Monday, July 6, 2009

July 6

Williams, AZ to Alamosa, CO

This morning started at night, 2:30am to be exact. That's when we got up and then the kids got up shortly after that. We left our hotel at 3:30am to head to the Grand Canyon. We did our Daily Bible Hour on the way - Luke 8-12. We got there and parked at one of the many open spaces at Mather Point and then caught the Kaibab Trail shuttle to Yaki Point. That's the farthest East point at the South Entrance (best spot on the South to see the sunrise and hardly anyone was there - maybe 20 people).

After taking some pictures, we walked back to the Kaibab Trailhead (about 15 minutes). At 5:57am we headed down the trail intending to go down the .75 mile to Ooh Aah Point. The ranger estimate the roundtrip to be 1-2 hours. We got down in about 25 minutes...oohed and aahed...took some pictures and then began our ascent.

They tell you to bring water or Gatorade type drinks and some snacks but we forgot our snacks. Don't do that. Jariah started to have a hard time going back up and nearly passed out. He sat down and waited and then took turns walking and riding on dad's back (making dad's trip up all the more challenging). We all made it back up in about 35 minutes, so we felt good with a 1 hour time on the trail.

From there, we left the South Rim and went to the East Entrance to look at the old tower there and bought our souvenirs there. Finally, about 9:30am we left the Grand Canyon. We headed out for Colorado by way of Four Corners. So far, if there was one "attraction" I would cut from the trip it would be Four Corners. It's neat but to get there is on no major roads (1 lane each way with some passing) and the one road there had 4 construction zones...ugh!

Well, we did finally get there. Here is Jedi visiting his four siblings each in a different state all at the same time. From there we drove into Colorado and across the lower Rockies to our destination Alamosa, CO. We drove 546 miles today. Our in-car movies for the day were the Muppet Show, Ice Age 1, National Treasure 2, and Star Wars 2. Tomorrow is a "special" day we haven't told the kids about. We'll see if they are surprised and if they enjoy it!

1 comment:

  1. I love the four corners picture. That would make it worth the drive there for me! Glad to hear the trip is going well. What an incredible trip you have planned for your children. We are praying for safe travels for you all. Jen, Steve and Alyssa

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