We lost track of how many times we said, "Wow!" It is just so breathtaking and expansive that you really are left somewhat speechless. I'm so thankful that the girls are taking this all in. They seem to grasp the intensity of the beauty of God's creation and how different it is across the world. Every time one of them points out something they've observed, it makes our hearts so happy. Nature has always been a way that the Lord has shown His greatness to Joe and I, and it is important to us that the girls develop the ability to see God's magnificence through the nature He has created.
We arrived at the Grand Canyon from the East entrance so we made our way to the Watchtower Viewpoint first. This gave us a great taste test of what was to come. I love the Scripture that was on the wall as we walked up to the view point. "All the earth worships Thee; they sing praises to Thee, sing praises to Thy name." Psalm 66:4 The girls got their first Grand Canyon stamp of several in their National Parks passport and then of course had to try some delicious ice cream at the visitor's center:)
We made our way over to the main Visitor's Center and watched a short video about the Grand Canyon. It was quite funny when the video told us that the Grand Canyon formed millions of years ago. Megan was quick to correct them on that. It led to some discussions along the trail about Creation and Evolution theories. We took a bus to a viewpoint down the road and then walked about 1.5 miles back along the rim, stopping along the way to catch a glimpse of the canyon from different angles. Then we took a bus up to a Yaki point just to see it and then took the bus back down again. The girls did great, a little complaining about legs being tired, but that's expected. We had a quick dinner in the RV and then headed to Mather Point for the sunset.
The sunset did not disappoint and lit up the Canyon beautifully. Another bonus was the full moon rising over the Canyon. Pictures just can't do it justice, although everyone tries to capture this awe inspiring moment, you really can't. There are some moments you have to just put the camera down and take a mental picture and remember the grandeur of it all.
We woke up Thursday morning and had planned to just take it easy, do some laundry and eventually make a trip to Walmart. I tried to make pancakes outside on the grill/griddle, and although it worked, it was very stressful. Joe tinkered with the water pump and hot water heater again and thinks he finally has that figured out. My coffee maker decided to stop working, so I messed with it for about 2 hours, took it apart, put it back together and it still didn't work. So now a trip to Walmart was a necessity:)
Before leaving camp we treated the girls to a go-kart race since it was connected to our campground. We had so much fun zooming around the track. Then we headed to Chick-fil-A in Flagstaff and on to Sedona. On the road to Sedona, you can take the scenic route through Oak Creek Canyon. We had read and heard it was beautiful, but again, there are some things you just can't prepare for. It was absolutely gorgeous and massive. We stopped at Slide Rock State Park and the girls got to swim in the creek and slide on the rocks. They had so much fun! Then we headed down to Sedona. It is the cutest town with breathtaking red rocks surrounding you. Everywhere you turn there is another massive rock. We had dinner at at little restaurant in the middle of town. This wasn't the plan, but eating on a patio, surrounded by this scenery at sunset was an experience we wanted to have and we are so glad we did.
I won't inundate this post with pictures, and again, pictures just don't do it justice. It's hard not to snap so many because you really want to bottle up the grandeur of it all. It truly is an amazing gift.
