Grand Canyon National Park Vacation
I was excited to see the Grand Canyon as it has always been on my bucket list.
Look what greeted us in the parking lot of our Drury Hotel in Flagstaff Arizona! Luckily that was the only place there was snow.
The Drury Inn & Suites had a huge surprise when we checked in. They gave each of us three free drinks (any kind) and a medium style buffet, all for free. They did this for breakfast (no alcohol until supper) and supper everyday! We stayed at multiple Drury Inn’s and we saved so much money on free drinks and food. Not bad for not knowing they did this.
The next beautiful morning, we were on
our way to the Grand Canyon.
This was a section of forest fire damage
we saw on our way there.
We were so lucky to get into the park this fast. The first wait time sign was a 60 minute wait.
We arrived! Check out that elevation.
We bought a pass on line for entry to any National Park. We used it to get into the Grand Canyon, Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.
This lovely lady was at the toll booth. She had no problem with me taking her picture. One thing I have noticed on this trip is how nice people were.
A map of the Grand Canyon.
This is my favorite picture. Nature is amazing.
I don’t know who these old people are!
What a beautiful blue sky all during our 13 day trip.
Check out all the small people that walked out on the cliff.
This is closer.
Somehow I took this picture with nobody
out on the lower cliff.
Every place I looked it was different.
Brilliant man! If you have never seen the Grand Canyon in person, you should go. My pictures don’t show the beauty, size or colors like we saw them in person.
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Categories: Vacation
Wow.
It was something I will never forget. Have a great day Derrick!
Thank you Ned!
I have never visited the Grand Canyon. I have flown over it in an airplane and saw it from my seat. I hope to visit someday. I am glad you got to take this trip. I am so glad someone had the idea to make National Parks! These are truly such treasures.
Now that really surprises me! This was the hardest part of the entire trip for me due to the walking, but I made it and I’m so glad I did! I bet it was beautiful from the airplane. It will give you a different perspective from the ground but still beautiful. I hope you two can go someday.
I went there for the first time in my life 10 years ago and it was stunning
I agree Beth, stunning! I didn’t think I would ever see it and so happy we did.
It is amazing to see. Did you do what I could not – go right up to the edge and look down – EEEKKK!!! HAHAHAHA!! Glad you missed the massive fire that’s going on there. Looks like it was a fantastic trip – congrats!!
Yes I could walk up to the edge, my husband not so much. He wouldn’t even get close to the fence. 😂 This stop was for me as my hubby was there way before we got married. We lucked out and didn’t see any fires (we went in March) just the burnt trees.
I am so happy for both of you to finally cross this beautiful place off your bucket list. Your photos are beautiful and glad you only had snow at the hotel. What a lovely photo of you and your hubby!
And good to know about the drinks, breakfast and buffet options at your hotel! Good travel tip!
Thanks Ab, this was the perfect trip with my pain. It wasn’t physical like you do, like hiking, but I still got out at each place, took pictures and enjoyed the views. We didn’t make reservations at the next hotel (we changed hotels almost every day) because I wasn’t sure I could do everything we wanted to do. We never pushed it and on the big places, like the Grand Canyon, that was all we did for the day. This was the hardest stop for me because of how far we had to walk but I did it and I will never forget it!
I’d love to be able to see the Grand Canyon one day.
It took me 66 years to get there, stay optimistic!
A little snow is always fun this time of the year! The Grand Canyon has awe-inspiring views at every turn!
We usually still get snow in March in Ohio. We went on this trip on March 18th for an early anniversary (35 years in November). I wanted to see the desert flowers so we went early. Yes there were so many beautiful views there. I was surprised by the lack of wildlife. The only thing I saw was a squirrel near the walkway. Nothing else, not even a bird.
I have not been there. I will have to travel there soon.
It was breathtaking Stephen, you will love it. I tried to comment on your post but I am having problems with my site and it refused to post it. Your site isn’t the first one I can’t comment on.
I did receive your comment.
I did receive your comment.
You did GREAT with your pictures, but nothing can compete with in person viewing. I wonder if Drury Inn allows pets. I’ll have to look that up. It sounds like a great place to stay.
Thank you Linda! It was clean, the food was good and the service fantastic. I didn’t see any pets but Google shows they allow up to 2 pets under 80 pounds. I would think they were all the same. If you ever do stay at one, ask about the time for the free breakfast and supper. It still blows my mind they do that.
