Day 11: Thursday, July 12, 2012

This morning we work up super early so we could get a head start to ... the GRAND CANYON!  I was pumped!  Becca and I both decked out in gym shorts, tennis shoes, book bag packed like we were in for a hike and then we took the two hour drive the to entrance at the southern rim of the canyon.  Well in order to get to this giant canyon, we had to drive through mountains and that was a thrill in and of itself (and by "thrill" I mean it was terrifying!)

Yikes!

We survived and we finally arrived, got our map and we set off.  After about three minutes, we decided we looked more prepared than anyone there.  These people showed up to the grandest canyon there ever was in flip flops, some skirts, some dress clothes.  It was nuts.  But I hope they enjoyed themselves and I bet they looked lovely in those souvenir pics.

So we started our hike and then stopped about every five minutes along the way to look out at the canyon, take pics, etc.  Picture highlights of the day include:

1) Me pretending to stand at the the front of the Titanic and a little old man began nearby began singing "My Heart Will Go On"...

2)  Becca and I wearing our Auburn Diving shirts for a bit and a family asking to take a pic of us "diving into the canyon"...

3) The wildlife we encountered along the way...

It is beyond amazing to see in person.  Words can't describe how beautiful it is and how unreal it looks.  Just another reminder to me of how big our God is.  He likes to bring me down to size a lot and I actually appreciate it.

We hiked about 3.5 miles to the Grand Canyon Village area and then of course...we ate!  After lunch, we took the shuttle back to the visitor's center where we started.  You know, we wanted to experience the canyon from the perspective of moving vehicle (annnnnnd quite possibly because we we exhausted.)  The weather was amazing that day so that helped out a lot.  Clear skies and a cool breeze made my first trip to the GC completely awesome.

From there we drove back into Sedona and visited several local shops.  Our favorite shop happened to be an ice cream shop called the Black Cow Cafe - all homemade ice cream and waffle cones.  What finishes off a long day of hiking like an ice cream cone? Nothing, that's what.

Sedona has lots of natural landmarks around the area, so we decided to drive and see those before heading back to the hotel.  Major rocks in the area include Snoopy Rock, Bell Rock and Cathedral Rock.

Snoopy Rock

Bell Rock

Cathedral Rock

We even found a few that we decided to name ourselves - Baby Elephant and Blooming Onion.  We contacted the town of Sedona about these names...we'll see what happens.

Baby Elephant

Blooming Onion

Then it was back to the hotel for planning a sleep. Further west tomorrow!