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The Great Grand �Canyon

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It rained. The tent leaked. It rained again. The tent leaked some more. We lucked out in that there were sunny periods in between where we could dry out our stuff. Actually it's kind of neat being in a tent in a rain storm. The sounds, the smells, the wet dog. Yes, a dog. We took our dog, Sam (short for Samantha), with us on this trip. Sam travels well. She has her kennel that she travels in and at night we move this to the tent or motel room. (Yes, there are motels that allow pets.) Traveling with Sam did require adjustments. Someone had to stay with Sam while the rest went to eat or go shopping. When we went to the Grand Canyon Caverns, someone had to stay behind. These adjustments we had anticipated, however there is a difference in anticipation and the actual experience.

The Grand Canyon was more than the "drive up, peek over the rim and take off" trip I envisioned. The Canyon changes as you change viewing locations. And as the lighting changes from sunrise to sunset, so changes the canyon.

We opted not to take the mule trip to the bottom, having heard there are no "facilities" along the way, the temperature goes up the closer you get to the bottom and Sam couldn't go on any trails. It was hot enough at the top, so we never bothered to confirm the "facilities" issue. We instead took the scenic drive and visited Tusayan where the IMAX theater was located and helicopter rides are available. �

We were unable to utilize our bicycles as we would have liked. The park was just not very bike friendly. However the camp sites were very nice and not nearly as crowded together as some of the ones we've been to. And while we didn't have to worry about bears as in Yosemite, we did have to watch out for mosquitos. They were out in force and hungry. The camp sites did have plenty of trees that provided shade throughout the day.

Here's a website that has more information on the area.

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