Vegas Trip Part II

The Grand Canyon may be temporarily closed, but I'll take you there right now! Here's part two of our Vegas Trip from last month. On a late Saturday morning, we checked out of the fabulous ARIA hotel and headed to Arizona to see the magnificent Grand Canyon (South Rim). It would be my second time there, first for Roy and his dad.


We got there around 4pm and followed the paper guide to find the best place to view the canyon at sunset, which was Hopi Point.

The Colorado River

Photos from Sunday start here.



A very friendly squirrel we met at Yaki Point

This little plump one was obviously used to humans. There are signs advising not to feed the animals because they can turn into aggressive, unafraid little beasts. But they are so cute! We also spotted elk and a coyote the night before but they looked like deer and a fox to us.



Roy getting as close to the edge as he can causing me great anxiety.



Brother-in-law George, looking off into the distance (you can see 40+ miles away). Later that day, we ended up traveling about 25 miles east to the point located in this pic at the left of the top of George's head, called Desert View.

 

Here's Roy's dad, Dave. The trip was a gift from his kids for his retirement. Visiting the Grand Canyon was his request. When I asked him where else he'd like to travel to, he said Macau. Hope we can get him there one day but it's so faaaar.

George, Christina, and Roy. Chris is 7 months preggo as you can tell. You'd think hiking might be strenuous for her but she's an Ironman Finisher.  This is a cake walk. There's Roy being a jerkhead and going as far out as he possibly can. He wanted to go way out onto the cliff but his sister talked him out of it.

There was not a cloud in the sky - okay, there was a cloud. Just one.



This is at Desert View (mentioned earlier) and this is the area where two commercial planes collided back in 1956. Read more about that here.

The Desert View Watchtower - built in 1904.

Inside the watchtower.

The steps were grueling. The GC is about a mile high in elevation so the air is thin and makes physical activities more strenuous.

Looking out from the watchtower

At the top

Roy looking down. If you look in the window of the box he's standing in front of, you see an upside down reflection of the Grand Canyon. It's pretty neato.

And this would be, ah yes, the desert view.



This is us! Another one for the memory books. (Side note: it was really, really windy at some areas we went to, hence the flyaway hair. I was concerned someone might blow away but thankfully nobody did.)

We stayed until nightfall on Saturday and went to stargaze at Mather Point. It was really dark to walk around which is scary because what if you walk right off the cliff?! So we didn't leave the parking lot. The sky was littered with stars and we might have stayed longer if we could see where we were going.

 

The first time I went to the Grand Canyon was in 2007. This time around there was a little village set up just outside the entrance with hotels and restaurants. When planning this trip, Chris found they were pretty pricy and all booked up so we stayed about 40 minutes away in Williams, AZ.  On my last visit we stayed in Flagstaff, which is also about 40 minutes out. Williams is a small little town on historic Route 66. Chris found the hotel and it was surprisingly really nice! I guess many GC visitors come to Williams. We went to a local dive bar that night too which was... interesting I guess you could say. They served old beer that was expired. When Roy took it up to the bartender and told her that they didn't taste right, she grabbed one and took a swig. She agreed it was skunked and got him some new ones. LOL.

 

The following morning after breakfast we piled into the Honda Pilot and headed back up to the Canyon.  One of the things I love is the drive to the park. From the main highway (I-40), you take a two lane road (Rt. 64) and it's as straight as can be but during that 30 minute or so trip, the landscape and foliage change so drastically. From desert, flat barren land to wooded conifers. It's one of the reasons why I am in love with Arizona. It's wild, adventure land.

 

The weather was cool and dry - not as hot as Vegas. We grabbed some sandwiches at a sub shop outside the park entrance to eat for lunch later. This time we worked our way eastward from the visitor's center walking from point to point in some areas and taking the bus to and from others. The park has free shuttle buses that take you from point to point so if you can't walk long and far it's very convenient.

 

It was a good time and I'm glad we went when we did because if we would have waited until now, we wouldn't be able to get in at all. I'm sad for those who don't have access to the park because of the government shutdown. One thing you always notice also at the GC are the numerous accents and foreign languages you hear as you pass others by. People from all over the country and world come to the GC and for them to travel that far and be denied access, well, that sucks a big time. 

 

If you haven't been the GC, it is truly something magnificent and no photo really does it justice. I always say it's the closest I've been to heaven and quite possibly ever will be. You have to see it for yourself. I want to take my cousins there so they can experience it, too.

 

And so... it's back to Vegas! Part III coming soon...