Yesterday was our day to check out of Cibola Vista and leave the Valley of the Sun. The Johnson girls had a hard time saying goodbye to the "most wonderful pool in the world" but are looking forward to the continuing adventure we are all having. Jack Hanson called with an update about Petrified Forest and talked about the minerals and colors that were found in the petrified wood and the cool patch he received from his work as a Junior Ranger in that national park. We all said we missed him and we hope that he continues to have a wonderful time.
As we were driving north of Phoenix, we found many signs indicating we should shut off our AC while we make the incline out of the valley to avoid overheating the car. Needless to say these didn't give us a lot of confidence as we made our way to the Grand Canyon!
On our way north to Tusayan, we caught glimpse of a forest fire burning in Prescott, AZ. The conditions are ripe all over the Southwest for these forest fires to erupt: not enough snow over the winter, not enough spring rains and high summer temperatures PLUS an epidemic of pine tree die out due to the pine beetle leads to extremely high chances of a fire starting and burning quickly. It looks as though all SW states are under an extremely high alert for fires, so much so that camping areas are banning any kinds of fires. Even propane stoves aren't to be used in camp sites! Let's hope a little respite from the heat and more rain come to these dry areas soon!
We stopped at a deer farm on the way west from Flagstaff to Tusayan. The girls had a marvelous time feeding the deer and watching the wildlife! Although these girls at first wanted to use all of their points in the giftshop, they decided to bank them and save up points to use later at the Grand Canyon or Vegas.
Finally arriving at the Best Western Squire Inn at Tusayan meant quickly changing into our swimwear (not Chris however since he didn't pack his) and heading out to the pool. It proved to be a quick and disappointing trip however since the other guests had the same idea and the pool was the size of a postage stamp! Nora, being our temperature sensitive litmus strip, decided that the unheated pool water was "too cold". We decided on an evening of dinner and a movie in the hotel room instead while Jennifer and Chris planned out the next few days at the national park. Good thing the suite was roomier than the pool!
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