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| Happy 100th Birthday National Park Service!
Happy 100th Birthday to the National Park Service. I've been crowing about this birthday party for a few weeks now. Probably because I admire the work of the National Park Service members for being the caretakers of our national treasures both in the past and into the future.
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I thought I could add to the celebration by sharing a video with you of the Grand Canyon National Park. My husband and I visited a LOT of National Parks while we were in the Southwest this summer, but this one is the Granddaddy of them all in my opinion. Evidently a lot of people feel the same way as evidenced by the 5 million visitors every year to the park.
Please put on your traveling gear, hiking boots, and brimmed hat to join me on the trip through the park. Oh wait, you can just watch the video in the comfort of your chair wearing your jammies. I hope you'll take a 10 minute break from your busy day to sit back and relax while you take a peek at the highlights of our trip to the Grand Canyon National Park!
VIDEO: The Grand Canyon National Park
with J.Q. Rose
Photos by J.Q. Rose
Transcript follows
Grand
Canyon National Park
Video
slide show
1—Title
slide-- Grand Canyon National Park
2—Hello
and welcome to the Grand Canyon National Park. I’m your tour guide, J.Q. Rose.
Thanks for joining me for a very quick peek at this historic and amazing place.
3—My
husband and I toured the Southwest this summer for two weeks. We had never been
to the four corners area. We saw vistas very different from our Michigan lakes
and trees. We flew into Las Vegas at a toasty 111 degrees or 44 celsius to
begin our adventure through AZ, NM, CO, and UT. On the map, you can see the
Grand Canyon National Park is located in AZ’s northwestern quadrant.
4—This
is our trusty rental car, a Mazda 2. Before the trip, I worried about driving a
rental car through the desert and mountains, but I shouldn’t have. The car’s AC
carried us through the heat of the desert and the 4 cylinder engine climbed up
and down and around the mountains with no problems.
5—Now
sit back in your armchair and join me for a short tour of some of the
highlights of our trip through the Grand Canyon NP.
6—Five
million visitors make the trip to the canyon each year. Most go to the South
Rim, the most accessible place which is 7000 feet above sea level. The one mile
deep canyon is quite an attraction.
7—It
is 277 river miles or 446 km long and up to 18 miles or 29 km wide.
8—This
is just one of the regal elks we saw in the park. Just look at the size of the
rack. That would give me a headache! These elk families were all over the park
and ignored all of us tourists. In fact one morning, a family of elks grazed
next to McDonald’s while we were eating breakfast across from our hotel.
9—This
national park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United
States. I can verify that judging by the crowds of Americans and citizens from
all over the world enjoying the natural beauty surrounding us. But the huge
amount of visitors was never a problem. Free park shuttles offer excellent,
timely service to sites throughout the park.
10—The
Grand Canyon had a long road to becoming a national park until President Theodore
Roosevelt made multiple visits to the area, then declared the Grand Canyon an
national monument in 1908. The bill to grant national park status was passed in
1919 and signed by then President, Woodrow Wilson.
11—When
I stepped off the shuttle bus for my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon,
something I have looked forward to my whole life, I was disappointed when I
tried to see the canyon from the bus stop.
12--But
as I made my way along the path to Maricopa Point overlook, the canyon jolted
me with all its glory. In fact, I was terrified to walk to the end of the pont
overwhelmed by the vastness of the canyon and dizzied by the depth of it even
if a haze blanketed the deepest parts of the canyon. Then, once my heart
stopped rattling in my chest, I calmed down and appreciated this ancient
creation.
13--
If you’re interested in geology, you’ll especially love having the opportunity
to see the exposed ancient layers of rock. No need to dig up the ground to see
these normally buried formations. The colors were spectacular.
14—We
returned to the hotel in the pm to escape the heat. Then on that beautiful evening
we explored the drove through the park in our car rather than take the shuttle.
The crowds had thinned and there was no problem finding parking places
throughout the park. One of the places we discovered was the Native American
Arts and Crafts Building, Hopi House.
15—Hopi
House is the first of eight architectural projects at the Grand Canyon designed
by Mary Colter, a creative trailblazing woman architect in the early 1900’s. She designed the building to resemble a traditional
pueblo. The Hopi, as the historic inhabitants of the area, were chosen as the
featured artisans.
16—Entering
the building, I was overwhelmed at the diversity of Native crafts available for
sale. The colors and quality of the work were amazing. Take a peek at just a
few examples.
17-baskets
18-woolly
sheep
19-large
pot
20—This
is the El Tovar Hotel, located just west of Hopi House. The Hopi House opened
on January 1, 1905, 2 weeks before the
landmark hotel. Can you imagine making a trip to this area in one of these vehicles
and traversing the rough roads?
21—The
hotel, another work of art by Mary Colter, is constructed of limestone and pine
to evoke the style of a Swiss chalet and Norwegian villa.
22—This
is the back of the hotel which faces the canyon.
23—How
would you like to wake up in the morning and see a vista like this from your
hotel room?
24—Chipmunk--This
little visitor was enjoying the view too.
25—The
building across the way is another Colter creation built in her style that reflected her vision of natural
constructions, were often modeled after Native American themes.
