We got on the bus around 9am and got off at the visitor center to look around. Then we got on the orange line and took that out to Yaki Point (you can only get there by bus.) The view was great as it is from everywhere. We tried to keep T from getting close to the edge -- she likes to get off the path.
The rim trails and viewpoints all go right along the edge of sheer cliffs. At some points there is railing, at others only rocks leading to the edge. People are taking pictures everywhere and sometimes posing close to the edge. Last time I was here I saw a Japanese man taking a picture of his wife as she was close to the edge and telling her to back up. Today, I saw several cases where parents put their kids on the rocks to take their pictures. And a Japanese couple perched on a rock over the canyon.
Then when we were at Mather Point that juts out into the canyon, I saw some parents with a child way over the path, guardrail and one fence telling him to go out a little further. T saw the horror in my face and pointed out to me that there was another fence on the other side of him as he grabbed a toy football he had presumably dropped.....
Later R pointed out to me that there was a thick book in the bookstore that described all the accidents where people had fallen over the edge (some in cars, some not). We didn't get the book, but I understand how those accidents (and some suicides can happen.)
We spent the day visiting various vistas and hiking along the rim trail and the trail of time. And had time to visit a few gift shops. We met back at the room at 4pm and got into the car to take a ride out west to Pima Point. We could see the Colorado River and some rapids from there. We could even hear the rapids from several points on the trail.
We bypassed a stop called "the Abyss" and went on to Powell Point for the sunset. There we met two couples from Nebraska that were traveling together. We took turns taking pictures of our group and theirs and shivered in the cold wind as we waited for the sunset. It wasn't all that good because of the clouds, so we finally gave up and went back to the lodge.
The only parking place we could find was a parallel on the left. T was struggling with it because the car behind was about 3 feet over the line and T's backup warning buzzer was going crazy, A hotel staff person saw our problem and offered to park the car for T. T didn't feel so bad when she had the same problem. She finally got parked and went back to the room for some local wine and crackers as we waited for 7:45 when we had dinner reservations at the El Tovar.
Dinner was great. Their dinner special was 10 oz prime rib and T bargained with them for a 5 oz portion. And they charged us half price. It was delicious. We split a chocolated covered strawberry cheesecake. Yum.
Then we were off to pack and get ready to move on tomorrow after another early rising to catch the sunrise.
On to Zion tomorrow.
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