We headed out for the Grand Canyon after lingering at the Kingman KOA a while. We disconnected the hook up and dropped the girls off at WalMart while Jonathan and I filled the tank and checked the tire pressures. We are slowly developing a routine with this kind of travel. We like it!
We started off on I-40 with the same mountainous desert landscape we had seen yesterday. Not to say that it was predictable or that we were bored with it. Just the opposite. At one point, the sand and cacti changed to more green and suddenly we found our self in the midst of tall pines and, coincidentally, rain. Such a quick and dramatic transition.
As we drew closer to the Grand Canyon National Park, we saw more motorhomes and noticed when stopping at a general store on Route 66 that there are many Europeans here. Well, why not? The Grand Canyon is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world!
We pulled up to the gate at the park and purchased a National Parks annual pass. Looking back on the day, it was a good thing ($25 one day pass versus $80 annual). It started to rain about 30 minutes into our visit which meant that we would be back tomorrow. I struck up a conversation with the Ranger who issued our ticket. She was ready to move on, she had climbed as high as she could go (I guess the grass isn't greener. . .).
You can't see the Canyon from the parking lot. It's about a 7-minute walk and then it just opens up. I made sure to keep an eye on Beth, Tessa and Jonathan's initial reaction. They were speechless. In fact there was a sort of collective reverence. While people were talking with each other, there was an overall hush. We took photos. Beth teared up at the overwhelming sight that cannot be translated via words or photography. About 15 minutes in it began to rain and we hustled back to the motorhome for the 5-minute drive to the Grand Canyon Camper Village.
The girls stayed in the rig while Jonathan and I went in to register. The manager and her assistant had just signed-in the folks ahead of us and then started arguing about some issue somewhere in the camp. We waited for what seemed like 10 minutes without a greeting or the slightest acknowledgement that we existed while they continued to argue. I walked up and said, 'we just want to check in. . .' She said, 'I know' then gave us our lot assignment. The TripAdvisor reviews sure nailed this place. Unfortunately, we had no other choice for lodging. Once we set up, we settled in for the night. Tomorrow's agenda: Grand Canyon and long drive to Salt Lake City enroute to Yellowstone.
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