Here we are at last! The south rim is what most people apparently consider the Grand Canyon proper. Oh well, the North Rim was very nice, too. And our campsite was great, except for the part about Tyler getting lost, and the rowdy group that was being loud until past midnight. I’m not sure which happened first — them stopping or me falling asleep.
Back to the South Rim, though. We drove about 240 miles and ended up about 10 miles away from where we started. Talk about inefficient! But, we didn’t bring Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with us, so we had little choice. The drive was through some pretty desolate country, with very few towns between. We kept looking for a place to stop for a picnic lunch, but came up empty (it was 99 degrees and we wanted some shade). We ended up making it all the way to the Grand Canyon before we stopped for lunch. And ironically, after desperately trying to avoid the scorching heat, we had to find a picnic table under a tree to shield us from the brief afternoon shower.
After our lunch, we stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks on the way to the Visitor Center. The kids had been to a ranger program the previous night, and finished up some workbooks along the way, so they could be sworn in as Junior Rangers today, and receive their third badges each. Fun stuff.
From there, we drove to our lodging, which is in a “lodge.” But not what I was thinking of — the place we’re in is closer to a motel room than anything else. I was picturing a single building with lots of rooms. Anyway, not to complain, the room is plenty nice. After dinner in the cafe there, we went to another Campfire Ranger talk, which tonight was about bats. There are really a ton of activities in the national parks — it would be easy to spend a week here and fill up your days, and still not see much of the park. But that’s not our vacation. Tomorrow morning, we will try to fit in one more activity before heading off to Flagstaff and Susan’s cousins.