We left Page and began our journey to the Grand Canyon this morning.  There was no service or radio stations along most of the way, so Craig and I sat in silence as I contemplated how much I wanted an iced coffee.  Luckily there was a Native American owned and operated roadside diner that made amazing southwest breakfast burritos.  It made me sad that we stole their land, polluted it and now they have to serve tourists on their way to take a million selfies.  America…

Entering the Grand Canyon National Park was surreal.  You drive through Kaibab Forest, and you would never know a ginormous canyon is about to come into view.  If someone dropped you off there without telling you where you were, you’d guess Pennsylvania…assuming you knew what Pennsylvania forests looked like, of course.  We pulled over at the first stop to get the first sight of the canyon, and it was pretty amazing:  There’s an observation tower that lets you get some great views, and learn a little about the history of the tribes.  Also, they give a shout out to Delaware!! 

  We parked a little ways down from the visitor center and walked the Rim Trail, which spans about 12 miles from end to end.  For some reason a jillion people gather at Mather Point and cause mass chaos, but if you walk away from the crowds you can get just as spectacular, if not better, views.  Plus there’s less annoying people.
 A couple took our picture and asked us where we are from.  When we said Delaware, the family standing near us said, “Hey, so are we!”  It turns out the mom graduated from the school I teach at, and the daughter is BFF with one of my students.  How INSANE is that?!?  It really is a small world.

We walked a good portion of the trail, stopping every so often to marvel at the grandeur.  We are all just ants in this big, beautiful world.

 
Craig loves going as close to the edge as possible and doing this pose:

   I was like, just give me the car keys please.   I saw so many people risking their lives for a “cool” selfie, so I googled how many people die at the Grand Canyon annually.  Surprisingly it’s only 12, but do you really want to be a statistic for taking a picture?  You’d never live down the headlines.  The weather was so temperamental –one minute it was freezing, then the sun was out and it was blazing hot.  Dress in layers, bring plenty of water and wear sunscreen for a comfortable excursion.  Also, it’s probably not the smartest idea to wear heels.  Which I saw.  Several times.

We stopped for dinner at the Yavapai Lodge.  It was ok, but they have touch screen ordering stations and nothing on the menu is actually correct.  The poor lady working there was so frazzled, and I was thinking Is this what the world will be like when it’s run by computers?

Checked in at The Red Feather Lodge (racist, I know), and the clerk Maria was super friendly.  I was humming a Justin Bieber song, and she told us he had just been there a week ago.  Can you even imagine?!?!  Walking along the canyon, and there’s Biebs??  I’d die.  I wonder if Kim Kardashian has ever been…

We ventured back into the park to watch the sunset, but unfortunately a giant cloud was blocking the sun.   

It was still cool though, and we had the whole Grand Canyon to ourselves.  Super romantic 💖

 We stayed for a while and watched the stars.  Then I started to get scared a mountain lion would eat us, or a crazy person would come push us off the edge, so we donned our headlamps and walked back.  Craig brought the ugly blanket from the hotel, while I had a really cute sweater.  This is literally the first time on any of our vacations that  nothing was closed, ruined or missed (except Justin Bieber and the sunset, but whatevs)!!  Also, I am SuCh a cute hiker 💋