Camp Verde to Grand Canyon

May 29, Sunday 

Have to say, last night’s buffet at the Casino was extraordinary!  Kim was so happy - it was Beef Rib night. The carvery lady (bless her) seriously cut a slab at least 1 inch thick, Kim opted to have his “slice” put on the grill but I had mine medium rare, as it came off the cow!  She guessed correctly, as it turned out, that I wouldn’t be back for seconds, but I sure did justice to the firsts!  We timed it perfectly as behind us were a bus load of Asians.  For the record, we didn’t just have meat… really good mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, salad etc. and manged to fit in dessert as well, topped with icecream.  Happy and very stretched tummies….

So this morning we get organised early and are on the road by about 9am.  We first follow the I17 north to Flagstaff then take 180, the scenic route, before branching back onto the 89 to drive to Tusayon where we have booked for a couple of nights at the Grand Canyon Camper Village.

We got pretty high (as in elevation) getting here, as far as 9,000 feet above sea level and we had an 8% grade to climb back down again but the scenery was beautiful.

Snow on the mountain tops - in Arizona?

Trees, Mountains, Blue Sky

The weather was perfect, just a few white fluffies which kept the temp down so we did not have to deal with the 3 digit high temps they forecast.  It's probably somewhere around 22 C by the feel.

After checking in to the camp, we suss out the shuttle to the Grand Canyon, it picks us up right across the road from the camp.  Takes only about 15 minutes to get to the Visitors Centre, where we catch a blue bus to the Village.  Once again we are astounded at our first glimpse of this natural wonder, it is absolutely breath taking!!

It was interesting seeing the Bright Angel Lodge again, we stayed here on our bike trip back in 2006, it looked exactly the same!  We are still surprised that there are areas in these built up areas where there is no impediment to falling over the edge, no railing or walls. We did see a posted sign showing a missing person so I guess they lose one every now and again.  OSH would have a fit!

We get back to camp about 4ish and make friends with our neighbours, he a police officer and she an ex police officer and their kids and uncle plus Diesel the dog, all staying on a 40 foot Winnebago. They were really interesting people and we find out they are carrying on with a similar route to us, so you never know, we may see them again. Perhaps in Vegas.

No phone coverage here and WIFI is limited.  No TV here either so we start to watch a movie but don’t make to the end.  Busy day!