"Life is lived forward, but understood backward. It is not until we are down the road and we stand on the mountain looking back through the valley that we can appreciate the terrain God has allowed us to scale.” Jill Savage

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Day 2 - Twins, Las Angeles, Sister, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon

Flying, renting the car, and driving to Las Vegas - took us the whole day. We had a buffet breakfast played some games and headed off to Williams, Arizona on the ridge of the Gran Canyon.

Day 2- It was about a five hour drive through the desert to Williams. The temperature went from the 100's in Las Vegas (even at night it only went to 92) to 113 degrees and then as we approached Williams - northern Arizona the temperatures turned more pleasant.

These pictures are some of the things we saw on our way to Williams. This is a teepee of course. There is a lot of Native American Indiana Culture out west -





This is a painting on the side of a bar - the only bar, tiny restaurant, and little store (bathroom) for miles!


This was a picture of a man hanging - he must have runoff without paying a bill - the man at the little store - carried a gun - he was dead serious about making sure no one ran off without paying. And if you used the bathroom - you had to buy something.


Or obviously he'd come after you!

Day two - we arrived in Williams, Arizona - we were going to stay one night out of the canyon and one night in the canyon.



The way there the new highway - every exit had a sign - Route 66 - I figured we were running kind of parallel to it.



Call me old but I love Nelson Eddy - I thank my mom for that - do you remember Naughty Henrietta - Ah Sweet Mystery of Life I Now I Adore You . . .

Happy Birthday Nelson Eddy - from Wikipedia

Nelson Ackerman Eddy was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the only child of Caroline Isabelle and William Darius Eddy. His father was a machinist and toolmaker whose work required him to move from town to town. Nelson grew up in Providence and Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and in New Bedford, Massachusetts. As a boy, he was a redhead and quickly acquired the nickname "Bricktop." As an adult, his red hair was streaked with silver, so that his hair photographed as blond.

Nelson came from a musical family. His Atlanta-born mother was a church soloist, and his grandmother, Caroline Netta Ackerman Kendrick, was a distinguished oratorio singer. His father occasionally moonlighted as a stagehand at the Providence Opera House, sang in the church choir, played the drums, and performed in local productions such as H.M.S. Pinafore.

Eddy's parents divorced when he was 14, which severely traumatized him. Living in near-poverty, Eddy was forced to drop out of school and moved with his mother to Philadelphia, where her brother, Clark Kendrick, lived. His uncle helped Eddy secure a clerical job at the Mott Iron Works, a plumbing supply company. He later worked as a reporter with the Philadelphia Press, the Evening Public Ledger and the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. He also worked briefly as a copywriter at N.W. Ayer Advertising, but was dismissed for constantly singing on the job. Eddy never returned to school but educated himself with correspondence courses. He was bitter that his father refused to provide financial support after the divorce but in later years they had an uneasy reconciliation.

18 comments:

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Neat pics of your trip, Sandie! And what a fascinating story about Nelson Eddy. I had to laugh that he was fired for singing on the job. How perfectly ironic! I bet they kicked themselves after his success as well they should.

XO,

Sheila :-)

Melanie said...

Those are some hot temps!

I wonder how many shoplifters that owner has! :) Probably not many!

Michelle @ Delicate Construction said...

How exciting, I have never been to the Grand Canyon, when we go as a family it will be a first for me and Avery lol! Great pictures!!

Together We Save said...

I love these pictures from your trip!!

Love Of Quilts said...

Your saw the real wild west man didn't you....he needs some competition. Trish

Susan said...

Hi Sandie...Ohhhhhh, how I remember Arizona. Spent 12 years of my life there. Loved going to the Grand Canyon. So glad you got to see it. Susan

Angela said...

Hey Sandie!

With temperatures like that I'm not sure if I would have been able to get out of the car to even go to the bathroom! lol You can see that it was hot in the pictures too! I like the picture of the tee pee. I better not let my little man see that or he will be trying to build one in our front yard! lol

Hugs,
Angela

Unknown said...

I really wanted to go on the train ride out of Williams up to the Grand Canyon and back, but I never took the time to take it.

Jane said...

Sounds like you had a terrific time. I have been out west a few times and loved it. Hoping to relocate there once school is finished.

Jane

Jenny said...

Great trip! I should have driven up to meet you! Darn, I never thought of it!

Tanna said...

113!! Whew! And, I thought seeing 100 everyday on my car thermometer was terrible!

Rose said...

my 1st. thought was i couldn't tolerate the temp. the photos were great.

Linda @ A La Carte said...

Now those are some hot temps! Glad you took photos of the bar/store/restaurant!

betty said...

I'm enjoying your trip, Sandie, because it brings back memories from when we did the same things LOL! Williams is a nice town, isn't it? We stayed there one time and took the train that goes to the Grand Canyon, that was fun when the kids were littler!

and you are right, those temps in the desert can be sooooooo hot!!

again, another grand set of pictures :)

betty

^..^Corgidogmama said...

Roadside oddities kept the trip through the desert darn interesting for you all, and us too. We're enjoying your trip!

Dogmom Diva said...

Hey Sandie, yes that interstate 40 is parralell to the old route 66..lots of history along that route, you can take route 66 all the way from Santa Monica in CA to Chicago and I would love to drive it one day..love the teepees and I bet your grandson did too.
Regarding the heat, welcome to MY world..lol..
hugs
Barb

{Bellamere Cottage} said...

Oh my goodness, Sandie! What a wonderful trip. I'm sure your little guy LOVED seeing everything and will make a memory for him that will last a lifetime.

Now, about the weather in Georgia? Not a good time to visit? :-) I would LOVE to see Georgia... I'm particularly interested in seeing Savannah...not that I've ever been anywhere near there, but what I've seen in movies is so pretty.... One of these days I'm going to SEE IT. :-)

Stay cool.

Huggies,
Spencer

ocmist said...

I just love those murals! I wish I had the time to do some of them on our out buildings! I really enjoyed the ones that I have done! That was quite a trip. Bet you were glad you had AC in the car in those temps!

It often hits those kind of temps around here in the summer... NASTY!
It was 108 a couple of days ago in town.