Great pictures Diane, of nature and also of you and Terry. What a great backdrop for your selfie. It makes you feel very small in a natural setting that huge and spread out. That was a good deal for the pass considering a day visit price. A fellow blogger told me about the lifetime passport you can buy and get it stamped at each of the national parks. She told me that info when I wrote the post about how people go to all the lighthouses and get stamps in their lighthouse passports. I had no idea about either passport!
Thank you Linda! I believe that is what Terry bought for us, the lifetime. I think it was $90.00 and covers any one car.
That is a great price – do you have any national parks in Ohio where you can use it? We only have one national park in Michigan and it is Isle Royale and people go there, but just for the rustic experience, like backpacking, hiking – no accommodations are there to my knowledge. There are a lot of wolves and bears live there.
Cuyahoga National Park, we took the grandkids there about 8 years ago and took the train through the woods. I never heard of Isle Royale before, not sure about the wolves and bears though. 😳 We are hoping to use it on our next vacation if we can ever get away again. We want to do a trip from Ohio through all the states west and we might swing back home and visit all the northern states.
That sounds like a big trip – that was a bargain then for all the national park admission fees. Do you have to book in advance? A fellow blogger and her husband spend the Winter traveling in their RV and had planned to go to Yellowstone and the list was very long, like a year in advance if I remember correctly – so they crossed it off the list, but that amazed me!
The pass is good for life too. I heard that about Yellowstone and we are hoping that will be our next trip. Terry had told me about the reservation being so far in advance. I was thinking he said the reservations was for Old Faithful and other main sites, I didn’t know it was for entering the park.
I would not have known except for what the blogger said – I was thinking at the gate … I just Googled and I am passing it along as it gives specifics on booking, so you can book your trip: “13 months in
Yellowstone’s Advance Reservation Window. The reservation booking window accepts reservations for stays up to 13 months in advance*. Specifically, on the 5th of each month, we’ll begin accepting reservations for the same entire month of the following year.”
Thank you so much. The last trip we planned more than a year ahead was Hawaii. Well you know how that turned out, covid and a canceled trip. I told Terry and he said he knew that. 🥸 Men!
I remember that – you wrote a post about it to celebrate a monumental wedding anniversary and had to cancel lit – didn’t you buy an ornament for your Christmas tree with two people in COVID masks to represent the trip you didn’t take and now you told us that you buy Christmas ornaments from all your travels so that represented Hawaii.
Wow you have a great memory and yes. It had toilet paper rolls on it too. Lol
I remember you took a photo of it … the toilet paper rolls I did not remember but the ornament I remember. 🙂
https://indianeskitchen.com/2020/10/17/covid-quarantine-2020/
Thank you for the link Diane – I forgot just how cute the ornament was and I totally missed that the writing was on an actual roll of toilet paper!
I had to buy it, after all it replaced our Hawaii vacation.
I don’t blame you for that Diane – what a disappointment that was … did you then consider your trip out West this year as a replacement trip or another milestone anniversary five years later?
We scratched traveling on our 30th with covid and I knew I wanted to do something every 5 years if it’s feasible. We planned this 35th about a month before traveling We didn’t make any reservations. Now, with three aging parents, who knows when we can go again. With all the problems with planes we definitely didn’t want to fly. It was so nice taking our time as we only drove about 5 hours a day to get from one sightseeing place to another.
Okay, I wasn’t sure what monumental anniversary it was but I didn’t think it was the 25th. I remember you mentioned your trip to Alaska (before we knew each other) – was that a big anniversary year too? Yes, sadly it’s difficult to plan around that now and for sure not with the issues with planes nowadays. Plus your car is fairly new so no worries there either. I would worry about planes nowadays … I never thought about it when I used to travel in the late 70s/early 80s, but I would now. Yesterday’s accident with the funicular streetcar in Portugal is very scary. The wire just broke and caused the one car to come crashing down, just missing the other car, both loaded with passengers. I saw the videos and I went on a similar ride up a mountain in Norway. That funicular ride would stop at various platforms so people could get out and get a view of the city below – some of the locals take the funicular to get to jobs or home, etc. On vacation, you are in the moment, never thinking about what could go wrong.
Alaska was our 25th, Hawaii was to be our 30th and this trip was early, celebrating our 35th but it’s not until November. Yes that was awful about the streetcar. Seems like so many things malfunctioning.
