On Sunday, September 17, 2000, we boarded a jet plane and traveled to the sunny city of Phoenix, AZ where we began our adventure. Our trip was arranged through the American Automobile Association office in Cromwell, CT. The AAA travel agent booked us on the Tauck World Discovery Canyonlands Tour. This tour has been taken by more people than any other tour offered by Tauck. For the first two nights, we stayed at the beautiful Doubletree La Posada Resort in Scottsdale.

On Monday, we joined the Tauck tour. With Charlie as our guide and Carl as our fearless bus driver, we left Sky Harbor Airport for a tour of the Phoenix area. This tour took us to the Heard Museum where we saw many artifacts of Native American cultures. There were ancient civilizations dating back 2,000 to 3,000 years. Approximately 1,000 years ago, all civilizations disappeared. Archeologists have no idea why the ancient peoples left, but they left all areas of the southwest at about the same time. Modern Native American cultures have inhabited the area for at least 500 years.

Once we arrived at the resort, we were treated to a reception and a gourmet meal. During the reception, we introduced ourselves so that we would know who the 37 of us were. There were 6 from Connecticut, 10 from Florida, 2 from Illinois, 4 from Massachusetts, 2 from Michigan, 2 from New Jersey, 6 from New York, 2 from Ohio, and 3 from West Virginia.

Bright and early on Tuesday morning, we boarded the bus and headed north. Our first stop was at Montezuma's Castle. This is a cliff dwelling remaining from the Siagua Indians. Folklore has it that this dwelling area was the castle for King Montezuma. The truth is that Montezuma never lived there - probably never visited there, and it was not a castle. Actually, it was communal living similar to today's apartment complex.

After leaving Montezuma's Castle, we proceeded north to Sedona, where we saw many of the red rock formations and stopped for lunch. One of the most famous red rock formations is known as Bell Rock because it resembles a large bell setting on the ground.

Once we finished our lunch and shopping break, we reboarded the bus and proceeded to the Grand Canyon. Since we made better than expected time traveling, we were treated to an Imax© movie about the Grand Canyon. While we were enjoying the movie, Charlie and Carl took our luggage to the Kachina Lodge which is located right on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We arrived at the lodge about an hour before sunset. This is the only place that we have visited where the visiters are so inspired at the magnificance of the area, that everyone spoke in a whisper. This place is awesome! After senset, we had dinner in the Arizona Steakhouse.

Throughout the parks of the American west, there are a lot of wildlife who make their home within the parks. The most commonly seen animal is the Mule Deer. In the evenings, they come out and graise on the lawns and other plants. They are not afraid of people, unless the people get too close. After all, they are wild - just not intimidated.

After a restful night, we arose ar daybreak to see the sun rise over the canyon. While the sunset was spectacular, nothing compared to the sunrise. The long and deep shadows within the canyon were magnificent. Once the sun was up, we had a delicious breakfast in the El Tovar restaurant. This facility is one of the largest and oldest in the Grand Canyon village. It is beautiful in its rustic appointments.

For those who are inclined to take a mule ride down into the canyon, the guides meet at the circle at about 8:00 a.m. Each rider is given a lecture about what to expect and how to "drive" the mule. The tours would leave in groups of 8 - 10 in 15 minute intervals. The mules are a combination of a horse and donkey. One reason that they make excellent draft animals for the narrow and sometimes treacherous traveling, is that this is the only animal that can see all four of its feet at one time. In all of the years that mule trips have been taken, there has never been a death of a visitor to the canyon.

Following a morning of enjoying the sites and having time to do some souvenier shopping, we had lunch at the Bright Angel restaurant. After lunch, we again boarded our bus and traveled along the East Rim Drive to take in the majesty of the Grand Canyon. Once we left the Grand Canyon National Park, we traveled north through the Navajo Indian Reservation and to the town of Page, AZ, which is the home of the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. Once at the Wahweap Lodge and Marina, we stayed for Wednesday and Thursday nights.

After experiencing a breathtaking sunrise and enjoying a delicious breakfast, we boarded out bus and went to the Page Airport where we were given the opportunity to see the Rainbow Bridge and other parts of Glen Canyon from the air. Some of the tour took an optional trip to Monument Valley. To say that this was exciting is a gross understatement. We were divided up into groups of 5 and put into 6 person single engine planes (the pilot was the 6th person). The last people who should have been split up were Gail and I, considering how she hates to fly. Well, split us up they did! Gail was quite a trouper, though. She went with her group in the little red plane and I went with my group in a little white plane. I rode next to the pilot while Gail got into the back seat of her plane. She got better pictures than I did, including a picture of the Rainbow Bridge. I never saw it.

