Thank goodness this day started with a successful attitude adjusting family meeting. (For those of you who missed the blow out, it’s here). The first agenda item was a tourist trap in Navajo country that had a restaurant, so departure preparations were quick, and the first thing we were able to do was have a nice talk about the parents’ expectations that everyone treat each new stop with a level of anticipation and respect commensurate with the positive experiences we’ve had at *all* previous stops! It rang true! The boys immediately put themselves to work pointing out the local mansions.
We also noticed a number of local people with a few extra pounds. Once we ordered breakfast, we understood why. JT ordered the blue pancake (made with blue maize). It’s the only restaurant that I’ve been to where the pancake breakfast entree is only a single pancake. It was big enough to use as a flotation device. I got “Navajo Tacos” to sample a regional specialty. It’s an open face taco about the size of a Frizbee. Why so big? Because the shell is FRIED DOUGH! Yes: just like what you get at the fair! And, of course, everything was delicious. Okay, now I understand…. But we dug in without hesitation; we were headed for a hike down into the Grand Canyon!
After arriving at the South Rim, I had to drive past many parking lots before I could find a place to leave the RV. It took us a fair walk and 2 bus rides to get to the trailhead. But I was determined that we’d do more than teeter over the rim. I wanted to get a taste of going down in.
The Kaibab Trail runs from the South Rim all the way down, across a foot bridge, and back up to the North Rim. It’s generally about 4 feet wide and used by people and mule trains. It’s the trail that leads to the visitor center on the canyon floor, and it was specifically built in a place where there is no water cascading down the canyon walls, to ensure that it is available for travel for as much of the year as possible. If you’re not carrying it, you’re not drinking it!
Mom and I repeatedly remarked all day how fortunate we were that temperatures were so very mild. We’d been told that we had arrived in “Monsoon Season” though that word doesn’t seem appropriate for a place that receives only 25 inches of rainfall per year. There were storm clouds around us, and we could occasionally even see rain or even, in the distance, a few lightning bolts. We only dared to go as far as Ooh Aah Point, and it was enough to give us a great in-canyon experience and burn off the heavy breakfast.
That night, we got ourselves half way to the Hoover Dam. I even detoured off the highway and picked up Route 66, instead, to give us a little more of a scenic drive. It was a great day, ending with a beautiful full moon rising above the horizon and boldly visible below the distant storm clouds. What a sky to see; incapable of being captured in our photos.
Your decision to post even the tough times regarding “attitudes” is commendable. It would be easy to try and cover up or not share those. You are both doing a GREAT (or should it be “GRAND” ?) job and the photos…..!!!! Unbelievable!