Dinner at the Grand Canyon Lodge

This morning I loaded up my gear and checked my list a couple of times.  I started driving around 8:15 a.m. and arrived at Caz and Ashley’s home about 10:15 a.m.  LaDonna was there.  She was going to tend Camden while Caz and Ashley did the hike.  We loaded up and said good-bye to Camden and LaDonna.  I let Caz take over the driving while I relaxed in the back seat.  About an hour later we met up with Tyler who was waiting for us at a Park-N-Ride in American Falls.  He settled in and we drove for another hour to Spanish Fork where we stopped for lunch at Culver’s fast food.  After lunch we continued our drive, and then we stopped to top off our fuel in Kanab, Utah.  We arrived at the Kaibab Resort after 4:30 p.m.  We checked into our cabins and unloaded the gear that we planned to take with us on the hike.  Then we continued our drive into Grand Canyon National Park and arrived at the North Rim after 6:00 p.m.  We found a parking space near the lodge, and we walked over to the rim for our first view of the canyon.  This was Ashley’s first time to see it, and she said, “We are going to hike across that?”

We walked over to the Grand Canyon Lodge and checked in for our dinner reservation at 6:30 p.m.  We took in the views from the big windows overlooking the canyon, but we didn’t have to wait long for our table.  We were seated in the middle of the dining room, but we still had nice views of the canyon.  I ordered a pork chop with Au Gratin potatoes and vegetables which turned out to be spicier than I would have liked.  Tyler had a steak, Ashley had a rice dish, and Caz had chicken and pasta.  The sun was setting while we ate so we went outside at different times to take pictures with the sun glowing on the peaks inside the canyon.  We returned to the table for desserts.  I had a chocolate ice cream, Tyler had a slice of carrot cake, Ashley had a Creme Brulé, and Caz had a Banana Bread Pudding.  After our meal we walked down to an overlook below the lodge, and then we spent some time in the gift shop.  I bought a spoon for Wendy and a patch for myself that showed the Grand Canyon and the words, "Rim to Rim” on it.  It was about 9:00 p.m. and it was getting very dark.  I called Wendy to wish her a good night and watched a deer pass through the cabins and parking lot.  We drove the minivan to the parking lot at the Kaibab Trailhead and waited just a few minutes before the shuttle arrived to pick us up.  Our driver was from Mexico and California.  He shared some of his experiences and pointed out the bison that were near the road in the dark.  We got back to our cabins about 9:30 p.m. and went straight to bed.