After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

I'm JR of the JR Sport Reef show on CBS Sports Radio. I'm also the host of the new podcast, Agents of Inclusion. We talk to a different Special Olympics athlete every week to learn how sports can bring us together. We're bringing both the disability and non-disability community to one community, all one people, one family. It took me a little while, but I decided to claim autism as my superpower.

When you hear the word autism, don't let that hinder you from doing whatever it is that you want to do. That's what Special Olympics tells you. You get involved in sports, but then you take it from the playing field out into real life. Family means to me community, acceptance, love, embracing a person just as they are. That's what Special Olympics did for me.

It's all about family. Subscribe to Agents of Inclusion on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Twitter definitely ain't one tonight because I can't even get into it. I was just telling producer J this is the first time in I don't know how long, maybe the entire 11 years I've been at CBS Sports Radio that I do not have Twitter open while I'm doing a show. I don't always pay a lot of attention to it. Sometimes I get too busy and I don't have an opportunity, but it's very strange. I feel like an appendage is missing. The fact that I don't have Twitter open because I'm at a different location. This is it's dumb, but I'm sure it happens to you guys sometimes too. I'm in a different location.

I'm here on the campus of Syracuse University. I'm using Wi-Fi that Twitter doesn't recognize or I'm in a location I'm pinging in a location that Twitter doesn't recognize with my laptop. It's asking me to verify to make sure it's not someone else who's trying to log into my Twitter, which I guess theoretically I agree with. However, my registered email address with Twitter is my work email, which also requires two-factor authentication. It's an old phone.

It's a long story. I do not have the phone that I use to verify my email and open it up. I do that on purpose. I do not want my work email on my personal cell phone.

It's on a phone that I left at home. I can't get into my email, which means I can't get into my Twitter, which means it's Twitter free. I'm unencumbered by Twitter. I don't know. Maybe I'll get used to this.

No, I'm kidding. We need Twitter for our business. And I do want to hear from you.

I will connect with you. I got to tell you though, this might be the toughest part about coming off of a week and a half of vacation is getting back into social media to the point where, and you know me, I share photos of my adventures. Arizona was so incredible. Checking the Grand Canyon off my bucket list was such a monumental occasion in my life that this is actually the first time I'm telling the story, even though it was Friday.

And it's now Monday night slash Tuesday morning, depending upon where you are. I haven't even shared all the photos with my family yet. It was busy too, as you'll hear.

We didn't just go to the Grand Canyon and then do nothing. But it's funny because the friend that I went with, she's a young woman that I mentor, but she's turned into a little sister and a friend. The young woman I went with, she's like social media queen. And so she's already posted photos on all of her social media, including Twitter and Facebook. And she continues to post a various series of photos. So it's funny, every time I open up Facebook, there's a new photo of our adventure.

So she is way ahead of me and way ahead of the curve. I just haven't gotten there yet. It's been a crazy whirlwind. I actually realized it going back to my birthday, which was Friday, April 7. So it was going into Easter weekend.

It was the last time I hosted the show. I've only slept in my bed two nights. It's been insane because my family was visiting that Easter weekend to celebrate my birthday. And so I gave up my bed to my brother and sister-in-law. I was sleeping on the pullout couch downstairs.

Then I turned around and came to Syracuse for my first class the Monday after Easter, the day after Easter. So I slept in a hotel room that night. The morning after, Tuesday morning, I drove home, I unpacked, I repacked, I got to the airport. I was in Arizona by Tuesday night.

I know I'm insane. I was in Arizona by Tuesday night. I slept at my uncle's house for two nights. Then Casey and I went to our Airbnb near the Grand Canyon. I slept there for two nights.

On Saturday night, I had a red eye, so I didn't sleep at all. I was on an airplane going from, get this, 88 degrees in Phoenix on Saturday evening to snow in Minneapolis on Sunday morning. It was cold. I walked off the plane.

What? That's snow on the ground or snow on the, actually on the jetway. There was snow in the jetway and on the ground.