I see – well maybe Hawaii will still be in the cards someday and maybe airline travel then will not be so worrisome. I am following a young guy on social media who quit his job, bought a sailboat, sold all his possessions and he and his rescue cat Phoenix are sailing around the world (eventually). He sailed from his home in Oregon to Hawaii and is traveling around the islands now – it looks beautiful and he posts everyday. He intends to go to the Polynesian Islands next. Yes, it does seem everything malfunctions anymore. Sigh.
He’s living the life! I admire him.
Yes, he is – not everyone is brave enough to do something like that Diane.
Well maybe Hawaii will still be in the cards someday and maybe airline travel then will not be so worrisome. I am following a young guy on social media who quit his job, bought a sailboat, sold all his possessions and he and his rescue cat Phoenix are sailing around the world (eventually). He sailed from his home in Oregon to Hawaii and is traveling around the islands now – it looks beautiful and he posts everyday. He intends to go to the Polynesian Islands next. Yes, it does seem everything malfunctions anymore. Sigh. (Sigh as to getting this comment to work – hopefully the third time is the charm.)
Terry saw that Hawaii is going to limit how many cruise ships can visit. I don’t think it’s true because they would lose a ton of money.
Really – that is interesting. Are the cruise ships doing some type of damage to flora and fauna at Hawaii and the islands? Like you, I’d think they would welcome the tourist trade.
They plan a 50% reduction in cruise ships by 2035 and potentially phase them out all together by 2040. These proposed cuts are part of a broader state climate plan designed to meet transportation emission reduction goals and address issues like overcrowding and environmental impact. While the plan is still in the draft stage, the state has also implemented a new transient hotel tax on cruise ships to help fund environmental initiatives, a move that has been met with opposition from the cruise industry. (Google)
That’s amazing – I had no idea and see I would have thought it was some type of environmental issue, like the damge caused by vacation cruise ships in Australia to the Great Barrier Reef. I always thought a cruise ship vacation with port visits was perfect. You unpack once, your meals are taken care of and the accommodations are clean. I have to say that a year or so ago they had a huge cruise ship, so many floors with pools and gyms on each floor which I thought was just way too big in my opinion. My last cruise was in 1982 and the ship was big then. The floating hotels just seem too big, like a little city. When I watch “All Creatures Great & Small” I like the ads for the Viking long boat cruises – that sounds nice to me, quiet too as no kids are allowed. But a fellow blogger and his wife were on a Viking long boat last year and they had traveled on a Viking long boat before and loved the experience, but this trip was a Danube River cruise and the Danube had flooded a week or so before, so no ships were scheduled to be on the water for an undetermined amount of time, so when they arrived to the city to board, they were met with buses that took them from port to port where they would have stopped. They had nice accommodations and still visited the tourist attractions, but still … that would be my luck.
That would have been awful to have it cancelled! Terry always talks about the Viking but I want to see the US first. By the time we do that we will be too old for the Viking. Lol
I always said I wanted to travel domestically because there was lots I’d like to see – Alaska and New England are still on my bucket list, but because I am not a big fan of driving anywhere I’ve never been and also driving on the expressway, I’m limited to where I’d go. I’ve seen that train trip through the New England States to see the Fall foliage – it looks beautiful and at least if it rained, you could still see the leaves from the train, unlike a rainy day when you can’t really sightsee or risk damaging the camera. You eat and sleep on the train in separate compartments – it is quite luxurious, probably really pricey too. I’ve not priced it. I see some nice bus tours that go up to Mackinac Island in the Fall and do some sightseeing, Fall colors, but even a bus tour with the hotel accommodations is pricey; plus, those two recent bus accidents spook me a little as to bus trips.
There are so many places to see, Mackinac Island is one of them I want to see.
Yes, Mackinac Island is a must-see. It is quaint and no cars on the Island, just horse and buggy or walking. A fellow blogger and her husband are from Georgia and traveling in an RV to various states and a week ago, she asked me in a comment where they should go in Michigan as they were here in Michigan now. I told them Mackinac Island definitely and this coming week is peak time for color in the Upper Peninsula, so I said if you can stay here a bit longer, it will rival New England (that’s what I’ve heard for this year). My mom and I went up North the week of September 15th one year – someone said that was the best time to go and the leaves were still green! This year the leaves may have dropped as we are in drought-like conditions.
My son went there 2 years ago when he was on one of his fishing trips. Hopefully it’s not another 10 years before our next big adventure.
I’m sure your son enjoyed it – it’s a nice getaway and I hope it is not another 10 years for you two to get there. Being retired you can go in the off-season and not have to mingle with families.
