I was a little bit nervous about how the boys would feel about the Grand Canyon. Our kids are programmed to see the world through TV or videos or some form of screen entertainment. How would the feel about a work of nature? We had talked about it and read about it, but would it really hold their attention for 2.5 days? I thought about the Thibault family and how they travel each summer, camping or RV and showing their kids the wonders in the land. It gave me hope as their boys are around the same age.
We stayed at the Thunderbird Lodge, which I highly recommend. We were on the first floor and our bedroom window looked right out into the Canyon. Plus, we had an outside door so we literally walked right out to the Rim of the Canyon! It was a large room with two queen beds and if needed, you could put a couple of roll aways in it too! Bath was a good size with a shower and pretty modern with tile walls and floors. A great room for a very reasonable price.
Service at the Canyon is great. To keep food costs down, we went to the Masewik Lodge food court. It would be another great place to stay with kids just for this one feature. But it is a 10 minute walk from the Rim. You can get anything from Pizza, sandwiches and snacks. We bought the individual cereals and some milk so the boys could eat when they woke up and maybe papa and I could grab another 30 minutes of sleep!
Most of the waiters are international exchange students this time. Last time I was here there was more of a balance of US summer students and international. The service is reasonable fast and everyone is friendly.
I wish I had recorded the boys first impression but will try to recount here. They are pretty much ingrained!
Zachy: Mimi it is so awesome! You just look out and everything is so big and it makes me feel so small! I look down but I need to hold someone's hand because if you fell, it is a long way down!
Zachy loves animals and the first souvenir he bought there were three small critters. But the first thing he saw was the Bushy Squirrel and didn't buy it till the end as it was bigger. I reminded him how many stuffed animals he had but he reminded me he did not have a bushy squirrel and every time he held him it would remind him of the Grand Canyon! It was his money though later I had to improvise in getting him packed each move!
Miles: I thought I would know what it looked like with all those pictures. But when I first saw it, I thought it was so awesome and I could not believe we could have something like this on earth! Everywhere you look, it is different. I just think it is so amazing!
Miles first souvenir was a book about some kids having an adventure in the Grand Canyon. Later he bought a small flashlight with Grand Canyon on it.
Both boys surprised me by how closely they watched their money and debated on what they bought. Some of it had been earned by chores, some where given as gifts.
The first day we walked towards the Visitor station and stopped at a dancing demonstration by the Indians. (I apologize for not knowing which tribe) They were fascinated and sat through all the dances as they learned what each dance meant to the tribe. Later, we were by the same site and they sat again and watched new dances. In the gift shop they bought their parents two metal sun catchers and split the price. It was Zacky's idea and he picked them out, giving careful thought what each parent would like the most. I told him they could be Christmas ornaments too!
One of my proudest moments was in registering at the hotel. They explained how most of their funding had been taken away and they were sustaining on donations. I gave a small amount and I asked the boys, after explaining where the money went, if they wanted to donate. They each pulled out a dollar of their carefully guarded spending money and donated. The lady told them about the greenhouse they had built entirely out of donations and they could see as they walked the areas that were being replanted with native plants.
The second day was our only full day so we wanted to make the best of it. We started our walk from the Thunderbird Lodge Rim and walked all the way to the Geology Museum. I do not know how far away it was but we hiked for 3.5 hours which is a lot for even Brooklyn boys! We stopped on side trails, saw some animals and kept an eye on Miles who seems to have no fear! Zacky always held a hand when looking down! It was the Timeline walk so we saw and read how old the earth was at each section. Miles is big on "big numbers" and for once I think he was overwhelmed with just how old the earth was when the Grand Canyon first began its journey. Zacky was fascinated with the rocks that was at each station. They had information printed alongside the rock.
I had not realized as I researched this trip that mid July through August was their rainy season! So luckily this first day, though mostly cloudy, was in the lower 70's. In some ways it was good, as you were never that hot at any time. But the clouds also meant I could not show them the stars at night which are amazing in the Grand Canyon. We were pretty tired by time we found the Visitor's Center by the Museum. We took the shuttle back to the lodge. Needless to say we all slept great that night.Miles actually slept til 7:30 the next day!
Our last day was really overcast. So we thought we would take the shuttle to the first stop, walk up and see another section, then the bus to the last stop, The Abyss which has the 3,000 feet down view.
We managed the first and as we walked down these steps on the second view to get some great pictures, the sky opened up and we were soaked by the time we got back up! We got a bus back to the Lodge and had a couple hours to wait for the train to take us back to Williams Jct. It was pouring and all plastic ponchos sold out. So like the old Girl Scout I am, I asked front desk for some trash bags to protect us if we had to make a run to the train stop. I started a stampede as everyone rushed to them for bags and in about 5 minutes they were wiped out! I slowly crept away mouthing I am sorry!
Of course when it came time for the train, the rain had completely stopped!
The train ride back has cowboy singers going through the train and then an hilarious train robbery with the robbers coming up on horse back and getting on the train. Out cabin guy explained in a funny way so kids would not be scared! The robbers took "tips" with their bags held out! It was quite a show and they stopped to get pics with kids!
We arrived on time at 4 o'clock and went to get something to eat. I knew by then that the train would not get there at 9:33 and midnight was estimated. So much time so I asked the front desk since we had paid so much the 2 days before and only used the hotel 3 hours, could I pay a fee and let the boys swim to get out some of the wiggles. She asked her manager which got a quick NO, Not guests now!
Their were couches for us to sit on for the 5 hour wait. The train would finally arrive at 12:42 am. Zachy, as always, fell asleep. He is convinced he never slept, but you just have to look at the pics to know the kid can sleep anywhere! Miles, unfortunately can not sleep anywhere. He watched a movie, played on his tablet but by midnight he was miserable. He sat by Papa and cried about how tired he was and he just wanted to go home! He was half asleep and disorientated. The folks around us were all tired too. By the time the shuttle guy announced he was ready to take us to the train stop ten minutes away, Papa had to carry Zachy and I just sleepwalked poor Miles. The good news is the sky was totally clear and filled with stars and you could see the Milky Way! It was a ten minute wait for the train and he said we could could get out. Zacky woke up and was refreshed and was just amazed at all the stars! Miles finally stumbled out with me and got himself together to appreciate the sight too. Once on the train, our attendant had our beds made up and I got the boys on the top bunks. Zacky went immediately to sleep. Miles was still moaning but when I asked if a story would help, he quieted down! I rubbed his back (standing on the bunk below) and told a story. He was asleep half way through, which was good as I had nothing left to add!
We woke up in time to have a nice breakfast before getting to Los Angeles. We missed out original train but only had about an hour before the next train. The sleeper lounge is great with even a kid's area. Free drinks and snacks.
Each kid had a snack bag I would refill from time to time. Anna, my Australian mom, had given them a box filled with individual chocolates from Australia. Dad had bought fruit rolls, granola bars, etc and I had nut bars and mints, gum and various kinds of candy. Junk food may not be good for you but does wonders in tired situations!
Soon it would be time to board the train for San Diego and later, Legoland!
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