The World's Biggest Hole in the Ground

Having been to the Grand Canyon (south rim) several times now, I really have a feeling of "been there, done that." However, it's definitely something that's worth seeing once, and I wanted my daughter to experience it. Sure, it's beautiful, but what really gets me is the challenge to ones sense of scale. It's just so big!

It was cloudy the day we were there, so the light was a bit flat and not the best for photography. We drove around and stopped at quite a few of the viewpoints.

We also stopped at an archeological site and had a quick look in the museum. It just so happened that we were just in time for a ranger-led activity. There were tons of people around, but surprisingly only one other couple participated. The ranger talked about the animal figurines made from willow bark that have been found in nearly inaccessible caves in the canyon. While they look like toys at first glance, their locations suggest that they were ceremonial. The ranger showed us how to make the figurines using giant twist ties. I teased her a little about the "traditional" materials, but they were apparently donated by a sponsor, and who has time to gather and soak willow bark these days anyhow?

The sun finally peaked through as we were getting ready to go, but by this point we were too hungry to take advantage of it. Our visit to the Grand Canyon was short, but worth it as my daughter was duly impressed.