A Considerably Large Canyon

Chad and I took little impromptu vacation last week. My parents have a condo in Durango, CO and it was just recently remodeled, so we decided to check it out. This trip was taken with a little apprehension because A) we have never been away from Henry for that long, and B) my brother and his wife are expecting their first child on July 19. We knew that Henry would be well taken care of at my parents house, but my sister-in-law was under strict instructions not to give birth until we were back. It all worked out, and we are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of little Karl Erik, or Patrick, or Hans, or Diego...or whatever they decide to name him. (Did you notice my subtle suggestions?)

Anyway, it sorta worked out where Chad got to plan the first leg of our trip (more on that later) and I got to plan "the way home," which naturally ended up heading west instead of east. It has been a dream of mine to see the Grand Canyon, so on our way home we stopped by. My cousin Andrea lives in Phoenix and we decided to meet up at Grand Canyon and camp. Andrea called us on the way there with a weather report for the Canyon--expect 100+ during the day and 37 degrees at night. Does that seem strange to anyone else but me? How can Mother Nature be that cruel? How can two people in a little Forester prepare for such extremes when the car is already loaded to the gills?

People always say this, but it's true: the Grand Canyon truly is grand. I knew it would be considerably large, but there is no way to capture its enormity on film. Keeping that in mind, here are some photos that can't possibly do it justice.