Grand Canyon!!

We left our hotel in Flagstaff heading toward the Grand Canyon at 8AM. We traveled NW up US HWY 180, which was very scenic, to say the least. Mountains in the distance with snow on the top.
We started seeing these open plains with homes. No electricity lines or water. But they had solar panels on their roofs. There were several signs for land for sale. Hmmm.....

We went through a lot of the Kaibab National Forest.

And after about an hour, we finally entered the Grand Canyon State Park!
We had no idea what we wanted to do or see. Daniel had gotten several pamplets from the Visitor's Center so after looking at them, we decided to travel along the Desert View Drive on the South Rim. When we pulled up to the first overlook, I was simply amazed. Words cannot describe the awesomeness, nor can photos capture it fully. It is something you have to see with your own eyes.

We were very, very careful with the kids when we got out to look. Daniel would have Alex by the hand and I would have Amelia. Then we made the older two stay right next to us. It was a little nerve-wracking, especially for Daniel. He was a little more nervous than me. I had the kids sit on a rock that was more than far enough away from the edge. But to take the picture I had to carefully place them and sit there with them until I was ready to back up to take the photo. I purposely placed Annessa behind Amelia so she could hold on to her, just in case she got the urge to jump up and run (because she likes to do that, you know). Daniel was standing not too far away, but he was still nervous about it. Anyway, I took this good photo of them.
But before I got that one, someone leaned on someone else causing them all to fall sideways nearly knocking Andrew off the rock. I took this picture of that happening purely on accident.It is funny now to see it because if you did not know that they were sitting on a rock, several feet away from the edge of the canyon, you would think that they were falling into it! However, that would NOT have been funny at all, if that were actually the case.

We stopped at two of the overlooks and got several pictures. We saw such a massive amount of Canyon, yet I know that we only got a glimpse of it. We would need to stay a week to see all of it and I don't know if even a week would be enough. Incidentally, the price to get into the National Park was $25/vehicle, which seemed like a lot. But that was good for 7 days. So I guess maybe that is how long they figure it takes to see as much of the Canyon as possible.

This last photo shows the Colorado River in the background, though it is hard to see. Maybe you can click on the photo to enlarge it, so you can see it. It is an S shape off in the distance.