Our Arizona Mini Vacation: The Grand Canyon

For the Labor Day weekend, we decided to get out of Albuquerque and head to Arizona to see the Grand Canyon. Neither Matt nor myself had ever seen the Grand Canyon and while Matt did visit Arizona once in high school, neither of us had ever really explored Arizona. So we packed up Friday and headed out around 5pm to Flagstaff, Arizona where we stayed all three nights. Flagstaff is about 4.5 hours from Albuquerque, but that ended up being about 5.5 hours for us once we added in a few stops for food/gas/restrooms/etc. So Friday merely consisted of driving, checking into our hotel room and sleeping. Much needed sleeping.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early (literally, bright and early because silly Arizona doesn't observe daylight savings so while our bodies were saying it was 7am, it was actually 6am in Arizona). Then we grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to the Grand Canyon! Yay! Another 1.5 hours in the car and one elk sighting later and we were there and it was amazing. Just amazing. Seriously. The Grand Canyon did not disappoint. It is just so... so... grand! Haha. Sounds silly to say, but it's so true. It's just overwhelming at times. And also hard to really soak in. Unfortunately, though, Ethan wasn't really in a "let's sit and soak it in" mood (let's be real, what 2 year old ever is?), so we didn't get to spend as much time as we would've liked there, but we still probably spent a good two hours wandering around taking pictures and appreciating all the glory of the Grand Canyon. Anyway, here are just a few things I learned while visiting the Grand Canyon:

- There are bugs at the Grand Canyon. Like these really annoying little no-see-ums and then big mosquitos. And they are everywhere and they like to land on you and eat you. Yuck!

- There are squirrels at the Grand Canyon. Really bold, unafraid squirrels. And they come right up to you (especially if you're a two year old in a stroller snacking on something like goldfish or an apple).

- My son is terrified of squirrels. Especially the kind that practically jump into your lap.

Now for some pictures of the Grand Canyon, of course! You knew I couldn't go all that way and not take hundreds of pictures, right?? But don't worry, I edited it down to just my favorites. :)

Somebody is excited and ready to go!

Gorgeous yellow fields - I had no idea how pretty Arizona is!

I'd like to say this is after we wore him out at the Grand Canyon, but nope, this is actually headed to the Grand Canyon. Just a little morning nap!

Oh just an elk. Chilling.

"Excuse me, sir, but may I have some of those delicious goldfish?" Cue Ethan's panic attack.

 

It's like "Where's Waldo?" but instead it's "Where's Matt?" See him? He's there. And yes, he's crazy for climbing down there.

We stopped at the airport to watch some of the Grand Canyon helicopter tours take off - Ethan, of course, loved it. :)

Gorgeous views during our drive home

Seriously, I thought Arizona was a desert, I had no idea it was so lush and green!

So after all that fun at the Grand Canyon on Saturday, we went back to Flagstaff and just relaxed for the evening. We walked around Old Town Flagstaff and had dinner at a local brewery - the first of three we stopped at, of course. :) All-in-all our first full day in Arizona was definitely a success and I think enough for one blog post. I'll be sure to follow-up with "Our Arizona Mini Vacation: Sedona" soon! :)