{"id":672,"date":"2009-07-19T10:20:11","date_gmt":"2009-07-19T14:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/?p=672"},"modified":"2009-07-19T10:20:11","modified_gmt":"2009-07-19T14:20:11","slug":"sunset-to-sunrise-at-the-grand-canyon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/2009\/07\/19\/sunset-to-sunrise-at-the-grand-canyon\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunset to Sunrise at the Grand Canyon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"checkerboard

Checkerboard Mountain<\/p><\/div>\n

There were two ways to reach the North Rim of the Grand Canyon from Zion National Park.\u00a0 You could exit the park at Springdale and back track about an hour to the last main road junction and then take a left onto 89A or you could pay a $15 fee and take the 1920\u2019s built 89A bridge out of the canyon and save yourself about 90 minutes of driving.\u00a0 With more than 2100 miles under our belt and countless hours behind the wheel, the $15 seemed like money well spent.\u00a0 Pardon my Boston accent but it was wicked cool!\u00a0 The tunnel fees covered the cost of an escort to make sure no one was coming in the opposite direction so large vehicles like our beast could drive in the middle of the road in order to fit through the tunnel.\u00a0 Not getting stuck in a tunnel or hit by oncoming traffic was worth the money right there but when we saw the views from yet another perspective, Zion was even more breathtaking.\u00a0 Just another reminder that going off the beaten trail has big rewards.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon was only 3 hours away and we relished in the idea of getting to a destination by lunch time.\u00a0 I was so happy that I even let Dennis listen to country music again.\u00a0 As we cruised along, a song that quickly became his new favorite came over the radio.\u00a0 We had to listen carefully to make sure we heard it correctly.\u00a0 It was a love song from the perspective of a starry eyed man praising his new love.\u00a0 It was called \u201cShe was Rocking the Beer Gut.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m not lying.<\/p>\n

The rest of the ride to the North Rim was mostly forest.\u00a0 We saw the remainder of a fire that we later learned happened about 3 years ago.\u00a0 It started as a lightning fire that the Park officials watched carefully but a strong wind spread the fire too quickly and 60,000 acres were lost.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"North

North Rim Canyon<\/p><\/div>\n

Everything about the North Rim was welcoming \u2013 friendly and informed Rangers, hot showers, General Store with cold beer and large clean campsites.\u00a0\u00a0 Before we even unpacked, we rushed to get our first glimpse of the canyon.\u00a0 We had the boys cover their eyes and walked them toward the edge.\u00a0 On the count of three, they opened their eyes to the most famous natural phenomenon in the United States!\u00a0 Their reaction was priceless.\u00a0 After seeing\u00a0\u00a0 nothing but rocks and trees for days we weren\u2019t sure how they\u2019d feel about a hole in the ground but the surprise element was just the trick!\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"overlook\"

Bright Angel Point, North Rim<\/p><\/div>\n

We went down to the lodge and followed the path to Bright Angel Point to get the best view from the north.\u00a0 Den and the boys loved the adventure and the incredible views.\u00a0 I hugged the inside, ready to drop to my knees at any moment.\u00a0 Granted I don\u2019t like heights but never did I expect my legs to wobble so much.\u00a0 Trying to be brave I would say \u201cbe right there\u201d and wave.\u00a0 I never made it all the way out but they tell me it was amazing.\u00a0 A few days later, we drove to the South Rim after visiting Arizona.\u00a0 I wanted to see if it was much different.\u00a0 They were as different as my twins \u2013 you know they were created at the same time but it\u2019s hard to find the similarities.\u00a0 The North view gave you more crevasses and turns where the South Rim gave you a much broader scope of the size.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Mather

Mather Point South Rim<\/p><\/div>\n

If you have the time to see both, it\u2019s worth the drive.<\/p>\n

Luke and I were happy to find free WiFi at the General Store.\u00a0 Dennis was so kind and offered to finish the laundry so we could blog.\u00a0 After everything was posted, supplies and firewood loaded we settled in for the rest of our stay.\u00a0 A very lovely English couple stopped by to ask Den how to build a \u201cproper fire\u201d since it was their first time camping.\u00a0 They were on a 6 month world-wide tour and the States was their last stop.\u00a0 He helped them out and told them if it didn\u2019t work out to join us.\u00a0 I was thrilled when they popped over and joined us for wine and s\u2019mores and told us about adventures around the Globe.\u00a0\u00a0There was no shortage of conversation and the kids\u00a0enjoyed\u00a0getting to know someone from the UK. \u00a0 At the end of our visit, we gave them our contact information to keep in touch.\u00a0 Hello, Adrian and Louise.\u00a0 Hope you are safe!<\/p>\n

There are moments that remind us why we fall in love with our significant others.\u00a0 My latest reminder came at 5:10 AM.\u00a0 I heard the sunrise over the canyon was not to be missed.\u00a0 I woke up and looked at the clock with every intention of sneaking out to greet the morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Sunrise

Sunrise at the North Rim<\/p><\/div>\n

With one eye open, Dennis said \u201cAre you really going to go?\u00a0 I\u2019ll go with you\u201d and without hesitation he got out of bed, put on his shoes and we were out the door.\u00a0 Why he indulges my crazy whims is beyond me but I\u2019m so lucky he does.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure which way was east so we got to the edge of the canyon and followed the trail looking for the sun which was due to rise at 5:40.\u00a0 It took me a bit to figure out we were facing south and missing the\u00a0sunrise but\u00a0we kept walking anyway\u00a0in hopes of seeing something.\u00a0 It was beautiful and peaceful but no sunrise.\u00a0 Ultimately, we took the wrong path back to camp but\u00a0luckily it ended up on the east side of the canyon where the sun was just coming up.\u00a0 I learned the next day, my clock was set to the wrong time zone and we were actually right on time to see one incredible sunrise.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t have wanted to share it with anyone else.<\/p>\n

\u00a0We had almost reached our threshold of rocks and trees, the timing was perfect for our next destination – VEGAS BABY!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There were two ways to reach the North Rim of the Grand Canyon from Zion National Park.\u00a0 You could exit the park at Springdale and back track about an hour to the last main road junction and then take a left onto 89A or you could pay a $15 fee and take the 1920\u2019s built […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[103,63,27,35],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":685,"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions\/685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}