The Grand Canyon

The name definitely fits. It is simply incredible and grand. 

Our bus ride from Sedona to the Grand Canyon National Park was long. LONG. The kids were kind of losing their minds. Luckily we were in the back of the bus, and our tour group was not at capacity. The extra seats on the bus came in handy. We spaced out - each monster had his/her own row for a while. They listened to music and played on their iPods. 

Finally. We arrived. The kids could not have been more excited to have arrived at any destination. And I must admit, I was quite giddy about it too. On the way into the National Park, we saw a very large elk grazing. We would see many more before leaving the GCNP, but this guy was in the town!

Even though we were all tired, hungry and ready to check into our rooms, the bus took us to Mather Point at the Visitor's Center for a "proper first view of the canyon."

It was the right move. Wow. 

I adore this next photo of the kids. I love their energy and excitement. 

Fun Fact: Riley thought the Grand Canyon was "awesome and terrifying." He does not like heights or edges. So most of the time, he looked on from a safer distance away. For a few of the photos, we had to either trick him or hold him. 

And even though it took a few tries, we were able to find someone capable of taking a whole family photo. (You would not believe the idiocy of some people - I think I will make an entire post dedicated to "you've got to be kidding me photography".) 

Now, off to our room! 

We were lucky enough to be staying in the National Park. Our rooms were at the Thunderbird Lodge. And yes, it is just as 70s-awesome as its name sounds. 

These accommodations were just fine. The room was clean. The beds were VERY comfy. We were happy. My only complaint about this stay was our door... if I didn't make sure it closed (by pulling extra hard), it would not. I incorrectly assumed this was something housekeeping would know about. But, sadly, we came back to our room and could push the door open with one finger and no key. Luckily nothing was out of place. So perhaps our door was a fluke. In any event, I made sure it was closed securely each time we left. 

We stayed in the GCNP for two nights. Dinner the first night was provided by Caravan. Added bonus, it was just upstairs from our room. The banquet room was fine - 70s super groovy glory and all - but the view out the window was pretty Grand (ha. #dadjoke in honor of Father's Day). The food was meh. My fillet was cooked to perfection (if not slightly undercooked) and the baked beans were the thing dreams are made of. But the rest of the meal was not good. The rolls which were attempting to pass as cornbread muffins had clearly been sitting out for a while. They tasted more like cornbread's distant, not-related-at-all cousin cardboard. The shining silver lining is that Riley swears this is the "most delicious chicken" he has ever had. So that's a win.

After dinner, my 4 went straight to bed. Two (near) solid days of travel was beginning to take its toll on the monsters. 

We need our beauty sleep for our day at the Grand Canyon. See you next time! 

If you need to catch up on the trip, check these links out:
-- Itinerary Extraordinaire 
-- Flying Across the US
-- Montezuma Caslte
-- Lunch in Sedona