Thursday July 19, 2012

I woke up about 6:00 because of the loud voices next door.  I got dressed and went over to them, using my best teacher voice, and told them that they were being rude and inconsiderate to the rest of us who were hear to enjoy the sounds of nature.  I think they were embarrassed because they did quiet down.  I can’t believe the adults did not put a stop to their talking earlier as they were clearly out of line with the posted quiet hours.  We had a quick breakfast and struck camp and headed to the Grand Canyon.  We were too early to check in so went for lunch at the deli near the lodge.  We then took a hike to Bright Angel’s Point – a spectacular viewpoint down from the rim of the canyon.  The boys were impressed with the immensity of the canyon and with the lovely colors.  We came back to the lodge and sat outside on the patio enjoying the view.  I checked again with reception and found out that we were really early, as this part of Arizona does not observe daylight savings time so it is an hour earlier than Utah.  We spent the time chatting and checking out the gift shop.  The boys finally went back to the truck and got a deck of cards to entertain themselves.  We were finally able to check in and my patience paid off as we were able to convert our two motel rooms to a western style cabin.  It is very nice – queen bed and mini-fridge in one room, a bathroom in the hall, and a bunkroom with a futon couch in the next room.  Theo was excited to be sleeping in a log cabin.  We all took turns showering (much needed by all) and then went to dinner in the dining room.  Dave and Dan had the bison special, Alex had trout, Theo chose pasta and I had grilled vegetables with polenta – everything was very good.  We had seen the ranger talk previously and the skies were too cloudy for the telescope experience so we came back to the cabin and I read to the boys again and we all went to