Judy Rose, associate editor of the Nanty Glo Home Page, contributes the Thursday Pages and Saturday Roundup pages weekly. Thursday's Pages rotate among "Then and Now," "Where Are They Now," "Special Features" and "Out and About." Born and raised in Home Page Country, she is a Registered Nurse by profession. Index of Judy Rose's Where Are They Now articles

Judy Rose

Well the vacation photos have been waded through and chosen. The Geri-a-chicks had such a good time and the scenery throughout the trip was so beautiful...how does one choose this photo over that one! But I've done the choosing and with the webmaster's web-wizardry, they're yours for the viewing. I've labeled them with short captions for your convenience. I have little talent and even less experience as a travel writer, so I'm only sending the photos and a short description of our days at the Grand Canyon.and letting the rest of the story to your own imaginations. Enjoy... (Click the photo below to see the gallery.)

September 3: We met at Las Cruces, New Mexico, at 7 a.m. and began our drive to Flagstaff, Arizona, stopping to shop along the way. Dinner at The Roach Coach.... Moo is shocked at my choice of sleep wear. Jeepers...you wouldn't think a sleep tee-shirt with the names Kerry-Edwards on it would cause such an uproar!

September 4: We meet our Gal Sallie Covolo and her hubby at Denny's in Williams, Arizona. The luggage is shifted and shifted again to make room for Sallie's things. Karen does the shifting of the luggage and the rest of us shift our weight from one leg to the other while she makes rhyme and reason of our "Stuff." Since we went shopping on the way to Williams, the load is already growing! We drive to the Grand Canyon and check into our hotel, The El Tovar, at 4. "How long are you ladies staying...three months?" our bellhop grunts as he muscles our luggage into our room. With barely a minute to spare, off we go to the waiting bus for our Sunset Tour to see the Canyon at sunset. One of us got lost here....

September 5: Up early for our Railroad Express Tour. At 7:15 our van driver, who bears a strong resemblance to list member Bill George, drives us to Williams where we shop until we board the train for the trip back to Williams. Lots of laughs on the train. Our car attendant is the nephew of a WWII Navajo Code talker.

September 6: At last! It's the day Moo has been waiting 60 years for. The Mule Ride. After a mule skinner class, we mount our mules and head down the trail. The first 15 minutes are scary...after that, a piece of cake. Yeah, right! We were jostled, jolted, choked by dust and mule methane, doused twice with water, fed beef jerky and cookies for lunch, scared out of our wits by the heights and narrowness of the trail, amazed by the beauty of it all, as we ended the ride, our egos had been fed. We had done it! And...most likely, each of us would do it again.

September 7: Ouch! we grumble as we limp in search of the Ibuprofen bottle. Sallie, who had passed on the mule ride, feigns pity for us. We jam our ever-growing pile of luggage and shopping spree "can't live withouts" into the SUV and head for Williams for more shopping and to meet Dominic who is going to claim our/his Gal Sal. "Ouch," we grumble to Dominic, as we relive the mule ride.Good-bye hugs for Sallie and Dominic, and we're off to Tucson to meet Connie Cox. Relief for our aching buns is found while sitting on hot rocks outside Arizona Rest Stop. Ahhhh...how do you spell relief? Hot rocks!

September 8: Tucson. Met Connie Cox and her hubby at Denny's for breakfast. More "Ouch-ing" to Connie and hubby as we relive the Mule ride again! This time, the mules were much bigger, the trail longer and narrower. (Funny...they told us that would happen. Hmmmm....) Off to Tombstone, Boot Hill, and...more shopping! Hobe met us in Las Cruces, New Mexico, at 7:30 to reclaim his Mule Riding better half. We were off to Timberon, New Mexico, and Moo and Karen drove off into the night for El Paso.

It was a blast!