Day 15

States: still Arizona

Sites seen: the Grand Canyon

Unbelievable is the only way to describe our day!

We got up early this morning to get to the park before the crowds started showing up. This tactic was good because we were pretty much done with everything as everyone else was showing up and we didn’t have a lot of crowds walking around with us. Also, parking was a breeze.

A quick word on the annual National Parks pass we purchased. Totally worth it for this trip. It has already paid for itself and then some.

We started our day at Mathers Point. This is right by the visitor center and is the view most people usually see first. Nothing prepared me for the grandeur and the scale of the Grand Canyon. As my brother says, it’s stupidly big. And it really is!

From here, we walked the Rim Trail west from Mathers Point to the Village. This is a roughly 2.5 mile trail that is flat, paved, and has a railing. It helped that we arrived so early in the day because we walked before it got really hot.

The Grand Canyon has shuttle services all over so instead of worrying about parking and driving from point to point you can take the shuttle. So from the Village we took a shuttle bus further west to the Abyss (whose name doesn’t do it justice). Then we walked a mile back to another bus stop. This trail was not like the Rim Trail. It had no railing, was mostly dirt and rocks, and went eerily close to the edge of the Canyon which was equal parts exhilarating and terrifying.

All told, it was about 4 hours from parking the car to getting back to the car and we were starving! We had lunch at the car and then forfeited our spot to another car from Massachusetts. They were helping a friend move across the country and were on their way to Seattle.

Next we got in the car and drove down the Desert View Road to the Desert View Watchtower. Just when you think you are immune to the views and the grandeur, you come upon something else and discover you aren’t.

After this it was time to head to the Grand Canyon Airport for our aerial tour. As we were driving, we came across a bunch of cars stopped on the side of the road. Naturally, we pulled over, too. They were all watching this guy eat.

We saw several more on the way. Josh was super excited because he’s been wanting to see an elk since the first time we saw a sign telling us to watch for their presence.

Those of you who know me well know that I get terribly car sick so I had some anxiety about the plane ride. I contemplated not taking any Dramamine because the flight was only 40 minutes long. Maybe I could stomach it for that long. Ultimately I decided that throwing up on a plane with 19 people trying to have the experience of a lifetime wasn’t worth the risk! This was a good choice.

The views from above do even more to reveal the majesty of the Grand Canyon. Eventually we stopped taking pictures (they don’t do it justice anyway) and just enjoyed the scenery.

Nothing I read or imagined prepared me for what we saw today. The Grand Canyon is simply breathtaking and so far the highlight of my trip!

Tomorrow we head back to my brother’s house for some more home comforts and then on to San Diego.

Talk to you soon-

Deanna