After the ranger presentation, we headed back to the visitor center on one of the shuttles. The shuttles were convenient, and the kids even found them fun!
The shuttles were often crowded and standing room only. The drivers ranged from grumpy to impossibly cheerful, such as the one woman driver who would say “Doors are closing [dramatic pause]…and the bus is rolling” after every single stop.
We checked into our respective hotels. My parents stayed at Yavapai Lodge both nights. I was unable to get a room there for both nights, so we split our stay between the Red Feather Lodge and Yavapai. The Red Feather is just outside the park, and was a little cheaper, but not by much. I would give it a 2.5 star rating. We returned to the park to meet up with my parents to eat dinner at the Yavapai cafeteria.
My expectations for the food were not too high, but it turned out to be pretty good. Baba declared the chicken pot pie “better than Marie Callender’s”. D and I split the half chicken dinner (and D had some of n’s hot dog) while Zaza and k shared a hamburger.
We also split two soft serves for dessert.
It was nice to sit by these big windows.
After dinner, we headed back to Mather Point to catch the sunset.
Some dramatic clouds were rolling in, which muted the sunset colors, but made for an interesting sky.
Afterwards, we did the Hidden Valley trail, which was another nice, easy walk.
