Grand Canyon Day 3

Today we started with a quick trip to Desert View Tower. It gave some great panoramic views and we got another stamp for our park passport. 

Then it was time to load our packs and catch the 1pm shuttle to the north rim. It was an hour late so we were a little upset, but the owner herself picked us up in her SUV and gave us so much great history of the land on the 4 hour drive over. Plus, since we were on a bus we were able to go a bit faster and got there the same time as the bus did! AND the other 2 in the SUV with us were willing to share a shuttle to the trailhead at 4am giving us all an earlier start time. Thank you, Jesus! It worked out perfect! We got checked into Sam’s cabin which was adorable and ate dinner at the lodge. Then is was off to bed! We have a big day ahead! 

Grand Canyon Day 2

Today we made it to the canyon!! We spent the day doing all the touristy things. We started at the visitors center. We listened to a history presentation, got our park passport stamped and then walked to Mather Point to the most amazing views I’ve ever seen. We took pictures and saw some wild life. The elk are just walking around and the squirrels want to try to get in your lap. 

The we went further into Canyon Village where we shopped and ate at the historic El Tovar restaurant. We also decided to see what the end of Bight Angel Trail looked like so we would know our finishing point for Tuesday so we hike down that trail a bit. We met several groups of hikers coming up from doing exactly what we will be doing so we talked with them and encouraged them along. 

Last, we caught a shuttle up to Hopi Point to watch the sunset. It’s hard for pictures to really do it justice and there is no way to capture how big it is in one shot. God’s handiwork is truly amazing! On the way back we happened to see the moon eclipse that was breathtaking, as well. 

Grand Canyon Day 1

Day 1 started with an early morning start at the airport. We arrived in Phoenix, found our Jeep for the week and headed out! We took several detours in the 3 hour drive towards Flagstaff. Our first stop was at Montezuma Castle National Monument. These ancient ruins are over 700 years old. It’s amazing to think this was once a vibrant community of people. 

Our second stop was in Sedona. As we were driving in we could see the beautiful colors of Sedona from far off. It was breathtaking!  We found a short 2 mile hike called Chimney Rock Pass to shake off the jet lag and acclimate to the elevation. Just driving around the town we could tell that it was pretty boogie and in all our sweat and hiking gear we decided to make our way to Flagstaff to clean up and rest. We had a full day! 

Texas State Graduate

Baylee has graduated from Texas State. It was fun to go watch her walk across the stage and get her diploma. Next she will be starting her career at China Spring as a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher.