As any of our friends, family, neighbors, acquaintances, or the wasps on our roof will tell you, midMan, myself, and tailEnd love to go adventuring most weekends. Well most Saturdays, Sundays you can most likely find us in church. We usually start off our adventures just like we did this past weekend, with a destination all ready in mind, like going up to Cedar Mountain and getting some really good pictures of the leaves changing colors. I was also hoping to find a really cool spot for some new family portraits. I have lost about 35 pounds since our last family portrait and I hate it, although it is a great reminder to keep the weight off, especially when it graces the family wall in the family room, out for all to see.
Anyways, this past Saturday off we go up the mountain, after a little tiff/misunderstanding between midMan and myself, with good intentions of getting some good photos. Little tiffs/misunderstanding do not put a person in the mood to take good pictures, they just make you want to go home and crawl into your own little corner of the world and pull the blankets in with you. So needless to say, no pictures of pretty fall colors.
About two miles up the canyon tailEnd says, 'Hey, why don't we go to the Grand Canyon like you promised me for my birthday?'
Two muttered replies follow, 'OK, why not.' And a quick thought goes through my head, I can get really good pictures on our way home with the light to the West. OK! Now lets all work on our mood. After about 30 minutes midMan and I finally just let our tiff go the way all tiff's should go, like out the window and forgotten, and get on with our adventure.
After 3 hours of driving here we are, The Grand Canyon. I was a little worried about the entrance fee, it costs $25.00 per car for a pass that is good for 7 days, but as we pulled up to the pay booth the gentlemen manning the register informed us that Saturday was a free day because it was National Park Day. Whoa! How cool for us, now I didn't need to worry about the money, but you could see tailEnds mind working out how he was going to get me to let him go out to eat.
The light was all bad for pictures, but these few turned out OK. Going on all of the trails to the edges was a little unnerving, especially with a 14 year old, who has no fear and has no idea that he is not immortal. I also have to point out that we came out to the Grand Canyon when we were a lot younger, our oldest was about 5 years old, and I didn't get quite so nervous back then as I did now. I think as I have aged, life, and the life of my child and husband, have become very, very precious to me and I understand so much more about the frailty of our lives.
But OH!! the views. They just take your breath away. And when you stop and think about the time and all that had to happen for this amazing site to be formed it can blow your mind. We encountered a lot of different people from all over the United States and from Europe. I think we, the residents of Southern Utah, tend to forget what beauty is right there in our back yard. We have so many National Parks and just natural beauty that surrounds us that we begin to take it for granted and not really see what is there right in front of our face. What we have are some really amazing things to see and learn.
Oh and tailEnd did manage to talk me in to letting him eat out at a restaurant for dinner. It was 7:00PM and we still had two hours of travel time until we got home, so knowing how much this growing boy needs to eat, I relented and we stopped for a bite to eat in Kanab, UT. The food was OK and we had calmed the raging beast that resides in tailEnd belly.
So, another Munk Family Adventure put into our record books. We can also add about 300 miles to our adventure meter. Boy do I love our adventures. I have a few more pictures, which I will share in a later post. But alas, no pictures of fall colors, it was pitch black as we drove home, maybe this next weekend. I hope you all have enjoyed our adventure.
Love to All,
midRae
