High and dry vs. wet.

We're back at the creek after a sweaty-palm landing in thick clouds and rain, with a couple of jolts and a second try at landing by the pilot who said, if not in so many words, "Oops, I missed my turn."

It is good to be on land again, even if it isn't dry land.

The afternoon we got back, I left for the supermarket but turned around mid-stream, so to speak.  Brices Creek Road and Madam Moore's were in places awash with overrun that could have deepened to impassable by the time I returned with organic milk and bread.  So I went back to trusty ol' Merchant's for hot dogs and (farmer owned) Maola 2%.

School is still canceled in nearby Vanceboro and some other counties due to flooding. The creek rose high enough to cover our dock, but has since receded. It's still over the federal forest marker post, our usual gauge.  Saturday was sunny enough for morning tennis but yesterday and today are overcast, cool, and dampish. So I baked cranberry scones for breakfast.

We enjoyed our holiday so much that we are thinking about returning to Grand Canyon in a couple of years to do more hiking, now that we have the lay of the land.  We wouldn't mind getting our same cabin again, although within the various accommodation groups, room assignments are allegedly random.  This was our view from 6151, Bright Angel Lodge:

Now, even without Photoshop, that's a little deceptive because our window also overlooked a gathering spot for fellow tourists, but we also enjoyed the people-watching (and listening, although most canyon-watchers are remarkably reverent.  We did hear one woman sharing with a tour-group companion that her nephew died in a hay baling accident, and her son got hit with both a baseball bat and a golf club in his youth).

For a more hushed and sublime (in the Romantic sense) Canyon experience, we walked a mile to Shoshone Point which a guidebook recommends for its solitude.  When we arrived, another couple was just leaving, so we did indeed have the Point and its vista hauntingly to ourselves.  Tim did venture out onto the jutting rock (sheer cliff, no guardrails, as in much of the Park) until his acrophobia kicked in.  I lingered long enough to shoot video (it pans a little fast--I'm not used to shooting "movies"--so don't get dizzy!) just to share the astounding 350-degree view.  However, Blogger's getting errors when I try to upload, so I'll have to do it later.