When we left the lodge, the air was calm and was a perfect day for flying. However, by the time we got to the airport, a gusty wind had come up that made flying adventuresome. I have always wanted to experience flight in a small plane. This exterience cured me of ever wanting to get into another small plane again. It was the roughest flight that we had ever experienced. In a small plane, you can really feel the power of air currents.

The group that went to Monument Valley landed on a one strip airport and were taken in an open bus to tour the area. With the wind gusts, the air was filled with fine dust that made seeing and breathing most difficult. For a while, it was doubtful that the plane was going to bring them back due to the amount of turbulence. Fortunately, the wind died down enough for them to return.

The rest of the day was free for us to relax and enjoy the facilities. Late in the afternoon, we had our group picture taken by the management of the lodge. After we had dispersed, we learned that the facility manager who coordinated our picture was a retired stunt actress. She worked on the television show Gunsmoke. Whenever Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake) was seen riding a horse, it was the lodge manager who we saw. Miss Blake would not ride a horse.

We packed our bags and again boarded our bus for the short trip to the Glen Canyon Dam after getting a good night's sleep and enjoying a hearty breakfast. This dam was built to for multiple reasons. First, there was a lot of silt traveling down the Colorado River into Lake Mead. Local authorities were concerned that eventually the lake would fill in and the lake would lose much of its usefulness. Second, with the growth of Phoenix, a large source of water was needed. Third, the dam also provides a clean source of electricity. Lake Powell, which is created by the dam, was named after the geologist John Wesley Powell, who was the first person to lead an expedition through the canyons. He and his crew left Green River, WY in May, 1869 and traveled down the Green River to the Colorado River, into the Glen Canyon, through the Grand Canyon, and ended at the Virgin River in Nevada. Powell had a crew of 12 in three boats. When they were nearly through the rapids in the Grand Canyon, part of the crew abandoned the party, not knowing that they had just passed the rapids and the rest of the river was navigable. The party that left was never seen again. While there is no proof, historians believe that the party was killed by native peoples who were not friendly with the white explorers or military that was assigned to the area.

Carl and Charlie took us down to the edge of the river where we boarded three inflated rafts that were piloted by experienced river guides. From the base of the dam, we traveled down the Colorado River to Lee's Summit, which is 15 miles from the dam. At Lee's Summit, the Glen Canyon ends and the Grand Canyon begins. It is also at this point that the Navajo Red Rock ends. Navajo Red Rock is the softest of all sandstone in the area and makes the Glen Canyon distinguishable from the other canyons in the southwest.

Before Hoover Dam was built, there were plans to build the dam in this 15 mile stretch of the river. However, geologists discovered an earthquake fault about half way down the river and decided to move the dam further down stream where the rock was harder and more stable. If the dam was built near the fault, the ground would not have been strong enough to handle the forces caused by the dam holding back so much water and the result could have been disasterous.

Once we arrived at Lee's Summit, we again joined Carl with our bus and traveled into Utah and stopped for the night at the Holiday Inn Express in Kanab, UT. While there, we were treated to an unusual experience. Kanab is know as a cowboy town. Over the years, it has been the host to many Hollywood movies and television shows. Kanab also hosts amny western events during the year such as rodeos and other cowboy gathering events. When we were all settled in to our rooms, we were told to meet at the front of the hotel at 5:00 for a special treat. We all gathered, not knowing what to expect. Lo and behold, two horse drawn covered wagons arrive. We all don straw hats, board the wagons, and are taken to an area at the base of a nearby mountain where there is a picnic area set up for our dining pleasure. While we enjoyed our "cowbow" dinner, we were entertained by a Western Dou "Side-bySide". After dinner, we again boarded the wagons and returned to the hotel. After dinner, we were entertained by cowboy poet Hamilton Teichert, who goes by the nickname "The Wyoming Cowboy".

After getting a good night's sleep, Carl and Charlie gathered us and our belongings and we left the charming town of Kanab. We headed west to see the Bryce Canyon National Park. The weather was cooler than expected and rain was predicted for part of the day. We traversed more of the Colorado Plateau on our way to Bryce Canyon. By late morning, we had arrived at the park and our first stop was at Fairyland Point. It was at this point that we saw our first "Hoodoos". The formations in Bryce Canyon are rock spires that rise hundreds of feet in the air above the ground below. The spire is called "hoodoo". There is a story about how the hoodoo was named. Many years ago, the area of the park was part of a local indian reservation. The indians would either walk or ride through the area while traveling from one location to another. From time to time, small rocks would fall from the spires and hit the indians. Since the indians did not know where the rocks came from, they would turn and ask "Who do dat?".

