East Rim

We are 10 days into the season and it feels like we never left for the winter. The only difference is the new faces of the employees. The weather has been unseasonably warm, by this time last year we had been snowed on a couple of times in May. The fire season might be bad if we don't receive some moisture soon.
The exciting news is the Assistant Gift Shop Manager, Anthony and I are going to hike rim-to-rim on Tuesday. Twenty three miles down and up in one day, spend the night on the South Rim and shuttle back on Wednesday. To get some work in Anthony, Sherri, Ryder and I went out to the East Rim for a seven mile hike, which is steep down and a climb up.

Here is a nice shot of hardy pine trees growing out of the rock plateau.

Anthony isn't much of a pet person but he and Ryder had a good time hiking together. Maybe he will become a dog guy.

The hike was a good warmup with some good shade on a warm day. My next post will have lot's of pictures from our 12-13 hour rim-to-rim hike.
Ryder and Zeke relaxing after Ryder's hike. The cat doesn't need a reason to relax.

North Rim Again

Once again I am falling behind with my posts. We are back at the North Rim, arrived on 4/24. So far we have been busy getting set up for the new season. Most of the employees don't arrive until tomorrow 5/7, and the park opens on 5/15. So, we have had the park almost to ourselves. Last night we went on a "super moon" hike along the rim, it was very cool. We did get in a hike into the canyon with a couple of fellow employees, April and Wallace. April works in the Gift Shop and Wallace is in the warehouse. Last year I posted a few photos from Coconino Overlook and here we are again.

After Phoenix and before the Grand Canyon we stayed four nights in Sedona. Beautiful place with lot's to do. Day one was a drive up Oak Creek Canyon and shopping in Sedona.

The next day we headed over to the funky, quaint, old mining, mountainside town of Jerome. The shops are not all this funky, the bikers hang out at the Spirit Room on Sunday afternoon.

The views from the city are fabulous. This is looking toward Cottonwood.

We had a great dinner at a New Mexican restaurant. Being from Albuquerque we have missed good chile and 15. Quince receives their chile from Chimayo and Hatch. I ate so much it hurt.

To work off our dinner, the next day we went for a nice hike just north of Sedona. Oak Creek and the red rocks make for some fantastic scenery.

The next couple of weeks are going to be crazy busy. The corporate retail department from Forever Resorts will be here for six days setting up the Gift Shop and I have to train 13 people in a week. It's busy but fun as 230 people get ready to open the North Rim.