Ah, the Grand Canyon....our big family hoorah for the summer. We had a nice trip, and it was cool to see a Natural Wonder....only 6 more to go. It was a short trip, but we did a ton. And Jordan was a great traveler: happy to sit in her carseat, minimal whining, and borderline excitement for parts of the trip (which was NOT geared for kids). And the part of New Mexico we live in is so beautiful, I might even become a road trip convert. We'll see.
Day One - El Malpais, Petrified Forest/Painted Desert
If you're into geology, New Mex is your state. There are volcanoes in ABQ, and not far west of town you start to see lava fields and ancient sandstone cliffs that are really colorful. Our first stop was El Malpais, or The Badlands. It's a large lava field that's pretty new, some of it only a 1000 years old and very raw looking. We took the eastern most route through to see the sandstone bluffs and the arch. The have another highway you can take to see caves and crawl through lava tubes! Alas, not for kids. The bluffs were cool, and Jo liked getting out to run around. The arch was really big, the biggest one you can see in the state (the bigger one is inside a reservation). But they don't let you hike too close. This pit stop marked the beginning of Jordan's vacation-long obsession with public potties and trolls living in the rocks. More on that later.
Stop number 2 was the Petrified Forest in Arizona. This was a 4 hr long detour for us and very cool. The northern end is the painted desert, and it befits its name. We were there at noon; I bet it's absolutely amazing at sunset. We stopped at most of the sights through the park and took lots of pictures of pretty rocks.
Rocks are pretty dull stuff for little kids, but Jordan was a trooper. At the southern end of the park is the petrified forest. We "hiked" through Crystal Falls, which I think was the best place to see the wood/stones and also through the Long Logs trail. By this time it was 96 degrees and full-on sunshine; hello Arizona. I was pooped. A DQ Blizzard fixed me right up.
We drove through Flagstaff and were in Tusayan about an hour later. Flagstaff looks like a neat stop over place. I'd like to go back in the fall, they have a lot of aspens and volcanoes and cool hiking trails. It would have been a great place to spend the night that first night instead of in Tusayan. Tusayan is about the size of a large neighborhood and the only place to stay near the south entrance but outside the park (unless you want to pitch a tent). We found our hotel, unloaded, got some food, and called it a night.
Day Two - Grand Canyon Rim Trail
We woke up that morning to the smell of forest fire. Hmm... We'd seen a fire on the drive in the evening before, and it turns out they were doing management burns. We got to the park around 7:30 and set out for our Rim Trail hike. Our first view of the canyon was amazing, but it was filled with haze and smoke!! Oh well, I just had to be patient. It eventually did burn/drift off. And that was the last time they did burns while we were there.
We were probably 2 minutes into our hike, which is really a walk because most of the trail we did was paved, before my first panic attack set in. I'm not afraid of heights, narrow trails don't bother me, but the Grand Canyon is a death trap. Period. And it is NOT a place for kids. The thought of Jamie and Jordan falling off the edge put me on tilt. Here's the picture I took that sparked the first attack.
We were the only people we saw with a kid-pack (and I didn't see any other pregnant fools out there, either). I guess it's good we went this year while Jordan is still small enough to carry in the pack; no way I'm going back until my kids are at least 10 and can respect the canyon.
We walked about 3 miles of the Rim Trail and took the shuttle back to the village to eat lunch at the car. We scoped out a place for dinner, and then headed back to the hotel for a nap and shower. Jamie planned the rest of the trip while Jo and I took a snooze. That evening we ate at the Arizona Room, which was supposed to be a good place to eat in the village: good food, casual atmosphere, and it's on the rim. That's when we were convinced that all food at the Grand Canyon sucks. Every place we ate was Denny's quality and very overpriced. McDonald's charged us a freaking take-out tax when we ordered from the drive-thru!! Oh well, I'm sure their costs are high. It is in the middle of nowhere, and we read that ALL of the water has to be trucked in. Our sub-par dinner was followed by an amazing sunset and full moon rise.
Day 3 - South Kaibab canyon hike
We woke up at 5:00 to ensure a cool, shady morning for our "big" hike. It was a whopping 3 miles but with a 1100+ ft elevation drop. It was gorgeous. We all really enjoyed it, I got to put my trekking poles to good use, and we finally felt like we got to see the canyon up close. Granted, we didn't go very far, but it was all we could do with Jo and pregnant me. Jo and I rested at the turn around, and were accosted by aggressive squirrels while we ate our snack. Jamie went 5 minutes further down the trail and climbed out on some rocks (which I didn't approve of). We all survived and made it back up before the sun really set it.
That afternoon we checked out the IMAX movie on the Grand Canyon, a pizza place, and then drove to the east park entrance to Desert View and the Watchtower for sunset pics. We had an amazing sunset, and got our best family pic here. I was also criticized by some English dude for being pregnant at the Grand Canyon and wearing flip-flops (um, they were sandals, not flip-flops). I guess he thought I was being reckless. Then an old lady came up and told me I could do what I want because this was a free country and I'm white (?!?). Oy.
Day 4 - Photography class and trip home
Jamie found out about a digital photography clinic taught by pro photographers with Canon. What a cool deal. The classes were small groups, the instructors were really knowledgeable (albeit a little young), and if you didn't want to use your own camera, they checked out top notch equipment to you. All for FREE! They travel from state park to state park teaching these classes, and I lucked out that they were here in July. And it was really nice that there was no sales aspect at all to the class. So I learned a few things and am convinced that a longer class at UNM or photo shop will really help me.
After that we said good bye to the Grand Canyon and basically made a bee line for home.
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