Grand Canyon with Mom Day #4

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Today was a really early start. The time change has the both of us really messed up. Of course my sleep schedule is screwed up anyway from all the years of shift work, but with Arizona not honoring Day Light Savings time, it means we gained two hours on Monday. By the time we arrived at the motel in Alpine we were both pretty tired so we went to bed early. Going to bed early meant we were up early. For me that was about 2:00 am local time, for Mom she was up and down, but by 4:00 am local time she was up.

We just hung around and watched TV, but by about 6:00 am we were ready to go, so we loaded up and left. We headed to Saint Johns, AZ to eat breakfast at a restaurant that I had eaten at years ago. We found the restaurant, but it was so full of locals drinking coffee there was not a table to be had, so we moved on.

We ended up stopping for breakfast in Holbrook, AZ where we found an old Highway 66 Cafe. Mom and I both forgot to write the name of the restaurant down, but it was pretty good. While we were there they had a tourist brochure display and I found a brochure for the train that goes from Williams to the Grand Canyon. While we ate breakfast we looked and discussed the various packages and schedules. Well, when you travel with Mom you go first class, that's what we made reservations for at least. Two First Class tickets with scenic bus tour, and Buffet for the both of us. The bottom line is I never thought I would spend $400.00 to see a big hole in the ground. We made our reservations before leaving the cafe, so all we had to do at Williams is pick up the tickets.

After breakfast we headed west on I-40 to Williams. I wanted to stop at Meteor Crater to check out where some meteor has hit some 50,000 years ago. I have always wanted to stop here on my travels, but never had the time. This trip we had the time.

Now the problem. Passing through Winslow, AZ Mom spotted a WalMart, so of course we had to stop. I was able to get on the internet for a bit last night and check out the prices of my travel computer, and WalMart was right in line with them, so she decided she wanted a travel computer. We stopped and they did have the computer, so out comes the credit card. Then comes the declining of the credit card. Seems Mom has not used the credit card in so long they denied the charge. Of course, we didn't know the reason the credit card was declined until later, so Mom was embarrassed and she had to use another card.

After we got in the truck we called the credit card company and found out why it was declined and got it all worked out. All is well now, but Mom is still embarrassed about the clerk, who we will never see again, thinks she is some low life.

We did stop at the Meteor Crater, and after paying $29.00 went in to see the big hole. We lucked out on our timing, we just arrived at the start of a tour and movie about the history of the crater. It was very interesting, and I am glad we stopped. As we were leaving, Mom asked me how I liked it. I told her it was neat, but $29.00 to visit a hole was a bit steep, but after thinking about it, we just made reservations to see a bigger hole for $400.00, so I guess it was a good deal.

We arrived at Williams around noon local time. A quick trip to the train depot to pick up some tickets and then we drove through the town looking for a motel. We selected a motel for the next couple of days and checked in. We unloaded the truck and I started setting up Mom's new computer. Later we out for lunch and ate at the Route 66 Diner. We then returned to the room for a much needed nap.

Later we got up and I worked on the blog while Mom played games on her new computer. Tomorrow we visit the big hole in the ground.