MORE WINGS AT THE CANYON

Before my scenic flight over the canyon the other day, I had some time to kill while waiting for it's departure time. At the National Geographic Center in Tusayan, where they show the IMAX film about the Grand Canyon, I took in the Condor Encounter. The title of the show is enough to get a lot of people interested, due to the fact that the CA Condor is one of the most endangered bird species in the world.

There's a little bit of deception with the title of the show, in that the bird used in the show is an Andean Condor, not a CA Condor. The other birds were mostly non-native birds to the Grand Canyon, but it was still an entertaining, and educational way to spend about 30 minutes. As with the IMAX film, this show was also free to folks who work in the park, so, once again, the price was right!

The host, and owner of the birds, raised this Andean Condor from a chick, and it was 15 years old. According to him, the Andean version is a little larger than it's CA Cousin, and it was indeed an impressive bird.

A few decades ago, the CA Condor's numbers were down to only 22 left in existence. The decision was made to capture the remaining birds, and attempt a captive breeding program to save the species. Over the years, the program has had great success, and now, over 300 birds have been released, some here at the Grand Canyon. They are frequently seen right here at the South Rim.

After the bird show, I returned to the airport, and boarded my flight over, and around the Canyon. It was a fun way to spend a day off, with lots of memorable scenes, and pictures.

This small bird is a Falcon, capable of reaching diving speeds over 200 mph!

Red tailed Hawk, common throughout the U.S.

WINGS OVER THE CANYON

When it comes to flying, sign me up! The exception to my enjoyment of flying is when it comes to getting on those commercial flying buses, where you have to sit for hours in seats that are designed for 4'8" midgets. Commercial flying is most often a necessary evil, with no enjoyment involved, except perhaps the take offs and landings.

Well, yesterday was the type of flight that was not only enjoyable, but incredibly scenic. The DeHaviland Twin Otter Aircraft pictured above, is a really neat airplane that is used by Grand Canyon Airlines. This same airplane was used in Skagway, Alaska for scenic flights, and we flew on one over some equally beautiful country, to include several glaciers & ice fields.

It was a perfect day with light winds, and visibility for 100 miles. Flying OVER the Grand Canyon gives you a perspective of how big this hole in the ground really is. Taking advantage of the "locals" discount price of $20, I boarded the aircraft with a group from China, and as they set there headsets to Chinese, I listened to the English version of the narrative.

Just visible to the right, is the Little Colorado River where it intersects with the main Colorado

Looking downstream, with a couple of rapids visible

One of many majestic red rock formations, this one standing alone like an island

A closer view of the turquoise Little Colorado River to the right

Not sure why the Little Colorado River has such a different color

This red rock canyon wall was on the North Rim

Coming in for the landing at Grand Canyon Airport in Tusayan

Almost back on the ground

It was a fantastic way to spend an hour, as the aircraft did a counterclockwise loop around the central part of the Grand Canyon. My point and shoot Kodak digital camera doesn't do justice to the scenery, but at least some of the beauty was captured.

Today is my Monday, as I start my workweek. Even though Patty and I don't enjoy the same days off, I'm glad we both got a chance to take advantage of the opportunity to see the Grand Canyon from a birds eye view. It truly is an amazing natural wonder!

COUGARS AMONG US

After a 5 day work week, yesterday was one of two days off, and I was ready! Dealing with the public on the buses here at the Grand Canyon, presents some unique challenges, and a day off was just what the doctor ordered.

Patty had a late shift, so we spent the morning together, and I fixed one of my mega breakfasts. Just before she went to work, Sami and I took off for a long walk up "Sami's road", then turned right at the end. We had not gone this way before, and we ended up at Mather Campground, making a loop back to the motor home. Not sure how far we walked, but time wise, it was almost an hour, and the little old dog's tongue was hanging pretty far out when we got home.

I took care of a few household chores, and just kind of relaxed most of the afternoon. Later, I attended one of the Ranger talks at the McKee Amphitheater, and it was most excellent! The subject matter of Mountain Lions is what attracted my attention, and Lori, the interpretive ranger was not only informative, but quite entertaining. Yes, there are Mountain Lions here at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, but after looking at a G.P.S. mapping of one particular Lions movements, I think it's safe to say that folks staying here in the Village have nothing to worry about.

