Highlights from the May 2018 “Loosie Goosie” Tour
Hi everyone –
Just wanted to let you know what fun we had on the 2018 Loosie Goosie Northern Arizona Tour, starting on the 1st of May.
We started out and stayed the first night in Sedona where it was raining. Did a little shopping and the next morning headed to Flagstaff via Oak Creek Canyon.
There was snow!!! The closer we got to Flag, the more snow. Tried to get some winter wear at WalMart but it was, after all, the first of May. No luck. 23 degrees overnight in Flag.
Day 3 we took on the Grand Canyon. Did a great deal of walking, took lots of photos, had lunch at El Tovar and made several stops at view point along the Canyon.
Day 4 took us to Meteor Crater and Winslow where we stayed the night at La Posada and had dinner in the Turquoise Dining Room where I ordered medallions of elk with black currant jelly. I had been waiting 18 years to have that meal again and I was not disappointed! It was excellent and as good as I remembered and for dessert we had Grand Mariner chocolate soufflé! Wow. One of the best meals I have ever had, and I think everyone enjoyed their meal as much as I did.
The next day we left for Second Mesa which is the Hopi Reservation and our guide, old pal Anna Silas, gave us a tour. After lunch Anna told us where the Hopi’s were having their first dance of the season and it was one of the few dances that was open to the public. So we headed over to the village and attended the dance.
What a privilege to observe the dance. We were instructed to be silent observers because some of the attendees were young and did not understand the significance of the dance and if someone were to explain the dance to us, the young person may hear which would be not good.
From Second Mesa we went to Ganado on the Navajo Res and stayed at the Thunderbird Lodge.
The next day we took the 1/2 day tour of Canyon de Chelley and revisited the Hubbell Trading Post. Then we headed for Chaco National Cultural Center in the NW corner of New Mexico, down 20 miles of interesting dirt road. Chaco is part of the National Park system and is home to some of the best prehistoric ruins in the Southwest.
From there we drove in search of trading posts and back to Show Low. The next morning we headed towards Rt. 191 and Alpine. The devastation from forest fires in 2011 is horrible!!!
We had a great lunch at Bear Wallow Restaurant in Alpine and headed down the Devils Highway. If you have never driven on the Devils Highway it is an experience to be had. Curves, hills, beautiful scenery and NO GUARDRAILS! As we came around a bend and was heading on a bit of a straight-a-way, there was a MOUNTAIN LION crossing the road. We stopped, not hard to do going only 25 MPH. Of course, no one could get their camera out fast enough, but the mountain lion stopped in the middle of the road, looked at us for about 2 or 3 seconds and then trotted off to the brush on the side of the road! That was quite an experience. Had never seen one out in the wild.
We continued down the highway and came to Morenci and the huge mine, then on to Clifton and on to Safford. Had another great meal at a steakhouse to celebrate our last night on the road. We discussed changing the name of the tour to “A Culinary Tour of Northern Arizona”. We sure did eat well.
Got to Globe and visited another place to shop and then on to Miami where there had been an accident and we waited about 2 hours until they could clear the road.
On to Phoenix to drop off Joan at a motel so she could catch a flight out the next day and on to Green Valley where I dropped off Sally and Rick.
I believe a good time was had by all. Next year they want to do Antelope Canyon and Utah. First week in May. Mark your calendars. Don’t forget about the upcoming tour to Chiapas November 13 – 20th. We have only 6 seats left. Let me know if you want to go. Have a great summer!!!
— Linda