Full day at Grand Canyon National Park

We slept in, because everyone was exhausted. Thunder rumbling in the distance finally drove us out of bed. We drove to the Grand Canyon Village Visitor Center, but went directly to the Rim as the thunder got louder. The view is so far beyond description. There is no way pictures could ever capture the immensity of the Grand Canyon. It was very cloudy and there were clouds floating around inside the canyon, but we could see across to the other side when we first got there.


I discovered that my phone can take panoramic photos just in time. I think if you click on them, you should be able to see the full sized photo.

The clouds are below us floating around in the canyon. A ranger told us that even though it was cold and rainy at the top, it was hot and arid at the bottom of the canyon (up to 30 degrees warmer). The canyon is a mile deep, and an average of about 10 miles across, and 277 miles long. It can even be seen from space.

We had just enough time to walk down the path and get some photos before it started to sprinkle.

We went into the Visitor's Center and picked up the Junior Ranger books, then walked around looking at the displays. It started to sprinkle. We went across to one of the other buildings, which was a fantastic book and gift store. We shopped around in there for a bit and then it started to downpour.  We hung out there and talked to another family that was looking at the puppets and it turned out the mother was also a school librarian from Wisconsin (Beaver Dam)! Small world! 

One of the requirements for the Junior Ranger program was to attend a ranger-led program, so we headed over to the resort hotel in the Village to learn about how the Grand Canyon was created and the different kinds of rocks that are in the layers. The ranger was fantastic with all the kids as we sat on a patio surrounded by pouring rain. There was about 30 kids sitting at her feet and many adults sitting on benches around the patio. The adults were busy talking and laughing (in English, French, German, Mandarin, Spanish). I was really impressed that the ranger was able to keep the kids' attention with all the distractions.

I went to the rim, which was just past the patio,  and this was the view as it was clearing out for a minute. Otherwise there was just a wall of white beyond the rim.

Since it was so wet and cold (about 50 degrees), we had decided that it was not a good day for a hike.  We definitely made the right decision.  We walked around the resort area and found a cool exhibit in the main resort building. It was about Fred Harvey and the Harvey Girls. Fred opened the first restaurant chain in the US with restaurants at train stops in the West. The girls who came to work there became known as Harvey Girls and were legend has it that they helped "tame" the Wild West. The exhibit was just one room, but it was really interesting. Find out more HERE.

We tried to attend another Ranger program on the California Condor, but it got canceled. I'm assuming that we would get to see some Condor nests, but there was too much fog.  I took a selfie instead.

We went back to the Visitor Center so the kids could get their badges. It had stopped raining, but there was another batch of storms headed our way. 

Unfortunately we forgot to put our lawn chairs away so they were soaked. It was wasn't raining yet when we got back to our campsite so I sat at the picnic table to upload some pictures, and check on facebook. A nice young couple came over and asked for help putting up their tent. They were from China and this was their first time camping. He was starting medical school in Iowa and they were hoping to stay in the US when he was finished. They said the air is so much cleaner here and we have a lot more freedom.  So even though it started pouring again, and we personally ended the drought by camping in the Grand Canyon, I still felt pretty lucky to be American and the have the opportunity to see so many places in our country.

Mesa Verde to Grand Canyon National Park

August 10th

We only had about 5 hours of driving this day, so we decided to explore Mesa Verde in the morning and get out of the park by noon. We took the hour-long driving tour which followed one of the mesas along the top. A very beautiful drive!

We got out at the Cliff Palace excavation site, but did not have time to take the hike. The hike would have taken another hour, plus we would have had to climb a really tall ladder to get to the site. If you would like more information on Cliff Palace, click HERE to find out more information about this fascinating cultural site.

The ancestral Pueblo people, also called the Anasazi, used ladders to get to the different levels.
The circular areas, called kivas I think,  are used for a large variety of purposes. 

I try to get all fancy and do "photography" with my real camera whenever I get a chance. On these trips, that tends to turn towards animals and plants. Here are a few plants that I discovered at Mesa Verde National Park:

The boys earned their Junior Ranger badges to add to their vests from last year. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack them so we will have to wait to put them on until we get home.

After we left Mesa Verde, it was a short 5 hours of driving to get to the Grand Canyon. Along the way, we stopped at the Four Corners, the only place in the US where four states meet at the corners. Surprisingly, this is not a National Monument, but the Navajo Nation runs it and created a nice place to take a cheesy tourist photo. 

After that the drive was pretty uneventful. It sprinkled on and off and there weren't very many towns. Just the occasional herd of cattle. 

Towards the end of the drive, we started to see canyons. Some of them were pretty deep. This was the northern tip of the Grand Canyon that is part of a National Forest I think. 

We entered through the east side entrance so had to drive another 25 miles to get to Grand Canyon Village and our campground.  There was only 1 "animal gawker" traffic jam when these elk were grazing along the side of the road. 

We got our campsite set up, ate cheese and sausage for dinner, and than went to sleep. The stars were beautiful and I did take a picture but I was too exhausted to play around with the night options to get actual stars to show in the photos, so just went to sleep. Satisfyingly exhausted :)

Oakley, Kansas to Mesa Verde National Park

Oakley, Kansas to Mesa Verde National Park.

After Poptarts for breakfast, we were on our way for another day of driving.  This drive was a lot more varied in scenery than yesterday’s.  This country is just amazing. We went from fairly flat Kansas to beautiful mountains, to dry upland prairie.

The road started out very flat with only the occasional grain co-op.

We started to get up in the mountains where we sat grazing cattle and the shadows of clouds on the prairie.

Did I mention that we drove along a train track for much of the day? Jeff was in heaven!

And finally the mountains! No scary roads like last year, but definitely still beautiful!

Going through the tunnels was exciting too.

I applaud truck drivers who drive these roads in the winters; they must have nerves of steel!

This is a runaway truck ramp to be used if a truck's breaks fail on the way down the mountain.
It is a deep sand road that rises and will slow the truck down. 

We stopped for lunch at the Old West Cafe in Fort Garland, CO.  Delicious!

We arrived at Mesa Verde National Park about 5:00 pm. We got our camp set up, made some “camping” mac and cheese, and then I took the kids to the Ranger talk, so Jeff could attempt to get some grad school work done.

We were on a hill but had a great view of the sunset.

Our view

Our view a couple minutes later.

This is us waiting for the Ranger Talk to start.
Carson is into making faces for the camera this week :)

The Ranger spoke about all the animals that live near Mesa Verde and the adaptations that help them. She also played to the crowd by showing slides of the animal babies. Did you know that the skunks around there have different markings than the regular skunk that we all know and love? And that the mountain lion can run 60 MPH? Also that you can't necessarily determine the age of a rattlesnake by the number of rattles on the tail? Some years, they molt (and gain a new rattle) more than once during the year. Don’t worry, we didn’t see any of those animals, but the boys (and I) loved to learn about them. There was also a warning on the info board near the bathrooms to be aware of Brown Recluse Spiders and Black Widow spiders. Yikes!