It was a fascinating talk about an incredible animal that lives among us, but is rarely seen. Lori had some video of 3 Lion Cubs that were 4 weeks old, and were being ear tagged while the mother was away hunting. She participated in this venture about 4 years ago, and due to the mother having previously been collared, they were able to safely tag these babies, and document their condition. Unfortunately, the story didn't have a happy ending, as the mom was killed by an Elk, which is the Lions primary prey animal here in the Park. Even though the Mountain Lion is at the top of the naturally food chain, there are plenty of inherent dangers to this top predator. When the mother was killed, the cubs were only about 2 months old, and due to their young age, were not old enough to survive on their own.

Later, when Patty got off work, I told her about the program, and that it should be presented a few more times this summer. I know she will be captivated by the subject matter, and by Lori, who did an incredible job of engaging the audience, and capturing every one's attention.

CHP MEMORIES

One of the primary responsibilities of the California Highway Patrol was, and is the investigation of motor vehicle traffic accidents. During my career, I would guess that the total number of accidents I investigated was well over a thousand.

It was during my couple of years in the Santa Cruz Office, that I began to cultivate a desire to improve my investigative skills, and be more comprehensive with all aspects of the investigation. Often, accident investigations were quite easy, especially when they were categorized as "fender benders", and only involved one or two vehicles. On the other hand, they could be quite complex, with multiple vehicles, and injury and death involved. When criminal prosecution was involved, it became even more critical to cover all of the bases.

After the first time I was embarrassed on the witness stand by a sharp defense attorney, I vowed to do all that I could to prevent that from ever happening again. There wasn't anything worse than being in the spotlight, in front of a jury, and not knowing an answer, due to an incomplete investigation. When civil litigation kicked in, often several years after the fact, the accident report was often the basis for your testimony, as the memory tended to fade after a long period of time. When serious injury or death was involved, these civil lawsuits, often against the State of California, ran into the millions of dollars.

During the mid 70's, while working in Santa Cruz, I took on a fairly intensive self study program to improve my investigative skills. This included a lot of testing with the patrol cars. If my supervisors knew how much tire rubber I was leaving on the pavement, I'm quite sure that my determination to better understand the dynamics of vehicular motion, would have been put to a screeching halt. By knowing my speed before hard brake application, I could then measure the skid marks, determine the skid resistance of the pavement, and by applying the applicable mathematics, correlate the skids to the known speed. After doing this many times, I became very confident in my ability to determine a vehicles speed, based on the length of it's skid marks.

This was the first step in my quest to become a better vehicle accident investigator. I later became much more proficient in determining a vehicles speed based on centrifugal (curved) skids. As the years rolled on, I worked very hard to better understand everything I could about vehicular dynamics, including momentum formulas, determining speed from crush damage, and the science of accident reconstruction.

My education in the above was still in it's infancy, when I was called back to Southern California to testify in a civil case, where the plaintiff was suing the State. Even though my original accident report didn't have any speed calculations, based on skids, I was able to give an opinion as to the plaintiffs speed, based on my measurements of his vehicle's skid marks. When the Superior Court Judge ruled that I was qualified to give an expert opinion, it was a highlight of my young career, and encouraged me to continue my education regarding the field of accident reconstruction. I later became a member of the States first M.A.I.T. (Multi-disciplinary Accident Investigation Team), but that's a story for a later time.

WHAT A VIEW

Today is my Friday, and it's kind of a goofy workday, in that I do 3 lunch reliefs, and a 4 hour Village Route. This is the one day that I start work in the morning (8:25), all other days it's around noon. The good news is that on one of my days off, I'm looking forward to taking the same scenic flight over the canyon that Patty did a few days ago.

Yesterday was a Hermits Rest day, and this picture is illustrative of the scenery that I'm compelled to look at all day. I snapped this one while waiting for my departure time to arrive at Powell Point. The Hermits Rest Route (Red Route) is by far, the most scenic of the 4 bus routes. Fortunately, I have this route 2 days a week, and the views of the canyon never get old. Granted, we're only approaching our one month date here at the Grand Canyon, but it's hard to think that this incredible scenery will ever get old. In a way, it kind of reminds me of our 4 summers in Skagway, Alaska. The magnificent setting of mountains, glaciers, and ocean never got old, and it was almost inspirational when I would wake up to such beautiful surroundings.
The beauty here is much different, but it's so incredible, it's in the same category as Skagway.

