A Little Bloggy Catching Up

Over Labor Day, we channeled the Griswolds and headed to the Grand Canyon and Arches for some camping and good ol' family fun. We were on the road by 5AM Friday morning for our long drive down - 800 miles towing the tent trailer. Whew! But our kids are road warriors and we totally rocked it out, arriving there in the late afternoon. We camped the first 2 nights at an RV Park (completely paved, not a woodsy camping experience, but a nice facility) because it was adjacent to the train depot. Saturday we rode the Grand Canyon Railway in and out of the Grand Canyon (to the South Rim, not down into the canyon) and just did some sightseeing. Holding onto the kids tightly - look at those little walls! We had two rules: stay back from the edge and hold a hand. The boys with their stuffed mule souvenirs, which were a big hit. On the train ride back to the campsite, we were held up! Robbers!The sheriff: Sunday we moved campsites and camped in Grand Canyon National Park - a beautiful wooded campsite (with flush toilets and running water - nice!). I've become a big fan of national and state park camping facilities; they're usually pretty darn nice! Check out our campsite visitors! We were just packing up Monday morning when we looked up and saw these three. Notice how their size compares to the industrial sized dumpsters and cars in the background. Amazing!! We had perfect weather in the mid-seventies in Arizona. If you haven't been to the Grand Canyon, I highly recommend it. I'm sure we'll go back because we only saw a tiny portion of it - it is mind-boggling how huge it is!

Monday, we drove to Moab and set up camp there. Tuesday morning, we visited Arches National Park.

Balanced Rock. Double Arch. The Delicate Arch, aka Cowboy's Chaps. One smiley boy and one not-so-smiley boy. Andrew and I visited Arches and Canyonlands 10 years ago on a camping trip for our first anniversary. I have to say, Moab was much the same both trips. Hot. Dusty. Windy. Andrew's allergies started going crazy in Moab. So after wearing everyone out hiking around Arches in the morning, we opted not to go to Canyonlands this trip, especially having just been to the Grand Canyon, and drove home one day earlier than planned. Moab to home is only about 6 hours, so leaving early afternoon got us home about bedtime - perfect! A very nice trip, all in all.