Grand Canyon....Day 1....

Grand Canyon National Park

No photo can do justice to this magnificent place.

A mile deep and ten miles wide, it simply awes everyone who sees it.

Nearly five million people come here every year....from all over the world.

Our first stop was Desert View.

In 1930, the Fred Harvey Company hired Mary Colter, 

to design gift shop and rest area here.

The result was the 

Watch Tower.

Built to resemble the towers of Southwestern Indians.

She used weathered stones, to make it look old.

But, the skeleton of this tower, is steel.

Inside, a spiral staircase takes you up to different levels.

The walls are decorated with Hopi paintings.

Even the ceiling...

And, the windows all around this circular building, let you have a 360 view.

And, down into the park services.

Looks like you can no longer go up to the roof.

Back outside to wider views...down to the river.

A little closer...

A rafting group.

Looks like they're coming in to shore.

Maybe stopping for a while.

We walked around outside, enjoying more of the view.

Then, we saw people gathering and pointing.  

A sure sign there's something to see.

A tree full of California Condors.

With a wing span of almost TEN feet, this is a BIG BIRD.

They were close to extinction.  But, most of the remaining birds were

captured and bred in captivity.  Their numbers grew enough to be 

released back into nature.

They are quite impressive birds.

The day is moving along.

Time to go check in to our room.

Tomorrow will be our busy day.