Grand Canyon: The Final Day

Day 27 (June 23): We left our luxurious hotel room this morning with reluctance, casting final admiring glances about us. We had a four-hour drive ahead of us to reach the The Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon. I have always wanted to see the Grand Canyon. I was so excited to get there, hopefully no later than 2:30 so we would have plenty of time to explore.

However, we first decided to detour to the Hoover Dam. It was on the way, and who wouldn’t want to see it? We stopped at a parking lot, and hiked up to the pedestrian bridge. What an amazing feat of engineering! It was truly spectacular to see. Then, of course, we had to drive over it and take some more pictures before heading back to the main road.

Somehow, by the time we finished, we were running behind and not scheduled to get to the Grand Canyon until 3:30. Thence started the rest of our very long drive.

Between traffic and the INCREDIBLY LONG LINE into the park itself, we didn’t enter the park until…Like 5, I think? Yes, we were stuck in the long line to get into the park for a full hour, and were later told it was sometimes a lot longer. As we waited in line, the temperature dropped drastically and it began pouring rain. I really wanted to complain, but considering we had just been told about all the forest fires, and even saw heavy smoke in front of us, I figured the rain might be a prayer answer for someone as hope it helped the firefighters.

We checked into our camping area (because, yes, we were going to camp in the Grand Canyon National park!), and then, when I informed Daniel that I didn’t think it was worth the effort to see the canyon itself, he was quick to pull out some food. Apparently, I was hungry, because once I ate the cold pizza and cold, leftover risotto, I decided it might be worth going to see the canyon after all.

How can I possibly describe the majestic, breathtaking, incredible sight of the Canyon? I’ve seen so many pictures of it, but nothing can compare to seeing it in person. No matter how many different outlooks we stopped at, or how long we looked over it, it continued to astound me. To make it better, the rain stopped in time for us to take some incredible pictures and enjoy the exploration.

We walked to Mathers point, and then drove Desert View road, stopping at every lookout possible. We got all the gorgeous sunset pictures and even some nighttime pictures. Of course, as it got later, the temperature dropped again and the rain started up again. We still took some pictures through the rain, trying desperately to capture pictures of the rainbow.

And tonight, dear readers, was the last night of camping we were supposed to have. Tomorrow morning we were scheduled to drive fifteen hours to get to Oklahoma and stay at my in-laws for a few days before continuing on home. Here’s the issue. It was 8:00 PM. Dark. Cold. Wet. We envisioned setting up our tent in the dark (again), sleeping only until 5:30 AM and then packing up, with the tent and tarp wet, and driving all day only to arrive at my in-laws at 2:00 the followingmorning thanks to the time change.

So, we decided on another course. To skip out on our camping reservation (don’t worry, it was prepaid), and drive all night instead. Yup. Currently, we are driving towards Oklahoma. We aren’t sure if this is the wisest thing, but it feels so much easier than camping. Whether or not I still think so at 2:00 am tonight is yet to be determined.

Anyway, that’s officially the end of our trip, even though we won’t be home for another week. You may hear from me again, especially when we do arrive home, but for now, I bid you adieu, and thank you for coming along on the most epic adventure of my life.