Pics from Grand Canyon trip ...
Home & settled from trip to Grand Canyon w/ Belinda and Tyler (my sister and great-nephew respectively) ...
First ... a recap of events ...
Got into Phoenix Thursday mid-afternoon ... headed straight for the Grand Canyon ...
... drove up to the Canyon ... hit some hail ... yes, it was hailing in Arizona ... got to the campsite, set up tent and headed into the Village for dinner ... went to the "Spaghetti Western" for dinner .... worst spaghetti ever.
Went back to the campsite ... camped out in the 45 degree weather ... woke up ... Belinda decided that it was far too cold to cook breakfast ... headed to the El Tavor restaurant for breakfast ... AMAZING! Great view. Great food. Best hot chocolate EVER! Chunks of chocolate chips in the bottom ... mmmmmmmmmmm.
Went on the bus tour from the Village to Hermit's Rest (towards the West Rim of the Canyon) ... came back into the village ... had some lunch ... went back to the campsite ... saw a giant Elk (pictures to come tomorrow) ... took naps ... made dinner ... headed to the Campfire Circle to hear a story about "Drip" ... went out to Mather Point for a full-moon walk. The canyon looked beautiful in the full moon-light.
Went back to the campsite, slept (this time with the heater in the tent) ... woke up ... it was pouring! ... headed into the Village for breakfast ... went on a Fossil walk ... headed to the campsite ... made lunch ... packed up camp ... headed to Phoenix ...
... and now for pics ...
When we headed up to the Canyon, we noticed some bad weather in the general direction we were going (as noted in the picture below ...
... as we were driving up we encountered some bad weather, yes, that is hail on the ground in Arizona ...
... once we finally got to the Canyon and found our campsite, we (well, *I* set up camp) ...
... we stayed pretty low that night, heading into town for dinner. The next day we began wandering around the South Rim of the Grand Canyon ...
... Tyler (who is less than a month away from turning 11) saw his first squirrel ... he was VERY excited ... mentioned something about wanting to gather up a squirrel army to take over the world ... all total he saw 10 at the Canyon, which was not enough to start his army ...
... did the tourist thing for a bit and took pictures at the rim ...
... perhaps I should have mentioned this before, but our first night there (and our second), there were Elks in the woods "bugling" which is a crazy sound they make during mating season ... *this* was the bigass Elk we saw hanging out near our tent ...
... notice just how close one got to our tent ...
... we also saw some smaller woodland creatures ...
... and some flying ones ...
.... and the rest are just pretty pictures I took near the Canyon - enjoy!
... and this last one I walked almost a mile just to take just for Forrest ...
It was a really good weekend ... I may not always like my family, but this weekend was pretty good. I took over 350 pictures, so these 16 or so don't quite give the weekend justice, but it's a pretty good preview about the fun that was had.
Tyler (my great-nephew) saw his first squirrel. We met some cool "camper-neighbors." Tyler became a Jr. Park Ranger. We had fun together as a family. :)
First ... a recap of events ...
Got into Phoenix Thursday mid-afternoon ... headed straight for the Grand Canyon ...
... drove up to the Canyon ... hit some hail ... yes, it was hailing in Arizona ... got to the campsite, set up tent and headed into the Village for dinner ... went to the "Spaghetti Western" for dinner .... worst spaghetti ever.
Went back to the campsite ... camped out in the 45 degree weather ... woke up ... Belinda decided that it was far too cold to cook breakfast ... headed to the El Tavor restaurant for breakfast ... AMAZING! Great view. Great food. Best hot chocolate EVER! Chunks of chocolate chips in the bottom ... mmmmmmmmmmm.
Went on the bus tour from the Village to Hermit's Rest (towards the West Rim of the Canyon) ... came back into the village ... had some lunch ... went back to the campsite ... saw a giant Elk (pictures to come tomorrow) ... took naps ... made dinner ... headed to the Campfire Circle to hear a story about "Drip" ... went out to Mather Point for a full-moon walk. The canyon looked beautiful in the full moon-light.
Went back to the campsite, slept (this time with the heater in the tent) ... woke up ... it was pouring! ... headed into the Village for breakfast ... went on a Fossil walk ... headed to the campsite ... made lunch ... packed up camp ... headed to Phoenix ...
... and now for pics ...
When we headed up to the Canyon, we noticed some bad weather in the general direction we were going (as noted in the picture below ...
... as we were driving up we encountered some bad weather, yes, that is hail on the ground in Arizona ...
... once we finally got to the Canyon and found our campsite, we (well, *I* set up camp) ...
... we stayed pretty low that night, heading into town for dinner. The next day we began wandering around the South Rim of the Grand Canyon ...
... Tyler (who is less than a month away from turning 11) saw his first squirrel ... he was VERY excited ... mentioned something about wanting to gather up a squirrel army to take over the world ... all total he saw 10 at the Canyon, which was not enough to start his army ...
... did the tourist thing for a bit and took pictures at the rim ...
... perhaps I should have mentioned this before, but our first night there (and our second), there were Elks in the woods "bugling" which is a crazy sound they make during mating season ... *this* was the bigass Elk we saw hanging out near our tent ...
... notice just how close one got to our tent ...
... we also saw some smaller woodland creatures ...
... and some flying ones ...
.... and the rest are just pretty pictures I took near the Canyon - enjoy!
... and this last one I walked almost a mile just to take just for Forrest ...
It was a really good weekend ... I may not always like my family, but this weekend was pretty good. I took over 350 pictures, so these 16 or so don't quite give the weekend justice, but it's a pretty good preview about the fun that was had.
Tyler (my great-nephew) saw his first squirrel. We met some cool "camper-neighbors." Tyler became a Jr. Park Ranger. We had fun together as a family. :)