At the beginning of the year I decided that one of my goals for 2016 was to definitely get out and try new things, especially go explore new places. First stop – the Grand Canyon!
My first big adventure took me all the way to Arizona for the first time to visit my lovely friend Jess. I flew into Phoenix on Thursday night, and Friday morning we were off for other three and a half hour drive to the Grand Canyon! Both Jess and I had never been before, so we were excited to try something brand new together.
Although three and a half hours there and back in one day sounded rather daunting, the drive there wasn’t too bad. It was nice to catch up with Jess about life and whatnot. One important thing I definitely learned during this adventure: perfect road trip playlists are a MUST. I swear, without Jess’ music in the car I don’t know how I would have survived the drive back to her place that night.
It was fairly easy to find the South Rim visitor’s center, where we asked a ranger for advice since we honestly had no idea what to expect. Per his recommendations, we walked out to the nearest lookout point and couldn’t believe our eyes. The canyon was absolutely gorgeous!
Our photos can’t possibly do it any justice. Even our eyes had to adjust to how beautiful the Grand Canyon was in person.
One thing you can definitely count on when you put Jess and me together: we’ll take wayyyy too many pictures! (Or is that even possible?) We explored along the canyon’s rim finding any decent ledge with a gorgeous view for some great photos!
We walked further down the trail and found a cute hotel, which we took advantage of so Jess could finally buy her spirit jersey she was desperately trying to find and I could sit down and enjoy stepping out of the sun for a short while.
By the end of the night, the sunset turned the canyon into various purple hues, which was beautiful! (Purple is my favorite color after all…)
Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon? What activities did you do? I’m so glad I was able to cross this off my bucket list!
