Grand Canyon (Tusayan), Arizona

On our way to the Grand Canyon National Park, we stopped for the night in Page, Arizona. We had a visitor in the morning. She showed up right on our doorstep.

An early morning visitor.

I opened the door to see if she would run away and she actually tried to come into our RV. I knew right then that she had to be someones cat from another RV. Tom implied that I wanted to bring her home but I didn't and even if I did, I couldn't just take her knowing she probably belonged to someone in the campground. I was just about to go to the office to see if someone reported losing their cat when Tom saw her go into the RV across the row from us. She was a cutie though.

Once we made it to the Grand Canyon, we stayed at the Grand Canyon Camper Village in Tusayan, Arizona which is only about a mile south of the south entrance of the park.

We were not impressed with this campground. It took us about four attempts before we could actually find a site that we could fit into. The guy in the office kept giving us sites that we too short, too close to someone else, too uneven so we couldn't level, etc, etc. We were like the Goldilocks of camping that day.

When we finally found a site that worked, there wasn't any cable, no pool and no water pressure to speak of. Oh, and the washers and dryers in the laundry smelled gross. I wasn't washing my clothes there. Yuck.

So, we weren't off to a very good start but we settled in and drove around the national park for a bit. Having just visited two other national parks, we were a little disappointed with the Grand Canyon park. The signage was lacking and it just felt very commercialized compared to the Arches and Bryce Canyon.

I don't know, maybe we were just tired from seeing so many canyons and rocks over the last 10-day period. It was beautiful and completely surreal, I just think in the context of our trip, it wasn't as awe inspiring as it should have been.

A view into the Grand Canyon.

Another hazy day at the canyon.

I know I sound like Wendy Whiner. Sorry. I think sometimes on a trip like this when you visit so many places in a row, one after another, you begin to take it for granted in a way. But at the same time, when you visit so many places you also have a unique perspective to compare and contrast what works and what doesn't. Plus you get tired - especially about the stuff that just isn't as good as it could be.

Let me focus on the good things about the Grand Canyon. There is a Junior Ranger program that the kids really like. It isn't just at the Grand Canyon, I think all of the National Parks have it. They give the kids a booklet with activities to learn about the park's geology, wildlife, history, etc. and they also have to attend a talk presented by a park Ranger then they earn they're Junior Ranger badge.

Kait and Andrew also earned one at Bryce Canyon. They seem to enjoy it and they actually learn some stuff too. Just be warned that the Rangers take this plastic badge very seriously and won't swear the kids in as an official Junior Ranger until every "i" is dotted and every "t" is crossed.

Kait and Andrew sworn in as Grand Canyon Junior Rangers.

We also walked over to the Watchtower toward the east entrance of the park. A guy was playing Native American drums on one of the cliffs and the view was spectacular from here.

 Tom and the kids at the Watchtower.

With Smokey the Bear at the Grand Canyon.