Vacations are good for the soul. (and some beautiful photos of the Grand Canyon!)

Yes, I know...the Grand Canyon is a "cliche" vacation.
One tends to forget that cliches become such BECAUSE THEY ARE SO TRUE. If you have never visited, you really SHOULD.
I've lived in Arizona since I was 5 years old, and I've been to the Canyon a few times. We took our children when they were quite young, but this week (with them on Spring break) we decided to take them again. They are now 18 and 21, so road trips with them have changed over the years.

So has the Canyon Park.
I remember fewer people and less traffic. One nice surprise, however, was the very good (and FREE) shuttle service. We drove in ($25 per car), and parked immediately, with no problem getting a parking space. One son is ALWAYS starving, so we ate right away. We went to the Deli in the General Market, good sandwiches for under $6 and very little wait time. After we ate, we found a shuttle stop very close by. The shuttles ARE crowded, but most people are nice. And if you are getting off at the next stop who cares if you stand. The stops are all over the park, with shuttles coming every 10 minutes or so.

I've changed, also, since my last trip there.
So I wasn't too sure how much hiking my 50something knees would take. Turns out, with the shuttles one can walk as little or as much as they choose. The shuttle stops are quite close to the view points (in some cases RIGHT BY them). And for people who can't walk far at all, they can stay on the shuttle and have a riding tour. It is really convenient. We hitched a shuttle from one viewpoint to another, including the loop up to Hermit's Rest area. This is to the west, and it will be closing for road widening April 1st. If you get there before then, its definately worth seeing. The road really needs the work- the shuttles could barely pass each other.
After about 10 viewpoints (and the day before when we visited Grand Canyon Caverns- another blog post coming) my knees were spent, but we had a wonderful time. And my mood was A LOT BETTER when we got back to the office.

Take a vacation if you can, even for a day. It makes life seem so much better.