Happy Thursday!!!
In this post I wanted to share with y’all about our trip to the Grand Canyon. Just thinking about it brings a smile to my face. I highly recommend everyone go see it at least once. I remember when we first got there; we parked and then walked over to the edge to go get our first real look at it. It was breath taking, it looked so perfect it almost looked fake, like someone had taken a picture out of a travel book and enlarged it.
That was one of my favorite places I have ever been and my husband and I definitely plan to go back. We went during the last part of August/ early September last year (2017). We had been planning this trip for over a year. We saved every penny we could and PAYED FOR IT ALL WITH CASH!
It seems like a big task to save like that, but we followed a savings plan on Pinterest. The pin was actually a plan to save for Disney World but it worked for the Grand Canyon too. My husband also has a side business on Ebay that really helped our savings.
So how much did we save? We saved close to 5,000 if I remember correctly. However most of that was going to go towards hotels and gas. And YES we actually drove to the Grand Canyon all the way from Indiana!! And YES we actually had fun and didn’t kill each other. 😉
We actually rented a car, which my mother-in-law helped us pay for. She said it would make her feel more comfortable having us driving in a newer car verses my husbands ’05 truck or my ’00 cavalier. We got an upgrade from Enterprise and rented a Buick Enclave. It made the trip so much nicer! Heated seats, separate switches so each person could decide what they wanted the AC on, and tons of extra room. Now looking back, if we ever make the trip again, we would budget for renting a car.
CHECK OUT MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL FOR VLOGS FROM OUR TRIP!
CLICK HERE !!!
The first day we traveled 19 hours! We left early Sunday morning. We were so excited, which is probably why we actually made it 19 hours in a car. We drove through St. Louis, which had lots of interesting sights including the famous Arch to see. We stopped and got Starbucks here. Missouri was a very pretty state and reminded me a lot of Tennessee. We got to see the Route 66 Welcome center, which was a fun pit stop!
We continued on through Oklahoma, which actually started to get kind of boring, sorry Oklahoma! Also lots of tolls, which we are not use to in Indiana. I took about an hour nap while driving through Oklahoma.
Next was onto Amarillo Texas, which was actually kind of boring as well, when you first entered Texas. But the further you got in, the more you got to see windmills! It made for very pretty scenery as the sun was sitting!
In the distance, we could see lightening for what looked like miles and miles away. But it eventually, it caught up to us and we got caught in a Texas rainstorm. Hurricane Harvey was just a few weeks earlier so there were still flood signs up for that. I hate driving in rain, so I just closed my eyes and prayed we would make it to our hotel soon.
Finally we stopped for the night, in Tucumcari, New Mexico. We always stop at Holiday Inns, my husband and I find we like those the best. One thing nice about the trip is we gained some hours from switching from Eastern Time to Mountain.
On Monday our goal was to make it to Flag Staff Arizona. On our way there we actually stopped at the Petrified Forest!
The first stop on the trail is so pretty! However, the wind was blowing so bad I felt like I was yelling at my husband to talk to him. I guess being super windy there is not uncommon. Overall the whole thing was unique to see, but my husband and I were so tired from the day before. I’m not sure we enjoyed as much as we would have, if we had had more sleep.
A couple hours outside flagstaff we stopped and saw a meteor crater, which we actually liked more than the Petrified Forest. Highly recommend making this pit stop!
Finally at our destination in Flag Staff, we stopped and picked up a gluten free pizza from Dominos and got some snacks from Whole Foods for the rest of our trip. We both ate gluten free and vegetarian the whole trip!
Flagstaff was beautiful! It was a nice size town, that I actually wouldn’t mind living in! We left that morning and headed for the Grand Canyon. We initially were planning on going to the north side and walking across the glass bridge. But as I did more research while we were driving, I found out that the north side was actually owned by an Indian Reservation and it was quite pricy to go there. You had to pay for parking, then ride a bus to the bridge, then pay to go on the bridge; you had to pay to have your picture taken because you weren’t allowed to bring cameras. After thinking about it, my husband and I decided we would like to spend our money on others things. Wish we had made this decision sooner, before we had drove halfway there. Lesson learned!
