Arizona 2020: The Grand Canyon

We left Sedona and made the two hour trek onto the Grand Canyon.  We drove through Flagstaff that was picturesque with the San Fransisco Mountains in the background.  We stopped for lunch at a local pizza place that was decent.  The kids colds were in full force today, everyone was overtired from Evan's early wake-ups, and fuses were definitely short.  Once we arrived in the National Park we went to the Visitor's Center before they closed for the day.  The boys picked up their Junior Ranger booklets ready to cross off their tasks to earn their badge.  We decided we needed to get out in the cold and see the Canyon so we headed over to Mather's Point. 

I'm so glad we packed warm layers, hats, and gloves.  The weather was so bizarre the afternoon we arrived.  One minute it was cloudy, the next it started snowing, then turned to hail for a few minutes, and then it all stopped and the sun came out.  We walked around the rim to a few look out points, but were pretty cold and anxious to check out the gift shop and go onto check into our hotel for the evening. 

We stayed at the Maswik Lodge inside the National Park and it was cute!  Rustic with lodges, but still had a nice hotel room.  When we got to our room there was a pack of mule deer grazing on the grass!  It was a fun surprise and they were totally comfortable with us moving all our luggage in the room and walking right by them on the sidewalk. 

We decided to take the buses to Hopi Point to catch the sunset, even though it was pretty cold.  We packed snacks for the boys and ventured off.  The bus was so easy to figure out and only a short walk from our lodge.  Hopi Point did not disappoint.  It was a beautiful sunset.  Lots of people were out picking spots.  We did our best to stay warm, but it was amazing to look to our left and see the sun set and all the colors on the Canyon and look to our right to see the full moon coming out. 

Upon returning to our lodge, we went to the food court at the main lodge that had lots of options.  I tried pot roast with mashed potatoes and green beans.  It was pretty good for food court food and it was a warm meal on a cold night!  We were all pretty beat so it was an early bedtime for everyone.

The next morning we got up and went to breakfast at the Bright Angel Lodge down the road.  We got lucky and got a booth that overlooked the Canyon.  The pancakes were enormous!  My dad and I could have easily split one order.  Sean, on the other hand, ate two kids meals.  Growing boy...

After breakfast we walked around the rim by the Bright Angel Lodge and went to a few lookout points.  We even walked over to El Tovar, which is a historic hotel that I stayed at the first time I went to the Grand Canyon with my parents and brother years ago. 

We drove over to the Visitor's Center again to have the boys earn their badges and we watched the 20 minute movie about the Grand Canyon.  It was fun!  Our final stop was a 20 minute drive to another part of the park to go to the Desert View Watchtower.  We enjoyed seeing things from the highest point in the park and the boys and I had some ice cream as we were leaving.  It was a much nicer day weather-wise.

And just like that, we were on our way to Phoenix with a four hour drive ahead of us, snacks, some motion-sickness from Sean that prompted a stop at a gas station and a fight between Sean and Evan.  But, we made it!  And our hotel had a great pool with a happy hour from 5:30-7:30pm with free drinks and snacks!  So, we indulged.  The kids swam.  I sat in the hot tub.  We ate dinner at the hotel and enjoyed our last night together before flying home the next day.

We had another amazing trip to Arizona (thanks, mom and dad!)!  As we are sitting here at home quarantined, it's hard to believe we were just there a little over a week ago.  Life can change in such a short amount of time.  But, we made memories that will last forever.  And Sean has been talking about the Grand Canyon non-stop...