We thought about getting up early for a sunrise over the Grand Canyon, but at 5am, we decided we were still sore and tired enough from our backpack that we could allow ourselves to sleep in. We had breakfast at camp and then headed back into the park. We parked at the Market Plaza and caught the free shuttle to several overlooks and viewpoints. At the Grand Canyon, the shuttle is voluntary, but encouraged. At Zion, the shuttle was mandatory. We saw many people on the shuttles, it beats the heck out of parking hassles. Another great aspect of the shuttle is that you can hike from point to point and catch the shuttle back to your car or continue with your sightseeing. We stopped at the east side of the south rim and saw several overlooks, then headed out to the west side of the south rim, towards Hermit’s Rest, a less developed area. By the time the shuttle got us to Hopi Point, it had started raining and the wind was blowing hard. We got off, looked around and then tried to find shelter from the wind until the shuttle heading back to the east side showed up. We got back to the east side and the weather was better. We stopped for lunch and headed out to Phoenix.
We got to Cott and Jill Lang’s place in Scottsdale, AZ in time for dinner; pizza out at Oggie’s, a restaurant and brewery. They have two little girls, Mina, less than a year old, ad Lucy, almost 3. Andrew and I had stopped by Toys-R-Us to get a couple of stuffed toys for the girls and they were a hit! Before we left, Lucy had named the teddy bear “Fred” and was he was “reading” with her, helping to turn the pages of the book. Mina had “Penghy’s” soft flipper firmly gripped in one hand most of the time we were there.