Grand Canyon and such

Driving from Utah to the Grand Canyon took a surprisingly little amount of time (compared to what we've been doing recently. Seriously- I don't think there's a way that we will ever complain about a car ride being too long after this trip!)during the drive, I used this cool thing with the library where you can download books onto your computer and read them without internet (helpful when you'ere in the middle of nowhere!)so I wasn't looking out the window much... Anyways, I glanced up every once and a while (book a total page turner...or, well, scroll down-er)and saw the landscape changing from rock formations and canyons to desert to forest. Sadly, though, the forest was mostly burned down, blackened dead trees lining the road instead of live green ones. It was pretty depressing... like the dead trees all over Colorado from beetles (except there, there were libe trees dotted through- here there was only dead ones in a huge clump and live ones later. Oh well. So we got to the Grand Canyon and walked along this little rim trial to eat lunch (fried chicken...still have some left :P)and almost froze to death. Seriously- 58 degrees in July in Arizona?! No fair, especially b/c it was supposedly 100 down inside the canyon! We hurried and finished when *FLASH BOOM BOOM BOOM* a lightning storm started creeping towards us.Looking over the rim of the canyon, we could see a wall of rain coming towards us and ligh ting forking out and hitting the rim of the canyon right out across from us! We ran to the canyon lodge & attached gift shop and took shelter from the storm. Afterwards, there were few people in the drizzle, so we asked if there was room to camp there... and yes! We were camping IN the grand canyon! (well, in Grand Canyon national park, not in the canyon itself) We drove around and hiked a bit and took in the views (what really got me was how ENORMOUS the canyon was!) We cooked a nice meal of pasta and a salad and buttered rolls (homey), and saw the end of the sunset (and alex nearly stepped on this 7 foot snake..yes! I wanted to see at least one snake on the trip- check :) ) In the morning, we got up, packed up, and left to Albuquerque NM, arriving at night and eating in this 60's style route 66 diner with delicous pie. The we stayed at a -get this- a HOTEL!!! Like, with a bed that doesn't deflate, and a bathroom/shower that isn't public, and a pool, and- after so many days camping, it was absolute LUXURY!!! In the morning we swam in the pool for a while, took showers, and then, at 11, got out to explore the old section of Albuquerque. Oh My God, there is soooo much shopping there! And the stuff is so reasonable, I just want to buy it ALL! I could have spent several days (and hundred bucks...) there if we had time, but no. We had a 12 hour drive ahead of us... :( bleh. So we shopped around a bit, ate a delicious breakfast/lunch/dinner (our one meal of the day unless you count the whole bag of chips shared by the kids- 11 servings for 4 people...) at a french restaurant, and left.. at 2 :P On the drive, we watched 4 movies, passed through several ghost towns, stopped at 3 gas stations and 1 public restroom. I read a book, listened to music, we played a car game, and spraypainted a smiley face on the third car in at Cadillac Ranch :) .. I even managed to sleep for a little bit at the end of the long ride, arriving at 4am. Its been weird staying in the same spot for a couple days, but our trip is almost over, so I better get used to it (be home in 2-3 days). today we're off to Memphis as soon as Dad vacuums all the ants out of the car. Well... see you guys soon!

~Cecilia