On Tuesday I told you about our drive through Texas, which was lovely. After Texas, we logically headed into New Mexico and Arizona, with no plans except to see the Grand Canyon. My partner and I had both visited as kids (I was five or six the last time I was there) and we were eager to see it as grown-ups. Turns out, it’s still big. Very big.

Before we hit the Grand Canyon and our lovely little cabin on the south rim, we had about eleven hours of driving through the southwest. We had two absolutely beautiful days for it: clear blue skies, baking-hot sun in the low areas and crisp, fresh air up in the mountains.

There was snow, both in the mountains along the New Mexico-Arizona border, and at the Grand Canyon, but it was still warm enough to wander around for hours in light sweaters–in other words, my favorite weather.

Once we made it to the Grand Canyon, we spent the day walking the length of the south rim trail, which gives just a tiny glimpse of the canyon as a whole. Did I mention that it’s huge? We had also had visions of hiking down into the canyon but a solid layer of ice on those steep, narrow trails gave us good second thoughts.