But yeah, it was cold in Minneapolis. So that was kind of a shock to the system, but I did not sleep on Saturday night because I was on airplanes. I got back to New Jersey on Sunday morning. Last night, Sunday night, I was able to sleep in my own bed for just the second time in 10 days.

And now here I am in Syracuse. And while I'm not sleeping tonight, I will grab a nap before I head back to my house on Tuesday afternoon. So it's been a bit of a whirlwind, but I would not change a thing.

It was an unforgettable experience to be in Arizona for a couple of reasons. So I want to share a bit of the story with you. And I promise you at some point there will be a blog post by this weekend with a bunch of photos. I've got my favorites.

I'm going to put all my photos into a Google drive. Bob, remember Bob? Jay, do you remember Bob? Bob, our good friend. Our good friend Bob. Bob hasn't even seen the photos yet. My family has only seen a handful of photos. So I'm just kind of behind the eight ball because it's been such a whirlwind. But I'm really excited to share the story with you because many of you have reached out to me and said either you've been to the Grand Canyon or you have also hiked it. Some of you live in Arizona.

I've even heard from people who actually serve as guides at the Grand Canyon. It was everything I dreamed of and so much more. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You can't, even though I can't access it now, I'll access it at some point on Twitter, on A Law Radio. That's where the photos will be. The link to the blog post, that's where it will be when I get it done. Of course, I'll let you know. And then also on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You all are very kind to send your messages that you're listening and that you missed me. I do check out. And when I say check out, I mean check out.

I barely, barely, you can go back and look at social media if you want to. Jay and I were giggling, well I was giggling. I don't think Jay giggles.

Jay, do you giggle or is that too unmanly for you? Right, don't ever do that again. Don't ever do that again.

Okay, noted. So I opened up our Facebook page when I got set up here in the control room where I'm hosting from on the campus of Syracuse University. And I opened up our Facebook page and realized that there was no post for 10 days. So you all Facebookers must be going through withdrawals. Oh my goodness, were you getting the, you were getting the shakes because we hadn't posted anything in 10 days.

So this is what I will say. Time away from the radio. Time away from social media. It refuels me. It rejuvenates me. It reminds me how much I love what I do.

And by Monday evening, I was getting anxious. I miss my job. I miss being on the air. I miss doing what I love, my calling, my passion.

But it was really good to get away if I never take a break. And I tell this to my students, I tell this to young people I mentor, sports never stop. They are going to be there forever. They're going to continue. They were here long before you got into the business. They're going to survive you. They're going to be around long after you're done in this business. Take a break. It's going to be the same stories when you get back anyway.

Aaron Rogers. Oh my gosh, you guys, this cracks me up. So Saturday evening, Casey and I are waiting for our respective airplanes. She turned on, I don't know what she was doing on her phone. She pulled up the Rich Eisen podcast. Rich, I think it was from a Friday.

It was from his Friday show. Rich teases. There's news about the Aaron Rogers situation to the Jets. I'm interested and I'm intrigued.

Wow. What happened? I didn't see it. I'm really not checking the internet. There was no news. All he did was read. He lied.

All he did was regurgitate all the same old details, but add his angst to it, because I think he's a longtime Jets fan. When I left, we had gotten bored talking about it. I'm back.

There's still no news. That's what I mean. And that's fine. It's totally fine. Totally fine.

Anyway, that's the point. Take the time away. And it's really any job, especially one that you pour a lot of heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into, which is how I deal with my career.

It's how I've always approached my career. It's good for me to be able to get away. I did not miss social media. I did not miss it until about 24 hours ago. And then I was jonesing to get back on the air. I was going through withdrawals similar to you. So I want to give you some of the details of my trip.

I won't, I won't bore you to death. I hope. But many of you know that early April was my Grammy Helen's birthday and that we were able to be together for her 100th in 2022. And it was a, it was a melancholy day for me. It was a tough day for me because I missed her so much.

And I was remembering what we were doing a year ago. Well, the first half of my trip to Arizona was actually to spend time with Grammy Helen's kids. So my uncle Kenny, my auntie Karen, who's my only aunt and my godmother, they both live in Arizona.

