The last full day of vacation is always the worst … you try to enjoy it, but you still know that tomorrow you’re going home.

We spent the morning and early afternoon in Old Town, the historical section of downtown Albuquerque. These quiet, shade streets are lined with quaint little shops and art galleries and other neat stuff to look at.

We had lunch at La Hacienda, one of the local restaurants famous for its chimichangas (and I will vouch that they are good). The sopapillas that came with our meal were also delicious.

By 1:00pm we had exhausted what Old Town had to offer. Without any other definite plans, we did a little relaxing at the hotel room, and drove around to see the University of New Mexico and Kirtland Air Force Base.

We’ve got an early flight back tomorrow, so it’s dinner and early to bed.

Like last Friday, when this all began, today was a travel day, with the goal being to make it back to Albuquerque. We checked out of the hotel and left Flagstaff at 9:00am (see a pattern here?) and headed east on I-40.

Our first stop was at the Meteor Crater. Formed over 50,000 years ago when a meteorite about 150 feet across impacted with Earth at 40,000mph, the resulting crater about 400 feet deep and a mile across in the middle of the flat Arizona desert. After seeing the Grand Canyon, you can only look at a hole in the ground for so long, so we spent about 30 minutes going through the adjoining museum dedicated to astro-geology, meteor craters, and the astronaut program (all of the Apollo astronauts trained at the crater before going to the moon).

We got back onto I-40 and continued west for a little while more until we came to the Petrified Forest National Park. We drove on a small winding road through the Arizona desert for about 20 miles before we finally got to the park itself. Our first view of the petrified wood came as we hiked the Long Logs trail. The rangers and signs remind you that taking petrified wood from the park is a crime punishable by a $275,000 fine and possible prison time. We could see why people want to take these rocks … they look like old wood, but have so many colors in them (from trace chemicals left when the trees were fossilized).

We continued through the park through the Painted Desert, another beautiful sight, and eventually made it back to I-40. We continued on to Albuquerque and made it to the hotel around 6:00pm. Dinner was at The County Line, a barbeque place near the Sandia Peak Tramway, the largest tram in the world that goes up the side of the Sandia Mountain. A dip in the pool back at the hotel rounded out the evening.

Now we know why they call it the Valley of the Sun. The 85 degrees of the Grand Canyon seemed downright cool next to the 110 degrees we experienced today. The heat doesn’t seem to bother the locals, however.

Our only plans for today involved the Phoenix Zoo, which we departed to around 8:30am. The zoo is incredible … full of wandering trails (easy to forget where you’ve been and where you haven’t, though), great exhibits, and natural wildlife (butterflies, hummingbirds, ground squirrels, lizards, etc.). We managed to see almost everything in the three hours we were there, but eventually the extreme heat forced us to find a more favorable clime …

… the outlet mall, where else? Guided by Terri’s “mall radar” (and the Arizona Guidebook) we made our way to a newer indoor outlet mall a few miles from the zoo. We wandered around in air conditioned comfort for a while before heading back to the hotel.

Vacation is best when you don’t have a schedule, and today proved to be one of those days. An afternoon nap and a load of laundry, we went to dinner at a quaint little Italian restaurant in Scottsdale (with excellent tiramisu) and then turned in for the night.

Today we had all to ourselves. It started with an early breakfast at the Maswik Lodge cafeteria. We then checked out of the Lodge and headed back to the Canyon’s rim.

We ended up walking most of the Southern Rim Trail, from the Kolb Studio all the way to the Yavpai Observation Station … with stops at the Visitor’s Center, general store, and other sites along the way. A grand total of maybe 4 miles. Doesn’t sound like much, but in 85+ degree weather at 7,000+ feet elevation, it was quite a workout.

We grabbed some sandwiches at the general store and caught a shuttle bus to the Western Rim Trail. We found a scenic spot to have a brief picnic lunch, followed by some more hiking on the rim trails.

Eventually, at 3:00pm, we headed back to the train station to catch the train back to Williams. This time we were in Observation Class, a glass-domed second level of one of the first-class cars. Quite a view. On the way back to Williams the train was stopped and boarded by outlaw cowboys who tried to rob most of the passengers. Thank goodness for the marshal and his men who rounded the scoundrels up and saved us all.

Returning to Williams, we grabbed our luggage from the train, threw it back into the Explorer waiting for us in the parking lot, and hit the highway for Phoenix.

The drive continued to be stunning as we drove through the mountains, descending over 5,000 feet in a little over an hour and a half. Pausing briefly at a rest stop to watch the sun set behind the mountains, we pushed on and arrived at our hotel in Phoenix a little past 9:00pm.

Tomorrow, Phoenix.

The day started early with breakfast over at Max and Thelma’s. At 9:30am, we boarded the Grand Canyon Railway, powered by an authentic steam engine

The two hour and fifteen minute trip from Williams to the Grand Canyon National Park was entertaining. We sat in “Parlor Class” which was the last car of the train. It had several large, antique chairs and tables to sit around, and a bar. We were able to go out on the end balcony to watch the rails go by. Cowboys would stroll through every now and then to sing songs, or intimidate other passengers.

After arriving at the Canyon, we hurried over to the Bright Angel Lodge to catch our bus tour. By 1:00pm we were on a bus with a bunch of other tourists on the Desert View tour. Our tour guide, Bob, was a colorful fellow from Texas who was full of Grand Canyon factoids, history, and bad jokes. We stopped at many scenic places during the four hour tour, and spent more time off of the bus than on it.

After the tour we checked into our room at the Maswik Lodge, where our luggage was waiting. We had dinner at the cafeteria in the Lodge and then headed back out to the Canyon for the sunset.

Tomorrow will be more hiking and scenic views.