Weekend Getaway.

During my week-long stay in Arizona, Andrew and I planned a quick getaway to Sedona and the Grand Canyon for Sunday and Monday. It was spectacular!

Our adventure started Sunday morning... early. 

On the road, we saw incredible cacti and other beautiful sights.

We made it to Sedona, where we planned to spend the day exploring.

We did lots of hiking.

After being talked into a 2 hour sales pitch where a company tried to sell us a vacation home, we received a free 2 hour jeep tour through the beautiful red rocks of Sedona. It was a wee bit bumpy, but Lima Bean made it ok. It was quite comical, actually, and Andrew and I had a blast.

Firebird Rock

AJ on the jeep checking out Merry-Go-Round Rock

Agave blooms

 We made it to the top of the cliffs - 7000 ft. It was breathtaking.

AJ doing his absolute favorite thing... finding the furthermost edge and hanging off. Crazy kid.

Apparently a car got a little carried away with speed and flew off the side of the cliff! Yikes.

In front of our jeep.

The jeep tour was definitely worth our time listening to the sales pitch. We spent the night in Sedona, and got up and out by 7 am for a couple more hikes before we hit the road to the Grand Canyon.

First off... Fay's Canyon.

Fay's Canyon is directly behind AJ's left shoulder - you can see the gap between the big rocks.

Better view of the gap.

AJ holding up the canyon - so buff.

After we hiked to Fay's Canyon, we went to the Devil's Bridge. It was another hike up, but worth the climb! 

This isn't the Devil's Bridge, but I thought the rock formation was really cool. I spy AJ.

The Devil's Bridge.

 Well we just couldn't get close enough for AJ... we had to touch the Devil's Bridge... so up we climbed!

After we made it up the climb, AJ went straight out to the bridge. If you notice what looks like bushes growing just below Andrew to the left, that's actually a big gap and HUGE drop.

AJ, Lima Bean, and me on the middle of Devil's Bridge - approx 8 ft wide. Spooky!

After our two morning hikes, we grabbed some BBQ sandwiches, and were on our way to the Grand Canyon!!

When we made it to the GC, we went straight to the edge for a first look... here was our first view...

AJ soaking it up.

Our first family pic at the GC.

We didn't have much of a plan for our time at the Grand Canyon besides to walk the rim and make a smidge of a descent down. Here are a few pictures from our time.

Part of the trail we took down into the canyon - Bright Angel Trail

On the Bright Angel Trail

After we spent some time hiking and exploring, we hopped in our car and made the Desert View Drive - about 25 miles with pull-outs along the rim of the Canyon to see different views.

We saw a few bucks that were still in velvet... it's the first time I've ever seen it

See the "velvet" on his antlers?

Beautiful view of the Colorado River

The Desert View Drive was one of Andrew's favorite parts because it was less crowded and we were able to do exactly what he loves to do... get deathly close to the edge :)

Hey out there!

See how far away he was???

We decided to try for some self-portraits... we hung the camera on a bush and this is what we got :)

And then on to a more abstract self portrait... the shadow.

It looks like Andrew has a scepter in his hand... I'm pretty sure that was a cactus that decided to jump in the pic.

The sun was starting to fade.

Our final photo at the Grand Canyon.

 Our time at the GC ended at the Watchtower close to the east entrance of the park. Although the actual watchtower was rather anti-climatic, it was a nice way to end the day.

We headed back to Phoenix as the sun was setting and the world was getting still.

Our peaceful (long) ride home.

Well there you have it folks - our adventure filled, 36-hour trip through AZ with memories I will treasure forever.