Grand Canyon take two.

Seeing the Grand Canyon has been one of my life long dreams. My seminary roommate was moving up to Portland so we planned a road trip up to see lots of fun things along the way. The Grand Canyon was stop number 1. When we got to that area it was snowing. We only had this one day to see the world wonder, so we got in the car and drove up. The lady at the park entrance said that it was 0 visibility and basically asked us if we still wanted to pay the $25 fee and go in. I mean, really? I am at the Grand Canyon....like I am going to get to the entrance and say, "Nah.....nevermind"...and turn around. So, I paid my $25 and drove in. The unfortunate part of all of that is that the lady wasn't kidding.....0 visibility tells the story perfectly...as do the pictures below. You would not have known a canyon existed....much less a Grand one.



Last week, the Grand Canyon was redeemed. I started planning a road trip a little while back for June. The original plan was to head to the northeast and see Niagra Falls, New York and Maine. However, if you know me, you know that I am not a big "plan ahead" type of person and that even if I plan, most of the time those plans are quite soft. So, pretty late in the game (the week before) the trip got changed from the northeast to the west. On the agenda? The Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite national park. 6 days, a plane ride to Phoenix, 2400 miles in a rental car, a large rolling suitcase ("big blue") full of camping supplies, and a whole lot of beautiful scenery. It was awesome! The first stop was the Grand Canyon. There were no clouds, no fog, no snow and beautiful temperatures. It is most appropriately named......it was Grand.