National Park #17, canceled March 20, 2021
The Grand Canyon marked the beginning of an epic spring break road trip that would take us to three different states (outside our California home base) and seven national parks. After getting my niece and nephews warmed up to camping in Death Valley the month prior, they were ready to rough it in a tent for a week. (Yes, we did all of that in a total of eight days, which made for more of a survey of the parks we visited than in-depth visits.)
Somehow we managed to get everything stuffed into the roof rack and the corners and crevices around all the kids, and left home for the Grand Canyon around 6:30 am. We surprised the kids with a stop at Snow Cap on Route 66 in Seligman on the way for ice cream. Highly recommended and always good for a laugh!
As we approached the park entrance, we discovered we weren’t the only ones visiting the Grand Canyon that day! It took a good half hour to get through the gate, but we finally made it in about 2:00 and set up camp. The wind made for some adventures getting the tent situated, and we kept hitting rock when trying to drive in the stakes, but we got it all done within an hour. After a stop at the gift shop, it was finally time to see the canyon. The afternoon light was beautiful, and we enjoyed the views from Mather Point and Grandview Point. We didn’t do any hiking, just soaked in the grandeur of a massive and intricately carved hole in the ground that makes you feel really small when you’re standing at the edge.
As we remembered in Death Valley, camp cooking is not our forte and we opted to eat most meals out this trip. We first attempted to get food in the village, but parking was difficult and waits were long. So we went out of the park to Tusayan and enjoyed pizza and pasta. It actually worked out better because we had cell service in town and the cousins were able to call their parents and tell them about their day.
We were back in camp at 7:00 and found that our tent lantern had a dead battery. It didn’t matter too much, though, because we were all wiped out from the early start in the morning and went to bed pretty quickly. All too soon it was 6:30 am and time to get up. We had a long drive ahead to Mesa Verde and needed to get going. But it was so hard to get out of our warm sleeping bags! When we finally emerged, we discovered ice balls on our tent! No wonder we were so cold! Thankfully, the bathroom was warm and it was easier to change in there than in the tent. Somehow we got everything back in the roof rack despite our cold fingers and left for Colorado around 9:00.
Leave a Reply