After we left the Fairyland Point, we went to our furthest point in the park - Bryce Point. While traveling there, we noticed that the weather had turned colder than expected, and the rain had turned to snow. Yes, we were experiencing snow on September 23! Once we got to the point, we were able to experience first hand the ground covered with snow. One person in our group made a small snowman and set it on one of the fence rails at the edge of the parking lot. After we left Bryce Point, we went to the lodge where we had lunch and a view of the canyon at a point between Sunrise Point and Sunset Point. The food was good, but the service was very poor. Once we were fortified, we again joined Carl and Charlie in the bus, said our goodbyes to Bryce Canyon, and traveled the 86 miles to Zion National Park.

Zion Park is different from the other parks that we visited in that it is viewen from the ground up rather than from the rim down. The formations are more gentle in nature and the coloring in the rocks is different. On our way into the park, we stopped to see "The Great Arch" and "Checkerboard Mountain". The great arch is a rounded area in the side of a mountain where the rock had eroded away and left a large archway cut into the side of the mountain. Checkerboard Mountain is a large sandstone rock formation that looks like cross-hatch cuts in the stone. This pattern is caused by water freezing and melting in the rock, and leaving the lines behind.

By late afternoon, we arrived at the Zion Lodge, which is a large, rustic facility of many buildings. After getting settled into our rooms, some of us gathered in the lodge lobby waiting for the dining room to open for dinner. We learned that upper Utah had received over 8 inches of snow that morning. We were glad that all we saw was the dusting in Bryce Canyon. By the time that we had our dinner, the wear and tear of the trip and the cool weather was taking toll on the travelers. Fewer were adventuring into the park's trails and more were satisfied to stay in the area around the lodge and check out the substantial offerings in the gift shop. As with The Grand Canyon, there were many mure deer that came out in the evening and munched on the grass around the lodge complex.

We all got up bright and early and enjoyed a delicious breakfast in the lodge dining room. Carl and Charlie again rounded up our belongings and loaded up the bus. By mid morning, we bid a fond farewell to Zion national Park and headed southwest to our final destination.

The weather had cleared and warmed up some, but not as warm as it had been when we started. We traveled across the desert lands until we reached the city of St. Georges, where we took a tour around the city and stopped for a fine buffet lunch. The big claim to fame in St. George is the Mormon Tabernacle. All are aware of the main Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. The tabernacle in St. George is the second one built by the Mormons. It is a large white building that sets back from the street. The grounds are beautifully maintained and it is a magnificent sight.

After lunch, we got back on the bus and continued our journey toward our final destination. We traveled across baren country out of Utah, back into Arizona, and finally into Nevada. Just over the border in Nevada, we stopped for a rest stop at a little diner. This was also our first exposure to slot machines. For some of our tour, they had never seen them before. We were warned not to get started playing them because our stop was short. Well, most everybody had to put in at least one quarter. Who could resist? Some of us walked out with more than we walked in with, but not everyone did. Once we were again on the road, some shared stories of their conquests in the tiny rest area.

By five in the afternoon, we had arived at our final destination - Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. There, we said goodbye to Carl. After unloading us at Caesar's, Carl got back into the bus and returned to Phoenix, which is a 5 hour drive. He would get a good night's rest with his family, then head back to the airport to pick up the next group of travelers taking the same tour. Once we got settled in our rooms, Charlie met all of us for a "Say Goodbye" cocktail party, then the most wonderful dinner of the tour. From dinner, we said our goodbyes to the group and went our separate ways. Charlie had an early morning flight back to Phoenix so that he could meet Carl at the airport and repeat the same trip with another group of tourists. The rest of us - well, it is Las Vegas, the western city that never sleeps. Gail and I went to some casinos that had been built since we were there 3 years ago. Somehow, we had enough energy to keep going into the night. We hit some of the casino slot machines. For a change, we left the casinos with quite a bit more that we had when we started the evening.

Pack our bags, get breakfast, hire a taxi, go to the airport, and return home with fond memories of the Canyonlands of Arizona and Utah. This tour was so enjoyable, that we certainly plan to take other tours run by Tauck World Discovery.