Not a lot of time this morning, due to the early work call. Patty's work start times change from early morning to early afternoon, so it's a good thing we're flexible, and this summer of punching the time clock is only a little over 3 months long. Despite all of the positives, it will be good to get back to being retired in a few months.

OUR FLAG & NATIONAL ANTHEM

Parked in the desert last January, near Quartzsite, AZ, with the flag proudly displayed

This story came across the wires, and TV airwaves yesterday, and all I could do was shake my head in disbelief. A small college in Goshen, Indiana, has decided not to allow the National Anthem to be played at their sporting activities, and other events, due to it being offensive to some of the student body. What??? Are you kidding me?

Due primarily to complaints from the schools pacifist element, the administration, in its' infinite wisdom, made the decision to ban the playing of the National Anthem at school events. A spokesman for the college stated that the specific objection was that our national song was to warlike. Phrases like "rockets red glare" & "bombs bursting in air" were the focus of these pacifists objections. So, to please a few, or perhaps a bunch of the fringe element, the one song that represents national pride and honor, has been relegated to the music graveyard, at this college in northern Indiana.

I've only got a few things to say to these "turn the other cheek" folks, and it ain't pretty! ----
You have the right to voice any opinion you want in this great country, due to the sacrifice of thousands of men and women, who in many cases paid the ultimate price. Starting with the Revolutionary War, your fellow Americans fought tyranny and oppression, so that we all could have the freedom to live our lives the way we want. Throughout our history, it has been necessary to stand up, and fight for what we believe in, because the alternative would have resulted in a much different societal landscape. Your objection to our national song is protected under the Constitution, but nevertheless, I think it's a disgrace for you to dishonor the one thing that represents pride and patriotism in our great country.

The playing of our National Anthem, and public display of the Stars and Stripes at countless activities across America is representative of who we are as a people. The fundamental right to individual freedom is expressed in both this song, and the display of our flag. To ban, or dishonor either, is about as Un-American as it gets!

HELICOPTERS, & FLIGHTS

Patty had the day off yesterday, and as she was dropping me off at work, the National Park Service Helicopter was lifting off from it's pad next to our bus yard. This particular helicopter is based here at the Grand Canyon, and is used for a variety of purposes, including search and rescue. There are multiple occasions during each summer when hikers need to be airlifted out of the canyon due to medical emergencies, and for other reasons.

A few days ago, I discovered one of the "locals perks" at the airport with Grand Canyon Airlines.
They offer 40-50 minute fixed wing flights above the Grand Canyon, with a retail cost to the public of $139. As locals, we get the flight for $20! Yesterday was one of Patty's days off, and after dropping me at work, she drove into Tusayan, and got on a 2 o'clock flight over the canyon. She said it was amazing, but unfortunately her camera wasn't cooperating, so no pictures until I have the same opportunity, probably next week.

Yesterday was my "Cover Bus" day, and after sitting on my butt last week for about 7 hours, I was prepared with 3 books this week. Having plenty of reading material on hand, you might know what I'm about to say..............It's kind of like washing your car, and it immediately rains.
Not much sitting yesterday, as the bus was needed to cover a few holes in the system. So, I drove 3 rounds on the Hermits Rest Route, had a short break, then finished the day doing the Village Route.

The weather this week has been almost perfect, with more of the same predicted. It's getting into the mid 70's during the day, and down into the 40's at night. Still haven't had to run the air conditioning on the motor home. When we were looking for a place to either spend the summer parked, or in a travel mode, so far, the Grand Canyon is fitting the bill almost perfectly.

Last summer, our travels in Oregon & Washington provided a lot of relief from the summer heat, especially when we were on the coast. I've been following our Gypsy Journal Buddies, Nick & Terry Russell, who are doing a similar route in the Pacific Northwest this summer. Had it not been for our last minute job offers here at the Canyon, we most likely would have been retracing our path of last year.