I had not seen my aunt since 2017. I believe my uncle Kenny, I had seen at my Grammy's 100th birthday, but they're very special to me. And furthermore, they're my connection to my Grammy.

There's only a few people who understand my love and my relationship with my Grammy who have that same love and appreciation for her. And so to be able to spend time with my uncle Kenny, my auntie Karen, while I was in Arizona was, it was paramount. It was another step in the healing process. And it was good for all of us. We laughed, we cried, we talked about Grammy, we shared meals, we just enjoyed the company.

And that was so refreshing and so special to me. So that was my first two days in Arizona. On Thursday night, I pick up my friend Casey at the airport, she flies in from Dallas, and we go straight up to Williams, Arizona, and we go into Arizona, which is about, it's about an hour south of the Grand Canyon. So we get in, it's, oh my gosh, it's getting close to midnight, we fall asleep. I'm thinking there's no way, I'm too excited.

There's no way I'm going to be able to fall asleep. But as it turned out, six hours, slept like a rock, both of us, we wake up on Saturday or Friday morning, and we are raring to go. So this is, this is the part that took meticulous planning.

And Casey has said she learned things from me about planning. The weather was going to be so varied at the South Rim. Now, if you don't know anything about the South Rim, it is 7000 feet in elevation, the North Rim is less trafficked, it's 8000 feet in elevation, we could see the North Rim, the mountains or the, you know, the peaks of the canyon had snow on them on the North Rim, which is why the North Rim is not open right now. Arizona has had so much snow, a record winter of snow that the North Rim is not safe, the trails from the North Rim.

So the South Rim is open, the North Rim is not. But it's 7000 feet at the South Rim. And the trail that we wanted to use descends 4400 feet, Jay, 4400 feet. Do you know that's as tall as the tallest mountain, the Catskills?

Wow. So we knew that it was going to be cold at the top, the temperatures were in the 40s at the top and windy. And we were going to have to traverse parts of the trail that were still covered in snow and ice. So you had to prepare for snow and ice and temps in the 40s with the wind chills at the rim. But at the bottom, sunshine, right and the and the bright, the gorgeous sunshine, it was a perfect day temps in the 60s. But the sunshine helped you to warm up and then you're hiking back up 4400 feet. So of course, you're exerting extra energy, you're sweating.

So it was one of those it was one of those experiences where you have to plan for everything. So at the top, I'm not kidding you. At the top, I'm wearing four layers, four layers, a tank top, a long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt and a jacket. Plus I'm wearing a winter hat and gloves.

I've got full yoga pants, a pair of pants on over that and I had to use my crampons the spikes that you put on the bottom of your shoes. My niece got them for me for Christmas and she is so excited that I used them for the first mile. So the first mile and I do have photos of this that I'll share at some point. Ice covered trails, snow that was on the side of the canyon and it's freaking cold. I mean, it's cold.

You can see your breath cold. And so we hiked the first mile. We get down where we're more into the sunshine a little bit.

So that part of the canyon doesn't get the sunshine, not this time of the year. And so all that snow and ice is still there. Oh, and Jay, Jay, it was flurrying as we started. It was actually snowing at the Grand Canyon as we started. Isn't that amazing? That's pretty cool. That's a kind of a story. Oh, it was awesome.

You know how much I love snow. And so to have that element, the first few that this was really just the first few, I guess they're called switchbacks. The first few switchbacks is we're kind of descending.

The first mile was actually the steepest though. And so we make our way down after a while we're starting to strip off layers. So the first thing that comes off is my sweatshirt, put the jacket back on. Oh, then I realized my long sleeve shirt. I'm too warm.

Take that off as well. We're also carrying backpacks that have snacks and three bottles of water each, big bottles, not little ones. And so it's heavy. The first mile and a half felt like the longest.

I don't know why. Maybe because we stopped to take photos every single time. So you have to look down at where you're walking because it's ice and it's snow and it's treacherous. And the path is descending and you're stepping over logs that have been placed there to kind of prevent mudslides, right? They almost form steps in many, in many places, but you have to look where you're going down every, so I don't trip and fall off the side of the canyon, right into the canyon, become a permanent resident at the canyon. I would look up and every single time it was breathtaking, but really neat to see the canyon from the top and then to descend.

