6 flags over a Canyon
Arizona is a hot spot for super cool things to see! Yesterday we left Red Rock New Mexico and arrived in Arizona to first take on the Petrified Forest National Park. Seeing the colors in the painted desert and the trees that are now essentially rocks is a really cool experience. There would be miles of various shades of red and then they would suddenly turn to tones of blue and purple. Neat huh? Have I mentioned that God makes some crazy cool stuff?
Beyond the Petrified Forest we made a quick stop at the Walnut Canyon National Monument and then on to our Grand Canyon spot.
We set up camp and hit the road north a few more miles to see what we came for. To say that we underestimated the vastness of the Grand Canyon is a great understatement. That thing is HUGE! Pictures really don’t do justice to its size and beauty (though we will try to do it some kind of justice by showing you some of Evan’s pictures below). Also not shown in pictures: the CRAZY AMOUNT OF PEOPLE that visit that great big hole everyday. Dude, it’s like 6 Flags but your underwear isn’t soaking wet from the water rides and there is less cotton candy. Luckily for us, however, we didn’t get stuck in the 1.5 hour line to get into the park that most people are experiencing this weekend. We arrived at the Grand Canyon at 5:00 yesterday afternoon - which turned out to only be 4:00 once we found out Arizona doesn’t do the whole Daylight savings time thing…our clocks and heads are so messed up at this point - and there were still tons of people already in the park but just a 9 minute wait for us to enter. When Evan returned early this morning there were a total of 7 cars ahead of him and literally a miles worth of cars attempting to enter when we left at lunch. Grand Canyon tip: go early or late and for all that is good, keep your sanity by not trying to go in the middle of the day.
While Evan went back today to do a little more strenuous hiking and photo taking the kids and I stayed at the campground to enjoy its amenities and have an “off day” of sorts. You don’t realize how much driving wears on you until you do it all day everyday for a week and turn around and realize that though the adventure has been incredible, the lack of sleep and normality has gotten yourself and your cubs in a temporary state of cranky. We had a good breakfast and some down time and followed it up with dodgeball (kid vs kid I promise), playground time and a popsicle. We are feeling much better. Phoenix was excluded from partaking in these special treats but is feeling extra smiley today as to not be in a carseat and still thinks his milk is top notch.
We’re going to enjoy the comforts of home tonight with a good supper and a movie before preparing for church tomorrow (it’s Easter yall!) and our drive to the Mojave Desert.
Wrap up: Arizona is cool. There is red dirt everywhere. God makes unfathomable stuff. Relaxing and exploring and relaxing are two sides of the “necessary in life” coin.