On a different subject, we just got word that our friends Bob & Diana Rush closed escrow on their Lake Havasu house, and have started to add some furnishings. We're excited that this winter, we'll have some fun times with them, when they decide to head south from their primary home in Enterprise, OR.

MORE CRITTERS

The challenge of coming up with new material to write about seems to be increasing, as we approach 1 month of living and working at the Grand Canyon. On days like yesterday, we both worked, and except for a couple of pictures of this ground squirrel, most of the day was pretty routine.

The one thing that is fairly constant, is the expectation of seeing wildlife almost every day. My bus route yesterday was the Red Route out to Hermits Rest. While taking a short break at the canyon wall, this little ground squirrel came up to within a couple of feet, and started chowing down on some peanuts left by a previous visitor. Most of the wild animals in the park are almost fearless of humans, so up close and personal is more normal than not.

The rest of these pictures showing the Elk, Deer, and Raven are similar to those already posted, but not previously used. I'm still amazed at the size of the big male Elk roaming around the park. This is a good picture of the big boy, comparative to the size of the motor home.

I shot this picture just before this female Elk jumped over Sami's leash, in her attempt to get away from the domestic antagonist. While driving out on the Hermits Road yesterday, we ran across two female Elk, and one newborn that was less than a couple of weeks old. No pictures while driving, but we have been hearing reports of several Elk newborns in the area.


The ravens are all over the place. I took this picture at Yavapai Point a few weeks ago. No sightings of any CA Condors, but they are here in the canyon, and they are unmistakable when sighted, due primarily to their size. Full grown, the Condors have up to a 10 foot wingspan.

Also, no Mountain Lion sightings, and it's pretty doubtful that will happen. They are here, but not seen very often. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Today is my "Cover Bus" day, which means that most likely I'll be parked for the better part of the day. I guess I shouldn't complain about getting paid to do nothing. If the day is like last week, I'll be prepared with more reading material to pass the time. Then again, maybe I'll get lucky, and be needed to fill in where the system gets overloaded with passengers. In either event, it'll probably be an uneventful day.

GRAND CANYON COMMUNITY

We're near the 3 week mark since we first arrived here at the South Rim in the Grand Canyon National Park, on May the 16th. In that time, we've become better acquainted with the community, learning where everything is, and learning exactly what is, and what isn't here.

Due to it's relatively isolated location, if you need to purchase anything more than the basics, it requires a drive into either Williams (65 miles), or Flagstaff (75 miles). Our grocery store, run by Patty's employer, has a little bit of everything, but it's the only game in town. Unlike our 4 summers in Skagway, Alaska, where we had a hardware store, and a few other specialty stores, there are none of those here at the South Rim. Planning ahead becomes a little more critical, when much of what you might need is at least an hour drive away.

The numbers of workers who reside here, both year round, and seasonally, is much higher than meets the eye. The number that keeps surfacing is around 2,000 residents, but I'm not sure if that's the average, or the high number during the summer. In any event, there are enough people here to support a combined grade school and high school. 11 seniors just graduated a few days ago. Reminds me of the small graduating classes in Skagway, that was almost always less than 10 kids.

So far, living and working here at the Grand Canyon is going very well, and we've already had a few discussions about returning again next summer. We'll see how the rest of the season goes, and make that decision much later in the year. My job ends on Sep 9th, and Patty's ends around the same time. The way things are going, those dates will be here before we know it!

NEIGHBORLY HORNS

No, not the kind that go beep, beep, but the kind that grow out of the heads of the Rocky Mountain Elk. Yep, these guys are also our neighbors here at the Grand Canyon National Park. A few days ago, there were 7 females grazing around our motor home, and Sami learned first hand, that the front hooves can be dangerous if you get too close.

At first, I was oblivious to this guys presence, as I was on the other side of the motor home washing the jeep. One of my two legged neighbors was riding his bicycle when he stopped and pointed out the four legged neighbor. We both watched from a distance, then I took these pictures. As I mentioned before, the Elk and Deer in the park are humanized, and due to their close contact with people, have very little fear of us. We see them just about every day, but it's still amazing when you are this close to these magnificent creatures.

