike! I love you!

3 comments:

Emily said...

Wow! Wow! Wow! That is so cool! I'm glad you were able to have a little getaway and see so many cool things. We have Grandma Ricks coming soon to be with the kids so we can have a little getaway of our own. I can't wait. Thanks for posting.

J said...

What an awesome trip. You guys know how to pack things in. I loved the pictures of the bridges. I never would have thought to go and tour that part of the US. What a fun idea.

Tom said...

That looks like it was a fun trip. You guys are always doing cool things like that. I need to follow your example better.