Hello again and welcome back to LFLatSea, a blog journal describing my water travels around the world.  You haven't heard from me since this past July when Will and I returned from our 14-day Miami to New York City cruise on Oceania's ms Insignia, with four additional days in the Big Apple.  At that time I also announced our planning a Holland America South American cruise in December, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Valparaiso, Chile, rounding Cape Horn.  Indeed, we will be leaving Tucson on 30 November, barely 29 days away, and returning on 18 December.  I plan to present more details about the cruise in the coming weeks, so keep on the lookout for posts from LFLatSea.

In the meantime--meaning today, 2 November--we are taking a short trip to the Grand Canyon, with Will's niece and her husband, who are visiting from Detroit (brrr!).  Since the Grand Canyon and most of present-day Arizona were once submerged under a vast primordial sea, including this trip in the blog seems well justified as well as justified fun.

Thursday 2, November 2018
Tucson to Phoenix (PHX)

Lisa and Mike arrive in Phoenix (PHX), non-stop from Detroit, early tomorrow morning.  Will and I will meet them at the airport to start the drive to the Grand Canyon, probably with short, get-out-and-stretch stops in Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon, two of the most scenic and well-known spots in central Arizona.  From there we will continue on to Tusayan, a village just a few miles south of the national park, where we will spend the night.  When making reservations for the trip, even as far back as June,  all the hotels and cabins on the south rim were completely booked (a warning to others planning trips to the Grand Canyon:  make your reservations well in advance, even for the winter).  So we will be staying at the Grand Canyon Plaza Hotel in Tusayan.  We hope to arrive early enough to catch sunset as the first view of the canyon.  Will and I have both visited the Park several times, but Lisa and Mike will be making their first visit.

The long description of Friday's planned route in the above paragraph is to explain why we are driving to Phoenix today (Thursday).  We will spend the night at the Hilton Garden Inn Phoenix Airport North so that we won't have to get up at dawn in Tucson to start the 90-minute drive to the Phoenix airport in time for their 9:17am arrival.

It's almost noon here in Tucson as we throw some clothes and miscellaneous items into the car.  Since we will be away from home for two nights only, we aren't taking very much.  After the Grand Canyon visit, Lisa and Mike will spend a week with us in Tucson.  This is their second visit, so we assume they must enjoy the city.

I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with more details and lots of pictures.  For now I leave you with two recent photos of Will's wonderful garden.