Grand Canyon

While we were in Scottsdale, AZ we made the trip north to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon! One of the seven natural wonders of the world, the Grand Canyon is breath-taking. We drove up Saturday evening after Brian's golf tournament; first through the warm Scottsdale-area desert full of cacti and mesas then onward and upward to the higher elevations, snow and forests (similar to Lake Tahoe) of the Flagstaff area and finally ending in the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park.

Our hotel for the evening was actually ON the South Rim. We stayed at the El Tovar (built in 1905). As we checked in at 8PM, Brian casually asked the front desk clerk if there were any rooms available that overlooked the canyon. The clerk replied that only the suites overlooked the canyon but that he had a cancellation in the presidential suite, so he GAVE it to us! *Although we didn't ask for an upgrade, don't ever be afraid to ask!

Dad and Bug watching the sunrise from our balcony

The El Tovar Hotel has a very rustic charming chalet feel, a FANTASTIC restaurant and our presidential suite was great. By no means was it super modern or "luxurious" compared to some of the other places we've been, but for being at a National Park - we definitely were not "roughing it". Our.view.was.amazing! The living room opened up onto a balcony that was the entire roof of the second floor of the hotel and went right up to the canyon.

The Bug ponders the meaning of life

We woke up at 7am to watch the sunrise over the South Rim at 7:30. We drove from El Tovar to the Yavapai Geology Museum and Observation Center and checked out the view. (and there were Thai people there...everywhere I go, I find them...or more so, I hear them) Unfortunately it was REALLY COLD and Lilly's it just too young to really do a lot at the Grand Canyon. So we came, we saw, we left.

BUT...

...we will return! There were tons of historical lectures, IMAX movies, trails to hike, donkeys to hire to bring us down the trails, California condors to look for and the Colorado River to raft down! Even if we returned when Lilly was around 8 years old, she could participate in the junior ranger program.

future junior ranger?

The US National Parks are highly under-rated as a destination hot-spot by US citizens in our opinion. When I was visiting Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore in 2008, a lot of the visitors I saw were from other nations. The US has more national parks and conservation efforts than any other country! So we plan on visiting more of them in the future and appreciating what's here right underneath our feet.