Rose Bowl Road Trip: Post 2

In a continuing effort to bring the most accurate coverage of The Bowl trip possible.

Day 3: What an action packed day this was. We awoke from our slumbers in Williams especially early (around 6 am) to get to the Grand Canyon for sunrise. Oh my goodness it was a cold morning! As we stopped for gas before heading out, I was shivering even at the pump. We arrived about 20 minutes before the sun crested the rim of the canyon, and as a consequence, froze our butts off. Many other people joined us as well. It was truly incredible seeing the first sliver of sun break over the horizon and ignite the red rocks on the other side. What commenced after that was our attempt to get to the warmth of the visitors center. Of course it wasn't open yet, so we had to settle for the car. We drove up and down the roads that run parallel to the canyon, taking in each unique view. The expanse is so large that many times you are seeing the same things, just from new and compelling angles. The first 2 pictures there are some of my favorites from the Grand Canyon. As we drove back towards the east part of the park, we got to see clouds chasing us headed the same direction. As we left the park, we drove north, and on that stretch of road northeast of the Grand Canyon, there is a section of the Little Colorado River Gorge (picture 3). It is an impressive geological feature in it's own respect. The steep walls surrounded by desert truly captured the scared part of you, knowing that this place would kill you if you fell into it :). We continued along some wonderful expanses of desert. Something that struck me was the very different lifestyle people lived from here in Illinois. The homes were intensely cheap and the pace of life seemed to be slower. It also seemed like poverty was a lot more widespread. As we continued into the desert, we ran into a bridge (picture 5) across the Colorado River north of the Grand Canyon. There we stopped because of the wonderful gorge it spanned (picture 4). We got a chance to really get a sense as to the height of the fall we would have if we fell off the bridge when we spit and it took what seemed like an eternity for it to fall. After that, more and more desert was the tale as we drove and finally arrived in Utah. There we were planning to see Zion National Park....