Today is the day of the big Grand Canyon trip. We got up fairly early and started our day with large bowls of cold cereal. We drove up Hwy. 89 towards Gray Mountain. On the way there, I saw what looked like 3 telephone poles of various heights, standing upright behind a barbed wire fence. Each pole had a white face painted on it.
We stopped at a convenience store in Gray Mountain to take the girls to the bathroom. I asked the Navajo cashier about the poles with the faces and whether they represented anything. She responded a bit nonchalantly, with a wave of her hand, “Oh, the Hopi do that.” She offered no further explanation. So, I wondered and attempted to look up some stuff on the internet. I must not be typing in the correct keywords because I’m coming up empty handed on this issue. The best I can find is that these are Hopi Prayer Totems.
While stopped at this convenience store, DH got a cell phone call from work. We ended up sitting here for one and a half hours while he “worked” on vacation. Finally, the conversation ended and we resumed our ride across the Navajo Indian reservation on our way to the Grand Canyon National Park. I had heard that to enter the park from the South entrance is not a good idea if you don’t like crowds and traffic. My husband had declared that 2 things he would not do on vacation is fight crowds and traffic. So, we chose to enter the park from the east side and see the views backwards.
We spent most of our day at the Grand Canyon today. Our first stop upon entering the park was the Desert View Watchtower. It was already crowded but not too badly when we arrived. My first view of the canyon was epic. We have seen a number of awesome views on our adventure so far but I have never seen anything so stunning. The view to the north rim - 10 miles away, was clear, and you could see right down to the river below. I just wanted to stand and stare for hours!
This tower was built in 1932 by Fred Harvey and the Santa Fe Railroad. It is not a restoration or copy of any particular Indian ruin. Many months of research and three years of construction were needed to combine the finest examples of Indian designs and masonry found in the southwest. Ancient towers serving as models for the Desert View Watch Tower were probably used by their builders for protection and storage of food. There are also indications that some towers were used by aboriginal priests for making astronomical observations. Since the main purpose of such towers seems to be fore people to observe or “watch” from, the term “watch tower” is widely applied to such structures. The Watch Tower serves as a rest stop and as an aid for helping the visitor to better understand the past and present life of the Southwestern Indians. We took the Desert View Highway and stopped several times along the way for different views. We also stopped at the new visitor’s center where there was a lot of information on the formation of the canyon and the thirteen different layers of rock there.
There was little, if any, fence to keep rambunctious children from going over the edge. Scary!!!In my research for this trip I had read that three to five die EVERY YEAR from falling off the canyon rim. Ninety-five percent are male between the ages of 18 and 26. Most deaths occur where there are guardrails present. Therefore, I convinced DH that we’d take turns walking down to the viewpoints. The only time I felt comfortable letting the girls get out of the truck was when we’d stop to walk a trail on the opposite side of the road. The inside part, away from the edge. If you see just one of the Seven Natural Wonders of America, it’s got to be the Grand Canyon. Absolutely awesome and truly humbling.
We left the park through the South Entrance and I must say that our choice to do things backwards was a wise choice. We drove on down through Tusayan to Valle, AZ where we stopped at Bedrock City. Kangaroo had fallen asleep in her seat and refused to wake up to visit with Fred and Wilma Flintstone. However, The Teen, Little Bird and I took advantage of the little village and had a grand time exploring the different houses and shops where Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty live. Personally, it’s a little cheesy but the yungun’s really enjoyed it.
We headed back to the campground. Upon arrival I discovered a note on our camper. I had forgotten to let the management know that we’d decided to stay another night. Off I go to the office to remedy that little situation.
Returning to the camper, I didn’t feel much like cooking anything so I warmed up some leftover hotdogs and chili, gave the girls a bath in the camper, and we hit the hay. DH wanted to leave early the next morning.
Funky glasses kept re-hydration fun!!
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