Good Report - GC is still here!

WE MADE IT!

Our day at the Grand Canyon was 'interesting'! We began by visiting the Watch Tower which gives some great views of the canyon and the Colorado River. The Tower is being rehabbed, but was still open to the public. Next we talked to several people that are part of a local volunteer search and rescue team. On Friday, they actually had a recovery, not rescue, for a person who fell into the canyon. Today, they were doing their annual 'cleanup' of a section of the canyon. Nancy and I were both so disappointed that we just didn't have the time to rappel over the edge with them to pick up other peoples trash!

The only thing I could think of is: 'I'm not your Mother'!

Search and Rescue Volunteers

We then took a bus tour of the Western area of the park. The drivers were quite knowledgeable about the area and the daily scheduled events. This particular tour was scheduled to be 70 minutes, but you could extend that time by getting off the bus at any stop, and then getting on the next bus (about 20 minutes later. Every thing was going great, until we noticed that the sun was being blocked by some clouds. Oh! look, some lighting off in the distance! Of course, here you can see 80 -100 miles, so the clouds were maybe clouds 50 miles away. Ah, a few drops of rain. The driver pulls up to the next stop and the bus doors open. Suddenly, the driver closes the door. You can hear the radio, but not quite make out the words. Finally, the driver announces that due to a 'severe weather condition' moving through the area, the park service has suspended all tours and ordered everyone off the 'mountain'. So, at 1:28pm, we are not allowed off the bus (like you could have gotten me off), and our bus becomes a rescue vehicle to get people from the higher levels back to the Village and parking lots.

We were able to do a picnic lunch by the car after the immediate rain subsided but the storm was still quite active when we decided to call it a day. Since our travel plans are flexible, we can return in another couple of days. Leaving the GCNP, we headed on down to Sedona via a couple of great scenic routes eventually arriving at our motel in time for a beautiful rainbow over Oak Creek in the heart of town. The evening ended with a good Italian dinner on an open deck overlooking Oak Creek...another great day!

A SEDONA WELCOME!

Today's Challenge, Now we have to find our way home!  But we're in no hurry!

George and Nancy