Saturday- Grand Canyon

We made it!

Our campsite was about an hour away from the canyon and the drive was beautiful, rolling hills, lots of trees. We stopped and bought buffalo jerky from roadside stand and read up on the canyon during the drive and read up on the canyon.

This is a little of what we learned. The canyon has been carved by the Colorado River. It was long a home and revered place to various tribes- mainly the Pueblo. Native Americans first brought Europeans (Spaniards) to the canyon 600 years ago. They showed the Spaniards around without showing them the river so eventually they had to leave to get water, not realizing that there was any there. It was about two hundred years before Europeans returned so the trick worked pretty well!

We learned that five million people visit each year. Jarrett was skeptical of that number until we got there. People were everywhere! We waited in line to drive through the gate for half an hour. It was definitly worth it though.

This was our first glimpse of the canyon...

It was amazing!

We were on the South Rim of the Canyon and there were lots of places to climb. The boys, unfortunatly, were fearless. They had a wonderful time but there were places that made me nervous.

James loved the canyon. He plans to go back and climb it when he's older. He wanted to stay forever.

Riley was scared of falling. At first she clung to my hand and tried identify all of the other languages people were speaking. Eventually, she got a bit braver and did some hiking. Despite being scared, she loved it.

We stayed about two hours, stopped at the gift shop for a book and headed out. We could have stayed much longer but it was getting dark. We stopped at the East Rim on the way out and saw the sunset. It was beautiful but so bright I couldn't get a picture.

As we drove away, you could see the line carved by the canyon for miles.

The kids were exhausted, James fell asleep on Riley's lap on the way home. It was a great day.