The tree next to our neighbors trailer seems to be one of the Elk's favorite snacks

My guess is that this guy weighs in at about 5-700 pounds, and his partner, peaking around the corner, was only slightly smaller.

Several years ago, Patty and I were parked near Jasper, Alberta during the Elk mating season, and we witnessed a much more aggressive male Elk, as he tried to keep the females under his control. Not sure when that time period is, but if it's during the next 3 months, these guys will be getting a lot more space from me. For now, it's always a treat to be up close and personal with these neighbors.

STEAMIN TO THE RIM

Yesterday was my early workday for the week, starting at 8:25 am. While driving the Village (Blue) Route, a little before noon, I discovered that the Grand Canyon Railway had used one of their steam engines to bring the train from Williams to the South Rim. I took these two photos from our bus stop at the Bright Angel Lodge, and they're not the best shots, but at least you can see #4960 in front of the train.

The Grand Canyon Railway, like many short line railroads, has a history of boom and bust periods, and despite economic conditions, is currently riding a wave of prosperity.

In 1901, the Santa Fe Railroad completed the 64 mile line from Williams to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. A few years later, they built the famous El Tovar Hotel on the rim of the canyon.
For several decades, the railroad was the primary reason that hundreds of thousands of people were able to visit the Grand Canyon. When the automobile became more and more dominant as the publics transportation choice, many small railroads started to disappear. In 1968, the last passenger train from Williams carried 3 passengers, and the decision by Santa Fe to discontinue service was an easy one.

For about 20 years, there was talk about abandoning the line, but fortunately the rails were never pulled up. In 1988, Max and Thelma Biegert purchased the line, and restarted passenger service to the South Rim in 1989. They were responsible for rehabilitating not only the railroad, but also the Williams Depot and other assets like the Williams Hotel.

Increased ridership has continued through the last 25 years, and today, the annual passenger count is several hundred thousand, putting the Grand Canyon Railway in the top 5 of North American scenic railway excursions. In 2006, the railroad and it's assets were sold to Xanterra Corp. who is the primary concessionaire at the South Rim. Due primarily to higher costs, Xanterra made a decision to discontinue usage of the steam engines. However, they have brought the steam engine out a few times during the summer, I suspect due to increasing demand from the public.

Yesterday was one of those days when the sound of the steam engine and it's distinctive whistle, was once again seen and heard here at the Grand Canyon.

CHP MEMORIES

In my last "memories" post, I wrote that after working in the L.A. area for almost 4 years, I scored a transfer to the Santa Cruz Office. Getting out of the smog and congested freeways of Southern California was almost like starting over again, with a clean slate. I had returned to the area where I went to High School, and an area that I knew quite well. Except for the coastal fog, it was really nice to see blue skies once again.

I remember one particular evening when I started the graveyard shift, our briefing consisted mostly about illegal drag racing on the coast highway about 5 miles north of Santa Cruz. This was an ongoing issue that seemed to be getting more and more attention from various sources. There was even an article in the local paper about how this 4 lane stretch of Hwy 1 had become a hot spot for street racers, and hundreds of people were either participating or spectating, almost on a nightly basis during the summer months.

Due to the media coverage, the spotlight was cast on our commander to do something before someone was injured or killed. To say that the pressure was on for something to be done, would be putting it mildly. The problem for us was that there was only one way out to this temporary dragstrip, and that was to go through the city of Santa Cruz, and north on the coast highway. Every time we would go through town, the spotters who were positioned just north of town would use radios and warn the racers that the black and whites were on the way. There were countless times when we would show up, and see nothing but a crowd of people, with cars parked all along the highway. Nothing illegal about that, even though we knew what was going on. The key was to witness an actual race taking place, then everyone in the area would be in violation of the vehicle code, even the spectators.

My partner and I decided that it was time to take some of the pressure off, and find a way to get out there without anyone seeing us. We decided to try a simple tactic of coming in from the north, which required us to take a lot of back roads through the Santa Cruz mountains. We hadn't tried this before, due to the length of time required to navigate these back roads to a position where we would be north of the action.

