Grand Canyon, Arizona

We managed to get up on time today. It helped that we went to bed at 9 and with the time change, 6am felt like 7am. It was chilly last night and they are doing controlled burns in the area so it was very smokey.

No smoke by the National Park though.

We got to the North Rim Visitor Center at 8am when they opened and picked up Junior Ranger booklets.

Then we met our guide Doug for a free ranger-led walk along the Transept Trail.

Doug pointed out lots of plants for us.

We also saw an abandoned pueblo. This place was abandoned before settlers came to the area and soil samples taken showed pollen from beans, corn and squash making it the highest proven elevation where these were grown. The 11 tribes that call the Grand Canyon home are the Havasupai Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Hualapai Tribe, Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, Las Vegas Band of Paiute Indians, Moapa Band of Paiute Indians, Navajo Nation, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, and Yavapai-Apache Nation.

We got our first good look at the Grand Canyon. Cal got to wear the ranger’s hat.

After our tour, we got our Junior Ranger badges. Then we went to check out some Grand Canyon overlooks.

It was starting to get hot so we headed back to the camper for some R&R. We had chicken on the grill and tomato mozzarella salad.

The girls did dishes and then Asa and Esme did a couple of loads of laundry. Esme has been gaining more confidence and independence on this trip. She is becoming a teen before our eyes.

Cal and Asa babysat their sisters tonight while Nole and I went back to the Grand Canyon to watch the sunset and the moonrise. While he drove, I read from our Route 66 travel book and told him about the cool places we could stop.

We moved around a lot while waiting for the sunset, trying to decide on the best place. First the Lodge, then Bright Angel Point, then a different part of the Lodge.

We took some pictures of the moon. Some with the camera on our phones and some holding the binoculars up to the phone (thanks for the idea Melissa!).

We also waved at the Yatzecks who were watching the sunset but from the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

The drive back to our campground was slow. There was smoke from the controlled burns obscuring the road and lots of wildlife active and near or in the road. We saw about 20 mule deer, an elk and a giant white bat!

Melissa’s post for today: https://wp.me/peTbeK-Tu