Today we woke up to explore the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Before breakfast we walked out to Angel Point, a spot that reaches out into the canyon for some amazing views. The vastness and beauty of the Grand Canyon is incredible and impossible to capture in a picture.
After breakfast, we again “encouraged” the girls to join us on a hike along the rim of the Grand Canyon. The girls have now caught on that our “short walks” usually end up being hikes around 1.5 to 2.0 miles long, which should not be a problem. After returning from our hike we checked out of our cabin (we again enjoyed another cabin in the National Park System) and went for a drive along the canyon. The girls refused to get out for any more “walks” with the exception of seeing Angels Window, which is part of the canyon creating a natural bridge/window in a protrusion from the rim.
As we approached mid-day we headed out of the Grand Canyon National Park. As we did we encountered an amazing storm. It had a lot of rain and the temperature dropped to around 42 degrees (approximately 40 degrees cooler than when we left). At one point we actually saw some snow or sleet on the edge of the road.
For the rest of the afternoon we made a mad dash across Arizona into Colorado. The drive had a number of beautiful sights. As we have seen in some of our previous drives in the West, it is amazing as to how far you can see. The girls learned about how you can look across the landscape and can see rain coming down miles away. Throughout our drive we encountered some heavy rains and witness the results of flash flooding on some roads. Thank goodness for Rain-x!
In traveling through Arizona we managed catch a glimpse of part of the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. These stone formations look amazing, especially as we approached sundown and even from a distance as we drove by.
Despite our quick progress, we unfortunately missed our opportunity to stand at the Four Corners National Monument, where four states come together. Access to the monument closes at 8:00 p.m. and we did not reach it until 8:50 p.m. We did stop to take a picture with the sign and then completed our 382 miles for the day in Cortez, CO.
One additional sight we were blessed with during the last part of our drive was watching the moon rise. At first, because of its size, the girls refused to believe that it was the moon. However, as we continued to drive it rose in the sky and grew brighter since it was almost a full moon.
Due to our late arrival in Cortez the girls were treated to their first late-night trip to Denny’s. Both girls enjoyed a Value Slam breakfast for dinner
Hammond Adventures 