It was Jay and my 20th anniversary and it found us, again, in the car traveling to a new destination. En route the boys and I learned a new word, “talus“. Good to know in this area as you see them all over.
We were on our way to the Grand Canyon. I have been before, ages ago, but Jay and my children were going for the first time.
Entering the park takes you to the watch tower first. It provides some grand vistas.
After stopping there Drew was quite done. After all, “It’s just a big ditch!” I can kind of understand his viewpoint and had we had more time I think overall my family would have enjoyed actually hiking into the canyon more than simply viewing from the top. Yet, time was not on our side — nor was everyone’s ability.
So it was decided that the majority of us would take a 2 mile “rim hike” whilst Mom and Grandma would take the shuttle and meet up with us at the “village mall”.
Thus we set out, after a couple of false starts due to construction, with a beautiful day ahead of us and a promised meal at the end.
The day was actually cool due to elevation which made the walk quite pleasant, even though the sun was full force. (Brought up another teaching point.)
I was never afraid of heights in my youth, nor am I much now. However, I now have a huge fear of falling and not so much *me* falling, but that of my children.
Grand Canyon. . .not such a good place for me.
Around the 1 mile mark Daddy started fretting about Mom and Grandma and broke away from the group with Tyler going with him. Of course, neither one thought to tell any of us; so we, meaning *me*, were completely lacking “warm fuzzy” feelings the last mile of our hike.
At the end of our 2 mile hike everyone was starving and Jay’s ankle was in serious pain.
This picture taken, obviously, at the beginning of the hike.
When we finally caught up to Tyler and Daddy at the “village mall” we discovered that Mom and Grandma were MIA. Not only that, but we had no cell phone service to call them and find out where they were. (Couldn’t figure that one out as we could clearly see a cell phone tower.) Thus, began the hunt for a pay phone. Pay phones are hard to find and pricey nowadays!
Between the pay phone and Mom’s spotty cell phone service we were able to determine a meeting spot and all was resolved. And we discovered that the “village mall” encompassed a huge area.
We saw a great deal of ravens (or crows). Again wishing I had internet to look up the difference.
For dinner we went to a bar and grill. Never on my list of places to go, but it was recommended. (It didn’t change my mind about ever going to another, either.) Discovered my kids aren’t so fond of them either.
|
Subject |
* |
Notes |
| English | ||
| Math | ||
| Science | * | nature studies, earth science |
| “Social Studies” | ||
| The “Arts” | ||
| PE | * | hiking |
| Socialization | * | spending time with family |
| Life Skills | * | be wary of Mom’s “spill meter” |
| “Other” |
Core Foundations 