After around 4 hours we stopped at historic route 66! For lunch and a wonder! It was quite a lovelylittle town! Lots of historic features and character! It was a real old american experience! And we ate at a small cafe called the snow cone cafe! It was a small shop/kiosk you ordered then waited for your name to be called and found a seat outside amongst the memoribilia! It was great and the food was scrummy! After lunch we wondered along the road and had a browse in all the shops we could have spent a couple of hours here just browsing! But we had to leave to continue our journey, so took loads of pics and i bought a new small handbag as mine had completely fallen apart :( i got one for $8 and we got a few postcards :) we loved experiencing this town what a real slice of america :)
We continued onto the grand canyon dropping some of the group off for the helicopter ride on the way, the rest of us then continued onto the camp ground and set up camp. It was pretty windy and the camp ground was sandy so the sand was going everywhere! After we had finished dylon took us for our first viewing of the grand canyon :) we parked in the car park and then just a short walk away we were looking at the canyon, it was breathtaking and it just went on you could see no end to it. I had a picture in my head of what the canyon would look and this wasnt it but i was in no way dissappointed i think that everybody has images in there head of what these famous landmarks look like based on the movies and our imaginations and a lot of the time they are very different. But the grand canyon looked stunning. We took a few pics then it was time to go and pick up the rest of the group from their helicopter tour.
It was around 6 oclock by this point and we were all going to watch the sunset over the canyon at 19.22, and then have pizza, so we were taken to the gift shop and had a browse and then back to camp to get our warm clothes and then to the "rim" for sunset! The temp had dropped quite quickly and it was now pretty cold so i was very pleased about my new coat it kept me nice and warm! Me and luke found a spot to sit whilst dylon took the rest of the group to sit on a ledge! It was pretty windy and a bit to dangerous for our liking! So we just sat and watched it from where we were and it was lovely we left a bit early really as the sky was just going red when we left we knew from experience that this was the best part of a sunset but the group were leaving so we had to go. We had pizza in one of the parks restaurants dylon ordered 6 pizzas for us all and they came out huge!! We couldnt finish them all! We went back and sat around the campfire and then went to bed i went to bed in my coat and was actually warm for the first time! And luke really appreciated his hat.
The next day we didnt get up until around 8.30 the rest of the group were going out at 9 am we had no idea where, but we wanted to explore together! So we made lunch and had breaky whilst they were getting ready to go. Then we decided to do some washing, and as i was walking back from the laundry i walked past a group of wild elks just chilling and eating! It was great and when i got back to camp luke said they had just walked past camp! We do love our wild animal sightings! We finally set off around 10.40am we went to the free park shuttle bus stop and we were off.....
..... The pics on left are ones i got walking back from the laundry and the ones on right are what luke got when they went through the camp!We decided to go to a place called "hermits rest" it was the furthest away a 80 minute round trip with around 8 stops on the way there and 3 on the way back, there were various hikes we could have done but we only had the one day and we weren't prepared for a hike plus we really wanted to see the views of the canyon! Every stop we got off ....the views were just unbelieveable....
Luke was quite daring and went out to some ledges and i was a little daring! We just got so many great pics its going to be hard to pic the best ones to keep! We hadnt bumped into any of our group so had no clue what they were doing ! We really enjoyed this trip to hermits rest & we walked some of it as it was so scenic we saw some stunning scenary. We found a picnic bench when we got there and ate our pack lunch we were starving ....by this point it was 2pm! We were going to stop at 1 or 2 of the places we hadnt stopped at on the way on the way back but were needing a rest so decided we would now journey to a place called "yaki point" It was quite a journey on 3 different buses but it was nice to have the rest! The temp was really dropping again so it was also getting a bit chilly. When we reached our destination we werent dissappointed another great kodak moment! There was also a safe ledge here which we took some great pics on....
We really wanted to go to the geology museum aswell but it was 16.30 and it shuts at 5pm and we also had to be back at camp around 17.30-17.45 so decided to head back to the visiter center and have a look in there before heading back to camp. It was actually really interesting with lots of facts on the parks wildlife and history. We got the bus to market square and walked to camp from there we were feeling knackered and both needed showers. I dont think we drank enough water we drank around 2.5 litres but did a lot of walking, and you ares uppose to drink 1 litre per hour! And it was hot even no the wind made it a little chilly! It was dry and we were at a high altitude! so at quite a lot of risk of dehydration! So i think after dinner we would have a early one! One of the groups cooked dinner and we were the last to dish ours up and there was probly 2 spoonfuls left ! The size of the "dinner" really was ridiculous it didnt even fill a small bowl! People are so selfish filling there bowl right up when there is barely enough for everyone. Each group got to pick what they cooked and bought the ingrediants and there was obviously not enough for everyone. I feel that dylon should have ensured there was enough to go around, when you pay for a trip that includes meals you shouldnt be going to bed hungry!
That night the group played drinking games but it was to cold to be sitting outside so we went to our tent not that it was much better in there ! We played a few games together on our iphone and then tried to got to sleep but it was so cold and the group were being so loud! I think they thought we couldnt here what they were saying but they forgot how thin the tents were ! It was very interesting
Listening! The wind was picking up and the temp was dropping and luke said there was bad weather coming....he was right! ......we woke up to snow! It rained initially and we was thinking how terrible it would be putting the tent down in that weather! But as it happened the rain stopped and it was just slightly snowing so luke quickly put the tent down and i covered our bags with a umbrella! And thank god we did all that early and quick as the snow got worse and heavier it covered the ground! We made our tea and breakfast and got ready to get in the van....and to our surprise (not!) the whole group apart from 3 of us had put there bags on the seats they wanted to sit in! We had to rotate where we sat in the van everyday as there were better seats or certain parts of the van with more leg room and better views and me, luke and jasmin (a german girl who we had become friendly with!) had been sitting in the back row for two days it warmer there but a tight squeeze with no leg room! Anyway so obviously we had been left to sit there again! Honestly ....it was like going back to playschool with some of the people in the group!! It really made us feel old seeing how these "children" behaved! Anyway they were made to move which obviously was the end of the world!! Being on another group tour was proving difficult! Mostly due to the behaviour of some of the "children" in the group!!
We were on our way and were taken to one last view point which was great as we got to see the grand canyon in the snow! We were so lucky to see the canyon in the sunshine and snow in 24hours! Thats very rare! So we were pleased.
We really enjoyed our time in the grand canyon national park even tho it was windy and chilly at night, we saw some spectacular sites and took some great pics. We also saw many wild and beautiful animals which we loved :) we would definately come back and visit again. What an amazing place.
Fab! You are getting to see some stunning views. The route 66 bit looks right up my street! Xx
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