A friend of mine told me before I left on my big birthday road trip that he took four days to see the Grand Canyon with his family, and it wasn't nearly enough. Because of that, I figured I'd be able to see one little section of the south rim, and see it well, while I was there for a full day. But, in this instance, it just wasn't true and I was able to see the length of the south rim that's under the protection of the National Park Service in the full day.

There are other sections of...