And as you descend, you're not just at the Grand Canyon, you are in the Grand Canyon. You all know me. I'm pretty chipper. I'm pretty enthusiastic.

I was so full of adrenaline. So on the way down, oh my gosh, you're going to laugh at me. On the way down, we're seeing people who are coming up. Now they've gone various distances. Some of them had only gone down a mile and a half to what was the first rest stop and turn around and gone back. Some had hiked down three miles, had turned around and gone back. Some had gone all the way down to this Navajo campground, which is where we were headed, which is four and a half miles down.

Others had gone all the way to the Colorado River, which is literally the bottom of the canyon and had camped overnight. You cannot do that round trip in a day. They, they, you know, you would run out of daylight. It's, it's very dangerous in the daytime.

Forget in the dark. So those people had been camping. So we're seeing people coming back up and this is nine o'clock, nine 30 in the morning. I'm all chipper. Good morning.

How are you? Where are you coming from? And there are many of them. They do say hello, but it's, hello, hi, because they're hiking up, right? They're hiking four and a half miles up, or in some cases farther than that. And they're carrying heavy packs or backpacks like we were carrying. And I said to Casey, I wonder if that's going to be us on the way up. I wonder if we're annoying the crap out of them because we're so enthusiastic. And on the way up, it's going to be me who can't talk. It's going to be me who goes. Now the most part people were friendly, but it was really funny because we're, we're bouncing with energy and we felt like we could run down the mountain. Oh my gosh. Two people passed us running down these trails. I say they have a death wish. Anyway, they running the Grand Canyon, running down, forget up, up is a little different down.

You could slip it's loose dirt and gravel, and you could slip and fall off the side of the Canyon, never to be found again. Anyway, I'm all chipper. I'm happy. I'm, oh, I'm so proud of you.

Congratulations. And then of course it's not the same on the way up because you're conserving energy like nobody's business. But it was funny because I realized that I was far more chipper and far more energetic than those people who are coming back up. And it was the taste of what was in store for us.

So we'll take a break here and I'll finish the story. But the, we continue to strip off layers because now we're in the sun. We're, we're, you know, we're getting warmer. So the, the winter hat comes off, a ball cap goes on. I've got now at this point, just my light raincoat over my tank top. It was really cool to get down into the bottom of the Canyon.

Here's what I'll say. So people hike the Canyon year round. My brother and sister-in-law and my nieces had hiked it in winter time.

We had the fortune, the blessing. It was an incredible blessing of hiking it in early spring. So again, higher elevations it's early spring there. As you descend into the Canyon this time of the year, the green is richer and thicker and deeper. I felt like I was descending into a valley of emeralds. That's the green.

And when I share the photos, you'll know everything was in bloom. The deeper you got into the Canyon, obviously there's there's water. The deeper you go to the Canyon, there's more water, but also you've got the sun all the time in the, well on sunny days, you've got the sun. You've got that light all the time in the Canyon and you're descending to the point where you're below the tree line level, right? So the deeper we go into the Canyon, the green is captivating.

It's everywhere. An emerald green, we get to the bottom, cacti are blooming trees. There's a couple of trees that have broken out in purple blooms. In fact, one of those is on my Twitter.

Actually, if you check out my Twitter from, I think it was Sunday morning or Sunday afternoon, I did share a photo. Casey and I took a selfie in front of a tree that was in full purple blooms. It's gorgeous. And so the deeper we got to the Canyon, the more vegetation, the more flowers and the green, it was mesmerizing.

It was so beautiful. And that's the benefit of hiking the Grand Canyon early spring. So we get down to the bottom. We take about a 20 minute break. We strip off more layers, right? So on the way back up, it's tank top. Casey was in shorts.

I was in short yoga pants. And that's how we begin our descent, knowing we've got four and a half miles up and 4,400 feet to climb from the bottom. So I'll take a break there. We'll finish the story.

It's pretty cool. I'm telling you, I still can't believe it happened. I know it did. My calves are still feeling.

