FioreBird's Travel Series: ARIZONA, Part I

Fiore’s Travel Series: ARIZONA, Part I
The Grand Canyon, Arizona Part I – United States

[The Grand Canyon, Arizona]

Everyone will probably recommend the Grand Canyon as a #1 place to travel, or at least anyone who has been there will. It’s one of the seven wonders of the world, and it again was much like the Oregon trip I recently talked about in my very first travel series post… click on the link to catch up:
https://steemit.com/travelpine/@fiorebird/fiorebird-s-travel-series-oregon.

When we arrived at the Canyon, the feeling felt similar to teleporting back to my childhood years... you know that feeling of overwhelmed awe and curiosity when seeing new places, or learning new things, and knowing nothing? I think that’s why I love to travel so much. I will never get sick of that feeling. There is so much to learn from travel, and so much to see. It only makes me wish we had more time (and money) in our lifespans to do so.

MUST See Souvenir Shops
OK, so before delving into the Canyon, there are two MUST see souvenir shops right prior to your arrival. The shops are located in Valle, AZ. The two shops are also affiliated with one another and with The Grand Canyon Inn. I didn’t know of the affiliation until posting this article to Steemit and utilizing Google Maps to refresh my memory of the names of the shops.

We visited both shops. One shop was definitely all about rocks and stones. It was called Rocks and More, it's a MUST see for any fellow rock hound lover. The other shop was called The Valle Travel Shop It was broader in regards to shopping. The Valle Travel Shop, included Native leather and beaded items, leather shoes, belts, purses, Route 66 and Elvis souvenirs, Grand Canyon souvenirs, shirts, hats, and typical gas station foods/drinks available for purchase. I would recommend checking both those shops out, as the two are different despite their affiliation. Here is a web link to The Grand Canyon Inn, which also has an informative tab on the website for each of those shops, https://grandcanyontravelstop.com/.

ALSO, you should know... since we were running terribly behind on time, it was REALLY helpful to have purchased our tickets to enter the Grand Canyon while visiting the Valle Gift Shop. This was a MUST for us. We may not have caught the last shuttle around the Canyon otherwise. Also, the cost was only $30 total - for three of us with one vehicle admission parking fee.

Here is more information on entrance fees: https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/fees.htm.

Parking
So with our vehicle admission ticket purchased from the Valle shop, we parked at the Imax Theatre for no additional cost. There were restrooms, parking maps and souvenirs in this place as well. From the Imax Theatre, we took a free shuttle to the main hub in the Canyon, The Grand Canyon Visitation Center (we didn't visit the center though as we were really pressed for time at the point of arrival).

We arrived at The Grand Canyon Visitation Center and transferred shuttles (also free with vehicle admission). The Canyon shuttles take you around various stops around each route in the Canyon. We caught the last bus going to the very West part of the canyon, Hermits Rest Route (Red)

Really the right way to do this trip would be to explore all of the different routes and to be ready to go early in the morning...

Here is a link to the Grand Canyon map and routes available, the shuttle buses and routes are also coded by color, https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/upload/sr-pocket-map.pdf.

[Source: Hermits Rest Route Map, National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/management/hermit.htm]

If you can do more than one day here, I would suggest it, since each route along the Canyon can take some time (and you could drive in there too, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re used to mountainous driving).

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Arriving at The Grand Canyon
…When my sisters and I exited the bus to see the first stop at the Grand Canyon, the View was none the less jaw-dropping… and the silence there, was immense. I've never heard such a silence in my life. There was a real light wind, but it felt so quiet there (like dead air or something). **Please note all photos and information in this series, is created by me, unless otherwise linked/noted.

[First Stop, Hermits Rest Route Transfer, The Grand Canyon]

[Hermits Rest Route, The Grand Canyon]

[Hermits Rest Route, The Grand Canyon]

[Hermits Rest Route, The Grand Canyon]

[Hermits Rest Route, Informational Sign, Grand Canyon]

[Hermits Rest Route, Informational Sign, Grand Canyon]

[Hermits Rest Route, Informational Sign, Grand Canyon]

[Hermits Rest Route, Informational Sign, Grand Canyon]

[Hermits Rest Route, The Grand Canyon]

The coolest scene on the Hermits Rest Route was one of the last stops, the Colorado River scene... One can see the Colorado river tucked in the Canyons. It's a great place to capture some stunning pictures, although the pictures are beautiful, they do NOT do the Grand Canyon any justice. I highly recommend experiencing it in person.

[Hermits Rest Route, Colorado River, Grand Canyon]

Some Tips
-Arrive and start the day early. We arrived at the Canyon later evening about 4:30 p.m. per not being used to driving in the mountainous region… Mapquest said 4 hours of driving from Queen Creek, AZ to the Grand Canyon…. ETA didn't go as planned. It took us from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to arrive. None the less, it took longer than expected… We stopped a lot to also enjoy the drive along the way.
-Go see those gift shops I talked about.
-It is cheaper to park and to do the free shuttle around the Canyon like we did. Buy your vehicle admission at the Valle Travel Shop and park the car at the Imax theatre.
-If you can afford it, check out the glass walkway on the South Rim, it looks pretty rad. It is pricey though, at $82.37. Here is a link for more information, https://grandcanyon.com/planning/west-planning/grand-canyon-skywalk-price-tickets/. Don't worry though, if you don't do the glass skywalk, the rest of the Canyon views are just as spectacular, and it's way more affordable that way.
-There is camping and lodging on site, but we stayed in a city forty-five minutes to an hour or so away from the canyon in a city called Flagstaff, AZ.
-One could also stay at the Grand Canyon Inn just outside of the Grand Canyon in Valle, AZ where those gift shops were located.
-And if your driving to the Canyon like we were, be prepared to deal with some speedy drivers along the mountain highways zooming by...
-Bring a jacket if you stay late at the Canyon as the temperature drops significantly at evening time.

The best part of this trip… is the view. Take lots of pictures, and enjoy it fully.

For further trip planning information, check out this link: https://grandcanyon.com/category/planning/.

...Until next time my friends...

TO CATCH UP ON THE SERIES ...

FioreBird's Travel Series
POST 1 - Oregon:
https://steemit.com/travelpine/@fiorebird/fiorebird-s-travel-series-oregon
POST 2 - Madeline Island, Part I:
https://steemit.com/travel/@fiorebird/fiorebird-s-travel-series-madeline-island
POST 3 - Madeline Island, Part II:
https://steemit.com/life/@fiorebird/fiorebird-s-travel-series-madeline-island-part-ii
POST 4 - Madeline Island, Part III:
https://steemit.com/life/@fiorebird/fiorebird-s-travel-series-madeline-island-part-iii

...On a really random side note... The first post of the FioreBird Travel Series won first place in the recent travelpine contest. Our @kpine Steemit neighbor hosted it. The post was all about Oregon, located in the Pacific North-West of the United States. If you like trees, check it out.

Coming Soon:
Duluth/Superior, Wisconsin Point, The North Shore
The Drive 2000 Miles Across the United States
The Blue Dragonfly Inn - Cimarron, New Mexico
Totagatac Flowage - Minong, Wisconsin
Sliding Rock National Park - Sedona, Arizona
Pasadena, California
Long Beach, California
Venice, California
Santa Monica, California
Cozumel, Mexico

P. S. Don't forget to follow my account if you're interested in seeing more travel tips, and/or art, and photography series @fiorebird.