From snow to sun!

Remember when the Brady family went to the Grand Canyon?
They failed to illustrated the 300 miles of vast nothingness that one has to drive through to get there.
We left from St. George, Utah. From St. George there are two routes to the south side of the Grand Canyon. Long and Longer. We started with long.
Throughout this vacation we've been staying in hotels with free breakfast and then picnicking through lunch. That way we're only eating out officially once a day. It's cheaper and theoretically better for the family.
We left later than we'd planned today, but headed out thinking we could have lunch on the Colorado River near the Navajo Bridge.
Guess what?
There is not a picnic table anywhere along that 300 mile stretch.
Not one.
Not even a good place to pull off the road and have a nice picnic.
Apparently picnicking is something the Navajos are not big fans of. I found one city park. It was a large square of red dirt in the desert.
So we finally pulled into a convenience store parking lot and grabbed a cheese stick and an apple out of the cooler.
I always pictured the grand canyon as being surrounded by desert.
It's actually pretty wooded. Throughout the parts of the park we've been in so far, you can't really see the rim through the trees.
I have to admit to being a bit skeptical. I drive over the Snake River Canyon on a regular basis. How much different could the Grand Canyon be, really?
Well, by golly, there is a reason they call it "grand".
It really defines the word awesome.
It's stunning.
I will also point out that it's crowded. And this is the slow season.
But like most native Idahoans, I'm offended when other people have the audacity to show up in nature at the same time as me. I really prefer to enjoy nature without anyone else around. I don't think that's too much to ask really.
I don't think we'll spend a ton of time her in the morning. We'll check out a few more sites and then head for Vegas.
So far my favorite park has been Zion, which we hit yesterday morning. It's truly spectacular and after waking up yesterday morning with 6 inches of snow on the car it was really wonderful to feel the sun on my face. We hiked to several sites. (Our family policy is no more than 3 miles per hike) On one hike, I ran into some people wearing UI Vandal gear. Turns out we were sharing the trail with Vandal Defensive line coach Eti Ena. It was my brush with greatness for the day.
We spent some time with my aunt and uncle in St. George. I hadn't seen them since my wedding, so it was nice to get caught up and St. George was a pretty and friendly city, which we plan to visit again soon.
It's been such a lovely trip so far and great joy to watch my kids discover some of the countries greatest treasures.
The DVDs, Ipods, DS, and other distractions we packed for the journey aren't very attractive onces we've passed through each park's gates. They'd discovered the art of echoes. The only electric gadget they carry consistently is their camera. (And sometimes their phones, to take pictures and send them instantly to aunties waiting for updates at home)
I wish I could give every child an opportunity to visit a National Park -- or a state park or other natural -- and national treasure --.
I'm so lucky I can share this with my children. I hope they too, understand, what a gift this trip has been.