It's the only body part that's still hurting. It was so much better than I expected. So yes, bucket list item. But to be in the Canyon, to be part of the Canyon, to hear the birds, to see the caribou, to see the green and the purple flowers, to encounter other people who had made that same trek. It was almost like a spiritual experience.

Unforgettable, to be sure. Thanks so much for hanging out with us. Thank you for caring about my experience.

Many of you wrote to me and you're all excited that I got a chance to do this and couldn't wait to hear. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast.

You're listening to After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Oh, that's sweet. What I try to do is point them out to women who take over and do a good job. That's where we look up to you. I just love the job you do.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Thanks again for all of your messages, your tweets, your Facebook posts. I did not look at Facebook even one time when I was gone, the show page. I actually can't access it on my phone, but I very rarely looked at Twitter.

It was intentional. I needed to get away. There is one photo that's posted on Twitter. One photo from the Canyon.

There are a couple of photos that I shared. Actually, my uncle Kenny has what's called a pineapple palm tree in his backyard. He's got an incredible backyard, a pool. It's beautiful palm trees and flowers and cacti of all sizes and shapes. I took a photo of his pineapple palm and shared that as a good morning from Arizona when I first got there and first woke up.

Then there was a cactus in bloom, one particular cactus with these ginormous white flowers with pink trim that I also shared on Twitter. I haven't had a chance to share the photos from the Grand Canyon yet, mostly because I'm still processing. We took hundreds of photos between my hiking partner and I, Casey and I. We took hundreds of photos. We actually had an agreement. I would take pictures of her. She would take pictures of me so that we would have some that weren't selfies, that were more organic.

We are creating a Google Drive file. She put hers in like three hours after we were done hiking. We couldn't move. I haven't done it yet because it's just been a whirlwind of travel. I got back home Sunday morning, had not slept for 30 hours, had to turn around and get myself together to drive to Syracuse on Monday, which is where I'm hosting the show from now. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio, but producer Jay just became the recipient of my favorite photo from the Grand Canyon.

Jay, maybe we'll be able to post this, but how about we do this before the show is done? We'll get a couple of these photos up from the base of the canyon. This is down at this Native American campground. It's actually where they keep the mules, so a lot of the mules that traverse the paths. In fact, they will take people and supplies down to the Colorado Riverbed for a camping experience. We actually did walk by some mule dung that was on the trail, so the mules are very sure-footed and they will make this trek. This is where they keep the mules is four and a half miles down. That's where they house them. I mean, that's crazy to me, but they live in the canyon down in this former Native American camping space or campground. So anyway, the photo that I sent Jay is from the base of the canyon, where we were.

It was our lowest point that we got down to. Jay, how would you describe it? Oh, it's tremendous. It's very vibrant, very colorful. It's a great photo.

It's got really everything going on. You asked me what? Oh, well, I asked you if you used any filters. Jay, that's an affront to my integrity. I can't believe you would ask me if I use filters. You know me better than that. I know. We're supposed to be tight. We're supposed to be real, as in like friends for life and all that jazz. And you asked me if I used filters on my Grand Canyon photos?

I ask it almost, I feel like in a way, well, I know you don't because I ask it like on every photo you show me, I feel like, but I know you don't, but I just like, it just doesn't, you have to like, there's no way. That's the Grand Canyon. That was amazing. Also, my phone takes really good photos, but I'm not, I'm not in any way being facetious when I tell you it was the most incredible deep emerald green I've ever seen. There's a splash of purple.

The sky is vibrant blue with some clouds, you know, clouds are my favorite subjects. And the crazy part is that we're looking up at the top of the canyon, right? We're looking up at the rim from where we were, which is why it's such an incredible contrast from the base plus the canyon up.

So I'll share a couple of those at least before we get off the air, maybe next hour. But to finish the story. So now we're at the bottom of the canyon, right? We're four and a half miles down, we've got 4,400 feet to hike back up to the rim. And immediately, immediately you start with the steep steps.

And it's whoa, it takes all of your cardiovascular health. And I'm training to run a half marathon. I'm actually behind in my training.

