It's Pretty Grand Indeed

So here it comes, my post on the Grand Canyon.

On Saturday Rob's brother, Nick and his wife Jessi came to visit me all the way from Maine. Once they got here we more or less went to bed (damn jet lag) and woke up early the next morning to head to ye olde Grand Canyon.

The drive was around two and a half hours and very scenic.  I'm amazed at just how different Arizona is from my own home state (and indeed any part of the US I've been), and also at how many climates and cultures exist within the United States.

Anyway we got to the park and immediately (and excitedly) made our way to the first viewing spot.

And oh. my. god.  You guys.

The Grand Canyon is everything I imagined and then some.  We couldn't say anything aside from "holy shit!" and "Ohhh my gooood" and "Whaaaat?"  The people around us were mostly from other countries but I'm pretty sure they were all saying the same thing.  

After we checked out the visitor's center we drove along Desert View Drive, stopping at every single point to take picture upon picture upon picture.

All told, I took close to 500 pictures but not one of them came even close to capturing the beauty and the absolute magnitude of the Grand Canyon.  The pictures below are my fruitless attempt to do so, but really, you just need to go there.  Right now, seriously.  I'll wait.

Thumb Butte

I won't blame you if you want to laugh at how close this name is to "Thumb Butt."  Believe me, it's been making me giggle all week.

My typical modus operandi when I'm on a project is to hide in my room and feel sorry for myself.  My goal with this project is to get out and challenge myself to try new things.  On a tip from some clients I decided to check out a nearby Forest Service trail up to and around Thumb Butte, which looks like this:

Pretty, right? The trail was pretty simple though I wasn't used to the elevation and got pretty out of breath.  I wasn't hiking with my husband, so I was perfectly fine sauntering along at a slow pace.

On the trail I started to have a bit of an anxiety attack about getting jump-attacked by a giant tarantula, which I assume happens to Arizona residents at least once every week or so.  I was walking ridiculously slow and surveying my surroundings carefully when I came across THIS:

Needless to say there was much hyperventilating and yes, a little bit of crying. I managed to sort of hop-run past this little sonofabitch and made it up the trail relatively unscathed by scary tarantulas and cacti. Anyway it was a lovely, simple hike with beautiful views.  And it was a small victory, but it was a victory nonetheless.  I was proud of myself for getting out and doing something all by my lonesome. I still miss my Robbie though.

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:

I will make sure to post some pictures from my trip to the Grand Canyon as well.

How is your week going, lovely people?