Day 8 - Zion -> Grand Canyon

-The Grand Canyon at sunset (look carefully)

We left our campsite at Zion by 8am to assure that we got a campsite near the Grand Canyon. The drive between Zion and the Grand Canyon was, let’s just say, not bad. We passed stretches of red rock canyons, wide-open valleys and alpine meadows. At one point we stopped to get a photo of “JJ” off-road, and Jonathan had a little too much confidence in JJ’s off-roading capabilities – within five seconds we were stuck in soft sand. With the help of the Baker’s homemade van levelers we were able to drive ourselves onto them and get on to solid ground. Continuing south, we hit the first campground in Kaibob National Forest, found some good sites, but decided to chance it for a site closer to the canyon. By this point we had seen a sign that read “National Park campground full” but were hoping to find one just outside the park. We looked at another one a bit closer but were feeling lucky … and we were! Anna sweet-talked the woman at the entrance booth, and we ended up a campsite that most others had reserved months in advance. We’re pretty psyched – 100 yards or so from the North Rim! After getting situated, we had a great hike along the rim and then spent some time chilling at our pocket sized 4-star hotel. Jono even took a nap! The sun set colorfully and we then went to see the stars through a powerful telescope at the main lodge – a 1.2 mile walk from our campsite. Anna was a little freaked out on the walk by the thought of bears but fortunately had a burly woodsman from Duxbury with her. We’re off to bed and you won’t see this until mid-day Sunday when we re-enter modern civilization (AKA Vegas).