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Tuesday, October 4

Road Trip Update Two: From Phoenix to the Grand Canyon

Hi friends! I am currently sitting in The Canyon Cafe, which, despite having a name that conjures images of wooden fireplaces, large mugs of hot chocolate and cozy couches, is actually just a glorified and overpriced cafeteria. But it does have wi-fi, so here I am! 

Since we last spoke (unless you're my mom, who insists on talking to me twice a day), a lot has happened in a short amount of time! We left Kyle's apartment, and while trying to locate the San Diego Book Arts Center, we stumbled across Balboa Park. It was a beautiful and sunny Sunday, and we couldn't resist parking and exploring the park in the limited time that we had. We made friends with some really nice trees, observed many adults taking part in a scavenger hunt and walked through the Botanical Center. All in all, it was an afternoon well spent. 

After that, we headed to Craig's place in Phoenix, stopping on the way at Dateland, AZ, where we sampled some of their homemade date ice cream and alternated going to the bathroom a few times. Apparently our road trip schedule doesn't sit too well with our digestive systems (That may be TMI, but if you know me at all, you should have expected it, reader). And although we got to Craig's place late and left early (After a wonderful, calorie loaded breakfast at Black Bear Diner), we enjoyed our visit thoroughly. Our favorite detail about Craig's place was the "Welcome!" that he had written on his white board, with cute stars and all. 

Yesterday, we drove up to the Grand Canyon, stopping in Sedona, AZ spontaneously for a wonderful hike to Cathedral Rock. It was a short but "strenuous" hike, and was actually more rock climbing than hiking at some points. The view from the top was beautiful, and we gyrated our hips with joy (Now a tradition). 

I realize that this post is kind of boring and would be much improved by pictures, but predictably, I cannot find my card reader right now. Even more predictably, I think I may have entirely forgotten to pack it. And you know, my forgetfulness used to really aggravate me, and it still does sometimes, but right now, I'm going to ignore the inconveniences of this personality trait and pretend that it's endearing. Okay? 

We got to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon pretty late last night (I may or may not have gotten us lost)(Not endearing at all), camped in Nathan's snug two person tent (Thanks Nathan!), and hiked into the Canyon today. Unfortunately, we got kind of a late start (about 10:30 or so), and were only able to hike down 3 miles. It was especially unfortunate because, honestly, after those 3 miles, which take you basically to the bottom of the canyon, the path becomes pretty level and takes you through a beautiful valley of trees and into a beautiful vantage point in what seems like the center of the canyon. But by the time we got to the bottom, it was about 1:00, so we decided to be smart and start heading up. We made great time hiking up, and made it out of there around 3:15. They say it should take you double the time to go up as it does to go down (which is why we started ascending so early), but we must have really been booking it going up or going really slow going down (I think maybe a little bit of both). 

Now, we are resting a little bit and preparing for a cold night. It's been chillier than we expected, and the low today is 30 degrees, I think, so we better bundle up! Tomorrow, we are headed off to Bryce Canyon! I really appreciate all the texts, calls, messages and emails from everyone and will try to return as many as possible. But the new blogger interface tells me that almost 100 people looked at my last post, so to those of you who are silently reading, don't be shy! Give us pointers and tips! Tell us places we must absolutely see or absolutely avoid. Or just say, "Hi!" We'd love to hear from you!

4 comments:

Lauren Anderegg said...

Go to the glass walkway thing that juts out over the Canyon! So amazing. It's like you are walking in mid-air over this beautiful landscape. It's a must! Miss you! <3

Katie j said...

I hope you love Bryce Canyon and Moab! I think I loved then even more than the Grand Canyon because they feel so accessible in a way-or maybe just not so overwhelming as the Grand Canyon. If you can't find your camera card it was meant to be! Maybe you needed to focus more, see more, and not through your viewfinder.

S. Kahlon said...

Katie! You are absolutely right. I used those exact words to describe both Bryce and Zion. They were so much more accessible and approachable.

Right now, we are staying in a hostel in Moab. So far, I love it!

Beth Berens said...

I'm glad you're having fun! Does not having your camera card mean no pictures at all, or you just can't upload them to your computer?