Arizona - Grand Canyon & Spring Training

Our big trip this spring was to Arizona.  We took a day and a half and visited and hiked the Grand Canyon, and spent a few days in Phoenix with Lowell & Judy enjoying Cubs spring training & some golf.

We booked a flight that, at the time, made alot of sense - it left at 5:50 AM.  Our 3am alarm was a ton of fun.  Lowell and Judy were nice enough to get up early, drive to the airport, and loan us their van for the trip -- thanks! The upside is that by the time we landed in Phoenix & drove to the Grand Canyon it wasn't even noon - so we took advantage of a full day.  We did hike a little on the South Kaibab trail to get out and enjoy the day, but it was clear we were pretty tired by about 4pm.  We checked in to the Bright Angel Lodge, and enjoyed some NCAA Tourney games before grabbing some dinner.  Before we crashed we did make it to one of the points along the rim to see the sunset, which while there were some clouds was still a very pretty sight.  We then got a well deserved good nights sleep.

The next morning we were up early and hit the Bright Angel Trail - our destination was Plateau Point, a 6 mile hike out to a point where we could look down to the bottom of the canyon and the Colorado River.  Hiking the canyon is like the reverse 14er - hiking 4000 feet down and then back up.  It was a very pretty hike, although the view didn't change much until we got to the Point - which seeing the river at the bottom was pretty cool.  A nice hike up 4000 feet and we were ready to hit the car back to Phoenix to spend the rest of the trip with Lowell and Judy.

On Saturday we got up, had breakfast, and then headed to the new Cubs spring training park. We did a little tailgating before the game, and spent a little time walking around the facility. It's a great place to see a game...unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, we saw a Cubs loss. After the game, we went home for a little rest and then out to dinner. Matt had never experienced Organ Stop Pizza, so we remedied that situation. He was a little skeptical, but ended up really enjoying it! The three story organ is quite the sight to see.

On Sunday, after church and a trip to Village Inn for breakfast, it was golfing time! Lowell's friend Steve played with us. It was a short course, mostly par 3s, so we got a lot of practice with our short irons...especially teeing off with 9-irons. Sunday night was filled with basketball and grilling.

Monday morning was early with a 7:50am tee time. Lyla joined us for this round. It was a gorgeous course! Both of us played better than Sunday and Matt shot one of his best rounds ever, an 85! Karla learned to not golf with Lowell after Kathy visits. She was going to layup on a whole when she heard "Kathy cut the corner". So she had to try! And made it...on her second try...by about five feet. After an afternoon nap for everyone, it was baseball time again! Steve and Sharon jojned us for a night game. The Cubs lost, again, but the fireworks after the game were great!

We headed home on Tuesday after a really fun trip!