Thursday, September 22, 2011

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is truly grand.  It's overwhelming in its scope.  When I first saw it, I felt a little disappointed and I think that was because it's impossible to take it all in.


 There's no way to see it all at once.  It's almost alien in its lack of human scale. 


Not that there is any lack of humanity.  It's a pretty crowded place - and this is almost the off-season.


We walked about 4 km along the rim trail.  Everywhere we looked were  views.


This house fascinated me.  It was the home and studio of photographer brothers.  Looks like pretty nice digs, doesn't it?

 Now look very closely - just above the trees, right of center.  This house is perched right on the edge of the canyon.  Wouldn't it be great to have your studio here?  With all that color and grandeur around you all the time?


Looking down from a lookout point, we could see the hiking trails which snake everywhere along the canyon floor.  Of course, you have to get down there - and back up!  You   can follow  the switchbacks on the side of the canyon.  They look kind of like terraces but they are a constant zig-zag of trail.  It takes more than one day to hike down and up again.


One more look at this magnificent place and we have to move on.


A complete change of location brings us to Holbrook, Arizona.  I leave you with the Wigwam Motel which is listed on the Arizona Historical Register .  These are 15 cement tipis built in 1950.  You can still rent one for a night or two.  The vintage cars are  all part of the ambience.  All around the lot are old cars in varying stages of restoration and/or decrepitude. The best part is that this  motel is on Route 66 - and I walked across it, twice!


9 comments:

Joyful said...

Fabulous photos once again. I'm not 100% certain but I think Oprah and her friend Gayle stayed at the Wigwam Inn when they did their road trip.

Tami AKA My Kid's Mom said...

You are on my dream trip - I've wanted to go to the Grand Canyon for years.

Ginny Hartzler said...

What amazing pictures! My favorite are #2 and the cement teepees with the old cars. Does that place do a good business? That house is huge, is it the only one there? So isolated and lonely, I wonder how they can even drive out and back again!

Rudee said...

I love the gradation of colors of the Grand Canyon. Natures own ombre design. The motel is precious--and yes--I would love to have my studio in the house with the billion dollar view. Gorgeous.

Mimi said...

What a trip you're having.
Like the look of the tepees, though i don't know if I'd spend a night in one!

Angie said...

You know you are going to have such strong legs when you get back! That bird you were asking about was a 'twenty-eight' parakeet - The basic colour is green, and all four subspecies have the characteristic yellow ring around the hindneck; wings and tail are a mixture of green and blue. I will try & get a better pic next time.

Farm Girl said...

I have pictures of my kids when they were little in front of those Tipi's. They wanted so bad to spend the night in there and it was April and cold so they couldn't. My husband was so obsessed with the Grand Canyon. We ended up staying there longer than we planned because he just couldn't grasp the idea of how big it really is, I still want to ride the burros down to the bottom.

Unknown said...

We DO have a pic of the teepee's, lol. I wouldn't want to live there, because I'm thinking how often I go to the store for paint supplies!! Lovely pics, Stephanie! You're right, no way to process it all at once!

Lindy said...

Yes, those photographer brothers sure had the view, didn't they? Did you see the condors flying around, by chance?

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin