Month: January 2015

We arrived a bit late, but we still got to see the Grand Canyon in all its … well, grandeur. It was around freezing, but the air was clear and the sun was bright, making all the colors glow.

We found a great spot to take a group photo (Sonja did have to photoshop us all together):

Then we went and had a picnic because we were all starving after the long drive. We found a table in the sun, but we still had to sit on our gloves to stay warm. After eating we went to the Mather Point overlook:

But that was crowded, so we went further to Yavapai point and walked along the rim where there are no railings. The views were spectacular in every direction.

If I (Andy) understand correctly, the red layer near the top of the canyon (under the white layer) is the same red rock that we saw in Sedona.

Even though the Grand Canyon was the one thing that Leilani asked to see in Arizona, I think she was more entertained by the snow. She looked for all the patches of snow to play in. Fortunately for the people she might want to throw snowballs at, the snow was dry and didn’t stick together.

We got to see the sun set but without the sunlight, the canyon was darker and less colorful. It also got very cold, so we went to see the small geology museum before they closed.

Then we checked into our room at the Bright Angel lodge, a historic hotel right by the canyon. We had snacks and beers in our room with the whole family before they had to drive back to Sedona. Before going to bed, we put on all our warm clothes and walked along the rim of the canyon at night. Of course the canyon was dark and hard to see, but the stars in the sky were beautiful.

I never finished the posting the pictures of the Arizona trip…

On Friday, we checked out of the time share, had a late start, but finally started driving north out of Sedona. The scenic road goes through Oak Creek Canyon and climbs to the Colorado plateau.

At the top of the canyon is a lookout where we stopped for the view.

But mostly, we stopped so that Leilani could play in the snow.

We brought our snowball maker all the way from Kaua’i (originally from the Sierra Nevada in California), and she put it to good use. Even Grandma needed to throw a snowball at Leilani to get even.

She even built a snowman. Then she made a reserve of snowballs and threw them at us when we came to look at it. I think the snowman is grinning just like she is.

We had a couple of good snowball fights, even Andy and David still threw snowballs at each other. Leilani figured out how to always hit her target: run up to them and throw it point-blank. Here she chased me into the parking lot and kept throwing at me while I took pictures over my shoulder.

Further north, we drove past the pretty San Francisco peaks, which are volcanic cones north of Flagstaff.

Jet had a sore foot and needed antibiotic ointment, I put the sock on to stop him from licking it off, and he proudly wore it for hours, so we realized that they didn’t mind clothes. On this particularly cold morning the half-blood whippets shivered, so we put Leilani’s T-Shirts on.