Pic #02 & 03 is from the same location peering over the rim outside our door. This time of morning - about 7am - there are few people out and about. The temperature is very pleasant, signalling what will likely be a hot day. I pop into the restaurant for coffee and danish and go back to wake up Kim... the kids get another sleep-in.

 
#04 is further up the rim, another 1930's building called The Hopi House, which today is an indian gift shop...so far the hoards of people I feared just aren't here, and the walk on the rim is rather quiet...that's about to change though. From the same location, #05 looks back on the Bright Angel Lodge set on the crest of the South Rim.

Later on this same morning, after breakfast, we hop in the van, give up our coveted parking spot, and head back the way we came in (private vehicles cannot go further west from here). At Grandview Point, I ease out onto a cliff-edge to set up the tripod for another panorama series. I gotta imagine by now, y'all are getting sick of canyon shots, but they're pretty nice.

GRANDVIEW POINT - SOUTH RIM

#06 is the family shot at Grandview Point, #07 is the same Fox we saw yesterday on our way in, today it was causing a bit of a traffic jam, and #08 is a shot with some labels on it to help you figure out what the girls are gonna do in the morning...on it you can see the Bright Angel Trail, Indian Gardens, which is a little oasis in the canyon about 4.5 miles in, and Plateau Point, which is the furthest Kim and I went back in '79 on our last trip to the Canyon (before kids!). I've also labeled where we stayed while at the North Rim. [NOTE: on IE browswers, some of these pictures are reduced to fit the screen, you can resize them full screen by placing your mouse over the lower right corner and clicking on the pop-up arrow symbol.]

 
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped off for laundry, car clean-up and snacks, while the kids roamed off for points unknown...nice to have them old enough not to have to watch them so closely anymore, ain't it?

Pics #09-13 are from a shuttle ride Kim and I took down the Hermits Road, now closed to private vehicles. A shuttle bus comes along every 10 minutes so it's an easy way to see the rim points west of here. I did several more panoramas out there, too.

TRAIL VIEW POINT - SOUTH RIM

POWELL POINT - SOUTH RIM

 
We hooked back up withthe kids, they were sitting on the edge of the canyon rim watching the sunset, and played cards and goofed around in the room or on the rim until our late 9:30pm dinner reservation. By ALL MEANS, make reservations at these lodges long before you get here if you want to eat. We had a 5:45 reservation which was too early, so we switched into a last minute cancellation, otherwise we'd be eating trail mix for dinner! Which would have been a damned sight cheaper than the $130 meal we had, but it was at the El Tovar Hotel, arguably the best place to eat on the South Rim. Between the scallops, shrimp, filet mignon, pork loin and a killer Chocolate Mousse, we all went to sleep stuffed! OK, there were a few Absolut Citron's on the rocks as well, but hey, this is vacation, right?