Sadie and I got to have an amazing trip to the Grand Canyon with my mom and dad last week. My mom got reservations by entering a lottery type drawing in January of 2020, and she won the lottery for February 2021! There were 4 beds in the cabin they got, so they asked around to find people to go with them. Sadie and I decided to make the trip, although I was a bit nervous about the hike because I wasn't in hiking shape. Sadie and I went on a few long walks and felt ready enough. We weren't going to have to carry all of the camping gear down, just clothes and snacks and lunches. We were able to get breakfast and dinner from the place we were staying, so that was a perk too.
We got to ride in a plane to AZ. I kept telling Sadie all these tidbits of info like "Sometimes they make you switch gates at the last minute..." and "I hope they don't lose our luggage because all of our hiking gear is in there! We need that bright and early!" Of course, When I said these things, I was certain they wouldn't happen to us. But every thing I had said happened to us. They switched our gate right before we needed to board, thankfully, it was pretty close by. And when we got to AZ and were looking for our luggage, it didn't show up. Uh oh.
I talked to someone there and they found out it was left in SLC and they would try to get it on the last flight to AZ that night. We would have to go pick it up at 10 pm if it made it. Fortunately, it did make it and we picked up our bag and they gave us a 150 dollar voucher for the mix up. I guess it was worth it.
Here is our selfie before we got on the plane.
This was our "I'm really nervous about flying" selfie.
ON the plane. Sadie wanted me to close the window, but I left it opened and she loved looking out.
This was us after we found out our luggage didn't make it!
The next morning, we got up around 4:30am and got in the truck and drove the 3 and a half hours to the Grand Canyon. We made it and got our packs on and took the shuttle to the trail.
Wearing masks the whole time of course. Here's our picture at the top before we knew what we were getting ourselves into. :)
The first few miles were easy peasy. We stopped to eat lunch on a big rock. Why does ALL food taste so good when you are hiking??
After lunch we were back at it on the trail.
We ran into a Mule train on the way down. We scooched over and let them pass.
This was the view I had most of the hike. Sometimes, Sadie was in front, and my mom was close behind her, then there was a big gap, me, and then another gap and my dad was in the back.
Here was our first view of the Colorado river. Sadie sat down on that ledge and then hopped down. Scared me half to death. I thought she was going to fall to her death, but there was a large place there for her to stand on. It just looked scary. At this point, my feet and toes and knees were really hurting. I had to force myself to keep walking. My legs did NOT like going downhill. At. All.
We made it to the bridge, which was maybe a mile from the end. At this point, I was sure my toes would all have black toenails by the time we got to the cabin. I did NOT want to ever have to put my feet back into my hiking boots again. I started to wonder how I was going to get myself out of there on Thursday.
We made it to the cabin! I kicked my shoes off and climbed up to my top bunk and laid down. After a while, I decided I would take a shower before dinner and went with Sadie to take our 3 minute showers. They had signs telling us that we had to get wet, turn the water off while we got soaped up, and then you could turn the water back on to rinse off. :) It still felt really good to have the hot water on my sore legs. My calves were so sore!
We walked around, found the creek and stuck our feet in it (it was like ICE) and then we waited and waited for dinner. My mom had us play an alphabet game and I think I can still name all the things we came up with. Let's see:
"My boyfriend really loves me so at the store he got me some..."
A-asparagus B-bagels C-coconuts D-deer E-eggs F-ferrets G-grapes H-hot tamales I-ice J-jumping beans K-kale L-limes M-marshmallows N-nuggets O-oranges P-popcorn Q-quail R-rattlesnakes S-sugar T-toast U-umbrellas V-Vermont key chain W-watermelon X-xylophone Y-yarn Z-zamboni
So we finally got our dinner and ate it. It was beef stew with corn bread, salad, and a brownie. So yummy.
Then we went to bed super early because we were exhausted. I think it was like 7:30. My mom said she woke up and looked at the clock thinking it was time to get up, and it was only 11! ha ha. Long night.
The next day, we went on a hike to a waterfall, but we only made it about halfway before we turned around and went back. We felt like we needed to save our energy for the next day hiking out. I'm sure my mom could have made it easily all the way there, but my calves were SO sore and my toes were still killing me.
We saw these heart cacti everywhere!
Canyon pictures. It's crazy how small you feel at the bottom of the Grand Canyon!
When we got back form our walk, right outside of our cabin, they were feeding and loading up the mules for a trip out of the canyon. The lady who was feeding them asked if we wanted to help. Of course!
Here is Sadie giving them some celery. My mom was brave and fed them some apples too.
This was our dinner the second night. Steak, potatoes, broccoli and cornbread. So yummy.
We ate outside this night because it was still light. The night before it was dark when we got dinner, so we crouched in our cabin and ate on the floor.
Here we are on our bunk beds.
Our second night, my mom brought us down to a bridge and we walked out to the middle and sat down to listen to the Colorado river and drink hot chocolate. The stars were amazingly bright. We saw so many satellites, and I even saw a shooting star. :)
Fortunately, it was dark because otherwise I would have been so scared of how high we were on this rickety bridge. haha.
It was a night I won't soon forget. Thanks mom!
The next morning we got breakfast at 5:30 and then started up the trail around 6:10 in the morning. Hiking uphill was WAY better than going downhill. I could have walked uphill all day. Fortunately, we got out of the canyon a little after noon, so I didn't have to walk all day, but seriously, uphill is so much better!
The river was so pretty as it was being lit up by the rising sun.
Near the top of the trail, there was quite a bit of ice. We had to put on some traction devices on our shoes so we didn't slip and slide all over the place.
Sadie found this cool frozen waterfall.
We got to see a mule train with people riding the mules. We let them pass.
My mom took this video of us at the very end of the trail. It felt so good! We did it!! Thanks mom and dad for the amazing experience.
We drove home and got a great night's sleep. Then the next day I got to see my brothers, my grandma and my cute nephew. WE got to eat at my favorite Mexican restaurant too.
The whole gang!
Love this place!
Emery made this cute stuffed owl for Sadie so we took pictures of everyone with it. Here's grandma and grandpa.
Scott and Christi.
Sadie and Cade.
Great grandma and Sadie.
I'm so glad that Sadie and I got to share this fun trip together, and I'm also glad our plane didn't crash. ha ha. Our first pilot announced after we had a hard landing that it was his inaugural flight. I'm glad he told us at the end of the flight!!!! My mom and dad were excellent tour guides. If you ever need someone to take you to the Grand Canyon...you should give them a call!
I'll add a few more picture on a different post. My mom takes a lot better hiking pictures. :)