It was a Saturday night and on a hunch that the racing would be happening, we took off right from the office, and set a course through the Santa Cruz mountains. It seems like it took us forever to reach the coast, but in reality, it probably was only about an hour. We intersected the coast highway well north of the dragstrip, and headed south, hoping to disrupt the action, and send a message.

About a mile north of the problem area, we could see lots of lights, indicating that something was happening. We pulled over and called our other graveyard car, in addition to putting out a call for assistance from the Sheriff's department. I figured that if we were going to make an impact, we were going to do it in as big a way as possible. While we waited for the cavalry to get in position at the north end of Santa Cruz, we had crept south to a point where we could actually identify the vehicles participating in the races. We were blacked out, and had inched our way along the shoulder where we watched several races, making notes on each vehicle involved. From our position, we couldn't tell how many people were in attendance, but it looked like there were several dozen vehicles, and perhaps a hundred or more spectators.

When our reinforcements were in position, we pulled out on the highway just as two more cars were lining up to race. Still blacked out, we were able to pull up almost right behind the two racers, and that's when we turned the world RED! The activation of our single red spotlight on the two vehicles in front of us, caused an instant flurry of activity. People were running all over the place, getting in their vehicles, and stampeding out of Dodge as quickly as possible. What they didn't know, was that at the same time we turned that section of Hwy 1 red, the cavalry was setting up a roadblock just north of Santa Cruz. With our vehicle descriptions, several drivers who were headed back into town, were cited for engaging in speed contests. We pulled over both of the vehicles who were getting ready to burn rubber, and both drivers were taken into custody.

The offense of engaging in a speed contest was, and probably still is a discretionary misdemeanor. What that means is that the officer has the discretion of either issuing a citation, or making a physical arrest. We knew that this story would make a splash in the local newspaper, so our intent was to make as big a wave as possible.

Two days later, the story in the newspaper was how the CHP and the Sheriff's Department had busted up the illegal drag racing out on the coast highway. Our Captain gave my partner and I credit for the bust, but more importantly, the media coverage of the event sent a message that illegal street racing on Highway 1 had become a whole lot riskier.

The irony of this event is that when I was a teenager, attending Watsonville High School in southern Santa Cruz County, I had been a participant in several drag races, and a spectator in many more, on this lonely stretch of Highway 1, north of Santa Cruz, CA.

SAMI'S ROAD

When you're 13 1/2, long walks require a break once in awhile

Sami's Road

When we are at our winter home in Lake Havasu City, AZ., letting Sami outside to do her business, is as simple as opening the patio sliding door. Whenever we are traveling, or parked as we now are for the summer, the little dog must be taken on walks to accomplish the same goal.

Soon after we arrived I discovered this dirt road that starts about 100 feet away from the motor home. This has now become "Sami's Road", and she is quickly learning all of the smells along it's path. I don't understand how, or why a dog's nose is connected to their ability to take care of business, but their definitely is some sort of link between the two. In fact, if the right odors are not present, often the walks sometimes seem to take forever. I suspect most of the dog owners know what I'm talking about.

These last pictures are an example of some of the flora and fauna along "Sami's Road". This high desert environment, at 7,000 feet above sea level, has some unusual plants and vegetation. The South Rim is relatively dry in terms of lakes, streams, or springs, and the water table is so far down, that it's impractical to drill any type of well. For many years, all of the water consumed at the South Rim was hauled in by the railroad in tank cars. Conversely, the North Rim of the canyon at approx. 8,000 feet, has an abundance of water. At some point quite a few years ago, a water pipeline was constructed, that runs from the North Rim down into the canyon near Phantom Ranch, and loosely follows the Bright Angel Trail up to the South Rim. We have never been to the North Rim, but I'm told that even though it's only about 13 miles as the Condor flies, the environment is totally different.

On another subject, Patty had a recent conversation with one of the helicopter pilots, and he told her that there was a "locals" program where we could fly for free, or for almost free. Since that's on our list of things to do, that was good news, and something that we'll be taking advantage off.

