We left Vegas for Williams, AZ, "Gateway To The Grand Canyon." The Las Vegas area is without a doubt the hottest place we have ever been (as in temperatures). It was 105+ most days and it never cools down much at night. I guess all of the rock there absorbs and retains the heat so you never get a break from it. The forecast for Williams was mid 70's during the day and 50-ish at night and we were really looking forward to cooling down some. We were also glad to see "green" again. We have already posted the "Welcome To Arizona" sign but I'll mention one more thing before we make our way to the Grand Canyon. Rhonda and I took a vote and unanimously agreed that Arizona has the worst roads in the country, or at least that's the case for the ones we rode on.
Williams runs a train service to the Grand Canyon but we opted to drive ourselves.
Another tribute to Williams.
And there is plenty of Route 66 memorabilia there. In fact, the town has retained most of its original feel.
The main memorabilia store in town is "Addicted to Route 66."
Moving on to the Grand Canyon!
Rhonda and I watched a couple of Steve Harvey game shows this afternoon and one of the opening questions was "As you look back on your life, what is THE ONE THING you can look back on and be glad you did?" A few possibilties come to mind instantly - got married, had children, rewarding career, .......... But this guy, without hesitation, said, "Visited the Grand Canyon." Steve had a little fun with that and you have to wonder - was that really the highlight for this guy????
Well, it is an awesome thing to see, obviously a powerful experience, ranked as one of the Seven Wonders Of The World, but THE ONE THING??? Regardless, welcome to the southern rim of Grand Canyon National Park.
We walked out to Mathers Point and our first view was this. Surely this is worth more than forty years of marriage, kids, grandkids, great job, etc!! But it is quite a sight to see.
We asked some nice folks to take a picture of us. This is not us.
This is not us either.
This is about as close to the edge as we were willing to go - and no guardrail either. Living on the edge again (literally this time)!
A female elk was right next to the walking trail and didn't seem to mind being photographed either.
We visited several sections of the canyon and came home with 134 pictures. Here are a few to give you a sense of the views there.
These next ones will focus on the Colorado River views. Keep in mind that on some of the zoom shots you are looking 10 miles away and one mile deep in the canyon.
There's a bridge over the river for hikers and mule trains. It's 440 feet across and 70 feet above the water.
There was some serious rain in the distance and we got a little of it ourselves.
Toward the eastern end of the canyon is the Desert View Watchtower, built in 1932 by architect Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter in collaboration with the Hopi artisans of the day. You begin to see some of the Painted Desert to the east.
There were several artists throughout the park, putting the views we saw to canvas.
And there were also simple, others unusual, but all beautiful sights to see besides "just" the canyon. A couple of butterflies hidden in the beauty of a bright yellow bush.
This lone flower out on a ledge reminded us of a cobra being charmed.
And a fitting conclusion to our tour of The Grand Canyon. Psalm 66: 4.
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