Ms. Roedner in the Big Easy: Grand Canyon Trip

This weekend Amanda and I went to the Grand Canyon, and it was absolutely unbelievable. I can’t even describe how awesome it was and how huge! I know it’s supposed to be big and all, but when you’re standing on the rim it literally goes as far as you can see in every direction. And I kind of assumed I would see the river at the bottom, but it just keeps going down seemingly forever, you’d never know there was a river down there. It was also more colorful than I imagined – all the layers of rock are different shades, which is really neat. I would love to read more about how it formed and why they are all those layers – the brochure explanation wasn’t quite enough. The park is very easy to visit and spend the day in, once you park there is a free shuttle that comes every few minutes and takes you along different routes and stops about every half mile or so. And the trails are easy hiking along the rim.

We spent the night at the Motel 6 in Williams, AZ. The motel was fine, but the town was a trip. Actually, the whole drive up was a little crazy – the slightly more direct route was on a state road instead of the interstate, so we went through all these little “towns” which usually consisted of a bar, a McDonald’s and a flashing “motel” sign. Then there would be nothing for the next 40 minutes. I’m glad Amanda was with me or I would have been totally freaked out. Williams was a little better, there were hotels and a visitor’s center, though the downtown looked as if it hadn’t changed in the last 60 years or so (it’s along historic Route 66, so it probably hasn’t). The Grand Canyon railroad also looks like something out of the old west – and not in a kitschy touristy kind of way. We did have breakfast at a great little local diner that had awesome steak and eggs :)

Another surprising thing about the area was that we expected desert, instead there were tons of pine trees. It was remarkably green, which was a nice change from the desert inferno of Phoenix. It was also 77 degrees at the Grand Canyon – a solid 30 degrees cooler than Phoenix!! Northern Arizona is so much nicer than Southern AZ. We did lots of shopping in the park – though the best find was three American Indian women selling their hand-made jewelry at the Shell station just outside of Williams. Random, but beautiful and affordable work!

Bottom line, it was a great mini-vacation – good food, lots of shopping, beautiful weather and unforgettable scenery (no hiking needed!). Though on my next trip I would like to hike into the canyon, and take the 5-hour drive around to see the North Rim.