Day 2 - the Grand Canyon

Flagstaff truly was a winter wonderland while we there - a really, really cold wonderland but beautiful none the less. After waiting forever to get our breakfast, we headed though Williams to the Grand Canyon. Here's a great shot of our comfortable van, Rob and Anita were so smart in renting it.
The roads were great once we got out of Flagstaff and until we entered the Grand Canyon National Park. I don't think any of the entrance fees that are collected are used for snow removal and they had had about 3 feet. We saw two accidents and three cars that slide off the road into snow banks. It was crowded with visitors and the road conditions made it dangerous and adventurous.

Anita, Rob, Maxim and Jip had been to the Canyon before but not with it dusted in snow. It was another gorgeous day with a bright blue sky. It was cold but sunny, so the sun warmed us up as we hiked along the rim.

With our family missing five people, Garth and I and Preston look so small and especially with the Grand Canyon as our backdrop. What we lack in numbers we make up for in personality and fun though.

Here is one of those pictures where Garth says, "I want my picture taken right here." He is in the El Tovar Lodge in front of their huge Christmas tree. One of the great advantages we had leaving the day after Christmas was that everywhere was still decorated for the holidays.

Garth drove the van back along the rim while the rest of us hiked and played along the 2 1/2 mile rim trail. The weather was crisp, the snow sparkling, clean and beautiful and the scenery was spectacular - after all we were at one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

With that combination what more could we want? Well with four teenage boys the obvious answer is a snowball fight. There was a continual shower of snowballs much to the dismay of the other tourists we encountered. Here is another great picture of Anita and I at one of my most favorite places on Earth.

This shot was taken as we left the Canyon and headed to Page for the night. I had never been to this end of the Canyon except when I went down the river and the perspective was completely different. It was different to look down the length of the Canyon instead of across it.

As we drove across the Navajo Reservation, Rob and Anita were amazed at how spread out the homes were and how the Navajos live alone in the middle of nowhere. We stopped at the famous Cameron trading post, picked up a few sovereigns and got into to Page about 9:00pm. Another great day on our road trip!