The Grand Canyon

We're finally getting ready to come home. Happy, tired and already planning our next trip. We'll do a prosper post about San Francisco and Las Vegas soon. Yesterday was our second 'splash out' outing, a small group trip to the Grand Canyon. It's close to Vegas in the American, not the British sense of the word. Our guide and driver, Alfonso, picked us up a little after half seven. He remembered everyone's names and origins, introducing all four couples after each pick up. He was a mine of interesting information about our surroundings and the places we passed through. He knew all the best picture spots and took photos of us too! We stopped at the Hoover Damn which was pretty impressive and at Seligman on route 66 at a quaint souvenir shop. With a couple more rest stops the drive passed surprisingly quickly and it was soon time for a picnic lunch at the most spectacular picnic spot in the world, looking out over the canyon. Words and photos just don't do it justice. The sheer size is difficult to encompass. It's spectacular, beautiful and a whole list of superlatives. It's also oddly quiet. I was constantly having the jitters that someone would fall. The younger couples in our group were much more daring in perch of that perfect shot! The gift shop even had a rather tasteless book on deaths at the canyon. Alfonso had told us about the condors which are up to 300 now from a low of twenty. We were all hoping to see one but it sounded like hoping to see a bear.. . . Until we did see one. It was the icing on the cake for an already special day. They're all tagged and Alfonso recognised it as L4 and you can see the tag in the photo we'll post later. After that, we hurried back to our vantage point to watch the sun set. The drive back was rather long. Most people slept but Julian wound up getting a Spanish lesson from Alfonso. It was a wonderful end to an amazing trip.