The Grand Canyon & Sedona

After enjoying Arizona from a local perspective, we met up with my parents to see the tourist side of the state. My parents very rarely are interested in travel "just to see something", however my mom has been actively fighting cancer for a few years now and she has always wanted to see the Grand Canyon. I am so very glad that she voiced that wish - it was a really miraculous sight to see.

We spent two days at the Grand Canyon itself, both of which were beautiful and pleasant - though a little warmer than usual for this time of the year. Even with two days of exploring, we didn't see all that much of the canyon, it is just so, very, GRAND. Also, we had two small children with us, the smallest of which really enjoyed throwing stones over the side - which had me convinced he was going to fall over the edge. It was incredible and terrifying.

So beautiful. So colorful. So much natural awesomeness. And also, so many ways to get hurt.

Even though we have traveled with children since they were born, and Alex and Gretchen are incredibly good travelers, this was not the ideal trip for children who prefer to walk on their own. While we tried to revel in the views and the seemingly endless stunning nature, they were much more concerned about if there were snacks. Or movies. Or somewhere to buy ice cream. In general, our kids are not the "silent reflection" type, so this wasn't their favorite destination.

My sweet Mom and Dad

Another place we wanted to see was Jerome. Rumor has it that Jerome was a great shopping spot and a nice, quiet place to spend a day. This quite possibly was the case 10-15 years ago, but since then it seems that Jerome has fallen asleep entirely and there was not much to see or do. 

Throwing rocks off the side. Never gets old. 

The views were still awesome. And very unlike our flat Texas landscape.

The southwest is such a unique part of the US, and a place that we have not spent much time. The Grand Canyon was incredible, and just driving through the different areas of the state were so interesting to think back on what this land looked like thousands of years ago. I am so glad that we got to visit - and that we have a Phoenix family-springboard in case we are interested in future trips!