Arizona Trip - Grand Canyon

Arizona Trip – Grand Canyon – Southern Rim


The next day of our trip started early in the morning. We drove from Flagstaff to the southern rim of the Grand Canyon.

It was on the way that we saw a Road Runner! No kidding! Do you remember the Road Runner cartoon… Beep Beep! It was hilarious to see the Road Runner. And let me tell you, that sucker is FAST! Greg was driving 75 mph. The Road Runner dashed in front of our car and away from us without getting hurt. Greg said, “I’m waiting for the AMC box to fall” (cartoon reference again).

We stopped outside of the Southern Rim entrance to see the Little Colorado Gorge. I was wearing a turquoise necklace that I made right before the trip. It was here that my necklace fell off. Fortunately, I was able to retrace my path and found it. I have to admit though, if I had to leave something behind it couldn’t have been in a lovelier setting!

When we arrived at the Southern Rim, I had an “America the Beautiful Pass” which allowed us to enter without paying anything. We arrived in the morning and oh my gosh, the colors were beautiful. This is at the Desert View point:

I think we went to at least 6 or 7 viewpoints. This is at the Lipan point.

Ravens were everywhere….

Moran Point…

Do you see our shadows? Hehe

Ok, why would I take a picture of this tree? Because I have a picture of this tree back when I walked the path with my brother in 1999, along the Grandview Point.

My husband and I like to walk the paths with no railing on them.

Here’s a view from Mather point.

I’d recommend going to all of the points. Each is breathtaking; the entire area is God’s canvas. It’s a romantic place and I’m so glad to have created the memories with Greg.


Ohhhh, but I have to be honest. I wish the day had ended there and we had just gone back to Flagstaff for the afternoon. My husband tried to talk me into that and I should have listened to him, but I really wanted him to see the Petrified Forest and painted desert (something I did back in 1999 and enjoyed). So we drove… and drove… and drove.. and drove….


And drove to the BIGGEST disappointment you could image!


I don’t even have pictures, because there’s nothing worth to share. When we arrived at the entrance and asked the lady working there if she could recommend any good locations to take pictures, she shrugged her shoulders and said, “No.” Red Flag Alert, but we kept on going.

It was Barren. There were signs everywhere that stated, “do NOT take the petrified wood.” No need to worry, because there was none to be seen!! It was ugly and barren and a big disappointment.

We didn’t even make it to the painted desert part of it. We drove about an hour into the Petrified Forest and turned back around to leave. Back at the entrance there’s this big shop that SELLS petrified wood. Greg said, “I’m stopping in. I want to see the store.”

He asked the storeowner, “How can you sell petrified wood when there are signs everywhere not to take the wood?” The owner responded, “The natives who own the property can remove it.”

Well they took it and it’s nothing like what it looked like years and years ago. Greg said, “The land was raped. They should be ashamed to charge to get into the Petrified Forest.” (We didn’t have to pay, because I had the “America the beautiful” pass… but this was not beautiful…)

It was a very long, very sad drive back to Greg’s cousin’s home.

Carrie lightened our mood with some yummy jambalaya and the kids had us smiling in no time. Willie’s friend, Gary, stopped by to visit and Aunt Ellen was there too. It was an evening of interesting and entertaining conversations. Thank goodness the day had a happy ending!

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