Sonya, Clara & Lydia: Road Trip - Grand Canyon (North Rim)

Zion National Park, Utah to Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

The night before we left for the Grand Canyon's North Rim, Clara started throwing up and later developed a fever. We called MIT Medical and they suspected that she might have stomach flu. Again, it was times like these that you appreciate the convenience of living in the city. It was tough to get in touch with MIT Medical because there was no phone signal most of the time while we were on the road and when you do get it in a small town, it was only a weak signal (now the Verizon advertisements of "Dead Zones" are not so funny anymore, huh? hehehe). We decided that we would keep her under shade as much as possible until she felt better. The nurse at MIT Medical advised to give her Pedialyte to prevent dehydration but she didn't like it at all so we gave her water instead. She did manage to eat crackers.

Grand Canyon Lodge, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

We arrived at the Grand Canyon's North Rim and had lunch at the beautiful Grand Canyon Lodge.

Grand Canyon Lodge, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

The Grand Canyon Lodge is located by the rim of the canyon and there were two spectacular viewpoints within 5 minutes walk away from the lodge. Justin watched Clara in the lounge of the lodge while I brought Sonya out to take photos.

Grand Canyon Lodge, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

From the outdoor viewing terrace of the lodge, we walked to the Bright Angel Point as shown in the photos below. It was 8255 feet above sea level. It was a pretty scary experience because we were so high up and the viewing area was narrow with a sharp drop into the canyon below at the edge. It didn't help that the wind was really gusting too. I think she was scared a little scared and I was too. I held Sonya's hand really tight and never let her out of my grip. Holding her hand was for her safety and it also calmed myself too :)

Bright Angel Point, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

View from Bright Angel Point, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

Grand Canyon Lodge, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

View from Bright Angel Point, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

There was another viewpoint to the left of the lodge but that was a little further. We had to walk along the narrow path along the rim before reaching. I left Sonya with Justin and thought I would go on my own. I got on the path and the wind was really strong and I changed my mind :) It was just too scary for me but Justin went on his own while I watched the kids in the lodge.

View from Cape Royal, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

Cape Royal, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

After the Bright Angel Point, we drove to Cape Royal Point which was 7865 feet above sea level.

Cape Royal, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

View from Cape Royal, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

Cape Royal, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

View from Cape Royal, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

Californian Condor

At Cape Royal, we saw a Californian Condor flying above :)

View from Cape Royal, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

Cape Royal, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

Clara stayed in the car most of the time :(

Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

Along the way, we saw another wild turkey :)

After Cape Royal, we headed off to Imperial Point which is the highest point (8803 feet) on both the North and South Rims at the Grand Canyon. As you might have guessed already, Sonya was in pretty good spirits that day and readily posed for photos :)

Can you see the "window" in the rock behind Sonya in the photos below? That is Imperial Point and we walked about 5 minutes to get there.

Imperial Point, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

Sonya was eager to read all the displays along the path :)

Imperial Point, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

Those railings that you see behind Sonya were all there were to prevent anyone from falling straight down to the canyon below.

Imperial Point, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

View from Imperial Point, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

Imperial Point, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Arizona

Princess Bandaids

On our way back to the car, Sonya tripped and fell on the ground. After we got to the car, I had to put the princess bandaids on her ''boo-boos" :) They were just minor scratches but "it hurts"!!!

Cheerios

It was Justin's turn to marvel at the Grand Canyon. How do you keep the kids happy while trapped in the car? Snacks always helped!

Clara in her carseat

Sonya with her water bottle

Cabin at Jacob Lake Inn

I had tried to book a room/cabin at the Lodge but it was fully booked. The next nearest accommodation was at Kaibab Lodge, which was about 5 miles from the park entrance, but that too was fully booked. We ended up at the Jacob Lake Inn, which was about half an hour away from the park entrance.

Cabin at Jacob Lake Inn

It was quite an experience staying at the Jacob Lake Inn. We had our own cabin with two queen-size beds, a table and two chairs, a sofa, a side table, a shower and toilet, and a wash basin. This was the only time on the trip where we did not have air-conditioning and a television! There were flies and mosquitoes so that freaked Sonya out a little :) We got to park our car right in front of the cabin and we had breakfast the next morning in the little balcony behind the cabin :) It was the closest we got to "camping" on our trip :) hahaha...

Cabin at Jacob Lake Inn

Spiderwebs

The only setback was that Clara woke up suddenly in the middle of the night and started crying. I carried her and tried everything to soothe her but she just kept crying and crying and crying for at least a good 10 minutes before she stopped. The last time she cried like that was when she was about 6 weeks old, where she cried as if she was in so much pain that we brought her to the Children's Hospital in Boston. She was admitted but the eventual diagnosis was "excessive crying" :) We can laugh about it now but it was pretty scary when she cried uncontrollably. Anyway, Clara fell asleep a while later after she stopped crying and she was generally fine the next day. We still cannot figure out what happened that night.

Sonya, Clara & Lydia

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Road Trip - Grand Canyon (North Rim)

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