Wow, it's taken me a while to get these posts up lately...stupid computer. Anyway, it's about time. After our BBQ competition (you can read all about it on the Trailhound Smokers BBQ blog) we stuck around the Williams area for five days and enjoyed an imprompto vacation.
We rode the train in Williams. The Cateract Creek Rambler was running for the holiday weekend. Did you know it runs on recyled vegetable oil? Seriously...I'm all for saving our planet but this is just a little wierd for me. I like the steam engines better. It was Christy's first time to ride a train and she enjoyed it. As for the rest of us Martin's, we all enjoy trains so I'm glad she did too.
After the kids and my parents left the BBQ, we took a day and headed to Sedona and Jerome...after dropping the truck off at the Ford dealer in Flagstaff. We had the transimission serviced since the warning light came on outside of Kingman...at least we didn't buy a new truck on this vacation. lol Yes, we did that one time if you must know, and we didn't regret it either. 
We left Flagstaff, which is a beautiful place, and headed to Sedona via Oak Creek Canyon. That is one beautiful drive along the creek, I can only imagine how gourgeous it must be in the fall. Not a lot of places to pull off and enjoy the area though without paying to park. As we got closer to the bottom of the canyon there were more places and they were full of cars and people carrying ice chests, chairs, and stuff as they made their way to the creek. It's quite a popular place. We only drove through Sedona, but it was full of upscale art type shops, tourists running amuck...and Pink Jeep Tours vehicles. 
Our real destination was Jerome so that's where we headed. It is really is built on the side of mountain with narrow, winding streets. It reminded me of Virgina City, in fact. I'm glad we had the Trailblazer because parking is at a real premium there. At the end of town, there is an interesting little 'ghost town' full of old buildings and a huge selection of old trucks and cars...over a hundred of them. 
Chris and Scott, especially Scott would have been here all day checking each and every one of them out. Man you could take a million pictures there...if only I had me a uber cool digital camera...hint, hint.
Cassy toured the 'town' with us, and even tried to make friends with the goats..well sorta. They didn't like her very much. Had it been a cooler day we would have spent more time there but Cassy was getting pretty warm.
Another day was spent at Grand Canyon. It's been so long since we were there, and it still takes my breath away everytime I see it. We hiked along the rim trail and a little more. Cassy was great at first but as time went by she was on the hunt for shade every chance she got. We hiked about 2 miles that day so I think she did really well. We took the shuttle bus back to the car...she was thankful for the cool air in the bus and her service vest...as were we.
How do you like Timm's shirt? It's just one of many sayings on the shirts you can get from Sin City Smokers. It's BBQ people...what were you thinking?
Since we were all pretty much done walking, we drove out to the east enterance to the Watch Tower. I don't recall ever going out there. It's a long way but the drive is relaxing, full of trees and viewpoints. The road is right at the edge of the canyon at many points. There is reconstructive work being done on the tower so no great photos of it because of the scafolding and a boom lift. The canyon view is amazing though. The river turns at that point and the views in all directions is incredible. The river is visible for a long distance. We even saw 3 cow elk near the campground...and the road. They could care less about people.
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