Day 10 - Santa Fe

During our drive from The Petrified Forest and The Painted Desert we stopped for a break in Santa Fe. This was a great town with many shops in the historic district. We specifically visited The Loretto Chapel. I have copied the info below from the website of this beautiful chapel:

Two mysteries surround the spiral staircase in the Loretto Chapel: the identity of its builder and the physics of its construction.

When the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in to address the problem, but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder as a staircase would interfere with the interior space of the small Chapel.

Legend says that to find a solution to the seating problem, the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a man appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters' prayers.

The stairway's carpenter, whoever he was, built a magnificent structure. The design was innovative for the time and some of the design considerations still perplex experts today."

We really enjoyed visiting this historical chapel and learning about its miraculous stairway and seeing it firsthand.

Day 10 - The Petrified Forest and The Painted Desert

The Petrified Forest

More of The Petrified Forest

The largest petrified log - over 10 feet in diameter!

On the road...through Arizona

Indian ruins in The Petrified Forest

The clan overlooking The Painted Desert

A great view of The Painted Desert!

On day 10 we headed to The Petrified Forest and The Painted Desert. We drove from Flagstaff, Arizona to Holbrook, Arizona were you can enter the south end of The Petrified Forest. The boys and I were surprised to learn that this was really just large logs that had petrified over many (millions, they say) of years from being under water into rocks of beautiful colors. These logs were laying everywhere with the largest being over 10 feet wide! The Painted Desert was also beautiful with layered colors making the cliffs resemble a painted look. After going through Santa Fe, New Mexico and stopping at the Loretta Chapel, our drive ended in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the night.

The Grand Canyon

More of The Grand Canyon

Wow...what a view!

Completing work to earn park ranger badges

Discussing some questions with the ranger

Awesome views!!

Day 9 - The Grand Canyon

We made it! The boys were impressed with the size of the canyon and all seemed to enjoy each view point we visited! It was quite a day to remember! We were amazed at all the many different languages we heard at the Canyon. In fact, we have encountered many different languages during our whole trip. We have talked with people from Australia, Germany, Italy, and Norway!

Night 8 - Williams, AZ

We spent the night in the BEST town ever - Williams, Arizona. It was quite a day since we left a very busy metropolis - Vegas - and drove in to a small town with a very small town feel. The people were so friendly and the town was really quaint. When we first got checked in, we headed down to eat at the recommended Pine Restaurant. As we were parking, we saw a gun fight show starting on their main street : Route 66. Right in the middle of the street were 5 to 8 men fully dressed in western attire. They put on a funny and entertaining wild west shoot-out show with jokes and had everyone laughing instantly. After the show, we moved on to the Pine Restaurant to chow down. I don't think we had had anything close to this good for food on the whole trip. Everything was AMAZING! Their pies were almost 5 inches thick, and we all had good intentions to get some pie before leaving. However, once our dinners were served, we had to give those dreams up as we were full of country fried steak, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, grilled chicken and Hendrix's amazing, and huge, cobb salad. WOW! We must have been starved! It was yummy! We then set out to shop as we were RIGHT ON ROUTE 66! Everyone was very friendly, horses were giving buggy rides, the Grand Canyon Railroad was unloading and the air was crispy cold and very breezy. We all loved this town and wanted to spend at least another night here. If you ever head to the Canyon, this is a great town to stay! We all agreed we would LOVE to come back to this town one day!

Day 8 Las Vegas to Williams, Arizona

The Hoover Dam

Inside the power plant at the dam

Walking through the inside tunnels

Generators

Had to post one last sign of Vegas that wouldn't fit on the other post. ;)

Our first stop today was the Hoover Dam! Words can't describe this amazing man-made creation. I think we will all remember this experience as one of the most impressive sights we have seen. We agreed that seeing what they created in the early 1930's gave you a great patriotic feeling and a sense of wonder and respect for their workmanship and their dedication to such a huge undertaking.

Day 7 - Las Vegas

New York New York Casino

We spent the day touring Vegas by visiting Caesar's Palace, the Mirage, and Treasure Island. The shops at Caesar's were amazing even though the boys didn't recognize most of the names. :) We then set the GPS and made our way in our Honda Odyssey to the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop. This is the shop featured on the History Channel show called Pawn Stars. The boys were excited to be there and bargained for some poker chips they had for sale. In the afternoon, we dined at the huge buffet before enjoying the large pool. We then set out for the strip once again in our Odyssey. We parked at the Mirage and got settled in to enjoy the volcano and pirate show at the Mirage and Treasure Island. Unfortunately, we were all disappointed when the shows were canceled due to high winds.

Day 6 - Tucson, AZ to Las Vegas, NV

We traveled today from Tucson to Las Vegas. Vegas was...VEGAS! The boys were amazed at the lights and huge hotels and casinos. We checked in The Excalibur and headed to the Hard Rock Cafe to eat dinner. Pops stayed back at the Excalibur to turn in early.

Day 5 Tucson, AZ PIMA - Air and Space Museum

We toured the PIMA Air and Space Museum in the morning. The boys saw airplanes from all the different armed services and other space and aircraft. It was a cool place to tour.