On November 30th, we left Kanab. It was the first time we’d moved the camper in almost a month. I cannot over-emphasize how gorgeous it is to drive around this area. The landscape changes drastically and it’s both beautiful and shocking.

We drove south, and set up camp a couple hours north of Phoenix.

The next day, we drove down to Phoenix to get an ultrasound, and took advantage of the urban amenities like Aldi and Costco. On the way, it was like we crossed an invisible line, and suddenly we started seeing cacti everywhere. We’d never seen them in real life before and it was kind of surreal. And then we caught our first glimpse of Phoenix palm trees, and of course, a couple hot air balloons!

Later in the afternoon, we stopped at Montezuma Castle National Monument just down the road from us: a vertical dwelling built into the face of a cliff 900 years ago.

It’s too late in the year, but we really can’t skip seeing the Grand Canyon (technically we’ve already been there this trip – but only 10% of visitors make it to the Grand Canyon North Rim!). We talked in circles about the best way to visit, given how freezing cold it is. We could leave the camper here and do a day trip, but it would be a huge day. We could split the difference and camp halfway between here and GCNP. In the end we decided that we wanted to maximize our time in the park, and to do that we wanted to stay overnight. Then instead, we booked two nights – our most expensive camping yet at $80 per night.

On our way into the park, we saw elk! We saw them just as we were turning a corner, there was traffic, we had the camper hooked up, and there was no shoulder. The best I could do was a shot from our moving vehicle. But if they’re this easy to find, surely we’ll see them again while we’re here, right? (No. We never saw any again.)

After we set up camp, we put the kid in the hiking carrier and we walked from our campsite to the main Grand Canyon overlook. What a way to live. It turns out that this location is where most of my grandparent’s old slides come from. We’ll have to return in better light, because by then the shadows had grown far too long.

In the morning, we elected to drive west through the park. Our campground is pretty centrally located, so we’ll do west this morning, east this afternoon, and the main overlook to recreate our slides tomorrow morning.

We had a lot of stops to make, plus I tacked on a mile or so of hiking to stretch our legs. Atlas was having a blast, and he was charming strangers left and right. I got so many cute photos of him. But instead I’ll show you the magnificent canyon. It was truly amazing.

We found a couple locations to recreate photos from my grandparent’s trip out west in 1962 – read more about that here.

We arrived at the far end, Hermit’s Rest, and after that we were all ready to head home, eat some food, and take a nap.

That afternoon, we were back at it, driving towards the Desert View Watchtower.

By this time, we had very little daylight left, and it was starting to get extremely cold. At the watchtower, we hoped for a nice sunset view, but the clouds obscured most of our view. There’s no such thing as a bad sunset though.

Our second morning in GCNP, we woke up with a mission: before we pack up and head out, I wanted to go back to the main overlook to recreate my family’s old photos. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side. The fog was thicker than pea soup.

I was pretty devastated, since this is truly our one chance, but eventually we decided to move on from that overlook for one last tiny hike. We did a tiny portion of the Bright Angel Trail, just far enough to get to the tunnel. It’s only about a third of a mile round-trip, but it’s the elevation that gets you.

As we hiked, the fog started to clear a little bit and my hope was renewed. We headed back to the overlook, keeping our expectations low.

The fog was clearing, moving in and out. A few of our shots are a little foggy, but it’s better than what I’d hoped for! The slides are from 1962, the photos are from 2022. It was pretty difficult to line up these shots, since standing even a few feet in the wrong direction made a big difference. Factor in the ever-changing fog and the impatient toddler, we rushed these a little too much and it shows.

This was one of the most interesting slides – one of the big rocks has fallen in the past 50 years.

My grandma, with my dad and my uncle in tow.

My grandpa, still with those unruly kids!

Okay, just one more. The views here are truly magnificent.

With that, it was past time to get the camper packed up and head out. We’ve been so cold for so long, it’s time to chase the sun and head south.