Grand Canyon

We've been on a whirlwind trip to the Grand Canyon. We got up early on Saturday morning (Sept. 3rd) and drove 6 hours to Jacob Lake (Kaibab) Campground, just about 30 minutes from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

In our car there was Joe, me and two of our adult children; Aaron and Sarah.

At the campground we were soon joined by our oldest daughter, Susan, and her little family. They also drove about 6 hours, but they came from Peoria Arizona.

It was a big task to get up three tents, build a fire in one pit and cook a dutch oven dinner with coals in the other pit. The fellows did the heavy lifting and fire building. Thanks to Sarah we had a fantastic meal. Later we roasted super-jumbo marshmallows and made 'Some-mores'.

Behind our campsite was a nice woodland area to explore:

Becca was interested in knowing about some plants and also picked wild flowers:

Our camp was directly by a large pasture and these were our neighbors which we were very willing to pet:

Sisters reunited:

Still pals:

Uncle Aaron with the kids:

On Sunday we drove to see the Grand Canyon.. Along the way we saw buffalo.

Click on the picture to enlarge it. They were really far away from the road:

At last we got our first glimpse of the canyon:

It was so big it didn't seem real:

Some of us followed a park service trail to a view point:

Susans husband, Ben, with Emma and Becca:

Aaron takes much better photos than I do. He knows what he's doing while I just point and shoot:

If you don't like heights, this place could be a bit of a problem for you:

We found a nice place to sit, look at the view and eat ice-cream cones:

Back at camp Ben made some marshmallow shooters, set up rival teams and proceeded to fill the woods with little marshmallows which the squirrels seemed to like eating later:

Susan dove behind a tree for cover:

Everyone finally tired of chasing around. I caught Aaron and Sarah resting on this wooden fence:

That evening we also went to a nearby corral.

Emma didn't seem at all scared of this big horse. She rode while the horse was led around:

Becca got to ride too (With help):

Two year old Jacob rode on a different horse with another helper, but I couldn't catch a picture of him. Maybe his mom was more successful.

I seemed to be the only adult that REALLY wanted to ride a horse. I rode for 30 minutes. I got to ride on a mountain trail through pine trees. It was very pretty. Two employees rode along with me and we had a good time chatting.

My guide grew up on a cattle ranch and does rodeo. This is his summer job. He was like a young Dave Probert.

Also riding along with me was a darling and chatty 9 year old girl (the grand daughter of the owner). Then running alongside us were two dogs.

I was very happy for the coin operated showers afterwards:

The food was great the whole time in camp. Somehow I raised some super cooks.

Ben is a very good cook too.

For two evenings we sat by a roaring campfire. On the second night we played some silly word games. I don't know where people come up with this stuff. After the kids went to bed we played some card game. I wasn't very good. My excuse was it was getting dark and I was cold.

We broke camp on Monday. I have to say that Aaron was particularly helpful and hard working. He even got everything packed into the little trunk of our car. It was quite artful.

Then he drove the entire way home! What a guy! Thanks Aaron.

Baby Claire was very good. She mostly just slept and ate.

I noticed her napping here by the fence and had to get a picture of her:

Did you know that Kaibab squirrels are kind of gray but they have big bushy white tails? They were so interesting. Susan chased one through the forest for me until she got a really good picture of it.

I must say that camping makes me appreciate my shower and washing machine!