Day 31 - That canyon is very.......grand!

After a day of rest, we packed up the car on Monday morning and drove north towards the Grand Canyon in the mighty A-Train (our affectionate nickname for the Audi). It was only 4 hours north of Phoenix, but it barely even looked like we were in the same state! As we got just outside the city limits, the mighty A-Train climbed up and down hills blanketed with large trees and cactus. We passed through Flagstaff where we discovered that the town was founded on logging, which is still the main industry there now. (Your nerdy fact for the day).

Approaching the Grand Canyon, you would never even know it was there. Driving onto the National Park property you think you are doing just that, entering a National Park littered with campsites and RV hookups. We briefly stopped at a Visitor's Center to buy a pass and had to maneuver through a maze of tour buses, Winnebago's and Harley's to even get through the parking lot. Everywhere you looked there were tourists with fanny packs and a thick row of trees - no sign of a canyon in sight.

After our lackluster entrance, we drove into the park and approached the first overlook by car. We parked and walked up to the "Rim" of the canyon - and I think the first words out of both of our mouths was, "Wow." All the cliches and descriptions you have ever heard are true - there really are no words to express how vast and beautiful it is. Pictures won't do it justice either. The sheer size and severity of the landscape is intimidating to even the most traveled visitor. It was a wonderfully clear day and we could see across the canyon which we are told is 10 miles across the bottom. Truly a gorgeous sight!

We drove down farther to an area where we could actually walk down a trail into the canyon a little way. There is a steep trail called the Bright Angel Trail that starts at the top and winds down 6 miles to get to the bottom of the canyon. It all sounded great in theory, but then you have to climb back up! Had we planned on hiking that day and dressed and packed for an excursion, this would have been a much better idea, but of course we had not. We started off down the trail, amazed at the views and the beauty of the canyon, only planning to walk down about a mile or so before heading back up. What we didn't notice were the people passing us on the way back up who WERE dressed and packed appropriately for a strenuous hike, yet still panting, sweating and generally sweltering in the heat. After about the 6th person stopped to ask us how much farther it was to the top because they were about to DIE, we started to get concerned. A nice park ranger stopped to talk to us and after noticing we only had half a bottle of water between the two of us left, she recommended we go back. Turns out, it was a VERY steep climb back up to the top - but we made it okay.

We drove by a few more overlooks on our way out of the park, said farewell to the Grand Canyon and then headed even farther north towards Zion National Park, Utah. It was a gorgeous drive through Lake Powell, the Painted Desert and Indian Reservations before we hit Zion Canyon right at dusk. It started to rain as the mighty A-Train navigated through steep drops, switch backs and sharp turns while the sun was setting. A beautiful drive, but a little scary. We made it to our lodge for the night and were pleased to find out that we had been upgraded to a suite, yet again, when they heard it was our anniversary. A nice surprise indeed!

Oh, and the best part were the swans made out of towels on the bed :)

Miles traveled: 475

Stops: Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Zion