Grand Canyon & Beyond

I’m finding it difficult to try to continue writing about our trip. As most of you already know, we had to say goodbye to Jeffrey on Mother’s Day and while we were staying in the Grand Canyon. So, although we were blown away by the site of the Grand Canyon and had a great time leading up to Reff getting sick, it’s hard to focus on the good. But, I’m going to try.

We arrived in the Grand Canyon on Tuesday, May 3rd. We didn’t arrive too late, so as soon as we got set up we headed up to see the canyon. For this stop, we were staying IN the park which was really cool. Upon arrival we saw elk just hanging out around the site and walking right by us.

The moment we walked up to see the Grand Canyon for the first time it really took our breath away. You see pictures and videos of it but until you see it yourself for the first time, you really cannot describe it. It was massive, beautiful, intimidating and majestic all at the same time. I took a lot of pictures to enjoy here:

Inside the park they have their own store, post office, bank, it's really like it's own little town. We went to the store Tuesday evening to grab some things we needed, and we went for a bike ride after dinner up along the rim.

Wednesday morning and afternoon I worked and Dean did some laundry. Wednesday evening we had a sunset guided tour of the Grand Canyon. Our guide, Liz was great. She took us to some beautiful viewpoints for the sunset explained a lot of history about the canyon and surrounding areas.

Thursday I worked the Florida day, which is 5am-1pm our current time, and Dean went for a long bike ride. When I was done for the day we decided to hike the South Rim. We started at the far end at "Hermit's Rest" and took the trails all along the rim of the canyon. The views were amazing. We went about 6 miles then hopped on the bus to head back to our campsite. It was Cinco de Mayo, so we stopped at store and got chips and salsa. dos equis and some limes! Then, hung at "home" with Reff and watched the Panthers game.

Friday we had plans to go to Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe bend, but that is when we ended up taking Jeffrey into the vet hospital. We spend the weekend going through that. My last post shared those details. 💔

Sunday afternoon we started heading out of Arizona to Boulder City. We ended up going through a pretty crazy wind and dust storm. We had 35/40 mph winds pretty much the entire way. The visibility was low too with all the dust. When we arrived to Boulder City we couldn't even see the Dam, Lake Mead or any stores along the roads as we drove in. Was too windy and dusty, crazy! We got set up quickly and stayed in. We had plans to go to Hoover Dam but we just weren't up for it. We also decided to extend our stay one more night as we didn't want to have to get up and drive again the next day. It was a draining, sad weekend. Monday I worked all day, and then we decided to get out a bit and saw Hoover Dam. When we realized we were only about 30 minutes from the Vegas Strip, we decided to go there for dinner and watch Panthers game to try to keep our minds busy.

I hadn't been to Vegas since I turned 21 and Dean hadn't been in MANY years as well. We went to a rooftop sports bar in the middle of the strip called Beer Park. It had nice views and we were able to watch the game. We met a a couple from Montana that we hope to meet up with when we visit that area. We also met another couple that lives in the Vegas area, Chris and Jamie. They were celebrating Chris' birthday. We really enjoyed their company ( even though they are Raiders fans! 😆 We sat and talked to them a while then we headed down to the casino for a bit. We played a little roulette and Jamie tried to explain craps to me. ( that game is confusing!) lol I am not sure if they will read this, but if they/you do... You didn't know this at the time, but meeting you guys and spending that evening with you two was exactly what we needed after the weekend we had. So, thank you for that. ❤️ We hope to stay in touch and mayyyybe even go to a chiefs/raiders game with you. As LONG as you will be okay with my obnoxious chiefs gear and yelling. 😉

We headed out to Barstow for an overnight on the way to Kings Canyon and the Sequoia National Parks. Every person that hears the city Barstow, California they are like,....why are you going there? Apparently it's known to be a pretty nothing town, super hot, super dirty, nothing to do..lol. We went there just to stop overnight to not drive too much. We did end up having dinner at this little family owned place called, Jenny's Grill. It was mexican food and was SO good and service was great. So, if you do ever end up in Barstow with nothing to do, go there. :) Next stop, Sanger, CA to stay 5 nights and visit Kings Canyon and Sequoia. NPs.

Thanks for following along. ♥️