Visit Monument Valley. Farewell Dinner
Hotel - Grand Canyon Cabins - Maswick Lodge - Yellow Pine - Room 594
We woke up before sunrise to take some photos. Then a trek up a hill for breakfast.
We took some photos of John Wayne's cabin and a stage coach. This is a fantastic place for filming western movies, but there is absolutely no infrastructure, so how they managed to make those movies all those years ago, is just amazing. It must have cost a fortune to ship all that into the area.
Breakfast was interesting. It was a la carte, not buffet style as we have become used to. It took quite a while to arrive but we have a late start today and as soon as we were on the bus, we wound our watches back one hour, so that was the reason for the last start.
Our first stop was at the Cameron Trading Post. OMG! It had everything. I was interested in a small bowl, but the Navajo pottery is very expensive and some of the rugs start at $15,000.
Next stop - the Grand Canyon. We had been here before, but it is still as awe inspiring as it was the first time. It is just something else.
Meanwhile, my left knee is not getting any better, so I asked Donard if I could visit the clinic at the Grand Canyon. He is so kind and caring and took me and Phil on the bus down to the clinic. This area is so spread out that we could never find it on our own. The rest of the group have three hours to have lunch and wander around the Bright Angel area, so hopefully we will be finished at the clinic and back on the bus by 3 pm. There was only one person ahead of me at the clinic so I only had to wait about 20 minutes.
I filled in the forms and then had a consultation with the nurse and then waited for the doctor. I have a slightly swollen area around my knee and haven't hurt it and can't feel any part of the area that is sore. It is very deep and has me wondering about a DVT. They have had two other DVTs in there in the last couple of days. My blood pressure was - wait for it - 168 / 90 which is extremely high for anyone, let alone me, as mine is usually 128 over 80. They kept taking it and it came down to 140 something. I think the reason it was high was because Phil insisted on coming into the consultation room with me! Anyway, who knows why it was so high. Maybe because we had been at high altitude for a while, sitting on the bus for days or eating bad American tourist food. I don't know.
The doctor didn't think it was a DVT but said that they sometimes hide deep inside and if my leg isn't starting to get better by the time we get to Dallas, then I should go to Emergency and ask for an ultrasound.
He gave me some anti inflammatory tablets and a knee brace. The tablets were $4 and the knee brace was $30 and the consultation was $116. The clinic then called a taxi for us and we were back with the group with about half an hour to spare, just enough time to grab something to eat and hop back on the bus for the next scenic spot. Everyone is asking about the clinic visit. They are a very caring group.
At our next stop, we sat in the amphitheatre and listened to Tim the geologist tell us about the Grand Canyon and how it was formed and what the different levels of rock are. We had heard his talk about five years ago but it was still interesting.
We took an opportunity to have a photo with Donard, our Irish travel director and Roland our driver. Great guys.
Donard made a speech on the bus when we were driving to our accommodation, saying that from his perspective it had been a great trip and he had enjoyed all our company. Phil, as the Sheriff, responded with a lovely speech about Donard and Roland.
We arrived at our cabins in the Grand Canyon Park, had a little rest and changed for our farewell dinner (our second on this trip!)
It was a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner, with turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potates, yams, and green bean in a white sauce with crispy onions on top. We had pumpkin pie for dessert. It was a good night and then Phil brought out the Scottish Jimmy Hats and all the blokes had their photos taken with them on. It was a riot.
A little sleep in in the morning as some are getting up early to do flights over the canyon.