Grand as Can Be

We decided to wait out the 4th of July weekend at Lake Powell where we had a site (& SHOWERS!!!). We got to enjoy some 'unofficial' fireworks from across the lake with a cool evening breeze. By the following morning there were pretty thick clouds, wind and some raindrops! It was very, very refreshing. Tanner enjoyed it quite a bit too! So we took advantage of the showers and went on our way to the Grand Canyon. Along the way we stopped at the canyons leading up to "The Grand". First was the Glen Canyon, which is just on the other side of the dam holding up Lake Powell.

Next we stopped at Grand Canyon East, which is in the "Navajo Nation", which means you'll pay $2 to get in, but its well worth it. The canyon here was pretty impressive too! There were also several booths of indian jewelry and restrooms, and I visited all of them. :)

Before going to "The Grand" we got a camping spot in Desert View just inside the park. We were so excited to have a spot with shade! Cody whipped out the hammock and got to hanging it. And here he is enjoying it.

After a bit of relaxing we went to check out the Grand Canyon to see how it compared to the others we had been impressed with. Nothing can compare to the Grand Canyon. WOW. As we visited the Glen & GCE I kept thinking, 'these canyons look huge--how can the GC be any bigger?'. Well it can. And it is. Absolutely amazing.

We walked the Rim Trail and took about a bajillion pictures. And then the clouds moved in, it got super dark and you could feel the thunder! So we hightailed it back to the truck barely in time for a big old rain storm. We caught some breaks on the way back to our campsite so we pulled over to one of the viewpoints to watch the distant storm. Well it wasn't so distant by the time we parked, yes it does move that fast! So we spent a minute shocked under a kiosk and by the time we ran back to the truck it was dumping buckets, and some hail too!

By the time we reached our campsite the rain had won. We quickly cleared out the back of the truck and the three of us (yes, Tanner had to sleep on our bed...) spent the rest of the evening in the camper shell watching the lightning. The thunder was super intense, a few rounds shook the truck! So we didn't get to enjoy the trees or hammock at our campsite, here's hoping we get another shot!