100 miles through the canyon

This is our version of the classic grade school essay “What I did on my Summer Vacation.” Ed turned the big 3-0 on July 7th and what better way to celebrate 3 decades of existing and breathing, than with an epic, adventurous trip? We are big fans of visiting places that make you feel small and remind you how big and beautiful the world is, and when it comes to big and beautiful, the Grand Canyon truly fits the bill. Spectacular views, clear blue skies, 2 billion year old layered rocks and the freezing cold Colorado river makes up most of America’s favorite travel destination. Oh, and heat…lots of it! Leave it to us to plan a vacation in the Grand Canyon during a heat advisory…the temperature rose to 118 degrees during our stay and we quickly learned that The Heat is not just an outstanding basketball team, but a serious weather condition, too! 😀 But it was a small price to pay to see with our own eyes the majestic beauty of the Grand Canyon and partake in all the awesome activities available there.

We were lucky enough to visit the Bar 10 Dude Ranch, a true piece of historic Americana, run by real cowboys who herd cattle and live in remoteness and seclusion from the everyday world, just outside the Canyon. There, we partook in awesome activities such as horseback riding, skeet shooting, and riding ATVs to the Canyon’s rim at sunset. At night, we slept in covered wagons…something straight out of the Oregon Trail computer game! However, the real adventure began when we took a helicopter ride down into the Grand Canyon, and embarked on a 2 day white water rafting trip down the Colorado river, where we hiked to hidden water falls and camped and slept under the stars. But stars is an understatement because the sky over the Canyon is so incredibly vast and clear, that we saw whole galaxies and constellations we’d never seen before. It was an awesome and almost overwhelming experience to see the actual Universe which is usually invisible to us (it’s there if you stop to look at it!).

Luckily, we did not embark on the tour alone, as we had a group of amazing families and couples join us in our 100 mile journey down the Colorado river. They made our trip fun and memorable, and now we have friends on opposite ends of the US and the world who we will keep in touch with. Denise, Mark, Taylor, Parker, Davis, Joe, Caroline, Jake, Margo, Stuart, Sinead, Claudio, Patricia, Lenny and Sandy…thank you for helping make this a fantastic trip!

If you’re interested in a Grand Canyon vacation, we highly recommend checking out Tour West. We had a great experience and our tour guides (Russ, Dave, Kevin and Albert) were super knowledgable, amazing cooks and made “roughing it” a breeze.
The Grand Canyon is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and we are lucky to have it in the US. We would recommend adding it to your bucket list because it truly is a must see!

For more of our travels: Check out our Road Trip down the Pacific Coast Highway