TRAVEL. CAPTURE. CREATE. THEREGOESSARAROSE.COM
Join the chaos of my trip to the Grand Canyon during, “16 States in 16 Days” at ThereGoesSaraRose.com!
Grand Canyon South Rim, Arizona (Credit: Sara Rose. 2021)
Day 2 of my road trip, “16 States in 16 Days,” was an incredibly eventful start to the adventure and could not be shared all at once! However, I could go no further without sharing a particularly interesting moment from this day first. Welcome to, literally, my hot mess of a story with “There Goes Sara Rose”!
Listen to a podcast of this travel blog here: https://anchor.fm/theregoessararose/episodes/Ep-13-Day-2-Visiting-the-Grand-Canyon–16-States-in-16-Days-e15dp3j
Grand Canyon Entrance
The South entrance holds a Visitor’s Center and a SIX-STORY IMAX Movie Theater presenting, Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets. Be sure to check with staff for the most up to date information on events, hotels, restaurants, maps of the area and more! Stay up to date on the Grand Canyon from the Nation Park Service here or current park operations here!
The Grand Canyon was not our only stop of the day, but it should have been. As the sun moves across the sky, the colors around you change. Never in my life have I seen so many shades of greens, reds and the orange-brown layers of earth, forged through eons of time.
Wild, Wild West: Horses and…Disaster?
No one ever described to me how populated the Grand Canyon area is. Yet, there is wildlife grazing comfortable nearby all the same. Right after the entrance to the Grand Canyon National Park, you continue driving before getting to the Canyon and I was so surprised to see wild horses! See my photos above or my video on Tiktok, here! We continue on the road, find our parking spot and get ready to finally see the Grand Canyon! Returning to the car, after deciding to walk to park with the GoPro, we are off!
The Grand Canyon
Words cannot describe the immensity of the Grand Canyon, a National Park encompassing 277 miles (446 km), said to be as wide as is it deep. As busy as it was (National Parks are getting a lot of attention post-lockdown!), there is a peace among travelers. Everyone is polite, even talkative, something I am not as used to in California. Is it the travels, a new state, a conglomeration of so many people and languages from around the world? I don’t know but I loved it here. I could have stayed at the park all day and plan on returning!
GoPro Footage Coming Soon!
I traipsed around the South Rim of the Grand Canyon with a GoPro strapped to my chest and a camera in each hand. There are several centers for visitors to learn more about the Grand Canyon on site, but not all were open at the time of my visit. At the same time, not everything can be shared here! Check back soon for the GoPro walkthrough or on my YouTube, here! I’ve left another piece of my heart in a National Park, but I think this one was from a heart attack! What drama unfolds next? Well, let me tell you…
But, Did I Lock The Car?!
Weeks of planning had come to fruition; in no way was the trip, or attendees, under-prepared for the adventure. As a helpful feature, new vehicles can connect to mobile devices and alert you if you have left the car unlocked and perfect for road trips. The Grand Canyon does not have the best cell reception, so although we just received an alert, “The passenger door has just been opened”, the option to lock the car isn’t connecting. Regardless, the alert was clear as day. Why was this important? As I was moving family heirlooms across the country, almost everything important to me is in that car, and it was about half-a-mile away from me, in the middle of a parking lot, as busy as any theme park in the summer.
It is well over 100°F / 38°C, and I am running full speed. The heat isn’t bothering me, or the crowd of people I am running through, or that I am running in hiking boots. What is bothering, why I am running in sheer terror is, I may have already made a major mistake at the very beginning of this trip. As my side begins to ache, and with leg-muscles screaming, I round the corner and the parking lot comes into view. Just a few more rows and I know I will be at the car. The question is, did I make it in time?
Not Close Enough
At this point, I am one row away from where the car is parked. I search desperately for people at a passenger door, hoping I have caught them in the act. It is so hot, and I am so exhausted, I cannot tell which car I should be looking for. I just realize, there is no one rummage through a vehicle anywhere near me. Relieved and confused, I find the car, which was unlocked. I opened the CLOSED passenger door, frantically look through the car expecting to not find my prized electronics, but everything is as it should be. I find a water bottle, and begin to recover. “What happened?” you may wonder? As my friend and co-pilot return to the car, cell reception and alerts resume to normalcy. The bad cell reception, mixed with the fact I returned to the car to get the GoPro, ensured I was alerted of the open passenger door, 20 minutes after I opened it.
Sour Huckleberry Beer & Pizza
The excitement of the afternoon left me exhausted! We were on our way to the Geology Museum when the chaos-inducing-alert occurred and interrupted the plans. Rehydrated and all belongings safe-and-sound, it was decided to grab some pizza and drinks at the Grand Canyon for an experience. And may I say, the locally-crafted, Sour Huckleberry beer was delicious!
Many times on the road trip something did not go as planned, as you saw here today. Enjoying life is all about perspective, and the Grand Canyon was AWESOME! Thank you for joining the journey and see more of my adventure, “16 Days in 16 States,” soon at ThereGoesSaraRose.com!
There Goes Sara Rose 