The Dale's Trails: Grand Canyon Here We Come

We’re heading out of Camp Verde and going to Flagstaff to Bath and Body Works. I need this lemon lip balm that I love and have loads of it at home but neglected to bring a new tube with me on the trip. It is so dry out here that your skin and lips shrivel up. The campground we were at in Camp Verde, Krazy K, was really nice. Clean, has a pool, hot tub, pool table, it’s quiet and only $18 a night. The owner was so nice and she really wanted you to have a great stay. We met a great couple from Washington State, Jim & Judy, who are boaters too! Wish we had more time with them.

After Flagstaff we are going to a place that I have wanted to go to since I was a little girl... the Grand Canyon! I cannot wait.

It seemed like no time at all from Flagstaff that we pulled up to the gates of the Grand Canyon. Love that America the Beautiful Pass – free again to get in the park. We didn’t have reservations at the park’s campground, you usually have to reserve quite a bit ahead but we will go to the campground just to see if we can get in anyway. We called Reserve America, they can make reservations at any National Park for you, and they say they are full.

OK, we pull up to the campground after driving around getting our bearings. Yup the sign say FULL. We knew it was a long shot, but hey, you never know.

A man comes out and asks if we have a reservation. Of course we say no. That sweet man said hold on and he would see if he could get us in. A few minutes later he comes back and TA DA we are in!! We are in the Grand Canyon campground for the night. Can you believe it. I cannot.

We get set up, it’s 5 pm and we hop on a shuttle bus and head for the first view point we can get to. The Canyon has a great shuttle system, the buses run frequently, and it keeps cars out of park. We get off at the Yavapai Observation Station. We start walking towards the view point. I told Tommy that we should not to look at the Canyon while we were walking up. I didn’t want a little at at time view, I wanted it all at once. I’m still looking down when we reach a walkway where a few people were and they were talking about how pretty it was. I looked up, the beauty hits you and freezes you in your tracks. You can’t talk. You can’t believe what you are seeing. Tommy and I look at each other, still in silence, look back at the Canyon. All we can do is shake our heads, both of us with tears welling up. We strolled around the rim and found a rock on the cliffs edge. We had a seat away from other people just to take it in.