Well, the weather took a turn last night. There was a lot of rain and hail and we woke up to snow flurries, more hail and totally cold! So we decided it was good to leave right away. We packed up quickly and off we went! We had a great time and really enjoyed this campground. It was a great mix of family time, nature, and relaxation… just what camping should be! We look forward to one day coming back and hiking the entire way down into the canyon!
It's Mother's Day! I cannot think of a better thing to do than be camping in nature and seeing one of the 7 wonders of the world! We slept in and then had a great breakfast of French toast. Then it was off to our hike. We took a shuttle to the Bright Angel trail and then down we went. We went 1 ½ miles down into the canyon…going down was easy but coming up was harder! But we did it! Leah had the hardest time, every time I looked at her on the way up she was crying…poor thing. The things we make her do! After our hike we went to the Bright Angel Lodge restaurant for lunch. After that we got ice cream at the fountain. We walked around the rim trail for a little while. We then took the shuttle to Park Headquarters so Noah could get his Jr. Ranger badge. Then it was back to camp. Mommy needed a nap and I ended up sleeping for 2 hours! Only while camping right... that would never happen at home! After that it was dinner time and we started packing up some. Then it was time for bed!
Today was all about Wildlife Day at the park. We slept in a bit and had a nice big breakfast after. Then we left early to go to Shrine of the Ages for the 10am ranger show on reptiles in the park. After that, the girls received their Jr. Ranger badges. They had a lot of booths for wildlife day… the girls got their face painted (Leah insisted on getting her entire face as a wolf while I begged her to get the delicate butterfly!), we saw live animals in 1 display like the owl, eagle and lots of other critters. Noah and Tim caught another show on mountain lions and then we went back to camp for lunch. Then it was back to Shrine of the ages to see Jack Hanna! Tim and I got in line while the kids took in a show on wacky wildlife. Then we all went inside for Jack Hanna's presentation. It was a lot of fun! He had some interesting animals and had some good bear stories. After that it was back to the camp for dinner and hanging out (and a nap!). Tim and I went for a run along the rim of the Canyon that evening… what a view that was! Then it was time for campfire and smores again! Early to bed tonight… tomorrow we are hiking!
We arrived at the Grand Canyon today at about 1:00. The only event on the drive was stopping in Flagstaff to have a picnic and we attempted to find a park and wound up driving around NAU campus. Not very fun with a huge RV towing behind and small roads and bikes everywhere…it was not fun and Tim was a little crabby over that one. So, we ended up skipping the picnic and just had lunch when we got to the campsite. We stayed at Mather Campground in site 64 and it was great! We spend the next hour unloading and setting up camp. Then Noah and I took off on our bikes to explore the bike trail and get our bearings. Right away we saw a heard of elk in the forest. We took a long ride and then went back to camp and reported what we found to the rest of the family. We decided to take the shuttle over to the visitor's center and go straight to seeing the canyon. So we got on the shuttle and stopped at the visitor's center and got the kids Jr. Ranger books. Then we went to the rim and saw the canyon. How beautiful it is! This was Leah's first time seeing it and she thought it was amazing! Right away we saw a condor down in the canyon which was so great! The sun was starting to set so we hopped back on the shuttle and went back to camp. We had dinner, worked on Jr. Ranger books, and then started the campfire. We had smores and had fun telling stories around the campfire. It was a great first day!
