Grand Canyon Trip - Days 1 and 2

I am a planner, so although we like to travel, I like to do extensive research before going to make sure I am getting the best "deal" or seeing the coolest things.  I went a little out of my comfort zone last weekend, though, since we decided on Friday to go to the Grand Canyon over the weekend.  I still insisted on getting someplace to stay before we left (Robie wanted to do the old "drive until we feel like stopping" thing), so Friday night I booked two places to stay and we packed up and took off Saturday morning and I'm so glad we did.  We were in the car a lot, but pretty much anytime you are going to a National Park you are in the car a lot, because that's kind of the point, right?  It's all about the vastness and preservation of nature, I think.  Anyway, we stopped in Phoenix first and stayed at the Fairmont. 

It is supposed to be a 5 star and it was nice, but I think we realized that we are probably more like a 4 star family. We would prefer a free continental breakfast and free wi-fi to paid parking and expensive spa services.  It's sad, but true.  When the kids complained that we didn't get a free breakfast I did remind them that they offered robes...

The main selling point of the Fairmont was the  fun slide and it did not disappoint.  Ashley told me if you go on your stomach it is a lot funner, and she was totally right - I was seriously laughing so hard the whole way down.

Sunday, we headed north towards the large hole in the earth.  It is supposed to be a 4 1/2 hour drive, but we stopped quite a bit at some cool places, so it took us pretty much all day.  Montezuma Castle National Monument was definitely the hottest (temperature-wise) location we went, so Ashley was complaining a little on that one, but it was a definite must-see.  It would be so cool if you could climb up there and actually walk in and check out their little cave dwellings. 

I've never been through Flagstaff (at least that I remember anyway), and both Robie and I were geniunely surprised at how beautiful it is.  It looks more like Jackson Hole than Phoenix.  Lots of pine trees and beautiful meadows - very mellow.

The next stop was the Sunset Crater National Monument. 

The volcano was just ok, but the drive was beautiful and the kids loved our next stop - Wupatki National Park.  Now they could finally walk around inside the old Indian dwellings.  So cool!  Everyone liked the old buildings, especially the ones you could go through.  The highlight was definitely the blowhole, though.  I know it sounds bizarre but seriously it was quite warm (probably only 90's, but still... ) and we almost skipped it because it was at the bottom of a big hill and we're lazy like that.  Luckily, a passing lady heard us say we were just moving on and she basically told us we needed to take the kids down there because they would love it - thank you anonymous stranger!

It is basically just a hole, maybe a foot in diameter, that blows full force ice cold air out.  It is totally bizarre and awesome.  See how it is blowing up Lauren's shirt - it even blew Fox' Croc off his foot.  If I can figure out how to get video up it would be hilarious because his shoe seriously flies up in the air and then drops into Robie's hand.  Fox did not want to leave this place at all - he really liked it.

Wapatki is actually 4 or 5 different sites - some you can go all the way in, others you just look at, so it was a nice mix and totally recommended.  Somewhere right after this, we crossed the 100,000 mile mark on our car (love that the maintenance required light is on, but that's just because they forgot to turn if off last time we had the oil changed - really!).  Anyway, Robie really liked that we passed the milestone on a fun trip.