Day Twelve - GRAND CANYON

We are here!! Day 12 on the road and we have reached the Grand Canyon!!! It is all and more than I imagined. It's all I can do to take it in. I think I took about 300 pictures this afternoon alone. God's creation is awesome!!!

The National Park Service is doing a controlled burn to get rid of underbrush and it was quite hazy .... my eyes burned because of the smoke. Late afternoon a nice breeze came along and helped a bit. We stopped at several different vantage points and although some offer the same scenery it is different from one angle to another.

We're at a hotel just two miles from the south entrance and the drive into the park takes about 15 minutes. There are shuttle buses we plan to use tomorrow though. They run every 15 minutes and sure will save the hassle of finding parking places.

We rode down to the hotels on the rim and had dinner at one of them - the Bright Angel - I think it was. Our table was at the window overlooking the rim right at sunset. I went outside while the food was being prepared and took some pictures as the sun started going down. The scenery and color seemed to change every few seconds.

Even saw some wildlife. At one of the points a family was excitedly pointing to an object below ... naturally I walked over to see what it was and it was a ram far below. Got a picture of it too ... thank goodness for digital zoom. Coming out of the park a deer or elk (it was dark) was at the side of the road, about four feet from the car. That thing was as tall as the car and it's rack was bigger than any I've seen on a Virginia deer.

It's been a busy day and an emotional one to behold all the beauty of God's creation, the Grand Canyon. Thank goodness I have internet access so I can post each day. Thursday we'll be taking a smooth water raft trip. Tomorrow we're hoping to catch some of the programs offered by the park service. Condors are in the park now ... perhaps we'll have the good fortune to see one, or even an eagle or two.

Tomorrow is a new day. I look forward to new adventures at the Canyon.