{"id":3460,"date":"2014-12-31T11:54:38","date_gmt":"2014-12-31T16:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/?p=3460"},"modified":"2014-12-31T11:57:10","modified_gmt":"2014-12-31T16:57:10","slug":"grand-canyon-sunset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/12\/grand-canyon-sunset.html","title":{"rendered":"Grand Canyon: Stunning Sunset"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Nothing<\/a>

Nothing like it in the world…everybody needs to see the beauty of a Grand Canyon sunset.<\/p><\/div>\n

I am resuming my summer travels writing…although we’re now nearly 6 months departed from this trip. I need need need to get these memories written down so I don’t forget everything.<\/p>\n

I have a couple weeks until my next block of work begins at the Air Force Academy, so I figured I’d use this time to continue catching up. I had arranged my photo albums based on my blog posts, so it’s a little less chaotic than it might have been with a huge clump of photos.<\/p>\n

This post is about the stunning Grand Canyon sunset. There are two things every visitor needs to do: hike down below the rim and see a sunset. The amazing colors in the geology and sky are worth the effort. Take a good camera, you’ll want to have fun with the settings to try to capture the colors.<\/p>\n

Only 5% of visitors go below the rim, but I’m convinced many many many more people attempt to see the sunset. Dave and I chose Mather Point to view the sunset but I can’t remember exactly why. Maybe because there was ample parking at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center (there is!). We arrived about 30 minutes before sunset.<\/p>\n

Apparently everyone else was thinking the same thing:<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>

This is how Mather Point looks on any good-weather day at sunset. You have to fight for an unobstructed view.<\/p><\/div>\n

It only got more crowded as sunset approached:<\/p>\n

\"So...many...people...\"<\/a>

So…many…people…who wear fishnet stockings and cutoff jeans with the pockets hanging down (smh.)<\/p><\/div>\n

Between Dave and me, we found several locations where we could take unobstructed photographs. We\u00a0took well over 100 photos of the sunset. Here are some of my favorites:<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0223\"<\/a>

Can you see the two people standing in the very center?<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_0239\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0233\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0257\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Nothing<\/a>

I love the purple hues that appeared later in the sunset.<\/p><\/div>\n

Google had some fun with the sunset itself, trying to turn it into a time lapse.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0228-MOTION\"<\/a>

Can you see the rain shower pass through from left to right? How about the people climbing up and down the ridge towards the left?<\/p><\/div>\n

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If you take a trip to the Grand Canyon, plan for a visit to the rim to see a sunset. The colors are amazing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am resuming my summer travels writing…although we’re now nearly 6 months departed from this trip. I need need need to get these memories written down so I don’t forget everything. I have a couple weeks until my next block of work begins at the Air Force Academy, so I figured I’d use this time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[522,621,555],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ycQ0-TO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3281,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/07\/a-grand-canyon-preview.html","url_meta":{"origin":3460,"position":0},"title":"A Grand Canyon Preview","date":"29 July 14","format":false,"excerpt":"I \u00a0have several posts to write about our trip out west in June, but between my full time work and making sure the kids are squared away this summer, I've been quite slow. Feel free to browse these Grand Canyon photo albums and at the end of this post I'll\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"arizona\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/IMG_9772-1-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3567,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2015\/01\/june-july-vacation-summary.html","url_meta":{"origin":3460,"position":1},"title":"June\/July 2014 Vacation Summary","date":"01 January 15","format":false,"excerpt":"Our June\/July 2014 summer vacation to the American southwest was fun and filled with National Park goodness. We are grateful for\u00a0the National Park Service's \"Military Annual Pass\" program which saved us nearly $80 in entrance fees on this trip. Here's the summary of everything we did: Drive to Durango Durango\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"arizona\"","img":{"alt_text":"IMG_9830","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IMG_9830-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3366,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/09\/grand-canyon-first-impressions.html","url_meta":{"origin":3460,"position":2},"title":"Grand Canyon: First Impressions","date":"01 September 14","format":false,"excerpt":"The day we stopped at Mesa Verde National Park and the Four Corners Monument, we had to eventually make it to the Grand Canyon campground. It's only about 5-6 hours worth of driving from Durango, but we made several stops. So we were hard pressed to get to the campsite\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"arizona\"","img":{"alt_text":"Our first views of the Grand Canyon were breathtaking.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/DSC_0094-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3388,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/09\/grand-canyon-hermit-trail-hermits-rest.html","url_meta":{"origin":3460,"position":3},"title":"Grand Canyon: The Hermit Trail & Hermit’s Rest","date":"01 September 14","format":false,"excerpt":"We had made it clear to the boys that we would be hiking at least part of our two days at the Grand Canyon. I saw a list of family-friendly activities in the park summer guide. We chose the Junior Ranger Family Adventure Program, in which families can descend down\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"grand canyon\"","img":{"alt_text":"Hermit's Rest is on the far western end of the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/IMG_9685-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3377,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/09\/grand-canyon-elk.html","url_meta":{"origin":3460,"position":4},"title":"Grand Canyon: Mather Campground Elk!","date":"01 September 14","format":false,"excerpt":"We arrived at our campsite with plenty of time to set up camp. We enjoyed a relaxing evening with a camp stove dinner (I can't remember what, probably burgers and hot dogs). We had to walk 1-2 campsites over to reach the restroom building. On one of our walks to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"elk\"","img":{"alt_text":"DSC_0113","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/DSC_0113-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3474,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/12\/grand-canyon-junior-ranger.html","url_meta":{"origin":3460,"position":5},"title":"Grand Canyon: Our Junior Ranger","date":"31 December 14","format":false,"excerpt":"Timmy earned his first National Park Service Junior Ranger badge while we were at the Grand Canyon. He was required to complete several age-appropriate activities in a workbook (which includes things like taking observations, coloring pictures, answering questions, and writing a poem about the park), attend an age-appropriate Ranger-led program,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"grand canyon\"","img":{"alt_text":"Timmy performed all the tasks to earn Junior Ranger. He then had to pledge to respect nature and the environment before earning his Junior Ranger badge.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/DSC_0277-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3460"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3460"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3473,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3460\/revisions\/3473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}