We followed route 66 into Arizona from New Mexico and stopped at Petrified Forest National Park along the way. The painted desert was interesting to see. When we toured the visitors center, they had a paleontologist on staff who was working on sifting through sand under a microscope looking for fossil fragments. She shared some of the new species of dinosaurs discovered in the park and helped us learn what a day in the life of a paleontologist looks like. We stopped at Blue Mesa and did a mile hike back through the layered hills and saw lots of pieces of petrified wood. Definitely a worth while stop.
We stayed that night at Homolovi State Park and it was very rainy. The rain cleared in the morning and we had time to check out the ruins of the Hopi village that is in the park. The forecast called for a pretty rainy day and night so we drove into Flagstaff and spent the day at the Flagstaff Aquaplex. For a $25 family day pass we played basketball and pickleball, swam and rode the water slides and lazy river and even did some rock climbing. A great way to spend a rainy day.
Next we spent four days at Grand Canyon National Park. The drive in was a bit snowier than we expected.
The temperatures were cold in the canyon and we had to get out some warm clothes. One morning we got up at sunrise and biked to the south kabib trail. It was a cold rainy morning but we managed to hike 2.5 km into the canyon to Cedar Ridge checkpoint. The views of the canyon were spectacular and the trail was relatively quiet. We were rewarded with a rainbow over the canyon as we descended. The sun came up as we hiked back out of the canyon and had to start taking off layers of warm clothes. I am so proud of the girls who biked 6 km each way and a very steep 5 km hike in and out of the canyon without complaining (mostly Harper was not a fan of the 6 am bike ride in the cold uphill for 6 km). It was a memorable hike.
The next day we hiked the rim trail along the south canyon rim. The weather was warmer and the views were nice, however this trail was much busier so not as enjoyable as the hike the day before. When we got back to our site on our bikes, our site was surrounded by elk. They are huge like moose and not really startled by people. Is was so fun to see these giant animals up close in the wild. We also spotted some mule deer in the park.
The Travelling Herrons 