In our quest to visit as many national parks as we can, we decided to go to the Grand Canyon during k’s spring break. My parents (aka Baba and Zaza) also went, as they had never been before. (D went when he was a kid with his parents).
We left early, just after 5 a.m. and drove about seven hours. I had promised the kids that they could watch Frozen on our portable DVD player, but the cord broke! They kept themselves busy by looking for car makes and state license plates.
As expected, there was a line at the gate. Actually, there were multiple lines. It felt like Disneyland!
After finding a parking spot (no easy feat!), we met my parents at the Visitors Center. Unfortunately, the Visitors Center’s movie was broken, so we were not able to watch it. Instead, we walked to nearby Mather Point to get our first glimpse of the canyon.
I felt dizzy just looking down, which is a distance of about one mile.
It was very crowded, as you can see.
Then, we followed the trail to Yavapai Geology Museum.
I thought this would be a nice place to hang out, but it was crowded and stuffy.
It was nice to have more family shots since we had built in photographers.
The park does not sell water bottles, but has various filling stations to encourage you to use your own reusable bottles.
Enjoying the view.
Next, we walked part of the Trail of Time, which is adjacent to the museum.
Afterward, we sat in on a Ranger Program about geology in order to fulfill the kids’ junior ranger requirement.