After leaving California, we spent another night in Peoria, AZ to restock. We had been away from any major grocery store and were about to spend more time away from any major towns. Plus, there was the added benefit of more pizza (and Blue Bell)! It was a quick stop, then we hit the road again.
We decided to do a last-minute detour so that we could see the Grand Canyon. We visited there in December of 2004 and we both wanted to see it again.
We stayed on the East side of the canyon and had about a 30 mile drive to the beginning of the South Rim. It was a little chilly, but otherwise a perfect day for a ride. We will let the pictures tell most of the story.
We drove through Navajo Territory on our way to the Canyon. This was much of the scenery we saw on our drive.
This was our first big view of the canyon after we entered from the east. We were still miles from the Grand Canyon Village. You can see the Colorado River in the middle of the picture. (for our Austin friends, this not the Texas version of the Colorado)
The first look is always breath-taking. This was also our first glimpse of the crowds we would encounter during our visit.
We waited about 20-30 minutes and the tour buses moved on.
Here are a couple more shots of the canyon as we drove toward Grand Canyon Village.
We took this picture from Grand Canyon Village and you can see Bright Angel Canyon across the way. There is a popular hike from here to that small green spot you see at the mouth of Bright Angel. It takes about a day to walk there. Distance in this canyon is very difficult to visualize.
This shot gives you a view of the river, not visible from much of the rim.
We were going to take the shuttle bus to Hermit's Rest, but the lines were very long because of the number of people visiting the park that day. We decided to pass.
As the day grew longer, the air grew more dense and hazy. Here is a picture near the end of our day of grand creation viewing.
It was a great day at the Grand Canyon. A magnificent display of God's creative power!
O LORD, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth,
Who have set Your glory above the heavens!
Psalm 1.8