Grander than we ever imagined!

Dinner at the Maswic Lodge with Denise and Art

We finally made it!

We arrived at the Grand Canyon after dark, and it was REALLY REALLY dark.  We took a few wrong turns before we found our cabin.  As we were checking in at the Maswic Lodge lobby, we turned around to see Denise and Art walk in the door!  FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

Red Rock Country

The terrain changed quickly as we headed north out of Phoenix.  There were huge Saguaro cacti in the Sonoran desert with great mountains in the distance. Then there were rolling plains with scrubby bushes.  Then we headed into the Colorado Plateau, or "Red Rock Country" of Sedona. 

After Sedona, we headed up to Flagstaff over a VERY scenic route through the Oak Creek Canyon, very much like our Smokey Mountains, with really curvy roads, switch-backs, and sharp drop-offs with a rushing mountain river below.  It was beautiful, and very nerve-wracking!  As we left Flagstaff, we headed into the Coconino National Forest, where we saw huge pine trees and beautiful, tall white birch trees, and two herds of what we think were pronghorn deer.  In our rear-view mirror, we could see the sun reflecting off of the volcanic San Francisco Peaks.  BEAUTIFUL!

Caroline's Fight Benefits

Imagine our surprise when Caroline announced that she was resigning from her teaching job and going to work as a flight attendant for US Airways.  And imagine our excitement when we found out that her new job included "parent flight benefits"!

Caroline at her graduation from Flight Training in Phoenix

Although our benefits hadn't started, we flew out to Phoenix for Caroline's graduation.  We arrived on a Wednesday night and spent the night with her at the Drury Inn where she had been staying for 4 1/2 weeks.  After a WONDERFUL graduation ceremony, Caroline boarded a shuttle headed for the airport, and Tim and I got in our rental car and headed north to meet Denise and Art at the Grand Canyon!