Grand Canyon Star Party

We departed about an hour late, ate some Redneck BBQ and spent the night in Williams. 

This morning we headed to Grand Canyon to set up camp, ride the bus, and walk to the rim in mid-day heat and a whining 4 year old. With the promise of a "cool treat" we managed to hobble a few paces. 

Let me tell you that if you plan on visiting these big parks just plan on buying your food here and save yourself the headache of pre-packing food. Before coming here I stopped at Safeway to get bread, and some other items. After spending $80 on 2 plastic bags I am baffled that people shop in such places when faced with choices. I spend about that much on our weekly groceries from Whole Foods but that included 3-5 lbs of organic meats or fish, organic milk, fruits, veggies, and stuff I don't need. Safeway I got $9 of grapes, fermented cantaloupe, and some fake organic deli meat. 

My point is the general store in Grand Canyon has far better choices which I should have gone with. 

Things never go as planned. We are not getting hikes or grand views, but the kids are loving looking at butterflies, birds, and other wild life. Setting up the tent and just playing around alone is enough for them. 

Don't get me wrong there's a lot of whining and 'I'm hot," " I don't want to walk" so on and on and on.  It has been hot but stopping at the general store for a cool treat helps us all.  We packed up our burgers and headed back to the rim for sunset dinner. Ended up not going as planned but we went to the visitors center for the Star Party. Let me tell you this was AMAZING!  We saw Saturn 3 times. I saw 3 of its moons, the rings and all. We saw Jupiter, the lines across it, some of its moons, a very bright Venus, and the red giant whose name I cannot recall. We had a whole lesson on constellations from a Bostonian and at the end of it all my 6 year old was so happy she don't want to get to bed. 

All in all Grand Canyon was educational in so many ways. We spent a good part of today exploring the park as well but the drive out to Monument Vally was just stunning. Setting up camp in dusk and watching the stars (and planets) come out is stellar. Can't wait to see the park tomorrow.