Day 7 - Grand Canyon

We’ve been gone one week today!  If I didn’t have a calendar in front of me I would not believe it; time is a funny thing when you’re away from regular routine.  Today was a shorter driving day as we drove 1.5 hours to get to the Grand Canyon, and then only 3 to get to Kingman where we are staying the night.  That’s down from our typical 8-11 hours of driving, but it’s a welcome change.  It’s that pattern of driving that caused us to drive our 5000^th kilometer today (wow!), and then another few hundred more!

Proving I was actually there - Grand Canyon AZ

Anyways, the Grand Canyon, how was it?  Well, it was large.  And big.  And went a long ways in many directions.  The rushing Colorado river looked like a little stream from on top of the rim, it’s deceiving though because in some spots there are (apparently) 8 foot rapids!  My favorite part of the canyon was our first stop, the watchtower.  It’s a tall tower built in the 1930’s, but carefully designed to look like the structures that were built by the original Native groups from the area in the historic past.  This tower looked the part and was made entirely of stone and painted with amazing artwork all the way up the 4 stories and on the ceiling too!  From the top you could see a huge part of the canyon.  After that stop the rest were all really a blur.  You see the canyon from this point, and then from that point…all very much the same (or so I thought).  Looking back on it, I really feel like what we saw in Moab was more impressive and enthralling.  Maybe I’m alone I that  though because while both parks have a lot of people coming through them in a year, G.C. is a way bigger deal than Moab’s, Arches park.  There are over 1 million people at Arches each year, while over 1.6 million people road the buses at G.C. in 2010.  Needless to day, I feel like the “off” season is the time to visit them all.

Pretty sweet ride!

Tonight we’re staying at the Super 8 in Kingman for just $46.65.  After checking out the restaurants we settled on Wendy’s because we both were not too hungry.  I was surprised to find that that they had a buffet, and with your burger meal you had options like mac & cheese, corn, beans, or a more tradition option of potato wedges.  It was pretty alright, and now we’re just relaxing in the hotel, reading and awaiting tomorrows adventure: Hoover Dam and L.A to connect with Jyles!