Grand Canyon - Canyon's Namesake Adventure!

We told the kids that when they turned 10, we would take them each to their namesake. Canyon was named after the Grand Canyon as a tribute to Mom and Dad's love of hiking and camping. It was on our first trip to the Grand Canyon in 2001 and a 16 mile trip to the river and back to the rim in one day that we talked about our readiness to have kids. It was also on that trip that we started talking about potential baby names. "Canyon" was, in fact, talked about on that long hike.

We arrived in AZ very late the night of March 31st and stayed at a hotel near the airport. The morning of April 1st, our adventure began. The kids started off the day with a quick dip in the hotel pool and hot tub and then we packed up our car (with 4 suitcases, 3 backpacks, 1 red cooler and a guitar) and headed out on the 4 hour trip to the Grand Canyon.




Shortly after our drive began, the kids began to read an then we encountered a huge traffic jam on Hwy. 17. "Thanks" to GPS, Mom found a side road that could potentially take us around the traffic jam. Oops! Maybe not a road but a dried up creek bed! After 40 minutes of boulders, side bending, shrub rubbing, and potential tire busting hazards, we finally made it out and back onto the highway. Super crazy drive. Pictures don't do it justice because Mom was holding on for dear life during the rough parts. Presley said "let's not do that again". And I don't think it saved us anytime!




We made it just in time to the Grand Canyon to turn in our 2 duffels, which would be carried to the bottom of the canyon by some mules. They weighed it to make sure they were each less than 30 lbs. And then we checked into the Bright Angel Lodge and got our very first glimpse of the amazing Grand Canyon! Wow!





We then headed to the famous El Tovar Hotel for a final night dinner before our hike down! Much to our surprise, it started snowing during our dinner! But luckily we didn't need to wear crampons on the trail as they thought we might! An adventurous start to an adventurous trip!