Arizona

desert

Grand Canyon

panoramae

Phoenix

arrival

hotel

the Rez

dust storm

Tempe

Tucson

The Grand Canyon must be one of the natural wonders of the world. Even when you think you're prepared for this big hole in the ground, you're surprized. I was blown away by the transition from flat desert to the gigantic chasm in the earth. At left you may be able to see an electrical storm playing on the canyon's edge; we saw the lightning and heard the thunder, even from within the visitor center. At right you see a model of the canyon's strata; this was in the visitor center, which boasts a pretty good view of the canyon. We started there, and experienced a cloudburst while inside. Then we ventured out, after skipping the unimpressive postcards and other tourist baubles.

The rim is stunning. There are places where it's a rather mild slope, and it's hard to tell that you're descending. At other locations you're really standing on an edge, and one would be hard-pressed to down-climb to the next ledge. These are the places which make for good photographs. Once again we were graced with good weather during the important part of the visit; it was warm and clear.

We spent all afternoon on the rim, strolling from one vantage point to another. I can't belive how big it is, nor how clear a view we had today. It's such a contrast to the controlled and artificial worlds in which we live. Friends of ours took a rafting trip down the Colorado River, through the Grand Canyon, which they loved. I didn't understand it then, but I'd love to do the trip myself. Perhaps in a few years we'll be back.

On the rim we found a bit of digging. I can't remember whether this was a sanctioned archeological dig or something the proto-Druids were doing in lieu of taking a trip to Stonehenge.

We spent a bit of time taking a few panoramae of the canyon, after which we started back to Flagstaff (known 'round these parts as "Flag"). That's when the outburst hit, and extended series of sheets of rain buffeting our car as we rode down a winding, dark road. By the time we got to Flag I was so tired from keeping the car on the road that we pulled off at the first open restaurant we saw. It was a BBQ place, and the food was excellent. We got in just before the closed the door and we shut the place down. With a very full stomach I turned the car back toward the Phoenix / Tempe area.