Then and Now: The Grand Canyon

My sister and I found a bunch of my parents’ old photos and we have been going through them. It is an eye-opener to see them so young.

Of course, we know that they must have been young at one time, but it is hard to picture them that way. I think we all tend to remember old people as they become after they are old, rather than what they were like in other periods of their lives, particularly before we knew them.

One of my projects will be to scan these old photos.

It has been fun to see that before they had kids, they traveled to some of the same places that I have taken my wife and Kai to recently. From time to time I may post some of the pictures they took during their travels.

This first one is from the trip they made to the Grand Canyon back in 1954, 60 years ago.

And this is a photo of me and Kai there last week.

Spring Break Vacation, Day 5 – More of The Grand Canyon

We stayed only one night at the Grand Canyon so we wanted to make the most of the morning before heading back to Vegas in the afternoon.

The western portion of the National Park is not accessible by private vehicles so we caught the shuttle bus and picked a couple of spots to get off and see the sights.

Pima Point was quite spectacular, but very windy. With the temperature only in the 40s, it was cold.

Kai got upset with the wind and he and my wife tried to shelter themselves behind this sign until the next bus came.

They were happy when we were able to warm up with hot apple cider and hot chocolate at the next stop, Hermit’s Nest.

After we took the shuttle back to its starting point, we got in our car and drove to the eastern part of the Park, stopping at a few spots along the way.

Here’s the view at Grandview Point:

And the one at Lipan Point:

At the eastern end of the Park is Desert View where they have an old watch tower.

We climbed to the top.

And had a great view out the window.

We had someone take one last photo of the three of us.

And then it was time to drive back to Vegas where we would catch our flight home the next day.

In Vegas, we saw one more hotel lobby, this one at the Bellagio where we went to have dinner. They have a spectacular exhibit featuring flowers and Chihuly glass sculptures.

It’s always a little sad when a vacation is coming to an end. But we feel good that it was all that we hoped it would be.

Spring Break Vacation, Day 4 – On to the Grand Canyon

After three days in Las Vegas, it we were ready to move on to the Grand Canyon. We picked up our rental car and began our road trip.

First stop was Hoover Dam, about a half hour outside of Vegas.

The Visitor Center had exhibits that explained how the dam was built and the electrical power that is generated there.

We then got back in the car and continued our journey.

All was fine except when Kai got car sick and we had to make a stop to recover. We continued on without Kai using the iPad the rest of the way.

It is breathtaking to see the Grand Canyon for the first time, and a feeling that cannot truly be captured through photos, though I did take many.

Kai seemed to enjoy seeing it, too, though I think it ranks below a new update to his Plants Vs. Zombies app in terms of thrills for him.

One thing that is interesting about the Canyon is that the colors change as the day goes on. For us, as the afternoon turned to dusk, I got some of my best shots of the day.

We stayed that night at the venerable El Tovar, the old hotel near the edge of the canyon. Rooms there cost more than the one at the luxurious hotel we stayed at in Vegas, though we barely had enough room for the three of us in the small, cramped space with very old furnishings.

But there was something about the old place, being so close to the spectacular view, the clean air with no cigarette smoke, that made it very special.

We were in a good spot.