Pea Soup!

PEA SOUP!
Here we are standing at the edge of 1 of the 7 natural Wonders of the World. All we can see is thick, white, blinding fog. We stayed 3 days in Williams, Arizona (gateway to Grand Canyon), hoping for a sunny day to take a tour of Grand Canyon with Marvelous Marv (MM) as recommended by friends. We called MM early this morning to suggest changing our date. We checked the internet at the Visitor’s Centre where we find out the Grand Canyon is expecting thunderstorms and rain today – 70% chance. The ticket for the tour is $85 each. We have 5 weeks left, and the WW (Grand Canyon) is on our Bucket List! We are inclined to wait. MM tells us that he has 3 others going, and if we back out the tour is off (minimum 4 people). Don’t you think that such heart twisting ethical decisions should be on the “not on the sabbatical” list?? Me too!

Of course you know what we chose – our tripmates tipped the scale on decision making. MM assured us that seeing WW is better with “weather”. It is downright boring on a sunny, blue sky kind of day. The Irish in me is tempted to call this malarkey (sp?). On the way the rains came harder and harder, slowing as we approached the WW entrance kiosk. The big, bold sign says, “Bad Weather Conditions” – no refunds. This does not bode well.

Standing at the first viewpoint, seeing 2 feet maybe in front of our faces, and no canyon in sight, we are starting to wonder if MM is really Moneymaker Marv. Marv says, “can’t change Mother Nature; could be socked in like this for a week”!! Where was that info at 7 am this morning? All the faces around us are forlorn. I am starting to plan our return trip after Las Vegas.

MM diverts our soul-sinking spirits with his wealth of information about the formation of WW – 2 billion years ago an earth plate carrying island arcs and the one that became North America collided and made the base of the canyon. Rivers and seas and moving mountains formed the Colorado Plateau and then the powerful Col. River cut down through the mountains forming the incredible canyon.

We think it might be incredible at this point – but so far not sure. Just as we are about to move to another destination, Divine Intervention or Marv Magic brings a sheer miracle.
The fog begins to dance and move upward in swirls of milk twisters giving us our first glimpse of the South Rim Canyon – Most Magnificent. It is this weather that in the end gives us a show rarely seen at the WW. We continue our tour as the visual sights transform from Soup to Super. Marv dazzles us with his knowledge of the WW and of all the plants and trees he identifies and shows how they have been used by the first nations people for food, clothing and medicines.

The day is a mix of cloud, more fog, little bursts of sun and blue sky and as we are leaving the heavens open up again with a steady rainfall. What timing.

Magical – Marvelous Marv truly is a great guide. We highly recommend him. At one point he took pictures of the passengers of the day, and presented us with that photo as a keepsake. So nice. Our day turned from pea soup to super; but honestly a little blue sky and sun could never make this magical place boring.