Arizona

We made it to Arizona!!

Now, you're going to have to be patient with me as there was so much to see in Arizona.

I don't think I realized how beautiful out west was, until we started driving though it.

You're out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by desert, with an amazing view of snow-capped mountains!

While driving through Arizona, we saw signs for 'Meteor Crater' and thought we would check it out. So glad we did! It was so cool! This huge crater was formed by a 150 foot meteor.

It's 4,000 feet across. It was originally 700 feet deep, but rubble has filled it in to 500 feet deep. The guide told us that anything\anyone who was in a 14 mile radius from the impact site would have been obliterated. Crazy!!

 Onward to Flagstaff, which is about an hour and a half away from the Grand Canyon. I have a bucket list of places I want to go before I die, and I have no idea why the Grand Canyon wasn't on it. It is by far the most amazing sight my eyes have ever seen! I kept saying I feel like my eyes aren't capable of taking it all in. We were only able to spend a couple hours there. I wish I had days...weeks to explore the canyon. It just blows my mind that my God created it all in 7 days...not to mention all the other wonders this world has to offer. I have a new ambition: to see the 7 wonders of the world. Grand Canyon...check. The Northern Lights have always been #1 on my list, and with us moving to Alaska, I should be able to check that one off the list this year too! All that's left are: Australia, Africa, Mexico, Brazil, and Nepal! I have always had a desire to travel, and I am so fortunate to be able to do all this with Cory via the Air Force.

Back to the Grand Canyon! I'm just going to post some of my favorite pictures. We took hundreds, and were still not capable of capturing the vast beauty of it all. Enjoy!

 Sound familiar? "If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you join them?"

Does this answer your question, Mom?

We didn't really jump! Don't worry!

I was so sad when we left the Grand Canyon! I would LOVE to live close to the Grand Canyon! I wanted more time to run the paths, hike the trails, raft down the Colorado River, and just see the view from the bottom looking up!

An old hymn comes to mind:

O Lord my God,

When I in awesome wonder

Consider all

The works Thy Hand hath made,

I see the stars,

I hear the mighty thunder,

Thy pow'r throughout

The universe displayed;

When through the woods

And forest glades I wander

I hear the birds

Sing sweetly in the trees;

When I look down

From lofty mountain grandeur

And hear the brook

And feel the gentle breeze;

Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art!

How great Thou art!

After we got back to our hotel, Cory and I decided to change our plans up a bit. We originally planned on heading up through Utah, but decided to go through Nevada instead. Neither of us have ever been to Las Vegas, and we figured there would be more to do and see there.

So, next stop: Las Vegas!!!