The Dudley Four: Grand Canyon, Vermillion Cliffs, Marble Canyon and Glenn Canyon

Little Bud was quite insistent on his desire to see the Grand Canyon (about a week into the trip he told us that was his favorite place we had visited on the trip - even though we hadn't been there yet!), so we decided to visit the North Rim when we left Zion earlier this week. My parents took us to the North Rim a few times when we were kids, but I had forgotten how vastly different it is compared to the South Rim. It's about 2,000 feet higher, so instead of a desert like terrain, the area around the canyon is a forest.

Since the kids are so little and most of the canyon rim is natural (no rails or walls to protect you from falling over the edge), we decided to stick with look out points - hiking was out of the question (although hiking down into the canyon to see Havasupi Falls is on my bucket list). The views were amazing! Both kids had fun, and we're able to complete their Junior Ranger assignments before we left the park.

We started our long journey back east by driving through the Vermillion Cliffs and Marble Canyon. We decided to stop and camp in Glenn Canyon for the night. The cliffs and the Colorado River were beautiful!

After exploring a bit the next morning, we headed to Page, Arizona to see the Glenn Canyon Dam. The kids completed 2 more Junior Ranger assignments (Glenn Canyon and Rainbow Bridge), before we made our way back to Pagosa Springs.