It's inside of three weeks now. But this was my training run, if you will, is my training exercise. You just have to keep going slow and steady and just keep moving. But part of the part of the challenge is that as I say, they have in order to prevent mudslides in the canyon, they have put in some cases, they're bolted down logs, so short logs that almost form steps.

Now they're not. They're not short steps. They're longer steps. Weirdly enough, they didn't fit my strides mostly, so I'd have to take extra steps. But you're constantly stepping up. So it's knees, it's quads, it's hamstrings, it's calves.

Oh, my goodness. Everything's okay now, except for my calf muscles. I can still feel them. But you're stepping. And the only markers that you get on the entire trail, you get a marker at three miles down, or a mile and a half up. You get a marker at three miles down, you get a marker at a mile and a half down. And it felt like an eternity as we're moving back up.

But it's hot. We stopped to take pictures periodically, stopped to carry water. I went through three large bottles of water, two and a half. I saved some for when I got back up.

Casey ran out of water. I mean, it's such an incredible change from the top where it's cold to the bottom and now you're hiking up. But it was incredible. Again, just being in the canyon, right? So being at the base of the canyon, this one stopping point, and being able to look up at the walls and realize where we had come from four and a half miles up, 4,400 feet up.

It was phenomenal. And so I'm really proud of myself. We did it as we get back to the last mile and a half. So now we've done three miles.

It becomes really busy. So all these people, I mean, there are people in boat shoes. Don't ask me what they were doing out there in boat shoes. Oh my gosh, Casey saw somebody in Uggs.

There are people carrying babies. I mean, they're essentially, there is tourists. They're not serious hikers, but they think, oh, we'll go a little ways down.

We'll get to the canyon. Oh my gosh, there's snow, there's ice, there's a traffic jam. And so the last mile and a half, not only is the steepest, but there are the most people there as well. Snow everywhere. I think snow must have slid down during the daytime when we were at the bottom or making our way to the bottom because the same snow was not there when we went down, but the trails are icy in spots. So I stopped and put on my spikes again.

It was able to finish. You kind of have to dodge people though. You've got people who are going slower than you on the way up. And then you've got a steady stream of people who are coming down from the top and really only going a mile or so. So yeah, really that was the challenge of going that last mile and a half.

Is it steep? We're exhausted. And there's people, there's just people everywhere. People, like I said, entire families, people carrying babies, wearing boat shoes and Uggs and not prepared for what was out there on the trail. Also, this is kind of crazy. Casey, don't ask me how she decided to research this.

She Googled it. People have died in the canyon taking selfies. They just, they fall off the side of the canyon into the canyon. Thankfully that did not happen. I did not drop my phone.

Both Casey and I came out unscathed. So as I'm getting to the last 200 yards, the adrenaline spike is incredible. The endorphins are incredible. Still have kind of a path to climb up, but I'm clapping.

I'm trying not to like scream because I'm so excited. There's so many people around. It was so busy at the top, much warmer at the top, though still a brisk wind. We did do a video at the top because I just wanted to commemorate it in some way. Couple of videos that I took from in the canyon. So I'm going to share as much of this as I can.

As I say, I'll do a blog post. It was exhilarating. It was unforgettable. It was, and I'm not going to take away from those people who see it for the first time.

Seeing the canyon for the first time also took my breath away, but to be able to get down in it, to experience it, to see spring in the bottom of the canyon was pretty awesome. So that was Friday. We had an hour drive home or an hour drive back to our Airbnb. By the time we got out of the car, whoa, no, no, wait a minute. We didn't go straight back.

Jay, you're going to love this. First of all, we stopped at the grocery store. She wanted a rotisserie chicken to go with our pasta. So we had pasta back at the Airbnb that I was going to make. We also found a dairy queen. We both got blizzards. I bought a s'mores blizzard. We put it in the freezer in our Airbnb and saved it for dessert. It was the best dessert I've ever tasted. That is so optimal for post Grand Canyon hike. There's no other way to do it.

Right. So we had protein. We, we made eggs. We had pasta with chicken. And then after showers and after breathing for a little bit, we had ice cream. It was so tasty. I thought, oh, I'll save half of this blizzard for tomorrow.

