Grand Canyon

The highlight of our thanksgiving trip, in my opinion, was the Grand Canyon. Since we planned on going to Vegas, I figured we could just make a quick day trip to the Grand Canyon to cross that off our list of places to see. All three of us are big fans of National Parks so we were all excited to go. I thought we would save money by just driving there ourselves instead of joining a tour group, but I didn't realize that the Grand Canyon North, which is managed by the National Parks Association, is closed during the Fall-Winter season. The Grand Canyon South was a 6 hour drive from the strip, so we were left with no other option but to go to the Grand Canyon West.

View from the Eagle Point

Unlike the Grand Canyon North, the Grand Canyon West is managed by the Hualapai tribe so the admission cost is a lot more expensive than that of the Grand Canyon North. It also costs extra for access to the Skywalk. Admission includes a bus ride to 2 viewpoints - the Eagle Point and the Guana Point - and a free drink at the Grand Canyon Ranch. We didn't bother getting our hot chocolate from the ranch because it was getting late and dark and we had already visited another ranch on the way over.

Guana Point

On the way over, we spotted a ranch that served food. My GPS took us to a tourist information center 2 hours away from our actual destination, so we had been driving all morning and were very hungry. As soon as we saw a sign for food, we parked our car and got out as it didn't seem like there was anything else beyond that point aside from empty desert land. There were teepees in the ranch, as well as cowboys and pull carriages. Lunch was in a small cottage where there were dogs walking about freely and a cowboy going table to table singing and playing the guitar for customers. When he approached out table, he asked us where we were from. We answered that we were from the Philippines and he sang us a song about Filipinos. It seemed like he made it up on the spot. We ordered one of the best pork ribs I've tasted and a corn dog. Overall, lunch was a very satisfying and unique experience. I would recommend it to anyone visiting the Grand Canyon.

Below is a video of our lunch at the ranch.

After lunch, we continued our drive to the Grand Canyon. As soon as it came into view, we were so amazed by it. We originally didn't really know what to expect from it so upon seeing it for the first time, we were immediately blown away by it. There simply isn't enough words to describe its beauty and splendor. All expenses combined, our visit to the Grand Canyon was worth every penny and I would jump to the chance of visiting it again in the future.