# 7 – The Grand Canyon

There are quite a few people that daily, weekly, monthly, annually seem to flock to the Grand Canyon. Droves and droves of vans and tour buses pay the twenty-dollar entrance fee every day, and many will choose to sleep in the hotels on the property. Somehow, it seems that the area became one of the archetypal stops on the great American road trip. It was originally, and still is, celebrated for its physical and aesthetic beauty, especially in its enormity. I think another reason that it became such a tourist hot spot is its location in the west, where families from the east can do this sort of “westward expansion” pilgrimage of sorts as a seeming ode to the early settlers of the US. After a while of it becoming a national park and many visitors coming, it gained an infamous reputation where you almost have to go for any sort of road trip. I’m sure movies like National Lampoon’s Family Vacation helps and advertisements for the Hover Round, the mechanical chair that takes Vernice and Joy all the way from their nursing homes to the side of the cliffs of the Grand Canyon.