In no particular order - here are some pics from our trip:
At the Grand Canyon
We did not even know it was the Canyon's 100th anniversary. That is Damian being Damian.
Obligatory selfie, I refused to stand at the edge, yeah wuss I know, but I will not be a stat on dumb ways to die, js.
Where we started our day at the canyon. No idea who the two guys are, but they never moved so they made it into my pic.
One of the many views of the canyon
We stayed in a really old 50's themed air-stream during our visit. It was fun and the sunsets were awesome, but I am cool with not staying in one of these sardine cans again. Not the best for larger people.
One of the aforementioned sunsets.
My take on the Grand Canyon:
The good
First of all, it had some of the most amazing views I have ever seen. Definitely breathtaking and it made me feel small in the big scheme of things. Some of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever witnesses. We did the southern rim so I cannot say what the northern side had to offer but I have heard the views on the south side are better, however I have no first hand knowledge of this. I imagine the views are spectacular at any point where one can over look the bottom or the edge. The nighttime sky was full of so many stars you could sit outside for hours and just gaze. If you like hiking this has got to be one of the best places on Earth to explore. We hiked quite a bit and loved the free buses that took you to different areas along a set route. They come often so you are never waiting very long. Some were overly crowded, but with the short wait it wasn't that big of a deal.
The bad and the ugly:
We did not hike down or take donkeys to the bottom. The donkeys had a weight limit and even though there were a couple places that had larger mules that we probably could have rode we decided against it due to the very high prices. I do not remember how much it would have been, but it was ore than we were willing to pay. If we had more time there we would have probably hiked down and camped at the bottom. It is on my future things to do list. The worst part of visiting the Grand Canyon was the other tourists and some of the customer service reps in the local shops. One of the bus drivers was pretty rude to someone that spoke broken English. She asked if the bus was going to a certain point and he told her to read the sign on the front of the bus. His exact words after she asked were: "What does it say on the front of the bus?" She did not even get on even though I think it was the bus she needed. I would have helped her if I had the opportunity but she left too quickly and I was a few seats back.
The one or two times that a bus was very crowded (we rode the buses probably around a dozen times overall) there were people that sat on an aisle seat and did not move to allow someone else to sit down. Even if someone asked them to move. This happened a few times and not sure why, it was not a language barrier, from what I could tell, and even then it was obvious that people wanted to sit instead of stand. The rides were not long thank god, but they could be a little bumpy making it difficult to stand.
The prices - One expects high prices at big tourist areas, but many things were just over the top and felt like price gouging.
Overall:
We loved it and plan to visit again. We loved the place and did not care for many of the rude people, but there were nice people too. We meet a few others and made small talk and shared travelling stories, it was a lot of fun.
Basic Info:
The Grand Canyon is one of those places that you can visit for one day or for a week and still enjoy it either way. They even have a half day route. We only did one day at the actual Park and spent the other day exploring the surrounding desert where we stayed in the air-stream. It was about a 30 to 45 minute drive away from the park, but the prices were about half the amount and the privacy was wonderful.
It was one of the more expensive parks to visit at $35 a vehicle. Fortunately I have the access pass so national parks are free for us, but it is one thing to take into account.
Just a taste for now, but I wanted to start posting again about the trip.