Grand Canyon, Friday-Sunday

We left Flagstaff and after fuelling up at Fry's, we headed up the highway to the Grand Canyon. A pretty drive with all of the fall colours. Short drive today, just under 2 hours. Before we left I called Dish TV and gave them our new address at the Grand Canyon Trailer Village so we should receive proper programming.

We arrived at 11:30 am and had to wait until noon to check in. After settling in to our spot, Ray and I headed into the Marketplace, a short distance down the road to have lunch and get the "lay of the land". We ate at the Yavapai Lodge in the dining room. I think we should have gone to the pub side with better food. lol They were supposed to have good wifi there, but they didn't.

After lunch we sat outside for a couple of hours enjoying the sunshine.

The water tap at the site across from us drips and is a constant spot for all different kinds of birds visiting it.

Western Bluebirds

Ray managed to get some sunset shots from our campsite.

Saturday morning, Ray was out the door early to catch the sunrise at the Watchtower at the other end of the park. It's about a 45 minute drive out there. He left too late and settled for some lookouts along the South Rim drive.  Not too happy with this batch of pictures, but kept these few.

Here are the Mather"s Point pictures.

Ray came back to camp and after a rest, we both went back out to the Watchtower. Great views. Of course the colours are not near as vibrant as his sunrise shots you will see in a later post. lol

Mary Colter's Buildings at Grand Canyon

Mary Colter was the chief architect and decorator for the Fred Harvey Company from 1902 to 1948. Her creative free-form buildings at Grand Canyon took direct inspiration from the landscape and served as part of the basis of the developing artistic aesthetic for appropriate development in areas that became national parks. To protect Mary Colter's work, four of her buildings at Grand Canyon (Hopi House, Lookout Studio, Hermit's Rest, and Desert View Watchtower) were declared National Historic Landmarks in 1987.

We went inside the Watchtower. Wow what great artwork and views.

There are three flights of stairs up to the top.

You could see the San Francisco Peaks where we went up to the Snow Bowl in Flagstaff.

On the way back we stopped at various viewpoints. Some Ray saw earlier in the morning and some were new to him as well.

Lipan Point

We actually saw some rafters in the river. Apparently only so many can go every year and you must book a year in advance if you hope to be able to do this trip, according to one of our bus drivers.

Moran Point

Grandview Point

Saw this "duck" rock at another roadside viewpoint.

We came back and walked Freya then headed out to the Maswik Lodge so I could get cell service to call Dish TV. We still are not getting very many channels even though I changed our location with them before leaving Flagstaff. At the lodge they have a Pizza Pub.

After speaking with Dish TV to make sure our new zipcode was loaded correctly ...we came back to camp and of course that did not work!!!!!

The rest of the afternoon we sat outside enjoying more of the sunshine. It's cool out but warm in the sun.

Kristi and Jason entertained 3 other couples at our house this weekend. Great that the house is being used as we had hoped. Kristi cooked a wonderful ham dinner.

Sunday was a rest day. Ray was pretty sore from his excursion yesterday, so did not do too much other than walk the dog. I however, headed back towards the Maswik Lodge for cell service to call Dish TV again. After spending an hour on the phone going through everything hopefully it's fixed. I also demanded a credit for the programming I have not received for the last three weeks, which they did.

Saw a bunch of elk right by the lodge munching away. Pretty cool. Took the picture with my cell phone so it's not the best.

Drove back to camp tried out the system ... still nothing. A problem for another day. Enjoyed a beverage with Ray outside enjoying the sun.