"The hole was so big"

Those catchy lyrics are part of a song that Cloudburst wrote about our trip to the south rim of the Grand Canyon!  Over spring break we took out the RV and drove towards warmer weather down south in Arizona.  Except it wasn't any warmer than Utah!  Oh well.  We left on Easter Sunday (we even had an egg hunt on the way!).  We started our trip in Williams, Arizona.  In the early 1900's Williams used to be the "gateway" to the Canyon and people would ride in on trains.  We wanted to do it old school!

It started with a good ol' shoot out with robbers and a sheriff who saved the day.

The train ride was a hit with all the kids and it was nice to be able to walk around during the two hour ride.  Our operator, AmberRose, was great, too.

Once we got there we almost got blown over the edge!  It was cold with wind gusts of 40 mph, but we were all still awed at the sheer size of the Canyon.  Most of us (including me) had not been to the Grand Canyon before.

We hiked on a trail around the rim.  We thought about venturing down inside the Canyon a bit, but then we noticed the lack of railings, felt the strong winds, and counted the bazillion kids we had with us and decided to stick to the safer route.

We traveled with our good friends again.  It is so fun to travel with friends!

Here we are in front of the Canyon.

I'm sure Cloudburst is getting inspiration for her song!

On the way home the robbers came through the train and "robbed" everyone (for tips).  Sunshine was very perturbed that the robber snatched the dollar that Thunder told him to hold up.

And did you know that a lot of Radiator Springs (Cars) was based on Williams?

Flo's Gas station...



Remember old Lizzie?

And of course the stoplight...


On Tuesday we got to stay in the park located inside the boundaries of the Grand Canyon, called Trailer Village.  We got a bit delayed by a bad traffic accident, but when we made it, it was nice to be so close.  The trams will take you all over the park, so we caught one in time to catch the sunset.

This is how Sunrise got around for the whole trip.  Thank goodness for the Baby Bjorn!  And thank goodness for a nice husband who will wear it!

On Wednesday, we loaded up and headed for Monument Valley.  We had a blast there.  Even though it wasn't really that warm, the first thing we did was swim!

We also hiked around a bit.  There were some natural arches and great places to explore.  It would be fun to go back here!  And yes, on the pic below, Sunrise is strapped onto Thunder as he's climbing.

On top of the world!

We had fun with Sunshine's new slingshot...

... and of course we had to roast hot dogs and marshmallows.  Thunder now has it down to an art.  His marshmallows are golden brown and you can DRINK the insides out of it. Mmmmmmm.

On Thursday we left Monument Valley.  We had to climb up a very steep, curvy road which had signs all over it (saying NOT RECOMMENDED FOR TRUCKS OR RV'S) to head to Goblin Valley....

... but we overshot Goblin Valley by an hour and ended up at Fish Lake instead!

By the end of our stay, we had some very dirty, happy kids.  Tornado also loved a secret hideout they made under a tree.

M. and I even fit in a run along the beautiful hills. Life is good!