This is coming a little bit late because I'm very naughty and keep forgetting to do it. My Gran isn't very happy with me for making her wait so long so I apologise!
We are currently living it up in Salt Lake City, Utah but we will do a proper post on that after we leave. What I really want to talk (gloat) to you about is the brief, but incredible, few days we spent in Flagstaff Arizona.
Flagstaff itself was such a cute little place. Our hostel was one of our favourite ones so far and the downtown area that we stayed in was full of little boutiques, independent cafés and fun markets. We spent our first afternoon wandering around after a very early start in Vegas, before heading back to the hostel for an early night.
Yasmin didn't feel very well the next day so we had a quiet day, but after three days in Vegas it was quite nice to just relax and catch up on some sleep. Brief excitement came in the form of Yasmin FINALLY receiving her new cards. She was very happy to say the least!
The next day however shall henceforth be known as 'my favourite day of the trip so far'. We opted to do a day long tour organised through the hostel as it was by far the cheapest and easiest way of doing it. It was definitely the right decision as we had two incredible tour guides who were not only lots of fun but knew so much about the Canyon.
I could sit here and talk to you all day about how amazing/ incredible/ awe inspiring/ breathtaking/ incomparable/ ridiculous the Grand Canyon is but you just can't understand it until you see it. We spent a whole day there, travelling about 40 miles around it, and we still only saw about 25% of it. Every bit you see not only takes your breath away but also totally boggles your mind at how nature can create something so incomprehensible.
On our second pitstop we asked if it was possible to climb out to a small plateau of rocks just across from the main ledge. With a handy guide and some rock climbing skills that Mark would've been proud of we managed to get across and take some incredible pictures.
After a quick scramble back to the mainland we headed off to our next point, stopping briefly to play with some wild elk...
Now this next bit might shock those of you who know me well/ have met me only for five minutes but our next activity was a hike down into the canyon itself. That's right, you heard me, HIKE. I even had my trainers on, which despite being purchased almost two and a half years ago are still as white as the day I bought them home. Whoops.
Apparently over 9 million people visit the Grand Canyon every year, but only 1% go below the rim. Without any puns intended- remember my Gran reads this blog- me and Yasmin were more than happy to be part of that 1% and show that rim who's boss. The hike down was incredible, the views were amazing and we were part of a very fun group so there were bants to be had wherever you looked. Once we reached about a mile we stopped and took some more pictures. It was crazy how high up we still were in relative terms and me and Yasmin were jumping all over the rocks like mountain goats, freaking everybody out and having far too much fun.
Our perfect day ended with a mile walk from one of the small museums, along the rim, to the Grand Canyon village where the bus was waiting. After stopping for another photo opportunity we realised that the path we had taken was quite quiet and most of the group we were with had gone on ahead of us. With a cheeky grin on our faces we decided to say goodbye and thank you to the Canyon in the only way we saw fit.
First by taking a really attractive picture of the two of us,
And then by showing it how our tan lines are getting on,
Thank you Grand Canyon. You were great, and if I get my way I'll be back.
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