The Grand Canyon

One of our main reasons for going to Flagstaff was to visit the Grand Canyon. While Edward had been there on a few visits, the kids and I had never seen it. We weren't disappointed and had another great day. We took a lot of pictures because the views were just spectacular.

It's really hard to get both kids to look and smile at the camera.

She might look like she's freezing, but it wasn't too bad.

The snow again was at the top of the canyon. We learned that there is a 30 degree temp difference from the top of the canyon to the bottom. It was around 35 degrees when we were there, making the bottom around 65.

Another picture attempt

Luke wanted to hang off the side of the canyon fence.

This was the best picture we could get all day!

Non-cooperative

Finally, a smile!

Luke, who hadn't seen snow before this trip, loved walking in it.

...and sitting in it.

Mountain Lion crossing

The roads at the Grand Canyon were AWFUL. We learned that they are not allowed to use salt in the national parks due to the fact it can affect the animals and terrain. You can see that salt can really help the roads. This is just from the snowplow that was actually right in front of us. The roads were completely ice-covered, so it was very slow moving.

We got stopped for a half hour because this idiot with four-wheel-drive was flying through the park and got stuck off-road. The tow truck had a lot of trouble getting him out. We were the first car in line, so we had a front-row-show, and the park ranger came over and talked to us for awhile. That's how we learned about the roads.

View from the tower at the east end of the park. This is looking back toward Flagstaff, and the Snow Bowl is the mountain in the distance. It's about 60 miles away.

Of course, Hannah got to visit the Grand Canyon too. Madison picked out a Christmas ornament for our tree.

Another great snowy day in Arizona

The other fun thing we did was to eat at one of the restaurants featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. We found it when researching Flagstaff, and we had a great dinner at Brandys Restaurant.