Grand Canyon

We've been at the Grand Canyon this past week. The first glimpse of the Canyon is something that simply cannot be described! We spent about two and a half days at the Canyon; stayed in one of the "Canyon Village" lodges--Maswik, which made getting around a lot easier than staying in Flagstaff or nearby Tusayan, AZ.

A couple of things I don't understand:

1) Foreign Travelers - Why do "foreigners" seem to come in droves to see things like the Grand Canyon? (We saw this same "phenomenon" when we went to Alaska several years ago.) During the week, we heard Spanish, French, Italian, English (UK), Japanese, Dutch, German, and I'm sure other languages we could not identify. So many people from other countries coming to the USA to see the Grand Canyon and my first thought was: "How in the heck do you afford to fly over here in the first place and spend the kind of money it takes to enjoy a trip like this?! I also noticed that at least one, if not all of the people in the various "language groups" spoke English--many of them quite well, others just enough to communicate. Maybe it's me, but I can't think of another country I want to see badly enough where I'd be willing to go to the trouble of transcontinental travel, much less learning the native language. There's too much I haven't seen at "home", yet.

2) Why are some people so rude? - We encountered lots of folks that had never heard of "the end of the line" or "waiting your turn." They were getting on that bus or getting that drink, and if you happened to be a casualty of their aggressive/rude behavior, so be it! Sadly, many of those people appeared to be American. We also noticed that many people took no notice of the "Do Not Litter" signs. It's the Grand Canyon for cyin' out loud! It's a NATURAL WONDER, which means it's beauty DOES NOT come from disgarded cigarette butts, candy wrappers, etc. I actually watched one woman and her daughter throw their empty pop cans into a flower bed near one of the buildings on the Canyon Rim! I guess they thought their mother was walking right behind them! (I picked up the cans and threw them away.)

OK. Enough negative. The Canyon was GREAT--probably one of, if not the best vacations I've ever taken. No matter where you stood, you saw something different. You can look at the same view in the morning, midday, and evening and not see the same thing. Simply awesome. We got up early one morning (4:30 AM) so we could watch the sun rise over the Canyon and we made sure we were near the Rim each evening to watch the sun set. Each time, a different experience.

Friday Photo

Sunrise at Mather Point - Grand Canyon

Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. -Psalm 90:2 (NASB)

flickr: Friday Photo Group