More canyon

At 277 miles long, up to 6,000 feet deep and varying from 4 to 18 miles wide the canyon is BIG and we are only seeing a tiny part of it, where there are hotels.

Carol turns her back on the Canyon (just for a moment)

I just realized that we have been to the Canyon  at least 3 times and recall now that the first time was in 1995 when we were in Flagstaff for Wagner's Ring Cycle of operas. Near Flagstaff is a town called Williams which is the home of the Grand Canyon Railroad. We took a train for the 65 mile journey to the South Rim and had two hours to spend there before the return trip. The trains then ran on steam but that is not longer the case. The GCRR is now owned by Xanterra.

Here is the exterior of the El Tovar hotel I had mentioned. They have a restaurant here and that's where we would be dining tonight after sunset and where we would have breakfast next morning.

It also has a gift shop with a big selection of GC memorabilia.

 The squirrels at the Canyon are used to people being close to them-and hope you have brought some peanuts as tribute... (Carol always has some in her pockets)

If you plan to visit I would urge you to consider an overnight stay so that when the tour buses leave you can experience the quiet here and the starry night sky after sunset. I didn't have a camera then that could capture what we are seeing. Now that I do I am looking forward to returning.

More to follow...