Adventures at The Grand Canyon

Mike and I only took short vacations to visit family in Oklahoma on holidays like Memorial day or Labor day. We had one unusual trip to Michigan for Thanksgiving, and it was great seeing more extended family up there. When we married we already had 4 sons, and there was not a lot of extra beyond clothing and groceries to spend. Family was lovely and the perfect place to vacation with the children.


When we had just 2 girls at home, we surprised them with a trek to the Grand Canyon. It was their first REAL getaway and we knew that our time with them was very short. We wanted to give them some great memories.
I hiked the Bright Angel Trail as a teenager and had such fond memories of falling stars at night, sleeping by the Colorado River and the treacherous climb up. Going down was Easy Peasy. Going up? It took me about 12 hours. Now, we knew we were not going to Hike down to the bottom and back up at our ages! So, we started our treck by stopping in Albuquerque NM,

then the Petrified National Forest in Arizona, and our final destination, The Grand Canyon.

I told the girls to close their eyes until we were right at a place driving to the South Rim and the Bright Angel Lodge so they could take in the whole scene at the same time. There were Oooh's and Ahhh's and much excitement!

We had such a lovely time that Mike and I went 2 years later for our 35th Anniversary. :) When the girls went with us we stayed in Williams AZ which was really fun. We stayed at the Rail Road Car Motel right near Bearazona, which is a Bear drive thru and zoo.
This time we won the Lottery getting a slot at the Bright Angel Cabins! We had such a wonderful time together! Here are some highlights:

What an amazing trip we had! This was our cabin.

The Cabins do not have AC so it was a little warm during the day, but we were out hiking anyway. At night we decided to go and lay on the ground outside by the mouth of the trail to see the stars. As a Kid, I had no worries and just enjoyed the sight. As an adult, after about 15 min we looked at each other and said, we are in a desert, National Park, and there could be snakes! So we went back inside... Ha. We had the best time, and I was so happy to share my great memories of the Canyon as a kid, with the girls and with Mike. It was a dream come true!