Day 25- Grand Canyon Village, South Rim

All of us at Mather's Point, South Rim, Grand Canyon!

Holy Grand Canyon!  Clearly we have been working our way to the grandest of them all!  After a quick grocery shop and some rearranging of belongings we headed out of Page toward the South Rim.  We drove through "Navajo Nation" which was sparse with buildings but abundant with scenery.  Some of their houses were at the base of huge mountains of what appeared to be very loose rocks.  As we drove through, I told Len I would never dream of having my house in that location!  We passed many wild horses and several little shanties on the side of the road.  These stands looked like they might hold produce but they were actually Navajo Indians selling their jewelry and pottery. We stopped at one place just to check it out.  There was nothing we had to have so we continued on.
We followed my parents and the kids who were all riding in the RV over some very steep, very narrow twists and turns. Finally we pulled into Mather Campground and "Trailer Village" at about 2:30 in the afternoon.  Our tent site is pretty nice. It sits back among some ponderosa pines and cotton woods and is very shady. Once we had set up camp both Len and I went to use the restrooms (the kids were at the RV). I came out first to the amazing site of two bull elk within twenty feet of me!  I called to Len and the best hushed, loud voice I could and just watched.  We were so close to them that I didn't want to move to go get the camera.  Luckily I had my cell phone and was able to take a picture. How would have predicted being greeted by not one but two bull elk within 30 minutes of being here!

Mather's Point, South Rim

Sunset at the Grand Canyon

Back at the RV we fooled around trying to get internet service and making a plan of action.  We took a drive to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center and picked up the Junior Ranger workbooks for the boys.  From there we found a cafe where we had a quick bite to eat.  We each have been pretty good about letting the others know what we really wanted to do this week.  One thing my mom wanted to do was see the sunset on the Grand Canyon. So, after dinner we went to Mather's Point to watch the sun go down.  We were not the only ones with this intention.  Each of the viewing sites were pretty  crowded but we managed to get several good viewing sites.  Everywhere we looked was a completely different picture.  The sun was reflecting off the different colored rocks creating very dramatic photos.  Out of the 35 photos we took tonight it was difficult to choose only a few. Tomorrow we will take advantage of the shuttle system and venture out to some of the sites that are only accessible by bus.  We'll do some easy hikes in the morning and the afternoon.