Day 11

Day 11

(blogged by both Stacey and Ben)

***We have not blogged recently due to Internet access issues. Hopefully, we are up and running now.  Just trying to catch up our last 3 days.

Day 11 

Today we traveled from the Lake Powell area in Page, AZ to The Grand Canyon.  The Grand Canyon, being one of the 7 Wonders of the World, was a site to behold.  Massive isn’t quite big enough to adequately describe this vast canyon.   During our bus travels we could definitely tell we were in the desert…very dry and brown.  However, we did have segments of more greenery.  While on the bus and during lunch today we discussed the variety of landforms and habitats that we have been seeing so far on this bus trip for the past 11 days….mountains, grasslands or prairies, valleys, canyons, buttes, mesas, cliffs, lakes, rivers, hot springs, geysers, hoodoos and desserts. The climates we have been exposed to have varied greatly too…snow, hail, rain, hot, cold and dry.  We have been at some significant high altitudes throughout this journey with our ears popping quite frequently. 

Today as we arrived at the Grand Canyon.  It was a site to see.  Although it was breathtaking, we could tell we were getting tired from 11 days of nonstop traveling and sightseeing.  Here are a few things we have learned about the Grand Canyon. First of all it is located in Arizona and has two rims.  There is a North Rim and a South Rim.  We were at the South Rim.   From North to South, the canyon reaches over 250 miles in length.  The Grand Canyon is 6000 feet deep or a little over 1 mile deep.  The Grand Canyon is made up of layers upon layers of rock.  The oldest rock in the canyon is called “schist” and is found on the canyon floor.  It is over 2 billion years old.  Limestone is the youngest rock in the canyon.  It is found on the upper rim and is about 230 million years old.  The Colorado River formed the canyon through a process called erosion.  This process of erosion is still continuing to this day.  The Colorado River flows from Colorado to the Gulf of California.  That is about 1,400 miles. 

The hotel we stayed out was right along the southern rim of the canyon.  It was located inside the national park.  It was called The Maswik Lodge.  While many people enjoy staying inside the park, I (Ben) did not find it enjoyable.  There are a few reasons why I did not care for this lodge. 

1.      They did not have air conditioning only two fans.  I wanted to leave the door open to allow for more ventilation, but mom was afraid that a squirrel might venture into our room.  Squirrels in this area are NOT afraid of people.  Although, they weren’t supposed to feed the wild animals, I witnessed several people hand feeding these squirrels. 

2.      They did not have Internet access.  Being the teenage kid I am, who takes his computer everywhere, I found this very inconvenient. 

 

      We did enjoy our family time together taking in all the sites at The Grand Canyon.  In the evening we spent some extra time in the AIR CONDITIONED food court.  We had a nice meal and enjoyed playing some cards.  Tomorrow I am looking forward to going on a helicopter ride over The Grand Canyon!