But we aren't ready to leave just yet! The solution? We booked two extra nights at the privately operated Trailer Village RV Park right next door to Mather Campground.
While Mather Campground has no water/electric or sewer hookups on the campsites, we only paid $9 a night using my half price Lifetime Senior Pass.
However, Trailer Village RV Park has all the hookups, water/electric and sewer, plus even cable TV on every site. Their price of $74.25 each night is a little hard to swallow, but if you want to extend your stay, it's the price you have to pay. Hey that rhymes!
In other words, we stayed a week at Mather Campground for less than 1 night at Trailer Village.
We awoke at 7:00AM this morning to a not so pleasant surprise. Once again it had snowed close to 2" overnight, and as a matter of fact, it was still snowing this morning. None was predicted in yesterdays forecast?
We knew it was going to be cold last night, but not record setting cold, for us anyway?
We are supposed to be off our site here at Mather Campground before the check-out time of 11:00AM this morning. Check-in time next door at Trailer Village RV Park isn't until NOON.
I sure hope they're flexible about that!
Yesterday we had our coldest night ever while on the road, 18°F. Well as you can see in the photo below, this morning's temperature was just 13°F!
Today is chores and errands day!
As for the chores, I need to fill the fresh water tank from the spigot here on our site. But first I need to remove the hose that's frozen to the spigot. I guess that's why the last people on this campsite left it behind.
A good grip with a pair of channel locks make quick work of that task. Now it's time to find out if the pipes are frozen as well. I suspect they are!
After using the same pair of channel locks to twist the handle the water began to drip slowly out of the spigot. As the seconds went by the stream became increasingly stronger and before you knew it water was freely flowing from the spigot.
Now it's time to get out OUR hose to fill the fresh water tank. Never use someone elses hose to fill your fresh water tank, you don't know what that hose has been used for in the past!
With that chore complete it's time to make room in the truck bed for a second propane tank, we have two empties to fill. After taking out the Honda generator and a few other small items there was soon room for the extra tank.
While I'm doing all that Tricia is draining and flushing the waste tanks into our sewer drain here on the campsite. No need to get in line and then feel rushed to get out of someones elses way at the dump station when you have a sewer connection right on your campsite. Still not worth $74.25 per night!
Later in the day we drove into town to get the two propance bottles filled at another private campground.
While in town we checked out the National Park Visitor Center and watch an IMAX movie called Grand Canyon: Rivers of Time. The movie was all about the Grand Canyon and the people who have called this place home for the last 12,000 or so years, plus the recent explorers like John Wesley Powell. Tickets were a very reasonable $13.50 a piece and we saved 20% by purchasing them online right before we left to go into town.
After the movie it was time for an early dinner and Big E's Steakhouse was conveniently right across the street. It's been a while since Tricia and I have splurged and ate dinner in a semi-fancy restaurant, you know the linen on you lap kind of place. Well $121.26 later we were both stuffed! Oh yeah, there was no achohol included in that price.
Back at the campground we had one more thing to do and that was to get a nice hot shower at the Camper Services building. For $2.50 you get exactly 5-minutes of water and then with no warning the water just stops. You can put in another $2.50 if you so desire to get more water.
Tricia has been getting up before sunrise most mornings this week and I have been dropping her off at the Shuttle Bus Stop so she can try to catch some sunrise photos of the canyon.
This morning, after switching campsites, she was able to catch the Shuttle Bus just 50-yards away from our campsite, but I was still awake when she left, as you can see by the time displayed in the above photo that I took.
We've equally been trying to capture sunset pictures from various overlooks all week.
Anyway, here are our offerings of Tricia's:
SUNRISE & SUNSET OVER THE GRAND CANYON
PLUS A FEW SURPRISE BONUS PHOTOS
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This is what the canyon looks like while it's snowing. So cool!
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Someone lost this little guy at one of the overlooks.I just couldn't resist as he was posed so perfectly.
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A little later in the sunrise and that's the Kolb Studio on the right.Built in 1904 and expanded over the years.
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First light at Hopi Point.
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Nothing more to say.
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Sunrise at Hopi Point.
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And after a bit of waiting, the canyon is filling with light.
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A bit of the rim and canyon along the Rim Trail between Hopi to Mojave Points.
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Mohave Point for Sunset later that day.
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Jumped out of the bus at Powell Point for a quick shot of the actual sunset.
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Picked Mojave Point for sunrise the next morning.
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Close ups are so dramatic!
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This is the first morning with clouds!
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Just so pretty.
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The wind was blowing so hard it feathered the cloud edges. It was smooth not minutes before!
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And behind, the whole wall is lit up.
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But the ridges on the North wall are shading each other until the sun is higher.
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I loved how the sun would hit one ridge before the next.
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Then don't forget to look behind you for the second show.
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And the Northern ridges just keep peeking out.
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A couple days later and one last sunrise trip. First Light at Mathers Point.
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If you look real close, or have a good zoom lens,you can see the Desert View Watchtower – 25 miles away!
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Trying different settings to try for a better pic of that pre-sunrise color (using moon setting).
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Dusk/dawn setting.
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Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo, here comes the sun, and I say,
"It's alright"!
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And there it is!
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and again with dusk/dawn setting – less sun spots and just rays.
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Then, you know it, look behind you!
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That's Yavapai Point and some more sunrise fans.
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On the walk from Mathers Point to Yavapai Point.
one of the seven natural wonders on the planet Earth.
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