Today was originally scheduled as a trip to the Grand Canyon, staying overnight in the same area. However we decided that we wanted to squeeze Death Valley into our itinerary, meaning we needed to be in Las Vegas by this evening. So we decided to head up to see the Grand Canyon, and then drive on to Las Vegas and stay there for 2 nights.
The southern rim of the Grand Canyon was 50 miles north of Williams, where we had stayed for the night. I was surprised when we arrived to see more snow, which still didn't seem congruent with the Desert scenery we found ourselves in. I should have been used to this by now, for all the desert we had passed through had included snow!
We parked the RV and set out on foot for the southern rim of the canyon. The walk included our obligatory snow ball fight - however this was short lived as we didn't all have gloves, and making snowballs with your bare hands gets a bit painful after a few minutes!
The rim was only half a mile from the car park, and there it was in all it's grandeur.
I was surprised that I didn't find it nearly as visually spectacular as either Red Canyon or Glen Canyon. When I mentioned this to Janine she felt the same. It is almost as though there sheer scale of the Grand Canyon (10 miles across from side to side, and 1 mile deep) diminishes its visual splendour. I think that to really experience this canyon you would need to take the mule trip down to the base, and spend a few days there. Perhaps that or a helicopter flight through it. Anyway, viewing from the top doesn't do it justice.
After having lunch in the National Park, we headed back south and then west to Las Vegas. This drive was principally on freeways, and therefore a purely functional trip rather than sightseeing. Once again the GPS guided us flawlessly to the campsite, which is right on the 'strip', next to Circus Circus.
Into bed we went, looking forward to experiencing our first real city of the trip tomorrow.
The southern rim of the Grand Canyon was 50 miles north of Williams, where we had stayed for the night. I was surprised when we arrived to see more snow, which still didn't seem congruent with the Desert scenery we found ourselves in. I should have been used to this by now, for all the desert we had passed through had included snow!
We parked the RV and set out on foot for the southern rim of the canyon. The walk included our obligatory snow ball fight - however this was short lived as we didn't all have gloves, and making snowballs with your bare hands gets a bit painful after a few minutes!
The rim was only half a mile from the car park, and there it was in all it's grandeur.
I was surprised that I didn't find it nearly as visually spectacular as either Red Canyon or Glen Canyon. When I mentioned this to Janine she felt the same. It is almost as though there sheer scale of the Grand Canyon (10 miles across from side to side, and 1 mile deep) diminishes its visual splendour. I think that to really experience this canyon you would need to take the mule trip down to the base, and spend a few days there. Perhaps that or a helicopter flight through it. Anyway, viewing from the top doesn't do it justice.
After having lunch in the National Park, we headed back south and then west to Las Vegas. This drive was principally on freeways, and therefore a purely functional trip rather than sightseeing. Once again the GPS guided us flawlessly to the campsite, which is right on the 'strip', next to Circus Circus.
Into bed we went, looking forward to experiencing our first real city of the trip tomorrow.
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