Finally arriving at the Grand Canyon, the check in to the park did not take long, and the lady at the gate was very friendly! Driving into the park my husband said it felt a little like Jurassic World, since we were watching out for elk and deer.
We stayed at the El Tovar hotel at the park. I believe it is the nicest hotel there.
I highly recommend staying here to get the full experience! It is an older hotel so don’t expect 2017 luxuries. I actually made a video completely showing the room in my last VLOG, check it out here!
Quick review of the room- bed was comfy, small fridge, decent size TV, very nice relatively large bathroom, however very bad Wi-Fi but who needs Wi-Fi when you’re at the Grand Canyon!
The first day there, we ordered gluten free pancakes to the room, and they were delicious! All the gluten free food there was actually really good! I was surprised how many gluten free options they had! We walked around the park to the different shops and did a little sight seeing.
One thing we quickly learned is that we were not use to the elevation, and even walking up a slight hill felt like I was in the worst shape of my life. So one tip I have is to take it easy the first day and get use to the elevation change.
That day, we did the bus tour around the park, which I recommend! It was great to sight see without having to do all the walking.
The bus systems they have is really helpful, some take you sight seeing and some take you to the little grocery store they have and visitor center.
That evening we drove 20 minutes outside the park to Tusayan, and we did a jeep tour, which was probably my favorite thing we did! It was a sunset tour. We started by driving through the Kaibab National Forest. We had a great tour guide; he showed lots of things about the plants and wildlife. We did not see any wildlife till the end, which was a huge Elk.
During tour, they take you to a huge tower, where you can climb to the top and look out.
My husband and I actually hate heights so we went up a little and then called it quits! To end the tour, the guide takes you to a spot to over look the canyon and watch the sun go down. It really was a sight to see!
Our last full day at the Canyon, we did a little sight seeing again around the El Tovar Hotel. We actually walked part of the Bright Angel Trail.
They recommend that you do not hike all the way down and back up in a day, because it’s too much for one day. Whenever, we go back this is one thing my husband and I would like to do!
We ended the night eating some Tortilla Gluten free soup they had at one of the hotel restaurants. It was delicious and my favorite thing to eat there, I ate it almost every day! We watched the sun go down over the Canyon for our last night there.
The next morning we left early and said out good byes to the canyon. We headed towards Colorado, another stop we wanted to make before we went home. I believe it was about a ten-hour drive from the canyon. The closer you got to Denver Colorado, the prettier the drive became. Click here to watch the Vlog of our drive!
However, the elevation continued to make us sick. We stopped at a Wal-Mart before we got to our hotel and picked up a few items including an oxygen boost container to hold up to your mouth and get some fresh air.
We stayed at a very nice hotel in downtown Denver that my husband surprised me with. Hotel Teatro. It was probably the nicest hotel I ever stayed at in my life! It had a nice big bathtub that I enjoyed to finally relax in.
The next morning we slept in and tried to rest from all our traveling. We did walk a few blocks though in Denver and got our picture taken with the mile high stair!
That night we ate at a yummy place (I forget the name) but it had the best gluten free veggie burger I had ever had in my life! It was at the 16th Street Mall.
One thing about downtown Denver I learned it is full of a variety of interesting people and very busy. We hope to go back to Denver Colorado, but probably will never go back towards Downtown. My husband and I are more nature loving, small town folk.
The following day we drove all the way from Denver back to Indianapolis, a twelve to fourteen hour drive. The only thing I really remember about that drive is that Kansas took forever to drive across and not a lot to look at there.
The trip was the most fun trip I had ever been on and I was so thankful to do it with my husband who is my best friend. We hope to one day go back here. There is so much to do and we had so little time only having a week to travel across the country and back.
We stayed in budget with our trip that includes gas, hotel, food, gifts, and activities. If y’all would like to know more about our budget, let me know!
Traveling is one of my favorite things to do. I hope to see every state of the U.S. I hope this blog is not too long, its one of my favorite memories to talk about. I wanted to share as many details as I could if you are planning on going.
Don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel for actual Vlogs of the trip!