26—My
photos can’t possibly capture the beauty and grandeur of these vistas and vast
place of wonder. I hope you at least got the flavor of the setting and the
sense of history of this very special national park. Thanks for joining me
today.
27—I
would like to say a huge thank you to those visionaries who set aside lands 100
years ago for future generations to experience the awe-inspiring nature and
history of our national parks, monuments, trails, and lakeshores. Now we need
to do our part to keep these treasures alive and shining into the next century
and beyond.
Thank
you National Park Service for being the caretakers of our past and future.
Wishing you a happy 100th birthday and many more!
28--Connect
online with J.Q. Rose
J.Q. Rose blog http://www.jqrose.com/
Facebook http://facebook.com/jqroseauthor
Google+ google.com/+JQRose
J. Q. Rose Amazon Author Page http://tinyurl.com/aeuv4m4
About
J.Q.-J Q Rose is an avid
reader, photographer, and blogger. Janet and her husband are snow birds who
spend winters in Florida allowing them to garden twelve months out of the year.
Summer finds her up north camping and hunting toads, frogs, and salamanders
with her grandchildren.
# # #
Have you visited the Grand Canyon? Were you terrified when you first saw it? What National Parks have you visited? What's your favorite park to visit--city, township, county, state, national? Thanks for stopping in!
13 comments:
J.Q., I certainly enjoyed my armchair visit of your travels to The Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is definitely majestic and your photos were beautiful. Bill and I visited this National Park about 20 years ago with our sons and were awestruck.
We have been to other National Parks. To answer your question, we have gone to Yellowstone the first National Park many times. We lived 1 1/2 hours away from the Park in Idaho and we also travelled there when we lived in Colorado. We have been to Acadia NP, the Badlands NP, Crater Lake NP, Denali NP, Grand Tetons NP, Hot Springs NP, Mount Rainier NP, Olympic NP, Redwood NP, Rocky Mountain NP, Saguaro NP, Sequoia NP, Shenandoah NP, and Yosemite NP. We used to live in California also. (I looked up the National Parks on Wikipedia so I wouldn't miss any.)
Thank you, J.Q. for this wonderful post.
Happy 100th Birthday National Park Service!
Thanks for this wonderful post of your trip, JQ. I can't imagine what it must feel like to stand beside the grandeur of the Grand Canyon. You describe your feelings of trepidation and awe so well. I would really love to visit any one of the National Parks in the US. They are on a scale we can't conceive of here in the UK, and the variety of wildlife must be magical to see.
Thanks for sharing your trip. Happy birthday to the National Park Service!
Susan--your list of visiting NPs is a lot longer than mine. I have visited several you mentioned. But aren't they all unique and very special assets to make each visit memorable. Interesting to note you have lived in so many places. And beautiful places I might add. Thanks so much for sharing.
Helena--I thought I was probably the only person who was ever terrified by the canyon's ruggedness. But after sharing with others, I discovered they also felt the same. To be honest, I couldn't have imagined what we actually saw in front of our eyes--vastness of the scene was overwhelming. Nearly incomprehensible to me. I felt like I must have been looking at a backdrop from a movie--it couldn't be real. I do hope you get a chance to get out into the US countryside and experience the miles between places. Our friends from the Netherlands couldn't wrap their brains around how far and wide the lands are. Thank you for stopping in.
Helena--I also wanted to add I would dearly love visiting England and surrounding myself with the beauty of the moors, enjoying the pubs, visiting the parks and national monuments, and seeing all the royal finery.
Great post, JQ. I've never been to the state parks in the west--as in mid-northwest. What is that area called? LOL We've been to Carlsbad Caverns in NM & White Sands. We've been several times to Arcadia National Park in Maine. I might be mistaken, but I think it may have been the first or one of the first. Love it up there! Trees and cool! Much more to my liking than hot and desert. But to each his own. I'm happy to look at people's pics rather than go there myself. Would love to see the redwoods in CA. I've shared. :)
I have always wanted to go to the Grand Canyon National Park. I don't think I'd be terrified but amazed. I'd be taking a million pictures. :)
Thanks for the guided tour. hehehe
Anna from elements of emaginette
We too had the wonderful opportunity to visit the national parks of the Colorado plateau this summer...and were amazed at the magnificence and diversity. Walking through the deep canyons of Zion, gazing across the chasm of the Grand Canyon, having our minds create patterns out of the crazy hoodoos at Bryce (we "saw" armies of soldiers,the Parthenon, monks praying and many more)...each place was mind-blowing. Most of all we were awed by how the landscape changed virtually each time we rounded a bend, especially on Utah route 89. P.S. there is a wonderful Kiva coffeehouse on 89...great mid-drive stop but closes at 4 p.m.
Hi Marsha--I love Acadia NP too. Beautiful, but aren't all these parks? Thanks for sharing!
Chrys--after the shock of the breadth and depth of the canyon, I was amazed. I had a hard time choosing just a few of my photos from the 100's we took there.I hope you get to go to the Grand Canyon.
You're welcome. Anna. Glad you joined me!
Hi Carol--we made the same tour of the NP's this summer after seeing the Grand Canyon. Breathtaking scenery. We took 89 too! Great memories.
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