After hanging out at the North Rim for awhile, it was time to visit the most popular spots of the Grand Canyon. We drove in from the East entrance, and stopped at Grandview Point for the girls’ first glimpse of the view from the South. Hubby had let us out to get the views while he circled for a parking spot, as it was pretty busy. This spot has a nice lookout, and then stairs going down to a trail with a rock ledge to stand out on. It was the perfect first stop for the girls!
Next, we drove in to the Visitors Center area, which had changed A LOT from when I was here last – it looked like the park entrance of Disney World with all of the multiple lots and shuttle buses stops! I realize it’s been since 2008 since Hubby and I went, but whoa! Like all of the other parks we had been to on this trip, they had the Visitors Center stuff (maps, junior ranger badges, etc) all outside so no one had to enter a building due to Covid. After we picked up what we needed, we decided to go into Tusayan and check into our hotel/get dinner (some of us were getting hangry…).
After dinner, we went back into the park to check out Yaki Point. We were back to the Visitors Center area to walk out to Yaki Point. Surprisingly, there weren’t very many people around anymore. I think the fact that it was cloudy so there wasn’t going to be an epic sunset sent people packing early.
We continued around the rim for awhile, looking for even quieter spots to enjoy the canyon from. It was neat watching the light change, even without the sun being out. It was also nice having the canyon to ourselves from the spots we found.
After the lovely views, we walked back to the car to go back to the hotel for some swimming. While we were walking, we saw a deer super close to us. The funny thing was so many people were walking right by and didn’t even notice! They thought the only sights to see were the ones that happened at the viewpoints and overlooks!
The next morning, we got up and headed for some shopping first at the Market Plaza, as Wormy badly wanted a Night Sky book. We walked around the rim trail for a bit, and enjoyed watching the hikers down below in the canyon!
Next, it was off to take the shuttle to Hermits Rest. We had a driver who took her job very seriously – the girls still joke about her a little, as she would yell at people to get out of her way (so they would hear her…as I tried to explain to the girls), and she was very serious about everyone keeping their masks on while on the shuttle. She discouraged people from going all the way out to Hermits Rest because she said it would be hard to get a seat on the shuttle for the return trip and she always hated turning away families with small children in this heat. Hubby and I glanced nervously at each other, but decided to stick with our plan to go all the way out.
We got off at Hermits Rest and walked a distance past the building to get some beautiful views, while everyone who was on the shuttle with us stopped in the building. Once the crowd had passed, we went back into the building for some shopping and to buy the girls some fruit popsicles. They totally hit the spot, but the girls had to finish them before getting on the shuttle. The fruit popsicles were nice and thick, so it took them awhile!
When it was time to go, we did not have any problem getting a seat on the shuttle that was waiting, so we were relieved that the first bus driver’s prediction did not hold true for us. I think the girls really enjoyed the Grand Canyon, but really – what’s not to like???
Car Full of Harmony 
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