Grand Classroom - Day 4 (The Grand Canyon)

Totally Awesome!!!!!

We hiked a 3/4-mile trail down the South Rim of the canyon and I am now completely in awe of Mother Nature. The flora, the fauna and the solid rock cut by millions of years of erosion.

Of course the laws of nature (what goes up, must come down) are reversed in the Grand Canyon. Here, he, who goes down, must eventually hike back up. Good thing I spent the last 5 months weight training at the gym. I felt like I was on the world's biggest stair stepper on the return hike.

Now I can tell all my friends that: I SURVIVED THE GRAND CANYON! - with a 12 pound mega-tripod on my back. As they say: those panoramic shots are worth a 1000 words.

After our hike, we had lunch and some free time to explore the park's book store. I found some great CD recordings of the sounds of the Grand Canyon and kits to grow both the native Ponderosa Pine and the Colorado Aspen - which grow in clusters, but share one root system. I can't wait to cultivate them in Georgia where we are currently suffering from year 3 of a deep drought.

We continued our tour of the Grand canyon area with a visit to the Desert View - Lookout Tower - a 70-foot Watchtower built in 1932, with stone around a steel frame. In designing the tower, the architect, Mary Colter, incorporated elements from both prehistoric and modern tribes.

Then we were off again for a respite and some shopping at the Cameron Trading Post, which was founded in 1916. Today, it's like the Wal-Mart of Native American art, baskets, dolls, jewelry, pottery and everything else. They treat bus groups to coupons to get you to spend more money, which is a good thing because, there were way too many items to choose from.

On the way back to Flagstaff we stopped at an old Indian field near the Sunset Crater. I personally did not see any pottery or arrowhead remnants, but we did find a cool animal vertebra and a very live horny lizard.

We ended our day at Ni Marcos pizza in Flagstaff and a trip to the Vertical Relief Rock Climbing Center. The kids are still there having a ball. I opted for a taxi back to the hotel so I could chill, get packed for Vegas tomorrow and write this blog.

Tomorrow we hit The Strip.

Nianya