THE GRAND CANYON II

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Hi Friends and Family,

GRAND CANYON II

Good Morning!

We continued our adventure at The Grand Canyon on the way out to another canyon!

Our hotel, The Grand Canyon Plaza Resort was right next to the IMAX (which I thought was rather amusing ‘cos why watch a 3D film about the canyon while we were but a few minutes away from the real life Grand Canyon) and The National Geographic Visitor Centre where we got maps and a ticket for entrance to the park the day before.

The prices are pretty neat and very affordable as each National Park cost $25.00 per car and is good for 7 days or one could buy a yearly ticket that cost just $80.00.

What a bargain. ‘Such a shame that we weren’t staying a little longer!

The Resort was in a small town that was pretty compact and had everything that the discerning tourist might require, restaurants, bars and of course a General Trading Store. We were to always go searching for this ‘cos these places were where we bought postcards, souvenirs, refreshments and T-shirts and jumpers of the places that we thought we might want to remember……in the summer LOL!

Again, I can’t really describe The Grand Canyon as it was just such an amazing sight and you can either look at the pictures and or check out some of my videos or jolly well book a trip out here and see it for yourself LOL!

Suffice to say that we were extremely lucky with the weather as although temperatures were really low in Arizona, it felt much warmer and of course, we were really rather elevated and in some videos you can even hear my heavy breathing and signs of snow.

That was a shocker. In some parts, I actually began to feel slightly ill and had some difficulty breathing!
We were once again at the South Rim which is the most visited and most accessible part of Grand Canyon National Park and at Mather Point.

All around The Grand Canyon were information spots where people could either get better and safer views (I sweated a little as “The Small Young Gentleman” can be a little care-free and I constantly, had to hold him by his hood, hold his hand tightly or even forbid him to get any closer, as some parts had no “fences” or barriers or were quite frankly, at your own risk) like the National Park Visitor’s Centre where you could get FULL information about the canyon, including maps, weather forecasts and a bookstore, a Geology Museum, The Skywalk, The Ranger Programmes which are entirely free and ranger-guided with activities that included everything from fossil walks and campfires to kid's programs and full moon walks, The Desert View Visitor Centre, and The Watch Tower.

I really liked The Watch Tower.

The Grand Canyon Desert View is one of the highest points in the park and features an eight-story stone tower which visitors can climb to the top and enjoy the spectacular view of the Colorado River below.

The Grand Canyon Desert View Watchtower was built as a structure that would provide the widest possible view of The Grand Canyon yet harmonize with its natural setting. This was orchestrated by one of the first American female architects - Mary Colter- who was hired by the Fred Harvey Company in 1930.

A perfectionist, Colter scrutinized every detail, down to the placement of nearly every stone. Each stone was handpicked for size and appearance. Weathered faces were left untouched to give the tower an ancient look. With a lavish, highly publicized dedication ceremony, the Watch Tower opened in May 1933.

The Watch Tower is Native American and is at the eastern end of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

From a distance the building's silhouette looks like the Anasazi watchtower it was meant to mimic.

Archaeologists believe that 3,000 to 4,000 years ago, the Desert Archaic people lived within the canyon and around 1,000 B.C., the Anasazi Indians are believed to have inhabited the area. Ruins of adobe houses in the area show that Pueblo Indians also lived there, probably as early as the 1200's.

I had made 3 videos of The Watch Tower but unfortunately, they’re too big for this blog and only one of them can be seen. However, if you’re one of my “friends” you will be able to see them on FACEBOOK in the future.

Soon, it was time to move on as we had to get going to Bryce Canyon as such, we decided that some fast food was necessary in order for us to get back moving onto the road thus we tried out a fast-food restaurant called “Jack in the Box”.

The restaurant itself was neat and tidy but the food was yucky!

I ordered fries with burritos and cheese and you can see the result.

Quite spicy.

Quite disgusting.

But I ate it anyway!

You’ve got to try it to have an opinion!!

Just before it got dark we saw and stopped at The Carl Hayden Visitor Centre which had wonderful views of the dam over the Colorado River.

See ya tomorrow.

PS. I'll sort out the pictures later.

Much later.

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Comments

[Alexandra]

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The pictures are amazing have a very good time You was a good teacher for me!smile

[SlimBlue]

Hi Alex, Thanks for replying and your very nice comments! Yes, the pictures are amazing and we feel very lucky to have seen them in reality too! We had a wonderful time.