We left on Friday, November 19th to drive to KC and stayed at the Days Inn Airport. It was cheap and provided parking and transportation to the airport, but other than that I don't have anything nice to say about it. We were up at 3:40am and at the shuttle at 4am with all our luggage. We made it to the airport in no time and had to wait for the counter to open up before we checked in. Next we had to wait for security to open up, then we waited to board the plane. Our plane boarded a bit late, but we took off on time. Thank goodness for pop tarts and granola bars.
We made a stop in Salt Lake City, then on to Phoenix where we were on the ground, had our luggage, and on the way to the rental car by 10:30am. We went with Enterprise (ended up being about $350 for a full size car for the week) and got a Chrysler 300. First thing on our to do list was FOOD. We had decided we would stop at either Whataburger or In and Out depending on what was closer in the direction we were heading. It ended up being Whataburger. That was just fine with me because I love being able to add jalapeños to any burger - yum, yum. From there we saw a sign for the AZ state capitol so we decided to check it out.
It was also a good chance for the kids to run around and stretch legs before heading to the Grand Canyon (4 hour drive).
We arrived at the Grand Canyon around 4pm, checked into the hotel quickly and then went straight to the park so we could see our destination before dark thirty.
After this glance I was probably the most nervous of the group regarding the activities of Day 2 - hiking the Grand Canyon! While we were driving around the park we ran across a lone Elk - the size of it was impressive. I was amazed at the ignorant people trying to walk up to it to take pictures, but that's another issue. We grabbed dinner at Sophie's Mexican Kitchen in Tusayan, AZ - the service was terrible and food was sub-par and they add 15% gratuity on all bills. Next we went back and got settled into our hotel - the Grand Hotel. It was pretty decent, if not a little overpriced, but it is the Grand Canyon. Our room had 2 queen sized beds and big bathroom. My only real complaint with it was the hot water, or lack thereof. It never got hot, just barely warm. There is an indoor pool and hot tub (but again, not very hot) and a self laundry that are nice.
So, Day 2 we got up at 6am and got ourselves and the kids all layered up. Tights and pants on the bottom. Long sleeve and short sleeve tech shirts on top, then a fleece and finally a wind/waterproof jacket. Gloves, hats, double socks, hiking shoes and camelbaks for everyone and we were off.
We waited for the Green line bus to take us to the South Kaibab trail. It was around 25 degrees out so we huddled together until it arrived. The bus driver questioned our plans given the weather, but we assured her and ourselves we were prepared. She dropped us off at the trail head and we began our journey.
We were planning to hike 4.4 miles down the South Kaibab until we hit the intersection of the Tonto and take it across to Bright Angel and hike back up. The first mile or so going down was in the snow then it cleared up a bit, but the wind picked up so it was still cold. We stopped at Cedar Ridge to use the facilities and grab a bite. It started raining at this point, but we decided to persevere. It was a good decision, the rain stopped shortly thereafter and the weather warmed up a bit.
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Next we stopped at the Tonto trail junction and had our "lunch" of beef jerky, trail mix, pop tarts, and fruit roll-ups. It was a nice break before heading out on the Tonto. The Tonto trail wasn't as maintained as the South Kaibab or as wide, but we never questioned where it went. It was just a nice rolling terrain with some steep ledges.
It was on the Tonto trail we saw one of our goals - a California Condor. It was a long ways up, but we could make out what it was and the kids were very excited.
Next we headed towards Indian Gardens where we would take another break for food and refill water before making the trek up the Bright Angel trail back to the rim. 
Bright Angel trail heading up:
Finally finished:
At this point we were all looking forward to Wendy's and hot tub!! :-)
PS - this is just a portion of a week long trip that was supposed to include Zion, but due to weather included Sedona and Phoenix instead. More on the rest of the trip a bit later.
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