Oh, heck no. I ate the entire s'mores blizzard. It was my reward for hiking the Grand Canyon. So that was Friday. We didn't have to be in a rush on Saturday, which is a good thing because I tried to get out of bed a couple of times.

It took me a couple of, of attempts to get out of bed, every muscle in my lower body on fire. And also we were walking funny. So on Saturday, we went to this place called Sycamore Falls.

It's a place that was locally recommended by some Williams residents. And it was really neat. We actually had to off road it. I was driving a four runner. That's the only thing they had at the rental car place.

They didn't have what I rented. And so I was driving a four runner, which is good because we were off-roading it for six miles. We went out to this spot out in the middle of nowhere, literally six miles off a paved road. We went out and we saw these incredible falls. It's called Sycamore Falls, really beautiful, really cold water as well.

But you could hear the roar of the falls from about two, 300 yards away. So great videos and photos there. And then we actually, at the recommendation of our friend or my friend, Michael Duarte from NBC LA.

If you listen to the show, you know that he's a regular guest, but he's also a friend. He had said, if you can swing it, go through Sedona. So because we had some time on Saturday, we decided we would drive through Sedona, a little bit out of our way, but through Sedona on the way back to Phoenix. The red rocks in Sedona.

Amazing. All these different formations, spires. There's one place where there's a chapel that's built into the rocks.

It's become not just a church, but it's a touristy trap too. I can understand why people vacation in Sedona. In fact, Jay's parents were just in Sedona last week, right?

Jay, they love this spot. Yeah. You might've crossed paths on the street and not even know it's possible. The traffic was hideous.

So I don't think I would want to be in Sedona for a vacation, but we were able to pull off at various places and take pictures of the rocks. And for those of you who've seen the red rocks, it's red clay. It's, it's beautiful. It's stark. It's striking. And then these formations just rise out of the, they just rise out of the ground. There are a few that look more like mountains, but some of them just are standalone rock formation. So pretty incredible to see Sedona as well.

And I would say, because I, I mean, I'm, I'm not kidding. I think I drove nearly a thousand miles in those two days. Just the, the circular route that we did from Phoenix up to Williams, then to the Grand Canyon, then back through Williams and Sycamore falls and Sedona into Phoenix. I got to see Arizona in a way that I've not seen it before. And so the mountains and the long drives out in the desert, just really beautiful place. We saw snow.

We also saw, we also got to 88 degrees. It was varied topography, incredible mountains, but also beautiful desert with cactus everywhere. Yeah, it was a really awesome experience, but got to check the Grand Canyon off my bucket list and better than advertised, better than advertised.

I will never forget it. In fact, I'm still in awe, which is why I haven't quite been able to tell the story before now. And haven't been able to share a lot of the photos before now, cause I'm still fairly overwhelmed, but thanks so much for those of you who send encouragement and who are interested in the story, as well as the photos. We'll post at least a couple in the next hour and then more to come as I process them and process the trip, but it was awesome.

I highly recommend it. There was a woman who had to be in her 70s who was hiking up with her son. She was going slowly. She was using her hiking poles, but she did it. If I can do it, I'm old. If she can do it at 70 plus, you all can do it too. And it's cool because not everyone does it.

So it's a unique experience, I think, which is something we were proud of. All right, thanks for listening. We're going to take our break, get to our update. Actually, we've got NFL OTAs, voluntary OTA, so not mandatory, but off-season programs starting everywhere, which means, ooh, a little quarterback chatter. Patrick Mahomes reacting to James reacting to Jalen Hurts. Matthew Stafford, healthy again. How does he approach this season? Good stuff. It's After Hours on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Straight back, Stafford, launching deep left at the 20. He's got his man, 2-2, stepping through contact at the five to house it.

Third possession of the game and Stafford over the top to 2-2 at will. He loves the game. He loves to be able to go play. He loves to go compete. And I think when you look at some of the things that he had to navigate through last year, he's motivated to come back and respond and lead. And that's what he's done for such a long period of time.

