the rest of the trip

Saturday

It was my husband's birthday, and we were heading to the Grand Canyon. Someone told us they had been there the day before and it was completely fogged in, so we were worried that would happen to us too. As we drove the couple of hours from Page to the Grand Canyon we drove through rain and low lying clouds, so we were really doubtful. But as we turned west to get closer to the Grand Canyon the skies started to clear and we were excited that it was clearing. When we arrived at the entrance to the park the skies were clear as can be.

But as we walked up to the first viewpoint, at the Watchtower, we realized that yes, the skies were clear, but the canyon was covered in fog. These are the views we got.

It looks cool, but not when you're only there for a short amount of time and you're there to see the canyon! We thought our whole day would be filled with lousy views, but after driving into the village and getting some lunch, we set out for a tour of the canyon and the fog had lifted. I posted a few pictures of this tour here, but here are some more views. Pictures just don't do it justice, though--it's just so massive and incredible.

Sunday

Sunday morning bright at early we got up for Brian's hike. I had to drive him to the trailhead. I wrote more about the hike here and here. Here are a few pictures he took on his hike, as he crossed the Colorado River.

After he got back, showered, and rested awhile, we walked around (yes, he walked some more, after hiking for hours and hours!!) enjoying the view, waiting for our dinner reservations at El Tovar (this is El Tovar).

Dinner was nice--not as delicious as expected, but the ambiance was great and it was a fun celebration of his birthday and his big accomplishment.

After dinner we took the bus around to some places I had visited earlier in the day without him and we shopped for souvenirs.

Monday

We stayed at the Grand Canyon for most of the morning, because it was such a gorgeous day, and we decided we'd rather see more of it than Sedona, where we were heading. Here are some last minute pictures....our cute little cabin (just a few yards from the canyon!) and a last view of the canyon up at the Kaibob trailhead. But then we drove down to Sedona (through more rain). Sedona was pretty, and we had a great view from our hotel room (here I am standing on our balcony), but it still paled in comparison to the Grand Canyon. If we had seen Sedona first I would've thought it was much more beautiful. This is from our balcony too, with lots of little shops below that we didn't even have time (or energy!) to explore.

Tuesday

That morning we did a quick drive through tour of Sedona, took some pictures, and then headed down to Phoenix. Once you get close to Phoenix you start seeing lots of these:a Seguaro Cactus, which we thought was cool.

We had a long day of travel and arrived home around 1:30 AM on Wednesday morning. It was a great trip.