Our ride from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon took us over the famous Route 66. Of course we had to put the right music on and listened to Nat King Coles “Route 66” song. Well, the kids didn’t like it. I guess they need to get a bit older to appreciate such classics…

We drove through green pine forests lined with bright yellow flowers. The roads were empty and it was a very pleasant drive.

In Tusayan we checked into the Best Western, settled in and then went to the National Geographic Visitor Center to buy the park pass. We bought the car pass that is also the entry for families. Later on our route we ended up switching our family pass for a year pass. We had not realized that Lake Powell required an entrance pass too. This put us over the three park limit that makes the annual pass cheaper than the individual entrance fees. (More information on the National Park Pass)

Right in front of the hotel we boarded the shuttle bus that is included in the Park Pass to get to the Grand Canyon. You can go by car but then you need to find parking. Also you need to wait in line with the cars at the park gates. Signs on the road indicated a 30 minute wait time, so we didn’t bother taking the car.

Inside the park we switched over to the blue and then the red shuttle line because we wanted to go all the way to “Hermits Rest”. Well, we never made it all the way. We got off at the second stop to walk one part of the rim. During our hike it started to dripple and the sky got darker.
When we wanted to board the shuttle again we were told we had to be evacuated because of an approaching thunder storm. The shuttle took us back to the visitor center were we waited for things to clear up. But eventually we decided to go back to the hotel to grab a bite to eat.

At around 6pm we returned to the park to watch the sun set over the canyon. By then the weather had turned again and we were able to enjoy the most stunning views.