tales from a far-land

After departing Williams, AZ, we headed up to the Grand Canyon.  The kids had never visited it and were really looking forward to seeing it.  At first glance, they were not as impressed with it as I think they had imagined it in their minds.  Since we had been cooped up in the car for awhile, we thought it would be fun to follow the Canyon's Rim Trail to the east for a bit as the sun was setting before we headed to a restaurant for dinner.  Madilyn and the dogs really enjoyed that experience.  Aiden, on the other hand, thought that it was boring.  I guessed we cannot please both of them at the same time. The next morning, we enjoyed breakfast at the El Tovar Hotel's Dining Room before heading out on the Rim Trail again.  This time we headed west.  Josh and I wanted to hike until we could see the Colorado River.  The hike ended up being about seven miles roundtrip.  The kids were troopers.  They kept up with us the entire time, ...

Sometime in early fall, Josh, after speaking with some of our soccer parent friends, came home and informed me that we would be hiking the Grand Canyon in late October.  At first, I wasn't very enthused.  However, I could tell that Josh was really excited and wanted to do this trip.  So, I agreed.  I am so glad that we did.  It was one of the best experiences we have ever done together.  The trip's itinerary was designed by Adrienne.  She is a very experienced Grand Canyon hiker.  Her family has been hiking the canyon a couple of times a year for over ten years.  She was amazing!  She told us exactly what to pack, where to be, how much to train (which I didn't really follow) and how much we owed for the trip.  She coordinated the hotel rooms, the restaurant reservations and the carpool lists.  All we had to do is hike.  Easy breezy. On Friday morning, we all met up at Adrienne's house to carpool up to the Grand Ca...