February 17 - 20 February 21 February 22 February 23 February 24 February 25 February 26 February 27 February 28 March 1 March 2 March 3 March 4 March 5 - 7 March 8 - 11	Tuesday February 21, 2006 After a quick stop at an outdoor shop in Flagstaff for some things we would need for the hike, we continued on to the Grand Canyon. Our reservations there start on Wednesday, so we had made up the time we had lost in Arkansas and Oklahoma. We stopped by the Bright Angel Lodge to see if we could get a room for the night, hoping to avoid another unpack/pack the car cycle. The only rooms available were small ones with the shower and commodes down the hall... No thanks. So, we asked if they had the phone numbers for any of the hotels in Tusayan, the village just outside the park boundaries. Of course they did. However, would we consider possibly staying at Yavapai Lodge, which is inside the park boundaries, just not near the Rim? They had rooms available. So, we got reservations there (couldn’t check in until after 4) and took care of all the paperwork for our stay at Phantom Ranch, like checking in at the Phantom desk, finding out where to drop our duffle off, trail conditions, etc, then we went exploring. Well, sort of. Our first stop was the marketplace at the Grand Canyon where we found the rest of what we needed for the hike. Amazingly enough, the outdoor shop hadn’t had any Gookinaid, a powder to add to water to help replace electrolytes when hiking. The market had a bunch. We then over to the laundromat for a couple of quick loads of wash and to pay some bills... How exciting!!! By the time we finished that, it was close enough to 4 pm for us to check into the Yavapai Lodge. We dropped off most of the stuff in the car and immediately headed for our selected overlooks - time for the light to start getting good in the canyon. We stopped at several overlooks and stayed out for sunset, then dinner. All three of the photos above were taken from Hopi Point as the sun slowly descended in the West. We then returned to the room to make some sense of the place and collapse for the night. Next...