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.