We finally arrived at the Grand Canyon and headed towards the Yavapai lodge. Seeing a sign for Mather Point and fearing that we would get our first view of the Canyon from the car, I pulled over and we walked through the brush to the edge... the edge of the largest hole I've ever seen! The point we walked through to was part of the rim trail and did not have any guard rails. It was just dirt and then air- a lot of air. We inched up to within 5 feet or so of the rim and just gawked (between telling the kids to "stop right there- not an inch closer!"). There is just no way to describe that initial sense of vastness. I've seen hundreds of pictures and was still completely amazed by the size of it!
After reattaching our jaws we headed to the Yavapai to check in and get something to eat and then headed back to Mather Point to watch the sun set. It was pretty chilly (mostly because of a brisk wind) by the time we headed back to the Yavapai. The Yavapai Lodge is very nice- I'm glad we stayed there rather than at one of the lodges right no the rim because it is much more secluded (and was the only in-park lodge we could get into on a 1 month notice).
