It really is GRAND!

(Picture not so very grand)
My first visit to the Grand Canyon was better than I'd ever imagined. I knew it would be beautiful, but I didn't expect it to take my breath away! The last time I'd been this astonished by nature was standing at the base of Mt. Rainier, in Seattle. Looking up at the tallest peaks I'd ever seen made me question my own eyes. The Grand Canyon was just as mystifying. It just didn't even seem real! Everything became silent and stopped moving. I don't think I've ever felt stillness like this. I felt all floaty.

I thought of the doctor Filippo De Filippi's words, quoted in Three Cups of Tea, written during an expedition to the summit of K2 in the Himalayas. "Profound silence would brood over the valley, even weighing down our spirits with indefinable heaviness. There can be no other place in the world where man feels himself so alone, so isolated, so completely ignored by Nature, so incapable of entering into communion with her." I understood then, what it's like to feel the grandeur of yourself diminished by Nature. How humbling.

As Chad and the kids moved on, and I protested silently with feet cemented where I stood, a fellow tourist with a pleasant British accent told me kindly just wait, it gets even better up ahead.


Allie seemed to love her first glimpse too!


Jack was more enthusiastic about "acorns"!


I took this picture after he shouted, Mom, I found two acorns!!!
I did correct him, but Jack knows everything. So, it's not a pine cone.


I hope this is a childhood memory that sticks. She really seemed to
be absorbing it.


You jump! No, you jump! No, you jump! No, you jump!
Then giggles. This was the dialogue going on when I took this picture.


Sydney started to dance, of course! There's no Jack because he sat down in the dirt and refused to walk anymore. He was tooooo tired! But I was relieved because he made me so nervous around that chicken wire! My nerves were flipping me out, and getting Chad a little annoyed!


I wanted to sit like this too. Backwards on a bench with feet dangling.
Looked fun!

Souvenirs! And postcards that, of course, didn't get mailed!

For Sydney, a purple crystal rock.


Indian jewelery for Allie.


And, I couldn't believe it! A harmonica necklace for Jack!
It is the size of his thumb. It took him a while, but he figured
out how to hold the tiny instrument in his hands and make
some nice sounds! Ha ha!


I even purchased a little goody for myself. Maybe it was my whole enchantment with the place, or the pretty yellow color of the cover, but I couldn't resist this book. Suddenly, I had to learn all about Hopi Indian culture.

From The Grand Canyon, we drove to Flagstaff to eat dinner and rest
our heads overnight for the long drive to Amarillo the next day.
I looooooooved it! It's a pretty, green, charming little mountain town!
Trees everywhere, so clean and quiet. I would love to visit again!

On the way into town, I searched for the best local restaurants online. We went here for dinner and it was perfect! I had the special, a southwestern-style pasta dish that had so many interesting flavors. I almost went for the Ratatouille, just because of the movie, and because I've never had it, or even seen it on a menu. But the southwestern dish won me over since I was in Arizona! Chad loved his Reuben sandwich.

Besides the amazing food, the place also rocked with paintings by local artists hung on the walls, Beatles music, a bakery, and the Chef approaching our table twice just to chat and ask how the food was! He even told me how he makes the special sauce on my pasta. I loved that his daughter was on a date in her dad's restaurant! It was all so charming. I want to go back to Flagstaff just to eat at this restaurant again, especially for breakfast next time, and to try this vegetarian place I was so bummed to miss.



Jack made a flag with crayons and folded up paper while we waited
for our food. Maybe being in Flagstaff inspired him? He comes up
with some creative stuff, making boats out of bread, and once
he wrapped one of my hair bands around a marbled rubber
ball and said it was a planet!


Allie was shaking it, her funny dance that always makes us laugh!
The louder we laughed the crazier she'd shake her buns!