This morning we woke up in our hotel in Nevada at around 8:30. We ate breakfast at the hotel, and then packed our bags and got on the road. First, we found a Walmart and got some groceries, a cooler, and other necessities. After stocking up on food, we drove from Nevada to Arizona, then looped into Utah, then came back into Arizona, heading for Grand Canyon National Park. We stopped at the “Welcome to Arizona” sign on our second time entering the state and took a picture. Later we found a gas station with a tetherball in the parking lot (it advertised guns, ammo, lotto tickets, and beer) and got some ice cream. Normally, a 3-and-a-half hour car ride with my family would be either boring or drive me insane, but all of us were too busy looking at the beautiful scenery and jamming out to our roadtrip playlist to to pick fights. As we drove higher and higher, the foliage changed from little shrubs and bushes and cacti to pine trees. We were on the Kaibob Plateau, and this backdrop was much closer to what we are used to. The only difference was that the trees were sparser and set back from the road a little bit, leaving spaces of meadow that I said I wanted to frolic in. Eventually we came upon some signs that said we were leaving the Plateau and entering the Grand Canyon National Park. Many cars were pulled over and taking pictures near the sign, but we didn’t stop. A couple miles later, we drove up to the gate of the park and got a newspaper for the park. A little while later. We saw a dark blob in one of the meadows up ahead. We thought it was just a bush, but when we got closer we saw that it was a bison! We pulled over and tried to get a picture, but he started walking back towards the woods and soon he was hidden in the trees. We decided to name the bison Benjamin. Then we decided to take a look at the newsletter. It mentioned that we might see herds of bison at the entrance, but only Benjamin felt like frolicking that day. After all that, we pulled into the parking lot and went to check in. We got the keys to our cabin (# 74) and unpacked our stuff. Then we went to the main lodge and checked out the view. Three huge windows showed a panoramic view of the Grand Canyon from the North Rim. People were sitting in couches and also outside just basking in the sunlight (and the wind). Then we checked out the gift store and bought some postcards. We went back to the lodge and sat for a while, reading, while Mommy and Daddy and Noah checked out the condor ranger talk. After that was over, we went for a quick walk out to a point overlooking the canyon, taking some pictures by the railing. Mommy and Noah turned back earlier and got our waterbottles and some chips and fruit from our cabin. We bought some subs to share from the “Deli in the Pines” and took our dinner outside to the patio connected to the lodge, sitting on some benches near a fireplace we could probably fit our whole class in. Then we headed back to our cabin to relax and take showers. Daddy, Grace, and Mommy went back out a little while later to take sunset pictures. We got into bed around 8:30, which means it was 11:30 back home. We had a great first full day out west and we will keep you posted on everything to come! Love from Arizona!
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