Day 8 – March 20, 2016
Our day started off with a filling scrumptious breakfast at Denny’s. Really it was. Brandon was our waiter and we found out later that he was just lending a hand since he was actually management. He was a lovely young man, kind, informative and let us take our time eating and working on our computers. I have been very bothered by the altitude here in Flagstaff AZ, and Brandon took a considerable amount of his time explaining how he dealt with it when he first moved here from the valley (which is everything south of here) and how his recently arrived girlfriend is also now struggling with it. It majorly comforted me since they two are considerably younger than us and have the same symptoms of altitude adjustment.
He cannot know how much he helped me and relieved my stress over feeling so weird. Han was happy too because I have a tendency to worry too much about health issues, but in my defense I am much more sensitive to my surroundings than most other people. Han can confirm this. Thank you Brandon! Denny’s Restaurant is super duper lucky to employ you. He changed my attitude about altitude. …. yeah, I know, dorky…
There are several approaches to the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. The North Rim takes much longer.
The drive to the Grand Canyon on route 89 was winding, beautiful, plenty of pull over areas, scenic and beautiful. People actually live out there and I honestly cannot imagine doing so. We arrived and handed the attendant Han’s Lifetime Park Pass, Han’s license and $10, which she promptly handed all items back and said, “no charge, would you like some maps?” The normal admission rate is $30, so we felt like we received a little gift.The beginning of the day could not have been more perfect. Sunny, clear, slight breeze and we found a parking space.It was incredibly crowded so I started asking people walking around if they were leaving, got lucky and scored a great spot.We parked very close to the south rim and we immediately started exploring and taking photos like any other tourist. I get kinda freaked out by looking down great heights, even though I have actually skydived before, but I guess I was getting a little too mesmerized by the view and Han asked me to step away from the edge. It is a bit intoxicating and can pull you in before you realize it. Hence, I always suggest a buddy system when visiting the canyon.
We enjoyed a session of question/answer time with a crowd of tourist and a forest ranger, which he replied to a question that there are five to six death of which two to three suicides a year at the canyon and most accidents are by males 18 years to 30. We can totally relate to those statistics because while living on Fernandina Island, 90% of drownings were young males. You can draw your on conclusions as to why. I witnessed teenagers sitting dangling their feet over the edge with sheer drops below, small children walking along the rock wall with the possibility of certain death, people leaning too far out to take selfies and even people climbing in trees too close to the edge. I was trying to explain to Han what this did to my insides and as we were walking along,
I saw a woman with a look on her face that spoke to how I was feeling. I stopped to introduce myself to “Dana” who was there with her husband and two teenage children. (boy and girl) As we chatted we realized we both had been experiencing the same kind of reaction and the only way to explain it is “your uterus feels like it is pulling up and contracting, which makes your stomach hurt.”
We laughed till we both had tears in our eyes over our mutual “mommy feelings” and it made us happy we were not alone. I seriously wish more of the mothers visiting had the feeling and paid closer attention to their offspring. Some were completely oblivious. It started getting a little breezy, so we began making our way back to the car, but there was still the attraction of the Canyon Village. So we went into that direction – 2 miles it said on the sign where we started. Well at the follow up sign it said 0.9 miles and by now we were getting tired and colder. Following the crowd going to the Park Headquarters we ended up another 1/2 mile out of range and with lacking signage we got lost in our effort to get back.
Suggestion: Retrace your footsteps back to your car or you may find yourself in a possible predicament. We did not apply this until later after we walked and walked with most of it being uphill, thinking our car was close by. NOTHING is close by in the canyon as it is huge and you are far, far away before you even realize it.So Han is walking and I am trudging along and getting more winded by the second due to altitude and generally being tired. Honestly I felt like crying and I actually did when this car pulled up thinking they were offering help, but they were wanting directions instead. I asked them, through my tears, if they could give us a ride to the next parking lot and they just drove off.
I did not wish them happy thoughts after that.Han said he would go ahead and get the car and come back to pick me up. I feel kinda bad that I did not continue with him because the car was right around the corner, a quarter mile out, but I had had all I could take at that point. I have a great guy and this is one of the many reasons I love him. On the way out of the canyon, we still got turned around because of confusing signage, but finally found our way. You would think they would have some exit signs up, but noooooooo. Very frustrating to say the least. However, I am glad we were detained for a bit because it enabled us to witness and take pics on two separate occasions, two herds of Elk. It was very exciting to see them grazing so close to the road and within feet of visitors.
We drove back along 64 and I-40, ate some dinner, watched some TV and passed out from the day, but not before we discussed activities for the next day and decided we both needed that OFF day to catch up and simply just “be.” Yeah, we need to do some laundry too.
Travel tip: once a week, have a nothing kind of day, nowhere to be except a few errands or laundry, clean up the car, otherwise it is burn out time no matter how much fun you’re having. Having fun is hard work.
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