Day 15: Grand Canyon - Phoenix

We started our day by working out our route, and having discovered that the fire was actually a fair way away from our planned route and so decided to take our previously decided route towards Phoenix. Previously we had also discovered that a new drive–through nature park called Bearizona. Here we could see some of those elusive American Animals we had missed before. This turned out to be right on our route, so we decided this would be one of our stops on the way.

After breakfast of pancakes and discovering the results of New Zealand’s latest world Cup game (which finished as we were having breakfast) we left Valle and began to drive south towards Bearizona in Williams (where we had passed on the previous day). It took a surprisingly short time before we arrived in Williams, and we quickly located Bearizona. We entered this park after a quick safety briefing (do not put your head, fingers, arms or toes outside the vehicle) and first found an area of Burro (similar to donkeys, that were used for transport/exploration to the West). We needn’t have worried about not being able to see the animals, as the Burro were in the middle of the road. The next paddock held American Bison, which were slightly further from the road. We soon moved through more high metal gates to an area containing Bighorn sheep, found usually in rocky outcrops and cliffs around the country (supposedly there are a lot of them in Death Valley). White Bison were in the next area, resting from the heat of the day on the grass.

Next we left these smaller areas and drove for a while next to a large paddock (which was to be for the Bison, sheep, elk etc. In the future) before finally arriving outside the gate for the main attraction: The Black Bear enclosure. We were reminded to keep our windows wound up, and if the Bears got too close to the car, move on. Finally we were allowed to go in. It was not long until we saw the first bears: one in the distance moving through the woods, and a closer one on one of the islands, sheltering from the sun. This was amazing to finally see the bears that we had been promised since Yosemite, and we would have been happy even if that was the end of the area. However we soon found about 6 more bears, much closer to us. In fact, some of the bears crossed the road ahead of us, practically touching the cars, while another had a bath in the Drinking water. We went around the roundabouts a couple more times, seeing more bears very close before eventually leaving their environment. But the [ark had not ended yet, and after parking the car we were allowed to get out and walk to the enclosures for the Bear and Wolf Cubs. Most of these animals were wisely sleeping, but the second Bear Cub spent the entire time running crazily up and down the front of the enclosure (apparently this twin was very different to her sister, the trouble maker of the pair).

Eventually of course we had to leave Bearizona to continue our road trip south.
Our next stop was Montezuma’s well, slightly further down the Interstate. This old Native American settlement was on the side of an old spring and sinkhole. Here (like at Montezuma’s Castle that we would reach later) the Sinagua people lived and hunted/gathered for many years before mysteriously disappearing from both sites. Old Hopi Indian legend suggests they joined them at this time, but a reason has not been discovered.

It was again altogether too hot at the Well over 106 degrees Fahrenheit (approx 41 degrees C) and so we didn’t feel much need to stay for long. Despite warning signs we still didn’t see any Rattle snakes, these still remain one of the animals we have not been able to see (perhaps thankfully).

Before proceeding to Montezuma’s Castle we discovered it was a quarter to 2 and well past time for lunch, so we stopped at Sonic, apparently America’s first drive-in restaurant. We soon finished this, and the Castle was just down the Interstate a bit more, so we arrived promptly. The Castle turned out to be a settlement built high into the sheer cliff-edge. It was the ultimate defensible position, but they obviously would have needed multiple ladders to access it. The Sinagua (meaning without water in Spanish) heavily relied on the river near the base of the cliff for life. After looking around this amazing area we retreated again to the air-conditioned car (with temperatures still over 40 degrees Celsius) and set off properly to Phoenix and our Accommodation.

We arrived near Phoenix with little trouble, noticing proper classic cacti on the way and watching the temperature slowly rise (reaching about 115 degrees Fahrenheit. However, as we arrived in Phoenix, our Sat-Nav took us in completely the wrong direction (we wanted East MacDowwel road, not West!). We soon remedied this however and found our motel: The 3 Palms motel. The temperature was still mid-forties Celsius so we quickly checked in before jumping in the pool and staying in for over an hour. When we finally got out to get changed for dinner, and surveyed our room to more of an extent. Even though it was our Cheapest Accommodation (cheaper than even Vegas, where they make it cheap to persuade you to gamble) yet thanks partly to our complimentary upgrade to a suite, we had two bathrooms, two TVs, a fully stocked kitchen, huge bathroom and lounge.
For dinner we had Egyptian food, under the false pretence that the meals would be smaller, but after we saw the salads we realised our mistake. Oh well, it was very good food. We certainly didn’t have room for pudding.

Finally after another very interesting day that was entirely too hot (but apparently normal for Phoenix) we settled in for the night.