Though Monique and I didn’t want to overschedule our time together, we both felt strongly that we had come too far to pass up the opportunity to introduce our kiddos to the Grand Canyon. We packed lunches and headed out by 7:30 AM. It was about a three and a half hour drive and everyone was armed with things to keep them busy in the car.
One of the nicest part of the experience was time to tell stories. All of our kids love to be reminded of things that happened in the past. My boys have some favorites that Gramma tells about them and the girls. We all giggled as Gramma started to share and then had help from the voices in the car to fill in details. It’s wonderful to keep those memories alive and build new memories at the same time.
Getting into the Grand Canyon National Park was quite a feat. The admission line was so long and took upwards of 30 minutes. Then there was the parking adventure. All of the lots were FULL. We finally found a spot not too far from some picnic benches which was conveniently located near a restaurant, a gear store and a number of bathrooms. Since we were a taken by surprise by how much cooler and rugged it was at the Grand Canyon than it had been in Phoenix, we were thankful we were able to grab the necessary vitals, shoes and sweatshirts we needed without much trouble.
After lunch, we hopped a bus to get to Café on the Rim to grant Papa’s perpetual promise of an ice cream cone. We spent about an hour walking along the rim, looking down in the canyon from the lookout points and then we made our way back to the bus to get to the car. It would have been really nice to have been able to spend more time exploring but because of the distance we had to travel and the fact that we all were departing for home tomorrow, we needed to head back.
In just the way that travel takes time, we didn’t end up finally out of the park until close to 5 pm. We drove for a while until we arrived at an area populated enough to provide dinner options other than fast food. Our first choice in Flagstaff was Diablo Burgers but the seating was not ample enough. Instead, we found Pita Pit. They had something for everyone!
The rest of the drive was uneventful but we did arrive home quite late. Then began the big push to pack up our things before heading to bed.
Loved every minute
Such a fun time!!!