We were lucky enough to get a last minute booking at the El Tovar Hotel -a grand lodge in the heart of the Grand Canyon village, built in 1905, just after the railway to the Canyon was completed. Views over the Canyon from our room and a magnificent dinner in the fine dining room were highlights. (That's not our dinner remains in the photo!). Freezing cold nights, lovely warm fire surrounded by a taxidermists feast of stuffed beasts -elk, moose, deer, bear heads made for a great atmosphere.

The Canyon defies description and its miles and miles of grandeur is difficult to capture in photos. It's hard enough to take in standing at the edge. It looks like one of those surreal painted backdrops in old movies. Seeing high-flying birds of prey were many metres below us helped give some perspective. Next time, we'll go on a helicopter flight.

We were able to do a couple of short walks, and some shuttle bus trips but as previously stated - scenic views hold children's interest for limited periods. They did however enjoy meeting the rangers, who introduced them to some owls and other wildlife. The highlight was dissecting the owl "pellets" to see what they had eaten for dinner!

P.S. A short note about different senses of humour.

Crayons and paper are provided in many restaurants, and were given to our kids at El Tovar. Our server showed a party of four elegantly dressed adults to their table, then came back for us.

"I notice that those people didn't get crayons," I quipped.

"Oh no sir! The crayons are only for CHILDREN," she explained.

Fran had to explain that her extremely humorous husband was only kidding, and her glance reassured all that there would be no more kidding for several days.

If you're reading this, Paul Shaw: I remember you saying you made various extremely funny comments in the US (quite possibly even funnier than my example), nobody knew what you were talking about and after a while you decided that you might as well laugh, even if nobody else was going to. Got it.