Our trip began on Monday, September 18, 2000 when we arrived at Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix, AZ, the 48th state in the union. Our tour guide Charlie, and our bus driver Carl, took the 38 of us on a tour of Phoeniz and Scottsdale on our way to the Doubletree Resort. Once there, we enjoyed a get-to-gether reception and dinner before having the evening free to enjoy the resort amenities. The main swimming pool was quite popular since the temperature was 104° F. Of course, it was a dry heat (yeah, right!) with a slight breeze. Relaxing by the pool in the shade was quite enjoyable. However, we had to get to bed early to get accustomed to the time change and be ready to depart for Sedona and The Grand Canyon the next morning.

We departed from Scottsdale and traveled up Interstate Highway 17. We made a lunch stop in Sedona, where we viewed the majestic red rock formations.

Between Sedona and the Grand Canyon are the ruins of Montezuma's Castle. This National Monument is nestled into a limestone recess high above the flood plane of Beaver Creek in the Verde Valley. Contrary to popular belief, this is not a castle, and Montezuma never lived there.

As the map on the right shows, the Grand Canyon is in the northwest corner of Arizona. It is bordered on the west by the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, on the north and east by the Glen Canyon National Recreational Area, and other areas by the Bureau of Land Management and the U. S. Forest Service, or Havasupai, Hualapai, or Navajo Indian Reservations. Following the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon starts at Lee's Ferry and ends at Grand Wash Cliffs, a total distance of 277 miles. At its deepest, the canyon is over 6,000 feet deep and as much as 18 miles wide. At the Grand Canyon Village on the south rim, the canyon is about 5,000 feet deep and 10 miles wide.

After experiencing the breath-taking sunset and sunrise the next morning, we departed for Page, AZ, which is home of the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. The Glen Canyon Dam was started in 1957 and completed in 1968. The lake that was created by the dam took 20 years to fill. It was not until 1988 that the dam was holding back all of the water that it could. Most of Lake Powell is actually in Utah.

At the main lodge desk, there are two clocks - one for Arizona time and one for Utah time. During the summer months, Arizona does not recognize daylight savings time. This causes Arizona Mountain Time to be the same as Pacific Time.

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