Finding decent food at a tourist place is generally possible if you are willing to pay the price. Here at Tusayan, if the reviews from Trip Advisor are to be trusted, high prices and quality are not necessarily the same. Sure there is always some sort of Grand Hotel " where you can really get a good meal", but I decided I was not about to blow $60 plus dollars. Still, it has been a long day, I was tired and needed a quick meal so in the end i went to Wendys. At least with a place like this you know what you are going to get, you know what you are going to pay, and you get a decent chicken sandwich. After that I walked to my hotel, which was just a few hundred yards away, the high desert air crisp and clean clearing my nostrils of the fried chicken fumes.
The Tour
Next day I decided to start by watching the Imax movie at the National Geographic Tourist Trap (I mean, Center). This being the middle of the week there were not too many people around so the gigantic theater was mostly empty.
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| Touring the Rim in the Pink Jeep |
While at the Center I had asked about the Pink Jeep tours. This company operates fleets of jeeps at several locations, and their trade mark are their neon pink jeeps. a 3 hour tour costs $68, not too bad. The thing to keep in mind is that they do not take you anywhere you cannot go on your own. You see those Jeeps and you think of Jurassic Park, you think you are going to go on dirt roads and see things no one will see unless they pay $68. What they do is take you along the rim, stopping at the different view points, while the guide provides you with information about what you are seeing, etc. For what it is, it is a great deal. For me, being on a motorcycle, going to all these places would require a constant stop and go, getting in and out of my helmet, gloves, etc. This way you sit on a modified Jeep Wrangler are just enjoy the ride. I shared the ride with two very nice couples from Alabama and our guide Tom was very nice and made the whole experiencemore enjoyable.
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| The great explorer takes off his hat, pausing for a photo |
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| Here i am holding on the edge, nothing but 1 sheer 1,000 foot drop below me :-) |
As for the views, well, they are simply magnificent. This is a place you really have to see for yourself. no words, movies, photos, can convey the feeling of awe you get from being here, witness a moment in eternity.
We got back by 2 pm, and I went to the local Mexican place, one of two in town. I must mention that Tusayan is about a mile long and designed exclusively to serve the park tourists. There is no town, no homes,, nothing. You get a main road lined with restaurants and hotels, motels, gas stations. It is all very pretty and proper, and, I suppose, it serves the purpose for which was created. An efficient system of shuttles run constantly, allowing you to leave your car behind and go to the Rim, then hop on and off from view point to view point. This greatly reduces traffic in the park and makes it easier to get around. And it is free with your park entry fee, which, by the way, costs $12 for a motorcycle, $24 for a car.
In the evening I rode the bike into the park, which is about 6 miles away. You have to go pretty slow, since elk seem to like this particular area and you do see them frequently crossing the road with the calm demeanor of a local who knows well what they are doing. I went to the Rim and sat there watching the sun setting and the Canyon turn a million shades of red. You just sit there and let your eyes and soul take it all in and you think that if you are going to worship the Creator, this is the place to do it, this is a proper cathedral and temple, here your soul becomes acutely aware that there is a scale in the universe, and a proper place for for everything and everyone, here you see what the eons of time, like a river, can do to the land, and for a moment you realize that while you are nothing but a breath of life in the great scheme of things, you too are part of this Great River, flowing with it into eternity.
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