WAITING FOR THE CALL

Yesterday was my second day on the job (yes, I really do have a job), after going through a week of intense training. During the course of the week, I have 5 different routes, and on Wednesday, the route is called the "Cover Bus". Essentially, this is a backup route that is utilized to fill in where the system gets overloaded with passengers. I guess you could also call this route the Cavalry, or the re-enforcement bus. Nothing complicated, just a matter of getting ready to roll, and waiting for the supervisor to call on the radio.

Killing time and listening to the radio

Well, I waited, and I waited, and yes, I waited some more for that radio call! From about 12:30 pm, to about 7:30 pm, I listened intently to the radio traffic, but no call came to the Cover Bus. As time passed, I began to feel more and more like the long lost orphan that nobody wanted. Fortunately, I was warned that taking a book, or something to read, might just be a lifesaver. For sure, good ole John Steinbeck was a welcome companion yesterday, as I waited for the call.

Not knowing when, or if the radio call was going to come, I got somewhat creative with the camera, mostly as a way to kill some time. These pictures show "my office" in a little more detail, and where I'll be spending a lot of time during the next 3 months.

All geared up and ready to roll, but nowhere to go.

I think it was around 7:35 pm, the ready crackled "Cover Bus, S2"
(S2 is the supervisor). After I answered, I was instructed to pick up passengers that were being dropped off at the Red Route transfer, and run the Blue (Village) Route up to the visitors center.

So, after sitting for 7 hours, I carried some passengers for about 20 minutes, and my day was done. Not the most ideal way to spend the workday, but hey, the pay is the same, and sometimes you
just have to take the bad with the good, and so far, it's been overwhelmingly good.

When I returned to the yard, the supervisor said that more often than not, the Cover Bus is busy putting out fires during most of the shift. Unfortunately, yesterday just wasn't one of those days.

Today, I drive the Blue Route (Village) all day, and with the sun peaking above the horizon, on what appears to be a cloudless day, I suspect my shift today will pass much faster than yesterday.

SAMI'S NEW FRIENDS

This picture was taken right before the Elk struck Sami on the head with one of her front hooves.

Well, not exactly! During our morning walk today, we first encountered 7 female Rocky Mountain Elk, just outside the motor home. Then, a few steps later, we stumbled on about the same number of Mule Deer.

Sami's first instinct with rabbits, squirrels, cats, and other small animals is to give chase. The more they run, the more she pulls on her leash like a sled dog. Sometimes she tries the same tactic with larger animals such as horses or cows. When they don't run, the game is over as far as she's concerned. This morning, it was more like let me smell you, and then you can go on eating or doing whatever Elk and Deer do. She got nose to nose with a couple of the Elk, and just before we were ready to go back in the motor home, the one pictured above, gave Sam a bop on the head with one of her front hooves. That caused an instant yelp, and a quick retreat. If dogs could think like us, she was probably feeling like, OK, game over, I don't want to play anymore.

The leash we have is 16 feet long, so that is the distance I am from most of these animals, when I took the pictures. These close encounters are pretty routine around here, as they are in many of the National Parks. The animals soon learn that they have nothing to fear from us humans, and thus, they become humanized. Getting these pictures of Sami with the Elk and Deer were not routine for us, and after the one Elk gave Sami the front legged greeting, I suspect she will have a little more respect for these large critters.

Seeing the Elk and Deer are almost a daily occurrence here in Grand Canyon National Park. While I was driving the Hermits Route Yesterday, I had to slow the bus on about 5 different occasions, due to Elk near the road. A few days ago, I learned that 25 mountain lions (cougars) have been captured, collared, and are being monitored at, or near the South Rim. The driver who trained me, has seen 2 mountain lions in his 5 years of living year round in the Park.

As my bucket list gets shorter, the one thing that will remain near the top, is the sighting of a mountain lion in the wild. Even if it's just a glimpse, as one runs across the road, then I'll be a happy camper. Perhaps I'll get lucky this summer.

These Mule Deer weren't exactly happy to have Sami intruding into their space

The weather here at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon has been almost ideal as far as I'm concerned. I think Patty would like it to be a little warmer, but daytime temps in the mid 60's to the mid 70's fit right into my wheelhouse. At 7,000 feet elevation, it typically cools down into the 40's at night. In the 2 weeks that we've been here, the air conditioning has remained off, and I hope it stays that way through most of the summer.