MAY 8, 17 .. THE GRAND CANYON, PART 3 OF 3 PARTS

Welcome back to my 3 Part series of Posts showing Patti and my two visits to the Grand Canyon.

Here we go with Part 3 of 3 Parts.

Assumptions are so dangerous!

BUT I HAVE TO ASSUME THAT .. 

You have read both Parts 1 and 2 that I published about the GRAND CANYON (the canyon) in which I show the Desert View Watchtower and views of the South Rim going West to the Visitors Center Complex.

You are now about to see what I meant when I said that the Visitor's Center Complex is sort of a mish-mash of busyness.

No it is not a bad area. However it is crowded with visitors and parking lots and food courts and hotels and shops and you-name-it. 

Well, in the final-analysis all was fine! 

Patti and I were tired and we were hungry when we finally got to the Visitor Center Complex and we were ready to just be tourists and to sit-down and take-a-break and relax and eat. 

By-The-Way (BTW as 'Zilla and I like to say) this Part 3 will be the shortest Post of the 3 Parts because, by the time Patti and I got to the Visitor's Center Complex on Tuesday afternoon April the 4th we were bushed, dog-tired, and were facing a 1-1/2 to 2-hour drive back to Flagstaff.

Translation : I did not take too many photos.

Hello Grand Canyon Visitor Center Complex.

All day Tuesday April the 4th, as Patti and I slowly worked our way West from The Desert View Watchtower to the Visitor Center Complex, we never saw any crowds of visitors.

Make no mistake! All of them are truly seeing beautiful views of the canyon. But when you get away from this area, it is more peaceful and fewer visitors are at your elbow.

Why? Because a lot of visitors are on tours that only show them the canyon views from the Visitor Center Complex. They never get to see the views you have just seen taken East of the Visitor's Center.

Nor do you see massive parking lots full of automobiles when you leave the Visitor Center area.

It is what it is! 

Probably the vast majority of foreign visitors (who are on bus tours) only get to see a very limited view of the canyon close to the Visitor Center. U.S. visitors tend to have driven their own vehicles into the park thus have far more freedom to explore the area East of the Visitor Center.

Here is a real example of a nice blend of tourism and beauty all wrapped together into one edifice.

THE HOPI HOUSE

Below is a closer look at the above two beautiful stone monuments.

Let's all go inside of the HOPIHOUSE and have a little look-see at the beautiful, yet highly commercial venue .

"Patti?" .. "Yes Cap." .. "Are you tired? Are you hungry?  Would you like to sit down and relax and enjoy a meal together My Dear One?" .. "Yes!" 

THE MASWIK LODGE

Here we go inside the Maswik Lodge.

Here we go into the Food Court.

Our modest meal, a salad and chips / dip, was very reasonably priced (about U.S. $10) and fresh and excellent. We really enjoyed our meal.

As the two of us were driving around, there were absolutely no parking places open. We were on our way out of the Visitor's Center area and were heading back to Flagstaff, when suddenly I spied a handicapped parking place right beside the Maswik Lodge and jumped at it.

Do you all see Black Beauty on the left below?

Photos of the side of the Maswik Lodge. The food court is behind the glass window wall.

The time has come the Walrus said for us to drive back to Flagstaff.

The below photos were snapped on April the 6th as we were heading East on Arizona highway 64 towards Cameron Arizona.

Gorgeous!

The time has come the Walrus said to sign off and call this 3 Part Series of Posts a done-deal.

Without Patti's support and encouragement I don't think I could have gotten through this project.

So we two will now sign-off.

Smiling .. Patti and Cap