Day 14 & 15 - Grand Canyon & Route 66

We left Zion area on Thursday, heading for the Grand Canyon. After driving through many mountainous roads with sharp curves but beautiful views, we made it to the Grand Canyon by about 2 PM. We had the kids keep their eyes closed until they got up right by the South Rim of the Canyon, so we could video their response when they first seen the awesome sight. And what an awesome sight it is. We took many pictures at the several stops along the South Rim of the Canyon. Jordan's words were - I want to leave, because this is just too big! It really is incredible and hard to take in, especially for the children. The overwhelming greatness of the Canyon God created is hard to actually put in words. Actually, Peter, Jordan and EmmaLee were somewhat getting tired of 'always looking at mountains', from all the mountainous sights and National Parks we've been to during our travels.

We ended up staying at a great KOA in Williams, AZ, called Circle Pines. Williams is right on Route 66, which brings us back to the Cars movie and the song about Route 66. It had a great indoor heated pool, miniature golf, a game room, campfires, bike kart rentals - all the essentials for traveling with small children. We had a great night which ended with a campfire and our first s'mores of our vacation.

The next day, we slept in a bit. The children played mini golf, while Tim worked on some actual work for Harris that needed to get done. We then had lunch, went swimming for a while, took showers, and headed back to the Grand Canyon at about 2 PM. It was about an hour ride to the canyon. We first stopped at the IMAX theater to see the movie on the Grand Canyon. We then went to several points at the Grand Canyon to take more pictures and be inspired by more of God's creation. We then had dinner at a Western steak house called "Yippee Ei Ya", which was Tim's delayed birthday dinner.

After dinner, we headed back to Williams, AZ, to see the small Route 66 town at night. It was just like the movie Cars! A lot of neon, many of the Route 66 signs, many old fashioned stores, restaurants, soda shops. It was great! We got home at about 9:30, a long day for all, but relaxing and full of family fun and enjoyment. Another blessed day for our family!