I bet mid May would be good with the kids in school. We talked about getting a hotel off the island, spending all day there and going back to the hotel. Is one full day there enough time to see it all?
That’s a good idea – I’m sure the Grand Hotel costs a fortune to be honest, but they do have occasional deals that I see advertised on social media. They have the annual Michigan Policy Conference where all the politicians and “movers and shakers meet at the Grand Hotel – I just Googled and it is Tuesday, May 26th to Friday, May 29, 2026. So I’m sure these folks take their significant others, so perhaps it might be a tad crowded then. I know the Conference is always around Lilac time – lots of Lilacs on the Island. The Lilac Festival is June 5 – 14, 2026. I think you could see it all in one day – I remember we did not stay on the Island but crossed over on the Big Mac Bridge and spent the day there – we did not take a carriage ride that I can recall.
Thank you, that will be an easy weekend to remember since my birthday is on the 29th.
Yes, easy to remember. 🙂 So if you go mid-May, you’ll mess those people. I don’t know if you’re interested in the Lilac festival or not though in June.
I would love it as I love lilacs, however, I don’t like crowds so mid May will work if we can get free from here.
I do too, but I don’t like crowds either. When I Googled to find out when the festival was, the website showed a crowded street. Mid-May would be good for you (hopefully).
Thank you Linda, I put a bug in my husband’s ear that the first of May would be a great time to go, if we aren’t tied up with family obligations. I have always wanted to go there.
I hope he was receptive, so you can start planning Diane – I remember you went to Tulip Festival in May too.
It will all depend on family health but we both want to go.
I hope you can go Diane.
As long as the parents are OK to leave for a few days we should be able to. 🤞🏻
I hope so, so you can get away to the scenic part of Michigan.
WP seriously makes no sense sometimes!
I still can’t find AI, so strange.
Still not – not in the “insert image” area or “start a new post” area? Does AI “help out” when you are commenting and try to finish your sentence for you?
No it’s not there anywhere I see. I liked it for the SEO suggestion and my “did you know” post pictures. I can get the picture from a few sites for free but the AI was quicker. Mine didn’t finish my sentence that I know of. I am pretty sure it can’t be added to the classic editor which I still work off of.
I forgot that you said you were using the classic editor – that must be the problem then. I know one day I’ll get an e-mail that my theme is being discontinued because it is so old and I have to find a new one … I picked the simplest theme when I started my blog and that was “Twenty Ten” … I hope they don’t change it.
I hope they don’t either. I paid for mine so they better not do it to me either. Lol
I think they eventually retire the older themes and even though I pay for premium plan, not the business plan, I am trying to not go over the limit for media size where they force you to go to a business blogging plan to have more media space, but then you have to switch themes. I know a lot of people have the same simple theme as I do so hopefully they won’t make me change.
Oh yes, the Drury Inn sounds like a great option to stay in while on holiday! And wow, the Grand Canyon is incredibly beautiful – your favourite photo is also my favourite photo … that and the one of the ‘old people’ 😉. Lovely post Diane!
Haha Thank you Corna!
Arizona is proud of their Grand Canton and they should be. It is spectacular! Fun trip!
My husband said he could have stayed in Arizona a week because there was so much to see. I was thrilled to finally see the Grand Canyon. It was the perfect trip where nothing went wrong, we were definitely blessed.
That is wonderful! Arizona has so much to see. So glad all went well.
By the way… we love Drury Inns!
This was our first time staying at them. Clean, great price and good food.
I haven’t been there, thanks for sharing. Those two “old people “ look great lol. That’s from one old person to another haha- great pics
Haha Thank you Susan!
Oh how I love seeing this post Diane! Checking something off your bucket list is such an incredible feeling. Larry and I spent our 1st anniversary at the Grand Canyon in 1984! I was blown away by the enormity of the canyon and the beauty. So happy for you. Hugs, C
Thank you so much Cheryl. One could never understand the enormity without seeing it in person.
Your favorite photo is pretty spectacular! I am so looking forward to seeing the Grand Canyon in person someday!
Thank you and I hope you do see it someday, I will never forget it.
Gorgeous, isn’t it? 🙂
It most certainly is and I am so happy I was able to see it once in my lifetime.
I agree, Diane, everyone should see it in person. I was lucky that we went up in a small plane and flew over the park. Seeing the confluence of the Colorado River and Little Colorado River was so cool. You really had a great trip, seeing so much along the way. That is why Ray and I liked to drive everywhere if we could.
Thank you Carla. I agree about driving because we can stay as long as we want and see what we want.