Southwestern RV Trip – Days 50-51, Grand Canyon

A big part of our Sedona area stay was to have first timer Cindy get to experience what the area has to offer and it began with her oh-wows at the red rocks driving up to Sedona and continued with more oh-wows at Meteor Crater so today we took her to the Grand Canyon National Park for the ultimate oh-wow - the park is celebrating it's 100th birthday.  After a 2½ hour drive, we began at the Visitors Center where we watched the movie then went out to Mather Point overlook.

While not really crowded, there were plenty of folks at the canyon and many of the young working age, which surprised me until I noticed that few were speaking English.  While we may take them for granted, people come from all over the planet to visit our national parks.

Like many of the western national parks, Grand Canyon contains a nice lodge with an upscale restaurant.  Built by the railroad as a destination resort, the El Tovar Hotel has 78 rooms/suites, cost $250,000 to build and was opened in 1905 before the Grand Canyon was protected by the federal government and it sits 20 feet from the canyon rim.

We decided that, in addition to seeing the canyon, Cindy should also dine at El Tovar and we had no problem getting a table but we could not get one by a window.

Bev ordered the Hot Pastrami - Swiss Cheese, Red Onion Jalapeño Confit, Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard, on Locally Produced Marble Rye $13.40. No pic.

Cindy had the 12-Grain Santa Fe Sandwich - Roasted Green Chile Hummus, Grilled Portobello Mushroom, Fresh Avocado, Grilled Red Onion, Tomato, Cucumber, Roasted Red Bell Peppers, Locally Produced 12-Grain Bread $13.20

Pat had the Traditional Navajo Taco - Choice of Seasoned Arizona Grown Ground Beef with Pinto & Black Beans or Vegetarian Chili, Fresh Hand-made Fry Bread, Shredded Cheddar, Red Onion, Fresh Tomato, Chopped Lettuce, House-made Guacamole, Sour Cream, Fresh Salsa $12.45

And I had the Shaved Prime Rib Melt - Shaved Arizona Grown Prime Rib, Roasted Red Peppers, Bleu Cheese Spread, Provolone, Arugula, Grilled Locally Produced Sourdough Bread $15.95

Everyone enjoyed their meals but Bev, who ended up with a room temperature (vs. hot) sandwich that was not particularly tasty.  Pat and I especially enjoyed ours and I believe when eating here, I paid $9 for my food and $7 for where I ate it, which was well worth it..

These shots are for the canyon rim beside the El Tovar.

After lunch, the girls went next door.

So for this day, we got oh-wows from Cindy for the park, for the canyon, and for the dining experience.

By Friday, with three days of activity and Bev still not totally well, she decided to hang around the coach and just rest and I decided to cook supper.  We had baked potato, baked chicken breast, and baked salmon for Cindy and me.

You can tell many folks think spring is here as 31 RV's checked out of the resort on 3/1 and the place is much emptier than when we arrived.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

2/28 – 3/1/19 event date