Sat, June 21- We woke up around 4am today to have travel time, car drop and get through airport security before our 8am flight. The morning was so smooth with zero complications. We will likely need to go to bed early tonight with the 4am wake up and losing 2 hours due to the change in time zones. To stay awake, we grabbed our rental car (Nissan Altima) and headed to the Botanical Gardens by 11am. We didn't actually pay to go through the entire gardens as it was so hot, but we walked some of the paths before heading out to lunch. We discovered a yummy deli called Miracle Mile's. They had Rueben sandwich! Next, we headed to the Musical Instrument Museum as the reviews were fantastic and we thought both kids would love it. The MIM blew us all away. It was an amazing collection of over 10,000 instruments and history of music from all of the world. We spent almost 2.5hours walking around. The best part was that they gave us headphones that activated with the music and videos with that part of the world and/or culture. Charles and Cade's favorite instrument in the MIM was the Octobass. Caelin enjoyed seeing the various types of guitars. I loved one of the quotes that said “we are all connected by music as it spans all time and cultures. It binds us together”. After the MIM, we drove about 20 minutes to Old Town Scottsdale where we shopped, saw the Rusty Star Saloon with live music, and grabbed a tasty treat at the Sugar Bowl ice cream parlor. It was a great way to get some energy for the 2 hour drive to Sedona. We are excited to stay the next 2 nights in Sedona and do some hikes, trails, caves and more!
Sun, June 22- This morning we took a drive to Montezuma Castle National Monument. This area was inhabited by the Sinagua farmers and they built a 5 story/20 room dwelling in the side of the mountain between 1100-1300 feet above the valley. It was truly fascinating to learn about their culture. Next we took a 30 min drive to Cathedral Rock to hike the famous rock. The hike took us just under 3 hours and was a bit more challenging than we anticipated with actual rock climbing in several areas. I must say though, the top was worth every bit of climbing with views of the valley and rocks. We sat and admired it for a bit before heading down. This hike was both Cade and Caelin's favorite of the entire trip. After some quick granola bars and water in the car to recharge, we ventured to the Chapel of Holy Cross. This was inspiring and beautiful on the country side. We had the opportunity to go inside and pray with a quiet moment and reflect on all our blessings. By this point, we needed to freshen up and get some food...so we headed back to the Hotel to eat leftover pizza from the night before before heading out to hike Devil's Bridge Trail via the Mescal Trailhead. This was a beautiful hike at sunset and took us just under 2 hours, but we stopped a lot for photos and of course a family photo on Devil's Bridge. It was a great day of outdoor adventures with Montezuma Castle, Cathedral Rock and Devil's Bridge! To finish off the evening, we ate dinner at the Sedona Beer Company near the Mescal Trail before heading back to the hotel. We will sleep good tonight!
Mon, June 23- After a good nights rest, we left Sedona to move along to our next adventure. First up was Slide Rock State Park for a swim, cliff jumping, and rock slides. It was a nice break from hiking, but the water was freezing with an average temp of 50 degrees. Needless to say I stayed on the warm rocks while everyone else ventured into the water. After a quick change to dry clothes, we headed out to downtown Flagstaff. We thought there would be more shopping, but Flagstaff felt more like a busy downtown area. Thankfully, we found a great lunch spot at Collins Irish Pub before getting back on the road for a 30 min drive out to Lava River Cave. Lava River Cave was a 1.5 mile round trip of cave tunnels that are pitch black without headlamps and about 40 degrees temp wise. It was quite the change from the hiking in sun, ha. There were more rocks than I anticipated and none of the ground was really solid so it took us almost 2 hours to make the round trip. What a cool and somewhat scary adventure for us all! To end the day we drove about an hour to Tusayan where we are staying on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon at the Squire Resort for the next 3 days.
Tues, June 24- It was hard to believe we were in the Grand Canyon when we woke up this morning. Our first stop was the Visitor Center and Mather Point. I will never forget when Cade first saw the full view of the Grand Canyon. His mouth hung open in disbelief and you could hear him saying "whooooaaaaaaa" softly. Pictures just don't do it justice as you can't adequately see the depth of the ridges. From here, we took the South Rim Trail to Yavapai Point for more spectacular views of the canyon. I think we may have taken 100 pictures just trying to capture the moment together. Once we finished walking back along the South Rim we decided to grab a treat at the Grand Canyon Chocolate Factory before dining at the Big E Steakhouse for dinner. To round out the day, we went back into the Grand Canyon National Park for the 35th annual Star Party. We originally thought this was just a way to view the night sky from the Grand Canyon, but quickly found out that it was an annual event where people came from all over the world to view the night sky with world class telescopes. We were able to join a walking tour where the guide showed us all the constellations and also meet lots of new people while viewing through their telescopes. Some telescopes required ladders just to look through. It was such an unexpected blessing!
Wed, June 25- Slept in and then decided to be adventurous and attempt the South Kaibab trailhead to go to the Ooh Ahh Lookout and the Cedar Ridge Viewpoint. It was only 3 miles round trip but the elevation and grade made it quite difficult as it was 120 flights of stairs. The views were spectacular and it truly is amazing to see God's creation and detail in every rock layer. We completed the trail in under 3 hours and were quite proud of ourselves. We also had the opportunity to meet and help a family from Missouri that was having medical problems and Cade carried an extra pack the last mile of the hike back up. After recharging with some drinks from the market, we rested to watch an IMAX film on the history of the grand canyon. This was a great way for us to gain more info on the early settlers and original explorers of this land. After the IMAX, we went back to the resort and ordered fun drinks by the pool and hung out a bit before starting a load of laundry and taking showers for a nice dinner at the Yavapai Tavern. We each got Elk burgers which were quite tasty! After dinner, Cade chilled and listened to music for a bit in the hotel lobby while the rest of us went to the arcade and won a bunch of rubber duckies. I guess Caelin and I have found a new hobby of winning rubber ducks from crane machines, ha! The rest of the evening consisted of finishing laundry and packing. We are sad to be leaving the Grand Canyon tomorrow, but excited to see Antelope Canyon.
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