Day 2: Sedona to Grand Canyon

 Mile 1750

The figurative rooster crowed and mama was already up. Pacing the floor of her temporary lodging, a cup of craptastic hotel room coffee clutched in her hand. Her sleepy eyes settling on her snoring kin. How best to wake the bears....gentle nudges? tickle feet? ACDC? I opted for gentle nudges. Trying to keep the peace is job one for this Mileophile mama and it's not as easy as it sounds. I'm sure your teenagers awake with a song in their hearts and a smile on their lips......Mine do not. But, we had to be up bright and early because we were hiking to Devil's Bridge and as luck would have it, all of God's children want to hike to Devil's Bridge, so the parking lot fills up by 7:00am! 

We literally grabbed the last parking spot and started our trek in the early morning light of this breathtaking place. With every turn there was another stunning vista. The morning sun altered the color of the rocks and they became more vibrant as time marched alongside us. After scrambling up the final section of the harrowing steep trail on all fours (if you're me, or on two feet if you are a normal person) it was time to behold the breath taking view of Devil's Bridge  a line of humanity waiting to have their picture taken on Devil's Bridge. After reading lots of online accounts, we were prepared for the wait. I used this time getting to know my interesting neighbors-in-line. Sarah, raised on Long Island but living in Brooklyn and Masha, born in Germany, raised in Bali and currently residing on a horse farm in Nashville. A commercial real-estate agent, a massage therapist, and a Speech-Language Pathologist walk into a bar ...onto a Devil Bridge.....Happen to find themselves in a random line of strangers. And what do you know!?! People can still talk to people who come from different places and ideologies! I know!! It's crazy!! 

We finished our hike and headed "home" to load the van. Thomas had been trying to talk us into letting him eat cactus along the trail, he assured us that it was a thing but knowing our luck he would sample some hallucinogenic cactus and have peyote-like visions all day on top of his normal crazy. That just wasn't a risk I was willing to take. My line friend, Sarah, told us about this place in town that served cactus fries and we opted for that route. We learned that cactus fries dipped in prickly pear dipping sauce are damn near perfection. We were also starving. 

I hate to see a cactus fry suffer like that

 

 "Oh, you didn't order the ranch dressing pedicure? My bad"

A couple more stops to the only teal McDonald's arches IN THE WORLD and the stunning Chapel of the Holy Cross and we were on our way! 

World's Only Teal Arches!

It was Sunday, so we went to church!

Mile 1859-The Grand Canyon

As mediocre actor and Hollywood darling, Joey Lawrence, would exclaim, "Whoa". That canyon is hella grand! I wish I could station myself at the overlook and watch people's faces all day as they view the Grand Canyon for the first time. I think my jaw literally dropped when I first beheld this magnificent landmark. Nothing can prepare you for the scale, and the colors, the depth and breadth. Surrounded by strangers speaking many languages I didn't recognize. Faces of all colors, young and old. All of us soaking in the wonder together. It was a good thing.

Perhaps I shouldn't have lingered when pulling the trigger on booking the lodging for our Grand Canyon portion of this trip. By the time I got organized, everything in the Village was full and  I was left to choose from a very short list of very limited options. Even the Holiday Inn Express was sold out y'all. I settled on lodging that would "Probably be fine..." I am choosing not to name the particular place because the folks working the desk were lovely, they gave me all the extra pillows and towels that I requested, and they weren't overtly rude to my face when I scoffed because they broke the news that only two devices were allowed to hook up to the wifi per room (We have 5 people, and approximately 99 devices). I didn't put up too much of a fight as I am sure we are in violation of some sort of fire code piling up all these Bullington bodies in one humble hotel room. 

John and I checked out the room while the kids waited in the car. We were greeted with a wall of hot fragrant air. The bozo before us had left the heat on and that really brought forth the scent profiles of essence of toe-funk and dejection. It'll be fine. It's just one night. 

Poor third child...Always gets the creative bed from hotel furniture

We walked down the road a short piece and got dinner at the creatively named, We Cook Pizza and Pasta. The pizza was decent and the walk was nice. We came home and settled our tired bones into the slightly discolored bedding and called it a night.