The Grand Canyon is still here if you were concerned. But it sure is busy. Shuttle buses, parking lots with names and numbers, and lots of people but, surprisingly, it did not feel too crushed. I guess because it is a grand canyon. We arrived mid-afternoon by design having eaten a nice lunch and meandered through some shops in Williams. This way we avoided the long lines to enter the park, sometimes over an hour. We were in the park in less than 10 minutes and parked near the VC. First a long walk along the rim. Jill’s first visit here and she wrote: “It was much more than I expected. Walking from the parking lot and suddenly there it was in all its inexpressible majesty - peak upon peak of towering cliffs stretching away below us for 10 miles. ….Every step you took opened up new vistas and new perspectives.”
We then bused to the historic village and looked at some of the original Mary Coulter buildings and enjoyed more views. Then a bit of nostalgia for me. In 1960 my dad came to Phoenix to try for a job. My mom and I were in tow. He did not get the job but we came north to Flagstaff for the Indian Pow Wow, then to the Grand Canyon. My Aunt provided us with a bit of vacation as she had traveled here twice and knew I would love the experience. We stayed in the lodge, not a big deal back then. Just one night - i don’t recall much of the arrival but the next moring I was on my own for about 3 hours and ended up sitting most of the time on a rock watching the colors of the canyon change. I was awed. I had not been back to the lodge since. So it was very moving for me and Jill took my photo about the same place I sat for most of that morning. I think my love of travel began that day.
We then drove a bit east and found a perfect spot for our picnic and watched the sun go down. What a wonderful day.