He certainly elevates everybody that he's around. And I think this is the first season in a long time, first off season in a long time that he's actually feeling good. He's been able to throw. He's been able to kind of start his rhythm and routine a little bit earlier than previous years. And he's got a good look in his eye and I'm glad he's leading the way for us.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Sean McVay, he decided to come back. The Rams are clearly in a rebuild. They've lost a lot of pieces. They've divested themselves to pieces. They get their Super Bowl, but then turns out Les Knee didn't really want to bleep them picks.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We know Matthew Stafford's season following the Super Bowl win was one that he would like to forget. One full of injury. He was away from the team, which meant they went out and got Baker Mayfield. He was away from the team to rehab. And certainly as a guy who's an iron man, Stafford has played through so many challenging injuries. He's played hurt a lot of the time that he was in Detroit, to be sure.

You know it was bad for him to be away. So welcome back to Matthew Stafford. And what does that mean for the Rams?

That is a huge question. As we get into voluntary OTAs, we're nowhere close to the season, but you know, the NFL drops these strategic events into our lives so that we're never able to completely ignore the NFL. We can't miss you if you never go away. See you guys on Monday! Baker Mayfield!

Stop it. It's one of the funniest moments of 2022 season. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. And if you miss the Grand Canyon story, it's there on the podcast.

You can grab it once the show is done. But thanks so many of you responding to me on social. And I really appreciate that.

It was a cool experience. So Matthew Stafford, he is healthy. And he's part of the voluntary OTA. So it's good to see him back out there. I can imagine he's itching to be able to play football again. And I think he's one of those guys that even though he's got the Super Bowl now, still has a hunger, still has a fire. And what happens when guys are injured and they are not able to play the game they love, it kind of rejuvenates them and it reminds them of their passion, similar to what is saying about being away from the radio show.

And Stafford kind of echoes that. Like everybody that plays this game, you got to take some time away just to kind of relax and reset. I spend a lot of days of my life in a practice facility somewhere, either here in Detroit. And so you got to take that time to kind of be away from it. So that when you do come back days like today or days like, you know, first day of training camp, whatever that is, that you are truly really excited and ready to go, which I am at this point.

So, you know, I think that's the biggest thing. Just take some time and get ready to go. Did I not just say that last hour?

Take, actually earlier this hour, take some time away, recharge, reset. Now in his case, it was forced on him. He didn't have a choice because he was injured, but it gives him a new lease on life, a new lease on his passion. And it does allow him to remember why he loves this game and why he continues to play, why he puts his body out there on the line, which of course, last year came back to bite him in the butt. Now there were rumors as the Rams are going through this transformation and trying to get rid of some of their veteran players with expensive salaries and bring in some cheaper players, but also find some draft picks, scrounge together some draft picks.

There were rumors that Matthew Stafford would be traded and that he was also on the way out. And I felt really confident I was coming back. I feel like more people were less confident than I was, but no, I was ready to go, ready to play. You know, as soon as I was cleared and I feel great, feel healthy and, and you know, I'm not, I'm not 25, but I definitely feel good. So here he is, voluntary OTAs, doesn't need to be there as a veteran, but he is, and you can hear it in his voice how excited he is to play. The part that I'm more excited about and is more fun for me is just being able to be as refreshed as I am coming back into this building.

Just building the relationships with coaches, players, whoever it is, just being able to spend time with those guys, be in a good head space as far as how I'm feeling, you know, what I'm able to accomplish when I'm here, all those kinds of things. And, and that, that puts me in a good mood, gets me excited to be here and, you know, kind of helps me, you know, make sure that my attitude, my energy level is, is at the, at the correct place, correct place every single time I come in here and, and I feel like it's, it's there right now. Did you hear Matthew Stafford say that puts me in a good mood, gets me excited? Is that him in a good mood and excited?

Because me in a good mood and excited are completely different than Matthew Stafford in a good mood and excited, but I'm glad he's happy, right? He didn't throw it all actually coming off the Superbowl victory. So last off season, he was limited during training camp, but now is ready to go and wants to be part of the voluntary OTAs. Only nine games last season before he had that spinal cord contusion. I can imagine that was scary. And yes, he is thrilled to be able to play football again. One hour left from Syracuse University. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio.