USA Road Trip 2

This morning we picked up some cold drinks and drove to San Antonio zoo. Normally I'm not a great lover of zoos, I find most of them depressing and this was no exception. Kirsty had seen billboards advertising the zoo and so we went. It was already 23 degrees at 9am and humid, and the zoo was busy with families. It seemed so disheartening to see elephants and rhino in dusty dry concrete enclosures, they had hay and things like tyres and logs, and pools of water - but they are animals of grassland and grazing - I wished they'd had some grass - but then most of the areas we see are dry as a bone, the grass brown and withered. Some of the other visitors were dense to say the least - after seeing the lion enclosure, one woman then rushed to the tiger enclosure and announced "Oh my God, a stripey lion!". We came out about 1pm and drove on following sat nav to the town of La Coste. The "Ahr" family flower shop which had once been owned by Wayne's mother was shut, so we were unable to buy any flowers. We had a bit of trouble finding the cemetery. Lytle Masonic Cemetery was not was I'd expected, I'd thought it would be sort of like the war graves cemeteries, grassed & walled and flowers etc. It was also much smaller than I expected, and we three wandered through the rows until we found Wayne's grave. With no flowers to leave, we collected a few pebbles and made a mini cairn on the mound, I'm sure he would have understood as he'd have seen cairns and memorial piles of stones in the British mountains. So very sad that we were too late in our trip to be able to see him and exchange hugs one more time. After arriving back in San Antonio, we had a short walk round a shopping mall to try & find Kirsty some more shoes as her espadrilles are falling apart. Got 2 pairs but neither really right. In the evening we had a boat trip on the river, heard some interesting things (alamo is a native American word for cottonwood) and saw birds roosting around the riverwalk. Ate at riverside bar and got a free margarita as the waiter knocked 2/3 of mine all over my leg! .............. June 10th Up at 7am to check out & drive back to Houston, drop off hire car and fly on to Phoenix. Security checks even more strict than flying over the Atlantic, shoes off, bags checked, Mark had to have full body scan and pat down. Apparently his sweaty back was deemed a risk! The flight was pretty horrid, we were all seated separately & seats cramped & squashed. Kirsty had a man next to her who produced his own cold pizza with little pot of chilli flakes mid-flight and proceeded to eat it. The man next to me took his shoes and socks off then crossed his legs and rested his bare foot against my leg. We were glad to get the flight done! Picked up another big SUV jeep and set off for Flagstaff, we drove in via Sedona to see the red rocks, it's a very New Age town now with lots of meditation retreats & holistic shops etc. Our hotel was quite decent, and after pizza at a local microbrewery, we retired to bed in two rooms adjoining. ........... June 11th Long hot day seeing Arizona sights. First we drove out to find Museum of Northern Arizona, I felt a jolt of memory from the smell of sunshine on pine trees as we got out of the car. The front of the museum is as I remember, and a nature trail leading down opposite. We didn't go inside as there is a fee and we hadn't really got time. Found North Winding Brook Road opposite which is where our cabin was, nowadays its mainly bigger accommodation and research buildings for the museum and a retirement complex of apartments on the right hand fork of the road - I think Bill Breed lives in one of them now. I also recognised my school - Sechrist Elementary. We went to Sunset Crater, lots of lava flows and everywhere barren-looking. We walked round the boarded trail and then Kirsty and Mark walked the longer lava trail while I sat under a pine tree and watched birds and insects. Kirsty said the lava trail was rough and very hot through the soles of her plimmies. Both she and Mark got their first sunburn here. Drove on to the Grand Canyon. They close off the scenic drives and so on during summer and run shuttle buses. It was crowded at the Desert View overlook, and the Watchtower shop and viewpoint tower even more so. There seemed to be a blue-grey haze which I understand is a mix of pollution from the Page power station and smoke from various wildfires, it did mask some of the colours of the rocks & made the views seem misty. It certainly seemed much more touristy than I recall. We stayed to see the sun set from the overlook. Didn't actually manage to find the Grand Canyon village. Back to Flagstaff quite late. ............. June 12th - Page. We drove from Flagstaff to Page near Glen Canyon Dam, having stopped to see the Route 66 Museum and take photos of the Route 66 road signs, we also stopped at The Trading Post near Cameron - a very busy place with coach groups. Found our hotel the Courtyard Marriott - it seems odd to see it so green with a golf course in the midst of dusty brown desert. Very hot, around 98 degrees when we arrived. Drove to Glen Canyon Dam Visitor Centre, and Mark took lots of photos. We headed on to the Wahweap Marina & had a drink, then drove along the lake shore drive & saw loads of lizards when we stopped for photos. Back at hotel around 7pm, wrote some postcards, and then had dinner in the hotel restaurant. Very nice meal but really expensive, almost $100 for the three of us without dessert. ..............