The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is one of those places that conjures up mixed emotions. You've got the "It's just a hole in the ground" crowd, and then you've got the "WOW" crowd. We fall directly in the "WOW" crowd. It was 114 degrees when we were there, we walked a ton, climbed a bunch of steps and although we were direly thirsty and half of us were cramping up, I wouldn't trade it. Every once in a while, you get the privilege of being in a natural sanctuary, a place where you feel it's only appropriate to be silent, or possibly whisper a praise and you can stand there in awe for even just a moment. In my experience that's becoming increasingly rare, and I'm grateful for a moment just like that.:

Here are my top tips for enjoying the Grand Canyon:

1) Take water with you. Even when you get out of your car. We made a rookie mistake, and left our water in the car! It's the desert y'all. Take some water.
2) Plan to spend some time there. We only stopped at the first vantage point, even though there were many, We could have spent much longer there, but to be honest, we were wiped out from the heat (and our silly mistake mentioned above)
3) Even if you're going with your family, try to steal just a moment by yourself in this place. Take turns with the spouse holding onto the kid most likely to run towards a canyon, and sneak a moment in a place where peace echoes. And try not to feel like the moment was ruined when someone shouts ECHO (echo, echo...) into said canyon. And by someone, I mean your children. ;)