Day 2 in Arizona

We woke up around 6am (confused internal clocks...). It was a bright, sunny day in Phoenix, and already getting warm. The forecast was for a high of 83 degrees... sweet! Since church didn't start until 10 am, we could relax and enjoy the morning in a leisurely way. We had some cereal, took baths/showers, found a great Christian radio station (KFLR 90.3) to get our minds focused on God, and even got packed up and checked out an hour before church! We stopped at Safeway to get a few things, then headed to church. Jayson Akers was the first person to greet us (he knew we were coming). He came up to me and said, "You're the blogger!" :-) LOL! He took us to the boys' Sunday School rooms and introduced us to the kids and teachers. Back in the sanctuary, the worship was AMAZING! The presence of the Lord was there in a powerful way. It is so fabulous that no matter how far from home you are (like 2,500 miles), the Holy Ghost is the same, and the people of God are the same. We felt right at home here! Here are a few pictures...

Main sanctuary

Nick's Sunday school class

Adam's Sunday school class (that is Alex with the big smile on his face!).

When church was over, we made PB&J sandwiches and hit the road! Off to the Grand Canyon! It was a 3 1/2 hour drive. The change in scenery as we headed north and into higher altitudes was astonishing! (2,000 ft to 7,000 in just 3 hours). Here are a few pictures showing the stark contrast...

Just outside Phoenix (note the suagaro cactuses... cacti???).

No more tall cactuses, just short brush, and mountains???

Wow! Look at the trees! Starting to almost resemble Vermont...

We went from 83 degrees and sunny, to cloudy/rainy/snowy and f-f-f-freezing at the Grand Canyon. But the drive was gorgeous. When we made a drink and snack stop in Flagstaff, we found ourselves inadvertently on the historic Route 66! Cool!!!!


Once we hit I-40 west, it was soooo cool to see street signs saying "Los Angeles - 485 miles". Wow! Los Angeles!! (Because I am not home where my photo editing program is... you take the pics as they are.... please pardon the nasty bug guts on the windshield in the below picture!).

When we arrived at the Park, of course we HAD to stop and have our picture taken at the Grand Canyon National Park sign!

Despite the bitter cold wind and snow flurries, the mood was festive. After entering the park, it was six miles to our lodge. On the way, there was a pull-off for a first view of the canyon. We pulled in. We got out of the car. We all kept our heads DOWN so we wouldn't see anything until we reached the rim. When we all looked up, this is what we saw....

The view took our breath away! WOW!!!! There are no words to describe it. A camera that takes flat, 2D pictures can't even HOPE to convey what the human mind can scarcely comprehend in 3D!!! We took a bunch of pictures, then put the cameras away and just looked.... took it in.... attempted to process what we were seeing....
The boys and I were FREEZING, so we headed back to the car to warm up. Jason wanted a couple more pictures.... guess what HE saw?? A mountain goat!!

We checked into our room and relaxed. We turned on the TV to watch the Red Sox/Yankees game.. it was EXCELLENT! The first time that Boston has swept the series against the Yankees at Fenway in 17 years! Wow!

We ate dinner at the Yavapai Canyon Cafe... a little pricey, but very yummy!! After dinner, we went to the gift shop to get some postcards to mail out. Then back to the room to relax and hit the sack. Tomorrow we will meet Julie and Jack here.... how cool it that??? It's supposed to be cloudy and rainy tomorrow, so it will be a great day to go to the IMAX theatre!!!

(If you will notice the date and time of this post... it is Wed evening at 11:35 pm. There was no internet service at the canyon, so had to post once I got to Tucson. And the connection here in Tucson is S-L-O-W... so I may not get to another post tonight. Stay tuned, though!!)