Grand Canyon

We arrived at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon just before sunset. 

Wow...what a beautiful world!

We booked a last minute room at a hotel close to the Grand Canyon.  The room was much smaller than the one at Bryce Canyon...and the water in the shower was cold.  Seth went out and picked up some pizza for us to have for dinner and also picked up some doughnuts for breakfast the next morning.

The next morning we headed straight to the Visitors Center which was closed due to the shutdown...but the gift shop was open.  We were able to stamp our National Parks Pass and buy a magnet.

Then we hopped on a bus and got a great view of the canyon.

 

 

More lion roars...it never ends.

This viewpoint was particular stunning.

It was also a great place for more lion roars.

We stopped at the post office to drop off a few post cards and found a penny smashing machine.

Then we hit the road and headed to Flagstaff.  Jeff had mentioned a little Flintstones inspired RV park...so we stopped for pictures.

We found a park in Flagstaff to eat a picnic lunch and get out some wiggles before attending a Sacrament meeting.

Jeff recommended a scenic drive through Sedona.  The canyon from Flagstaff to Sedona was beautiful.  Silas had been a good sport for the car ride...but just outside Phoenix he let us know that he was done.  I took this picture of Phin sleeping through Silas' cries.

We were so happy to finally make it to Jeff, Kim and Carver's house.

Horseshoe Bend

We stopped at Glen Canyon dam for a picnic lunch.   We were hoping to go into the Visitor's Center...but the government shutdown meant that the Visitoss Center was closed.

So we got some pictures in front of the dinosaur tracks out front...

then Phin acted like a dinosaur.

We walked across the bridge to get a better view of the dam.

Our next stop was Horseshoe Bend just outside of Page.  This place was CRAZY.  The parking lot was closed to all cars due to construction  The traffic was very backed up and people were just parking along the highway.  We parked along the highway too and started to walk...but then heard the highway patrol telling people to move their cars.  Seth walked back to move the car while I kept moving forward with the kids.  We are very grateful that he did...some of the other cars got stuck in the sand along the highway...and they also got a very expensive ticket.  I was proud of myself for carrying Millie and Silas up the steep hill.

At the top of the steep hill I stopped to feed Silas and the kids played in the dirt. Seth caught up with us after our short break.

I also played with the panoramic feature on my new phone.

Horseshoe Bend was gorgeous...and the sunshine felt so great.

I love how Silas is checking out the view in most of the selfies that I took on the trip.

Phin found a perfect Lion rock on the way back to the car.

ROAR!

We decided to drive all the way to the Grand Canyon that night.  Stay tuned for that post...