the crockett family: Cross Country Part 2

The normal way to the Grand Canyon leaving Las Vegas would have been to go south and get on the orange road in the map below. That would be an interstate. My direction skills however decided we should go north. We weren't just going to the Grand Canyon. We were also going to Horseshoe Bend which is on the far north end before the actual "Grand Canyon" park starts. Its on the state line of Arizona and Utah and 1.5 hours away from the South Rim of the Canyon. So I thought we should take the scenic route and go Horseshoe Bend first. I am so glad we did. The scenery was beautiful and we came upon some surprises.

We decided we should document the state lines!

This was the road we took from Nevada to Utah.

Once we got to Utah, the rocks changed. They were so white and hard to describe.

We were about an hour away from Horseshoe Bend and we kept seeing a glimpse of water. I thought it was a small lake. Then we get to this viewing area. It was probably the most beautiful thing I have seen. Pictures do not do it justice. The water was such a striking blue and against the white rock - it was gorgeous. Lake Powell, Utah

After Lake Powell, we had to cross the Colorado River aka the Grand Canyon! Anna was not happy! I thought it was so cool. I wanted to stop and get out. Anna was having none of it. So we crossed, I got out and ran back to the bridge. Brave me was having a panic attack. I couldn't walk out on the bridge either. It was massive. I took a picture through the chain link fence, but my heart was beating so fast I couldn't go to the middle.

We stopped at the small town of Page and had lunch. With much excitement, we headed toward the Horseshoe!! We weren't sure what to expect. There is not much about it on the internet. There was a sign so we pulled into the parking lot. At the entrance the sign says, 'warning - extreme heat'.

Still not knowing what to expect, we get out and start walking to a trail. There were park workers requiring everybody to have their own water bottle. We argued with her. No we are fine. Anna had a 30+ ounce bottle that we kept full in dessert drives per her father's request :) Let's just say my smartness got the best of us. I filled it with extra ice in Vegas so it wouldn't all melt. Well, it had actually frozen. So we were short on water...

We were walking up a slight hill and see the top of a gazebo. Oh, we are almost there. Nope. Top the hill and you may be a fourth of the way. Did I mention it was 108 degrees? And with the altitude, the hike was tough. We passed piles of throw up. Anna was videoing the hike with her 'go-pro'!

I was half way there at this point!

This was so amazing. You just walk to the edge of the cliff.

The scenery was once in a lifetime and the massiveness was ridiculous.

We left Horseshoe Bend and headed towards the South Rim. I didn't know what to expect of the rest of the Grand Canyon. It felt like it took forever to get there. And we didn't really know what to do. We got a map and there were dozens of 'stops' for viewing. We just decided to stop at everyone we could. I tried to keep track of them with the picture order. But that has been too long ago now! We started on the far east end with 'Dessert View' I think. It was so different but still amazing.

This was one of the few spots you could see the river. Most of the rest of the South Rim is mountainous and dry. We stopped at 3 or 4 other viewing areas before heading to the "South Rim" trail. I thought the South Rim trail was less impressive but had the most people. I don't even see any pictures from that spot.

You just hike out as far as you can go and don't fall off. Crazy. The woman from the couple that took these pictures was having a panic attack that we were on this rock :)