When we last left the Daughters Courageous, they had made it to the Painted Desert, and planned to get up early the following morning to see the sunrise there. They describe waking very early, being a bit drowsy, but the majestic colors of the sunrise waking them up. Following the sunrise, they drove on to the Petrified Forest where they spent a few hours exploring the trails and listening to lectures there.
Then it was on to the Grand Canyon. . . this is truly the part of the trip the earned them the name "the Daughters Courageous". Route 66 carried the girls through Winslow, Arizona, where they stopped for some souvenir shopping, then took them on to the Canyon. After arriving, settling in their cabin and getting their first view of the Grand Canyon, they decided to check out the evening entertainment. Cowboys showed off their roping skills, and a movie about the mule rides down the canyon topped off the evening. The movie gave the girls the idea that the mule ride would be fun, so the following morning, they saddled up for a guided tour down the canyon on Missouri Mules.
Years later when I visited the Grand Canyon, I saw the mule riders on their trip back up the canyon while I was perusing the trail down the canyon. It looked terrifying to me, as the trail is narrow and any misstep by the mule could be disasterous. I sent a post card home to my Grandma telling her that I couldn't believe she had done that, and how I am not nearly as brave as she was. Turns out that she was not a fan of the mule ride, that she was terrified too, and hated the mule, but she did it for the experience and to say she rode a mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon!
In contrast to my post card, the one that my Grandma sent home from the Grand Canyon didn't mention the mule ride: "Dear Folks, We came into the Grand Canyon yesterday afternoon about 4:30. Before coming here we went to the Petrified Forest. Nothing I have ever seen can compare in beauty to Grand Canyon. We spent all day here today. Expect to leave for Boulder Dam and Los Angeles tomorrow. Alberta."
Back to the Mules . . . The Mule tour took the Daughters Courageous zig zagging down the side of the Canyon to the Colorado River Bed. Once at the bottom of the Canyon, the girls were so moved that they began to sing a verse of "God Bless America" to which the others in the party joined in. Thinking of what that moment must have been like gives me chills. They returned to the Canyon Rim about 5:30 and prepared for their evening out . . . which will have to be saved for another installment!
