It was flat at the bottom and the sides were steep

What the USA understands better than anywhere is that not all explorers want to be intrepid.  Some of us are very content being trepid, and so the National Parks Service was formed and any breathtaking natural monument was improved by adding a good road, concession stand and gift shop.  The Grand Canyon is the biggest and best of them all.

That said, I was disappointed that it's not dual carriageway all 73 miles from Flagstaff there, meaning I sometimes had to disengage cruise control when stuck behind a tour bus, using a hand that should have been holding my latte.  But in no time we were in the middle of the harsh, awesome landscape, pulling into a convenient spot just by the RVs.  The main challenge here was remembering which parking lot we were in.

The walk to the canyon rim required some navigational skills when it came to reading signs and following arrows, and then my rugby training paid off as I rucked and mauled my way through the tourists to the prime spots on the handrail.  Even after that, nothing could take away from the sight itself; the Grand Canyon is big, in a big big way that not many things are big.  It's big.

It was only then that I could undertake a challenge that would have left Shackleton, Amundsen and Hillary quaking in their well-worn boots: taking a decent photo of a three-year-old with his grandparents. I was mostly going for bribery, with 10c the going rate for a standing-still-and-smiling shot, although various sanctions such as not getting music in the car were mentioned.  This was effective on all three subjects.  Woe betide the unfortunate tourist that wandered into frame when I was about to fire the shutter!

Thanks to the beauty of digital I got a handful of usable images out of the 20,000 I took and we made the difficult hike back to one of the many cafes for croissants and coffee, although my espresso was a little over-extracted.  As I sipped I asked Pete if he thought he'd remember this breathtaking, horizon-expanding trip when he's older.  "No," he told me without hesitation.  Exactly, I thought.  That's why I'm taking so many photos.

On the way to the rim - this one doesn't count.

Wow!

Not bad, not bad.

Better.

More wow.

"That's my grandparenting done for the day," commented Dad.

Ah, the stuff that family holidays are made of!

Wow wow.

You're not smiling, Pete.  That's only worth 5c.

Arty wow.

The Grand Canyon - only as tall as Pete.

No Grandma in the picture, no money.

Smaller side-canyon, but still wow.

And after all that, some well-deserved refreshment.