Grand Canyon, South Rim

Thursday: (04/11) We were up early and enjoyed our breakfast of more chorizo omelet with some avocado and some chocolate muffins. We prepared to roll and were on the highway by 8:10. It wasn't far into Flagstaff so we didn't hookup the Jeep. Lou drove it. She proceeded to a laundromat we spotted the other day and I topped at Target. I needed a replacement foot for my walking sticks, a hard case for my sunglasses and an adapter to play our MP3 player through the cassette player in the RV. The one we had gave up. They had none of the items needed. I then met Lou at the laundromat and took the Jeep to Walmart looking for the same. Found the cassette adapter  We finished up the laundry then we drove downtown. I found a parking space a block from the train station which is right downtown. No time limit, no threat of being towed. How lucky! We stopped in at three of the outdoor supply stores downtown. I found my walking stick foot at one but none had the sunglasses case I was looking for. We did get a recommendation for an optometrist a couple of blocks away so I went there. Flagstaff Eye Care gave me a nice hard sided clam shell case big enough for my large sunglasses, for free. Now that is extra special care. If you need glasses I would recommend them! With most of our supply mission accomplished we stopped in at the Bigfoot BBQ in the basement of the old Penny's Department Store downtown for lunch. We had their four boner special. Four big Saint Louis ribs with two sides for $8 on Thursday. Very good. We then picked up some final things at Fry's Market. I had filled three of our filtered water bottles at Walmart earlier and there was one remaining to be filled which I filled at Fry's when we were there. With all our tasks completed we were onto I40 to Williams then onto Highway 64 to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. 


We didn't have reservations until tomorrow at the Trailer Village so we stopped in at Mather Campground and go a space for the night. We settled in and watched our four elk neighbors as the grazed and napped right in our campsite. 


We finally drove over to the Bright Angel Lodge and I checked in for my Saturday night stay at Phantom Ranch down in the bottom of the canyon. 


We also walked part of the rim trail.


And watched the sunset there.


A rare photo of me at the rim.

When we got back to camp at 7:30 we had roast chicken with garlic cheese mashed potatoes and asparagus for dinner. We wanted tea with dinner so Lou brewed up some with the gallon of water we got at Fry;s from a Glacier vending machine. It tasted strongly of chlorine  It's the first bad bottle of water we've ever gotten. It was beyond just it's service needs and most likely a mis-plumbed machine. I have to pity the poor lady ahead of me hefting three six gallon bottles around refilling them with this bad water. Fortunately we only filled the one there.
(GPS: 36.04669, -112.11936)

Friday: (04/12) Chorizo omelet with corn bread for breakfast. We pulled the RV out of Mather CG about 0930 and parked it by the market. We couldn't check in to the Trailer Village until after noon. We checked out the market then had a snack before we caught the Orange Shuttle East along the rim and stopped at several lookout points. When we returned about 2pm we checked in at the Trailer Village. Lou will have full hookups while I'm off on my hike down to Phantom Ranch. We relaxed at camp until near 4pm. We then went to the General Store where I bought a whistle. We then had dinner there of clam chowder. Then we were off to the Geology Museum at Yavapai Point. The best view of the canyon is found there. Final preparation for the hike accomplished in the evening.