Rory's Point of View

Rory has been shooting pics this whole time and has even been approached about her camera.  She did her best to answer the lady's questions.  She's edited her photos and downloaded them.  I thought you all might want to see them.

This last pic is a Kaibab squirrel.  They are the only squirrels in North America with albino tails.  The North Rim is their ONLY habitat.  As you can see, we have another budding artist.  This means I'm relying on Logan now for a cushy retirement.  :) *SIDENOTE*. We are crossing the San Francisco Bay as I type this, hence why I'm typing this.  I'm trying to distract myself, but we've been sitting in traffic, so I'm afraid I'm going to finish this post before we even get across the bridge.  We are on the 580 bridge, not the Golden Gate because our park is on the northland of San Fran.  Once we get settled into the park, our first line of business is taking the ferry to Fisherman's Wharf to get some commuter passes.  The kids are so excited to take the ferry!  Here's hoping all goes well with sitting in traffic on a bridge.  Wish me luck!

Grand Canyon Dos Edition

When I first called this tour company, I talked to the son of the father/son operation.  The son sounded a bit more like Ted in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.  Luckily, Jon is the dad who toured us yesterday.  He was extremely knowledgeable about the area, so we learned and visited more than just the main attraction.  He took us to places off the beaten path for the historical perspective.  Kevin loves history, so this was right up his alley.  Our homeschool lady is expecting a journal from each of the kids for our fall review, and I think what they learned and wrote down just yesterday would be enough.  

First he took us to this cowboy lodge.  It was hand built and even boasted its own outhouse, which I didn't get a picture of.  You're welcome.  I told Marley there was no need to go to Laura Ingall's house on the prairie because this was basically the same thing.  

As we entered the National Park, we saw these buffalo hanging around.  It's legal to hunt them outside the park, so John says they stay inside all the time.  He says they're smart animals.  There's a whole story about how buffalo got to the North Rim, but if you want it, you have to come here.  It's long, and I don't remember it all.  ;)  

Uncle Jim Owens was one of the first land surveyors for the North Rim.  He ran a ranching business where he bred cows and buffalo.  Cows bred with buffalo are called beefalos, and buffalo bred with cows were called cattlelos.  There is a difference.  Anyway, he chose this small rock ledge to carve out a home/cave for himself.  Teddy Roosevelt would come and visit with his Roughriders, who would sleep out in the field below the cave.  

After that it was the Grand Canyon, and some small Indian sites of the Walhalla and the Pueblo.  

John had everyone try seeds that you had to crack open first.  They were pine nuts.  He explained how the Indians put tarps below the trees and then it them to get the nuts off.  Then they gather them up and sell them to local grocery stores.  Aunt Paula LOVES pine nuts!  Logan, Kevin and Kaelyn liked them.  

I'll have to post another of just pictures of the Grand Canyon.  For now, two posts for you today!  We're all burnt to a crisp because we didn't sunscreen.  Otherwise, we're in good spirits headed to Los Banos.  This is another of Kevin's "I want to say we went there" things like Sparta and Terre Haute.  AGAIN.

The Grand Canyon

It would take too long to explain everything that has happened, so I'll just highlight.  We got to camp yesterday, did laundry, and had smores.  I found a tour company, and we decided to book them for today.  Our guide, John, showed up promptly at 8a.  We didn't know what to expect, but he sounded and talked like Uncle Dewey, so we trusted him.  Rolling pics.

We had the buddy system for our time at The Grand Canyon.  Marley is impulsive, so we had her with Kevin.  Kaelyn and Logan were together, and me and Rory.  John had given the kids a talk that they had to pay attention to their surroundings, so they didn't fall.  That immediately set all of us on edge.  We all survived though, so that's good!  Because there are so many pictures, there will be more than one post.  For now, I'll just show the family pics.

This was a little hole in a rock where Uncle Jim Owens lived.  He was a good friend of Teddy Roosevelt.

The sites that don't have rails were the ones that were scariest.  John said that 15-20 people fall to their deaths a season, and that three had already done that since it opened May 15th.  Rory and I don't like heights, and while I got better at it, Rory stayed hesitant.  John kept commenting on how lucky we were.  At the lodge, he got a front row spot which has never happened before.  Then there was hardly anyone there, and at the end of the day we got free cookies!  It was a long wonderful day.  The North Rim is less commercialized than the South Rim which was wonderful.  There's so much more, but it'll have to wait until the drive tomorrow.  We were going to go by the Hoover Dam, but we don't know about factoring it in, so I think we're skipping it.  It's off to Bakersfield, CA tomorrow by way of Las Vegas, baby!  Stay tuned!