Tuesday, March 13, 2007

I Don't Like Meawls

Sunday, March 11, 2007

5:30am and everyone is up to see the sunrise. We had the perfect plan - head down to an observation point 30 minutes before the sunrise and snuggle together and watch the beautiful sight. We didn't take into account the 22 degrees and the fact that waiting for a sunrise is EXTREMELY BORING for kids. About 1/2 hour into our wait, again we were left breathless as the sun made its way into the sky. The colors and shadows played on the canyon walls and the orange, red, pink, and brown colors of the canyon began to pop. As Tri-Guy and I sighed and soaked in the astounding beauty, we turned to see Supergirl and J-man hunkered down under some pine trees trying to avoid
the wind and stay warm. Bright idea #2 came just then...walking will warm us up! So we headed off to a different overlook to see a different view of the sunrise. Once again, we failed to comprehend how the kids would be bored silly just standing and looking at yet another view of some rocks. At this point, we all needed a quick potty stop. The whining and complaining was growing to a fevered pitch and then we realized, we hadn't eaten breakfast!!! Never underestimate the power of food with kids! We drove out of the park for an expensive breakfast (everything in the Grand Canyon costs an arm and a leg because it is in the middle of nowhere!) As we were driving back in the park, Supergirl commented, "I'm grumpy when I don't get food."

With our new energy, we headed to the Bright Angel trailhead to hike down into the canyon. Here is the first time of the trip when I actually underestimated the kids. The hike was straight down into the canyon over many switchbacks. At the beginning of the trail, we had to watch our footing because the trail was covered in ice! As we descended deeper and deeper into the canyon, we were humbled by the sheer height of the canyon walls. Tri-Guy and J-man looked like ants in comparison to the canyon walls that rose straight up around then. We hiked deeper and deeper, all the time watching the dirt under our feet change colors from white to deep red. The walls of the canyon looked like they had been painted. And everytime we looked out into the canyon, it looked like a painted backdrop. At one point we looked up and were surprised to see a mountain goat passing us on the trail. We also were lucky enough to see California Condors circling above us in the sky. Admist all of this beauty, we listened to the tranquility of the canyon...wait...that is what I had imagined. What we really listened to went something like this "Ewwww...is that poop? That's meawl poop!" "No, J-man, that is MULE poop" "Ewww, that's gross. Look, it's green!" Yes, the whole hike was filled with lots of poop-talk. Even with the deep conversation, We made it to our halfway point in what seemed just a few minutes and paused for a snack break. I was getting nervous about the hike back - a hike that was 1 1/2 miles straight up to the top of the canyon ascending about 1100 feet. I was sure that J-man would be asking to be carried about 5 minutes into the hike. To my surprise, he starting hiking. As the switchbacks came, we offered him a Jelly Belly Sport Bean at every corner. It worked and he ended up hiking the ENTIRE route own his own two legs. There were adults that didn't even attempt that hike! It was 3 miles roundtrip that lasted about 3 1/2 hours. During this hike, Supergirl was just as impressive. Not only was she hiking at an amazing speed, but she stopped several times to scale the rock walls. She is quite the rockclimber. As we were walking back to our car, J-man starting singing a little song - "I love Daddy. I love Mommy. I love Supergirl. Someone needs to love me. (pause) I love myself." Typical J-man.

We decided to rest a little after our hike, so we checked out the IMAX theater in town. The Grand Canyon movie was a hit. Later that night, we hiked to the rim to watch the sunset. Again, the colors playing off the canyon walls were amazing. We attended a ranger program about the ranch at the bottom of the canyon. J-man passed out in the middle of the lecture. we headed back to our room around 8:30 and passed out.

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