We took this picture on the way out of the park, obviously...we didn't have any idea when we entered it that it would be such a memorable place so we didn't take a picture entering it....better late than never...
After leaving Zion and coming out of the mountains, we rolled into some more gorgeous scenery on the way to Mount Carmel. On the way we got to see a herd of Buffalo which was really cool. Ya don't see those every day! Well, not in New York anyway. :)
We then drove through the little town we would be staying in that night and on to the Grand Canyon. Now this was a place we both had a vision of in our heads beforehand. I think we both expected it to be real rocky and dry on the way there but as it turned out, the North Rim was very lush and green with pastures and woods all along the road we drove down to get to the viewing point. It was probably about an hour's drive once we started our ascent. The road started out with rolling pastures all along both sides with the woods off to the back but as we got closer, the woods did, too, to the road. The road wound left and right and we got to see all sorts of wildlife up close and personal. That was another great thing about this trip being able to see the flora and fauna of that area, which was very different from what we have here. There were a ton of chipmunks!
This was late afternoon so we were getting a little worried that we'd miss the great sunset over the Canyon. (The trip took longer than we expected because of Zion if you recall.) We got to the wooded area where the parking lot was, sort of on the side of the Canyon, you couldn't see it too well but we still had a little ways to hike to see "the view". Well, we finally got there. The viewing area we went to was a large jagged rock with trails out all the way to the tip. You can't even fathom the height. Pictures cannot describe the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon. But they will have to do... :)
Above is a blow-up of the center part of the photo below. Mr. Snoopynut holding Snoopy over his head. A guy nearby him said, "You're not gonna drop him, are you?" Mr. Snoopynut replied, "Not if I want to live to see tomorrow." Hee hee hee.
And below is as close-up as I could get of a Steller's Jay, relative to the Blue Jay which we see mostly where we live. Steller's Jays are only in this area around the Rockies and vicinity.
Steller's Jay in the middle of the photo on the rock...
