Tuweep

 What is your ideal Easter vacation?  Camping?  Picnicking?  Hiking?  Sleeping in?  How 'bout this:  driving for hours and hours on dirt roads in a 15 passenger van with the whole family??  You bet that's what we chose to do over Easter weekend.  Here's the run down...

 Ok, this picture actually has nothing to do with Easter weekend.  This is a picture of Titus a.k.a. Skinny helping me pack.

 And we're off!  Isaac has his shades, his water bottle, his Avengers shirt and his cowboy boots.  We.are.set.

When we got to Grandma's the night before the big adventure, we colored Easter eggs.

 The next day, we all loaded up in Bertha for our big adventure.  Even the two dogs (boo!)  See, the Easter weekend plan was to go see where my pioneer ancestors homesteaded on the Arizona strip and ranged cattle on the desert (which my family lovingly refers to as "the ranch.") Only, the minivan isn't really cut out for hours and hours on dirt roads and rough desert terrain.  So my dad had the brilliant idea of renting a 15 passenger van so we could all enjoy this adventure together.  We named the van Bertha.

 And a brilliant idea it was!  My dad recently had foot surgery, so my mom was at the wheel.  We learned to hold on tight!  Let's just say she doesn't have her CDL.  But what do you know?  You don't need a CDL to maneuver this mama.  She did a great job putting up with all the backseat drivers and getting us where we needed to be.  And she kept things exciting too!

 We stopped for a quick photo op when we crossed the state line near Colorado City.  We fit right in with our 15 passenger van!  As a pickup hauling four-wheelers passed us on their way to the sand dunes we were thinking how jealous they must be of us.

 There were 41 of my family members making this Easter weekend trek.  Our first stop once we got to "the ranch" was this cave.  My great-great grandfather Foremaster would use this cave to store feed for his cows and as shelter when he was out on the range. His name is written inside next to the ancient writings of Native Americans who were here centuries earlier.

 We stopped at other ranch sites including this dug-out shelter.

 Levi was delighted by his archeological find and insisted we let it be an additional passenger in the van.

 After hours and hours of bumping along, we passed this sign. Hooray!  The Grand Canyon!  Until now, I had never been to the Grand Canyon before!

 There was nothing to see along the way except for sage brush and sand.  We never even saw any other vehicles besides the ones we were traveling with.  And then...tada!  We arrived at the "metropolitan" area, which consisted of everything you see pictured here: three buildings, a flag pole and a sign.  So of course I had to get a picture of the sign.  What's the definition of "metropolitan" anyway?

 Five miles past the metropolitan area, we arrived at the edge of the Grand Canyon.  It was amazing.

 Because it is so hard to get to, not many people see the Grand Canyon from the Tuweep lookout.  There is no entrance fee, no fence or rail, and no commotion - just beauty.

 The weather was perfect and the colors of the canyon were beautiful.

 ...and Jeff was sexy, but that's true whether we're at the Grand Canyon or not.

 Levi is my six-year-old stud.  (Incidentally, he is the heartthrob of his kindergarten class, but that's another story.)

 We tried our best to keep ahold of this circus animal so he wouldn't fall off the edge.

 Princess Daisy was just glad we didn't have to hike.

 I was so thankful to spend the time with my family - all 41 of them - and make these memories together.  I don't know how long it will be before I make it to Tuweep again (if ever) but I count this visit a privilege.