Rick Melick - Vacation to Grand Canyon, Part 1

Rick (Dad), Gilly and Eli visit the Grand Canyon in June, 2004.

6/19/2004 - We drove from Folsom, CA to Tusayan, AZ (12 hours).

6/20/2004 - We saw the IMAX movie of the canyon; visited the National Geographic museum; explored the town of Tusayan; looked around a Native American art flea market.

6/21/2004 - We spent the day in the park on a guided tour of the South rim of the Grand Canyon, seeing: Yavapai Point; Grand Canyon Village (Hopi House, Bright Angel Trail, endangered California Condor birds, El Tovar Hotel, Santa Fe Depot, Klob Studio); Grandview Point; the Tusayan Ruin; Desert View tower. We saw a lot of things through our guide's scope, like: Wotan's Throne, Vishnu Temple, Cardenas Butte, Venus Temple. We learned about plants in the area, such as desert sage. We learned about many of the ecological challenges to the canyon, like: fires, land reclamation initiatives and the humanization of animals. We learned about canyon safety and how others have been injured and died in the past. We learned how to identify the Raven bird (round tail). We learned about the native Humpback Chub fish, and the non-native Rainbow Trout. We learned about the Colorado River, dams and lakes. We learned why the canyon is so wide. We learned about some important people to the Grand Canyon, like John Wesley Powell and Mary Colter.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Family
• Vacation
• Grand
• Canyon
• 2004

[lovethoseanimals]

We went in 2004 too, in July. Very awesome place. We saw the California Condor, ravens, and fat friendly squirrels that would eat out of your hand lol. I would have liked to be on the river, and be looking up. It would be awesome to ride the helicopter too for the 3d perspective, but I hate flying. Thanks for sharing.