The original plan was to get up early and head into the Grand Canyon National Park. However, the girls were exhausted and we were not going to be able to check into our hotel until 3:00 p.m. I'd heard horror stories about how long lines were getting into the national parks, but I decided to take a chance and not head in until mid-afternoon. The gamble paid off. Since we were delaying our entrance to the Grand Canyon, we had time to check out the shops in downtown Williams.
The girls love going into gift shops and there are plenty of them in Williams to go into. The highlight for them was being able to go for a ride in the back of a 1929 Ford Model A. They got a nice drive all around town from the guys from Cars of the Mother Road.
After eating lunch at a restaurant named Pine Country Restaurant, we decided to head into the park. By the way, the pies at Pine Country Restaurant are amazing and they are huge. Manina was unable to finish hers.
We got to the Grand Canyon at around 2:30 p.m. and walked around for a little bit before we tried to check into the hotel. We are staying at the Thunderbird Lodge which was right on the rim of the Grand Canyon. I have always wanted to stay on the rim of the Grand Canyon so that I can watch the sunset there and then wake up the next morning to see the sunrise.
Despite my hatred of heights, walking around the Grand Canyon is fun. It was not busy at all and we were able to see a bunch of things along the South Rim. The only disappointing part was that it was a little hazy there. Lots of smoke seem to have gotten into the canyon and it wasn't moving. So it was hard to really take on the full beauty and breadth of the canyon.
While at the Grand Canyon we got to look at the historic El Tovar hotel, as well as the Hopi House.
The girls were excited as there was some mule deer walking around the area. My resident animal lover needed her picture next to one.
We also went over to Yavapai point and went to the Geology Museum there. I will say this museums is a must visit. Not only were the views amazing from there, but the history of the Grand Canyon and how it was formed is explained really well here with some great exhibits.
The only thing disappointing about the Grand Canyon on this day was the food options. Very few of the restaurants were open and there wasn't a lot of choices to eat in the park. We ate a small meal and a makeshift food court at the Maswik Lodge before heading back to watch the sunset.
We probably could have gone to a better location to see the sunset than the South Rim trail, but we were pretty tired. It isn't necessarily the sun setting that is beautiful, but more so how the sun turns the rocks red. I took a picture, but it didn't do it much justice.
After sunset the family went back to the hotel room and went to sleep early. However, I got to lay in bed thinking about how I finally got to see the sunset on the Grand Canyon. The next day, I'd get up early to see the sunrise.
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