So Grand it is! ~ Mar. 17th

We woke up knowing this would be a long day with driving north to view the Grand Canyon,then back down to Flagstaff, to head south through Sedona before the sunset to view the awesome scenery and arrive in Phoenix to Scott's parents' home! It's better to not calculate distances etc. and just go in thinking it will work out.

 So we started out well playing travel games in the car which involved discussing the characteristics alphabetically of the black cat we owned... strange game but Nora jumped in there too. By "E" we were exhausted of adjectives. In enjoying the scenery out of the window, we missed the small sign pointing eastward and kept heading northeast.

Eventually the distance signs to someplace in Utah clued me in, and we turned back. Nora flipped out again about needing a bathroom, while refusing the offer of a rare bush on the side of the road. (Don't blame her...) That part of the trip was tortuous for all of us. So we were really happy to find this lovely rest stop. :)

 We bought our souvenirs here, which saved us money and time later. :)

This was my third visit to the Canyon in my lifetime, and the most thorough thankfully. The South rim was only open, with snow on the north side. We explored this tower on the eastern-most side and then made many stops at viewpoints as we headed west. The sky wasn't as clear as we would have liked, but for March it was just great that we could be there at all. It was quite chilly at times.  We obviously took too many pictures. :)

Making the most of a photo op...

 On behalf of a fellow tourist...

After awhile the kids lost interest in stopping so often and stayed in the car. It's hard to impress on teenagers that they may never be there again, or if they do it will be with their own teenagers telling them why they should get out and look at this amazing masterpiece of God's creation!

We left much later than planned and drove through a very unpopulated area near a skiing resort on the way back to Flagstaff. The scenery was interesting still, including the sky. :)

Pulling over for a snack break. No one around for miles.

Once in Flagstaff it was close to dinner but if we stopped there we'd miss the views of Sedona with the sun going down. So as Scott filled up with gas, the cashier directed me to the pawn shop across the street to find DVDs. Things were getting ugly in the van with a certain small person and we still had hours of travel ahead. So, I had my first experience in a shop filled with guns, but a great selection of movies. Off we went with the Muppets Season 1 playing.

Our only photos en route to Sedona before the sunset. Will have to return another day.

Dinner was tasty but we were grumpy at that point. Things got worse as we hit the interstate to Phoenix with an accident ahead closing the route entirely. The detour options were literal hours of circuitous routes so we chose to wait in the line of cars as advised by the closest gas station attendant who showed up our options on the map. So, those pawn shop DVDs? They saved us. Nora still lost it after an hour of waiting without moving. Can you imagine our relief when we pulled into Nana and Papa's driveway close to midnight? Still worth it despite my poor planning. Will always be one of those adventurous days we can have as a "Remember this spectacular view? Oh yeah, but remember the screaming? And how we never watched the Muppets again!"... The story of our lives. :)