Grand Canyon. Truly Grand

October 6, 2008 Monday afternoon.

OooKay. On from Monument Valley. Feeling awed and contemplative.

We really didn't know how long Monument Valley was going to take - or how far we could drive in a day, so we hadn't planned to do the Grand Canyon in the same day, but we pulled out of Monument Valley by about 3PM and decided to go ahead and run for the Grand Canyon in the same day. We drove thru the Utah/Arizona areas - sometimes seeing wild horses grazing - and listening to our "novel on CD" to help the miles roll by - and finished our second novel. We really didn't know how far we could get, but we found that we were in an area that the Aircard didn't connect, so we couldn't get online to pick out a hotel for the night. And for some reason "Streets & Trips" - which is loaded with hotels and points of interest - also wouldn't list possibilities for us. That was a rather-helpless feeling: we're so used to our technological helpers that I felt really frustrated when we got zonked and had to try to deal with our situation "blind". So we just drove on until we found a tourist-trap stop - and pulled in to see if they had a room for the nite. Nope. All sold out, but they suggested another hotel down the road which would open reservations at 5PM. We checked our watches and it was already 5:30. So why weren't they open yet? OH! We'd gained another hour when we entered Arizona - which is in Mountain Time - BUT never goes on Daylight Savings Time - so is in *Pacific* Time this time of year. OK. So we had one more hour than we thought.

So we just decided to push on and try to make it to the Grand Canyon before sunset.

Now. In previous years (visits to Las Vegas), we had already flown over the Grand Canyon. We had already flown *thru* the Grand Canyon in a small plane. We had already rafted down the Grand Canyon for a day - looking up as much as a mile to the top. So we knew that you can't "do" the Grand Canyon in an hour, but we really just wanted to see it from the Visitor Center viewing point that everybody else sees it from: we wanted to see the "Classic" view, and figured we'd be "done".

So as we watched the sun set slowly in the West ( ;) ) - we pushed the speed limit and sped toward the Canyon. The roads at this point are really good: smooth 4-lane highways - even the last 23 miles which run right along the Canyon - so we were able to do 70 MPH - and still look out the window and marvel at just how incredible the Canyon is. It just makes everything else pale by comparison. It is *** 300 miles *** long. One MILE deep. MILES across. And infinitely complex. Different every time you look at it. Colors. Textures. Light playing across shapes.

So we both looked - and raced the sun. There are overlook turnouts along the way and we stopped at a couple and marvelled and took photos - then realized that we were in danger of being in the dark by the time we got to "the view" - so we sped on.

As we formally entered the National Park (again using our Annual Pass - saving the $25 entry fee) I noticed 2 Jaguar cars with yellow license plates (from the U.K.) and wondered how *2* could be here together. More on that later.

And we finally arrived at "The Visitor Center" - constantly glancing at the sun - sliding toward the horizon. But we parked, grabbed the camera and headed for the overlook - with about 15 minutes to spare.

And it was amazing - even after all we'd seen of the Grand Canyon. Beautiful. Totally different impression from flying over or rafting down inside it.

We shared the sunset with all of the other tourists - and then Kathy and I looked at each other - and decided that we were *not* done - that we needed to find a hotel room for the night and come back again tomorrow.

As it got noticably colder (after sunset), we walked to the Visitor Center - to see about a hotel, but we found that the whole Center was already closed for the night.

Soooo... Aircard was still not able to connect, so I finally remembered that "Leila" - our GPS unit - also has listings for hotels and attractions, so I asked her for nearby hotels and began phoning them - and finally found one with a vacancy. Cool.

So we found a steak place for dinner - the only disappointing part of the day (poor meat, overpriced - a real tourist trap) - and checked into our hotel. An utterly incredible day.

I'll make up a web-photo-album of selected photos - as I did for Monument Valley, but for the meantime, HERE is a link to the pictures from when we rafted the Grand Canyon - 4 years ago.

Wow. What an amazing day!