The Grand Canyon experience

We woke up Monday morning at Trevor's aunt Debbie's house. She made us a yummy breakfast and lunch, and then around noon we left to head to the Grand Canyon. It was about 3-4 hours from Phoenix. Holy smokes, the drive from Phoenix to northern Arizona is to die for. It is so gorgeous. The elevation goes from sea level to about 5,000 above sea level, so you go from desert with cactuses to beautiful pine trees and mountains. Talk about a diverse landscape. I couldn't get enough of it.

We made it to the Grand Canyon around 4pm. It was a very cloudy, cold day. It was in the 50's which we were definitely not used to! This desert 80 degree weather is spoiling me, and I'm going to be miserable when we have to drive back to PA and it will be cold there. But we drove around a bit and saw amazing Grand Canyon views.

 It was getting dark around 5:00 there so we didn't look around too long. Instead, we decided to rent a campsite and stay overnight so we could enjoy the canyon again the next day.


We stopped at a local store on the park grounds and bought firewood, tinder, a lighter, a pack of hotdogs, and a bottle of wine. We got to the campsite and Trevor started the fire while I entertained Timber. Once the fire was started, we ate the hotdogs and took turns taking swigs straight out of the wine bottle. Talk about romantic ;) This is just how we roll.


Around 8:30, we were freezing and tired. We didn't have a tent, so we decided to sleep in the back of the Jeep for the night. We put all of our stuff in the front seats, pushed the front seats as far up as they would go, and then laid the back seats down to create a little bed area. We laid down a comforter, put on sweats, and went to bed. It was me, Trevor, and Timber all snuggled up in the back of the Jeep.

That night there were thunderstorms that lasted the duration of the night. It just poured. The Jeep was so uncomfortable. I slept okay for about 6 hours, but then we woke up around 2am (because we went to bed at 8:30pm) and we were wide awake, freezing, and uncomfortable. Plus, Timber kept barking at birds out the window. I found the whole experience humorous, maybe it's because I grew up camping in the woods and sleeping on the hard ground, but Trevor was pretty miserable and cranky. Finally, after hours of just tossing and turning, the sun finally made an appearance and we made it through the night. We treated ourselves to a breakfast at McDonald's after that.


So we then woke up and drove through the park only to see a TON of HUGE elk and deer that weren't afraid of people whatsoever. Trevor stopped the jeep on the side of the road so we could capture this photo:

Trevor was more interested in the animals than the actual Grand Canyon itself.


That morning, it was cold and kinda rainy once again. I could have stared at the canyon views forever though. It really is unbelievable, and pictures just don't do justice of the real deal.
We took a few more pictures and then left for Page, Arizona on our next adventure!