First memory of the Grand Canyon

My first memory of the Grand Canyon would be in 1956 when I was 8 years old and traveling back from Santa Fe, New Mexico from a church conference there. I have a photo of my mother and I and I was wearing a light blue outfit with a light Blue Cowboy hat that I had talked my parents into buying for me on the long trip back to Los Angeles from Santa Fe, new Mexico.

Even now it says it is 12 hours and 48 minutes to drive either direction even on the much better highways we have now than in 1956. Back then I believe it was somewhere between 15 and 18 hours of driving so we usually drove it in 2 days or 3 days time and stayed in motels along the way then. One time I remember the motel owner had a horse and he let me ride the horse bareback while he led it. That was a really big deal for an 8 year old who fancied himself a cowboy like Roy Rogers in 1956.