Okay Grand Canyon, You've Redeemed Yourself

The Grand Canyon really disappointed me when I first saw it. I'm not sure what was wrong with me - tiredness, insufficient supply of chocolate chip cookies or just plain grumpiness? Fortunately, the place redeemed itself by Day 2. Which is a good thing, otherwise I was going to have to write some sort of complaint letter to the National Park Service. 

Of course, I'm kidding, but did you know people actually try to demand their money back if they don't get a great view of the canyon due to cloud cover, rain etc.? I think these are the same people who think it is okay to run screaming up to an elk and stick their cell phone in its face in order to get a selfie. Or the people who think the signs saying "stay on the path" don't apply to them. It is probably a good thing we visited the Grand Canyon during the off-season when the park was less crowded. If there had been too many more obnoxious and inconsiderate people around, I think I might have snapped.

Gosh, I'm a little cranky, aren't I? Hang on while I go grab my emergency chocolate bar and find some kittens to play with.

{pause for a snack break - go ahead fix yourself one too}

Ok, I'm back. Things are much better now. So here's what we got up to during the rest of our time at the Grand Canyon.

1 - We went back to the North Rim after a night boondocking in the Kaibab National Forest. (Boondocking = Free Camping = More Money For Chocolate)

2 - We took in the morning views at Bright Angel Point, Scott made scrumptious breakfast burritos for us and then we went for a scenic drive to Imperial Point. Finally, I had one of those "wow" moments that everyone talks about. My belly was full. That might have helped.

3 - We hiked "below the rim" on the Kaibab Trail. Not to be confused with the Kebab Trail. Completely different things. One involves lamb kebabs, the other involves shortness of breath from the altitude. More on that on Wednesday. I bet you can't wait :-)

4 - We called it a day and headed on out towards the South Rim. It is a super long drive between the North Rim and South Rim so we stopped for the night at the Cameron Trading Post in the Navajo Nation. If you ever go there, word of warning, the Navajo Tacos are bigger than your head. Share one. Or if you plan on eating the whole thing yourself, make sure your jeans have plenty of stretch in them. Better yet, wear sweat pants.

5 - The next day we headed to the South Rim. We took Highway 64 into the park. Wonderful scenic drive. Some more "wow" moments. Some great walks along the rim.

6 - We decided to splurge a little and stayed at the historic Bright Angel Lodge in the park. So nice to be right there on the edge of the canyon and even better once all the day trippers cleared out that night. Scott had an amazing baked enchillada pie at the restaurant there. I wished I had ordered one too. Don't you hate it when someone else's meal is better than yours?

7 - We woke up early the next day and took the shuttle bus out to some of the viewpoints towards Hermits Rest. One of our shuttle bus drivers said he saw a bobcat earlier. Another bus driver said the other driver was old and blind and that they were really feral cats. I'm not sure bus drivers should be telling people that their colleagues can't see very well. Doesn't really inspire confidence in the whole letting someone else drive you around thing. Just a thought.

8 - We hiked some more of the Kaibab Trail on the North Rim side. Still no lamb kebabs.

9 - Got up our courage and took another shuttle out to Yaki Point. More views, more walking. 

10 - Said goodbye to the Grand Canyon. It really did redeem itself in the end. I got my "wow" moments. Who knows, I might even come back one day.

And now a note about computers. Or a rant really. Why can't they last longer than three years without imploding? I've had to type this on our iPad without a keyboard and I can't access any of the great pictures of the Grand Canyon that Scott took. okay, rant over. 

See you next time for an exciting post about lamb kebabs and hiking. 

(Exciting might be misleading. It will be more along the lines of a so-so post. But at least there will be pictures as I wrote it before the computer implosion.)

We visited the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on 8-9 November 2014 and the South Rim on 10-11 November 2014.