The Grand Canyon is Exactly That...Grand!!!

(Below are the kids' journal entries...Fran cut out a few of the inside family reflections, but all the material is theirs!)

June 25: Mesa Verde to Grand Canyon

Adrian: The drive today was boring.  Four Corners was pretty awesome being in all 4 states at once.  Lillian lay down with an appendage in each state, Elliot did the funkadilly, and I did push ups on all 4 states.  Elliot and I had fun playing Ninja Warriors on a picnic site and altering park signs and taking funny pictures with the camera.  Meanwhile, Lillian shopped for a necklace from the Navajo vendors.  She chose a turquoise turtle.  Elliot and I also got hematite necklaces.

(Fran note: while we decided not to stop in Monument Valley, the buttes and mesas along the way were pretty cool to see.  It was fun to watch the different colors in the formations as we changed elevation (reds, oranges, whites, tans).

When we saw the canyon for the first time it was astounding to see how truly large it is.  Mom and Dad had Lillian and Elliot close their eyes until they got to the railing at the edge of the canyon.  They opened their eyes to an amazing view!  We all thought it would be just two canyon walls and a river!

26 June 2012: Grand Canyon

Lillian:  Today we hiked down half of the Grand Canyon and hiked back up. It was very, very, very, very tiring. It took 3 hours. We saw fossilized footprints and shells (spongebob squarepants).  On the way a mule train passed us and pooped lots and lots of times on the trail.  After we all took a long nap. Before the hike, I was the mule deer whisperer. I talked in a voice that was mixed between Lord Umbra (from "Peter and the Starcatchers")and the Impressive Clergyman (from "The Princess Bride").  I said for it to “Go away!” and it did.  I then tried talking to the mules in the paddock, but it didn’t work.

Adrian:  This morning we woke up at 4:30.  I for once, was one of the first ones up.  ... We got to the trailhead where we saw a mother and baby elk that had the presence of mind to drink from the water spigot.  She pushed the handle back with her nose and licked it as it came out.  Then she sucked up the remaining water on the drain with her lips and a load sucking noise!  We saw a Preventative Search and Rescue ranger (PSaR) getting pumped up for his hike by listening to loud music and banging on his pick-up.  When he was at the head of the trail he said “Buenos Dias”, and then crossed himself, picked up dirt, clapped it, pointed to the canyon, thumped his chest and started down!  We had to wait around another hour for the hike because Dad’s phone was ahead of time!  We hiked 1/2 way down the canyon and saw different fossils and rock formations.  We got to Cedar Ridge, took some fun pictures and headed back up, passing many families because we were going to fast!  We went to eat lunch at the restaurant because of our accomplishment!  ...

Elliot:  I went 1/2 way in to the Grand Canyon and I did a great job getting back up.  I ran the last switchback.  We saw a condor and that was really cool because there aren’t that many in the wild!  We saw fossilized shells on the hike too.  One of the rangers slipped/fell while on the hike and everyone went “whoa!”  Before we went on the hike we saw a mother elk and baby and the baby seemed to show off and the mom pushed it’s nose against the top of the spigot handle then drank some water out of the spigot.  And it slurped some from the little drain at the bottom of the spigot place making a slurping sound.  It was pretty funny!