Grand Canyon
When you show up to the rental car lot and can snag a BMW for the price of a Sentra, it's hard to complain about the start of the day. As a solo diner, managed to grab the last free bar seat at a downright packed Hash Kitchen, saving myself what would have otherwise been an hour of waiting. Hash Kitchen has an impressive Bloody Mary bar and from the crowd, an equally popular cocktail menu, although the food definitely couldn't keep pace with the drinks.
The drive from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon wasn't too bad, and the south rim trail at the Grand Canyon lived up to promises of easy accessibility. Almost entirely flat, beautifully paved, and beautiful views everywhere. Probably should have arrived an hour earlier to soak them in!
That said, there was one issue: haze.
It would persist the entire trip, and that meant conditions were less than ideal. Still a nice sunset at Hopi Point, but not conductive to photography. *sigh* Can't be too choosy, just like dinner-- Tusayan has virtually no choices aside from bad American food, so fast food it was.