26.04.2012 – 26.04.2012  9 °C

We got moving quickly this morning as Williams is just under an hour from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and our home for the next few nights! We weren’t surprised but still not stoked with the fact that the temp had significantly dropped overnight…. We went from about 19 deg when we went to bed and woke up to about 9 deg!! Brrr… (I was back in the swing of nice warm weather and really, I’m certainly a warm person not a cold one!)

By the time we had made it to the park the temp had maxed out at 9 deg.. Sky was overcast, wind was blowing and rain was coming down… miserable! Even with the canyon being covered in mist, and us shivering the first site of the canyon is pretty damn impressive! No Nat Geo movie or photograph will ever compare to my first site of the majestic canyon! Honestly, it is inspiring to see the huge cliffs and the jaggered and in some cases sheer cliff faces of the canyon..

The park is really well set out. You find yourself a parking spot and then jump on the free shuttle buses which zoom you around to the most scenic parts of the rim. We got off at the second stop and did a little walk in the wind and rain.. By the time we had finished our wander we were all pretty keen to stay in the bus! My gosh it is cold here today!

We caught the bus until we got to the last stop (and one of the cafes) and dropped in for a cup of hot chocolate! Gosh it went down well! No kidding, my outfit this morning was a long sleeved shirt, thermal shirt, polar fleece vest and rain jacket and I was freezing!!! (I’d stupidly left my good jumper back in the car thinking that walking around I would be hot if I was wearing it…)

It was still raining when we finished off our cocoa so we decided to catch the bus back to the village and see if we could check in to our motel. Checking in wasn’t a problem but the weather still was, so we thought we’d stay in the warmth of our hotel room for a bit to thaw out and to have a bite to eat. The sun started to peak thru after lunch so we again braved the cold to go and see more of the canyon.

The sun really improved the colours of the canyon, so we spent some time wandering along the edge snapping photos (the clouds were casting very interesting shadows over the canyon). Unfortunately after walking for only 30 mins the rain and window returned so we abandoned our walking tour and went and found a warm spot in one of the cocktail lounges and spent the arvo working out our arm muscles rather than our legs!

Dinner was a sparse affair (as we had consumed the best bickie, cheese and pickle combo at the bar) before we retired for a well deserved sleep.

Song of the Day– [Choose your favourite artist], Amazing Grace