Grand Canyon

Are you ready for this? Make sure you have some time before you start reading this post! We have about a hundred pictures to go through, so get into something comfy, make a cup of tea and grab a few cookies... 

If pictures say a thousand words, well, we have about a few million words to look at. 

Last week we took off to Sedona, it is in the Upper Sonoran Desert north of Phoenix about 2 hours, and at 4,500 feet altitude, it was about 10 degrees cooler than the Phoenix valley. We stayed in Sedona for two nights; the first day we wandered around town and saw the Chapel of the Holy Cross, the second day was devoted to driving two hours up to the Grand Canyon and back, and the third day we stopped by Out of Africa (a zoo of sorts) on the way back to the valley. 

Side note about the pictures before we start... I don't know if you know this, but Arizona is very sunny and bright most of the time, making for some washed out, too bright pictures much of the time. And I don't know if you know this either, but we are a pale family (mostly Eli and I). We practically shimmer in the sunlight. These pictures only give a very shallow representation of the wonderful things we experienced. The colors, the depth, the details... they really have to be enjoyed in person. But maybe you can taste a little piece of what we did.

Day One - Sedona

Chapel of the Holy Cross

We parked at the bottom of the hill to the Chapel and walked (or hiked, basically; the road was steep and wound and curved around to get up the hill) up to the top. As we wound around the hill (i.e. small mountain) we enjoyed the beautiful panoramic "big rocks," as Eli called them.

Even now, as I look at the pictures, I just think how much is missing from them. The "rocks" were soooo much more red, and even though I corrected some of the brightness in the pictures, they still seem so washed out (editing can only take you so far, it's a fact).

View from the top!

 Later that day, we walked around Tlaquepaque in Sedona. Don't try to say it out loud, it's impossible. It's a crafty, arty shopping area with galleries and shops. And beautiful buildings and a fun fountain!

"It's wet"

Look at those pretty buildings!

Eli's took this picture of us!

...and this one of Josh! Great perspective, don't you think? 

Day Two - Grand Canyon

Before we actually entered Grand Canyon National Park, we made a little stop to see a smaller canyon, in which you could see the Little Colorado river at the bottom. It was super windy! And chilly! We weren't quite prepared for the for the freezing temperatures (okay, 50's) after being in the valley for so many weeks. Please don't ask me to explain my face. I don't know. Just look at Josh and Eli, for all our sakes. 

I promise, he's not as close as it looks! And we were holding his ankles, we just wanted to scare some grandmas. :)

Eli also took this picture of Josh! He's getting pretty good! Okay, maybe I helped bring Josh into the frame, but Eli pushed the button. 

If you look really close, you can see the river at the bottom of this little canyon. This one was much smaller than Grand one (there's a reason for the name, I'm just guessin'), but because it was smaller, you could actually see how big it was. At the Grand Canyon, it was almost too big. It was so overwhelmingly big, my little mind can't even understand it.

There were some strange creatures in the rocks, this one had pants. Weird!

First look at the Grand Canyon!

Eli was more interested in the rocks than the view.

Everywhere we go, "Oh, rocks!"

He really wanted to get down and run... along the wall separating people from falling to their deaths. 

The sun lit up the taller rocks in the canyon as the sun was setting.

Eli took this picture of his very favorite truck.

He also took this one of some random person, and a little bit of Josh.

We went to one of the points to see the sun set over the canyon. It was beautiful! And windy and cold, but worth staying for. Eli just played with his truck, putting rocks in the back and driving it around. 

Almost immediately after the sun dipped out of sight, the opposing rocks lit up in pinks and oranges. The light was so full of color, but dark enough to be unable to get any decent pictures, so I'm sorry but you'll just have to go and see for yourself. :)

Day Three - Out of Africa

He looks thrilled, doesn't he? We arrived first thing in the morning, right as they opened, and they promptly put us on a bus for a 'safari' into a gated area where animals roamed around freely. 

The first animal we saw was this giraffe! They gave everyone a celery stick to feed it, and Eli was not left out. 

The giraffe also came into the bus to get 'cookies' from the driver.

And we saw this little baby zebra. She was so pretty!

Eli just watched everything...

After the 'safari', we walked around and saw lots of other animals, and we visited the giraffe again to give him another celery stick that we had leftover. 

Eli had to stop for rocks. Surprised? 

 He probably would have been fine with just getting rocks, forget seeing animals or canyons, just give the boy rocks.

Eli took this one... of Josh's feet and the road. I'm not sure what he was going for here, maybe it's supposed to be artistic?

We wore the guy out! He was asleep before we even left the zoo, by the time we got to the car his head was down to his knee, and he didn't even move when Josh put him in his car seat.