Grand Canyon

Ah, the fresh air, the wide open spaces, the sun shining and the breeze blowing, this was our relaxing vacation to the Grand Canyon.

"Be prepared," reads the Boy Scout Motto, so we did the best we could with limited resources. Tent, air mattress, clothes for all weather, sunscreen, non perishable foods, and fresh socks were all packed up in Fashionette (that's Pam's car, who out there gets the reference?), and we made the short five hour drive to America's greatest natural wonder.

First, we set up camp, which, truth be told, didn't really mean doing a whole lot. There was already a fire circle, we didn't have to clear out any debris for the tent area, and we didn't have to set up any tarps or anything, because it wasn't going to rain.

OR WAS IT?

Because, as a general rule, on camping trips, it almost always rains. That was the lesson Troop 321 learned over and over and over again in my Boy Scoutting days.

SO DID IT RAIN??

No. Incredibly, it didn't. I think this is proof that the Troop 321 Rain Jinx requires a minimum of two members of the troop to be present on the camping trip. (It could just be that, ya know, it rarely rains in the  southwest United States, but just let me have my superstitions, please.)

Here is our tent. Not too bad, right? It's a nice starter tent. Not sure how rain proof it is (we didn't even put a ground tarp down), but that was a moot point on this warm, dry weekend.

Note too that we kept Pam's dirty, stinky shoes outside the tent.

It got pretty cold at night, but we were almost adequately prepared. We just brought all the blankets from our hotel room, and wore thick socks, and all was well. Man, the desert does get super cold at night, and quickly too.

There was a general store just up the road, from which we purchased firewood, firewood, and beer, in that order. We also ate a dinner there Sunday night of BBQ chicken sandwiches, because we ate all the hot dogs Saturday night. Yay, diets!

Here's Pam, being her usual cool self, chilling under a tree. It was nice to just spend time relaxing, reading, and enjoying nature.

Here's Pam, being her usual cool self, chilling around the fire pit. This was the start of our Saturday night dinner, where only the finest of hot dogs were sizzling over a hot bed of coals. 

Hah, just kidding, we put dollar hot dogs on a dirty grate and warmed them up enough to eat.

Wow, Pam sure did enjoy her hot dogs!

Here is Pam throwing up her hot dogs.

When the sun went down, so did the temperature, so we kept that fire a'blazin' for a few hours. We occupied our time by telling ghosts stories that we used to hear as kids. Spooky! 

With the flash on my camera, the fire looks less impressive.

"Joey, look, a fire!"

It was Mother's Day on Sunday, so of course we did what all good sons and daughters do, and called our mothers to show our appreciation. Appreciation costs only a dollar on the pay phones.

Hey, there's a lizard! I think. I dunno, try to zoom in.

Yup, that's definitely a lizard. I think.

So Sunday was our day of visiting the actual Grand Canyon, which I'm just told now is NOT one of the official Wonders of the World. Though, my understanding of the Wonders of the World is somewhat skewed, since I grew up being told by the WWF that Andre the Giant was the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Anyway, we took a bus (there was a little bus system that rode around the National Park and drove people to the Canyon) and ended up at the Visitors Center. Not much to do here, just a few artifacts and rocks with placards describing their significance and whatnot.

There was one room that projected a five-minute show on a globe. Cool, I guess.

For real though, there was a 20-minute show in a theater that gave the history of the Grand Canyon, from the first explorer who found it (and who described it as a stupid pit that no one in America is going to give two craps about, basically), to the first people to raft down the tumultuous Colorado River, to the first people to take pictures and shoot movies of its majesty. The film was really bombastic - "An architecture of rock that stretches from the brink of civilization to the very edges of your imagination!!!!" - but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

And then, we saw the actual darn canyon.

It looked surreal. It was like someone painted a beautiful picture in front of my eyes, but I swear it didn't look real at all.

You looked down far, and saw how deep it went, and then realized that it went deeper than that. With binoculars you could barely even see the bottom.

I think they said it was equivalent to three Empire States Buildings.

An eerie reverence was prevalent among the guests of this magnificent scene. Who could do anything but stare silently when faced with this massive abyss?

Phew!

Wowza!

Rocks!

Amazing.

Taking in the scenery.

Not sure why people still find it necessary to take a picture twice in the digital age. It made sense when you weren't going to see the picture for a few weeks when they were developed, but now you can just look at your screen on the camera to make sure the pic came out okay. This is a weird habit society will take a bit longer to break, I guess.

One day, we'll hike down into the canyon. Not this time - it costs like a bajillion dollars, and we didn't have the handful of days it was require to complete the journey. But some day.

Despite the high elevation, there was some room for vegetation, and even some cacti.

I wanted a picture of these Asian tourists, but please don't ask me why.

And then I fell off the edge of the Grand Canyon. Don't worry, I had climbed back up by the time Pam was ready to leave!

Then we walked past a theater, where they totally don't do Shakespeare plays but totally could and it would be awesome.

Nothing caps off a day of Canyon-seeing like a nice, cold, Grand Canyon Brewery beer. Indian Pale Ale IPA, my favorite.

Here's Pam, being her usual cool self, reading some more, while I, unbeknownst to her, took a little nap with   my sunglasses on.

The sun went down, so it was time to start the fire again. I'm such a Boy Scout, starting that fire skillfully... with the help of a starter log. And we needed more than two matches. And I forgot to bring a rope for the fire circle. I hope my scoutmaster doesn't read this.

Tried to take a picture of some deer we saw late at night. There it's eyes! Yowza!

Anyways, that was our trip. The ride home was brutal. But the experience we had at the Grand Canyon was something I'll always carry with me. It truly was stunning, to see that huge pit with my own two eyes. I had seen it countless times in movies and TV shows, but to actually be there... it was incredible. I'll never forget it.