This post title is a direct quote spoken at some point today by our 5 year old road trip companion. We drove about 150 miles today from Cottonwood up to our hotel for the night near the Grand Canyon. I don't think there was one moment where there wasn't something beautiful to look at (with the exception of a handfull of times I was checking out the inside of my eyelids). At a certain point, I just stopped taking pictures because I knew they would not do the scene justice...instead, I found myself just taking it all in. We all were saying "WOW" alot....amazed, and in awe of the creation before us. The apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Romans "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (1:20). The creation before us testifies to the glory of God - it makes me want to fall on my face in worship...but that's kind of hard to do in the car. :)

Backing up....this morning we woke up from a great night sleep at the ol' Best Western in Cottonwood, Az. We got up and trekked over to the lobby for a little free breakfast and the latest news on Hilary and Obama. I guess hotels are very concerned about people being bored whilst they eat because every stinkin' place I've ever been to has a TV set to CNN or some other such channel. So you eat your danish and hear the latest on how the world is going to hell in a handbag.

Anyway....we packed up base camp and took off in the Camry and hopped on AZ State Route 89A which is a bee-U-tee-full scenic highway that took us right up to Sedona and later to Flagstaff. About 5 miles south of Sedona, we stopped at Red Rock State park (thanks Paul for the recommendation!). Even before we got there, we were beside ourselves at the formations of the rocks we were seeing....more than that, the way that the rocks had sort of a rainbow effect. We learned about that later on at the visitors center that the different layers accumulated over (what they say is) millions and millions of years. Limestone, lava, sand deposits, etc. all pack up on top of each other and that is what gives what I call the "rainbow" look. Seeing it live is much better than the pictures show.



Once we hit Red Rock Loop Road, we noticed that even the paved road took on a red tint! We started seeing more birds (LOTS of varieties - great for bird watchers....JAN, JAN, where are you??). We arrived at the visitors center where we saw a great movie about Red Rock and Sedona.

We decided to take a trail that went right along Oak Creek - everything was red! The sound of the creek was a real treat - the air was fresh and the weather was perfect...I would say it was probably 60 degrees and there were a few clouds in the sky. I think the only thing that would have made the scenery more enjoyable is having the trees be full - right now most of them are bare.


We enjoyed the trail - although I was wearing Crocs - not good w/ the whole sand and black ant thing...but I survived. Abby really enjoyed the trail - she forged out ahead of Mike and I - pretending to be the tour guide, holding the trail map and saying, "now be careful not to get too close over here". She would extend her hand to me and say, "Mom, can you make it? Here...let me hold your hand". Upon stopping for a rest, our tour guide informed us it was time to "move on". Maybe there's a career path option for her if all those other things don't work out.

After the trail - we made our way back up to the car and took off. We got back to 89A and started our trek through Sedona through the main downtown area - very cute, with shops and eateries. We decided that we would not stop in Sedona for anything but rather press on towards the Grand Canyon to set up base camp. Of course, along the way we were treated to more fabulous, incredible scenery....more WOWs.

By the way - did I mention the snow? It's the kind of snow that's good for people who are driving...all piled up away from the road and covers things "over there" and is pretty to look at. There is actually some piled up right outside our hotel window!

We arrived at our hotel for the night and got settled in. We decided that we had time to take in the IMAX film, which happens to be right across the street at the National Geographic Grand Canyon Visitor's Center (say that 3 times fast). They showed the film, "Grand Canyon - the Hidden Secrets". I wish I had taken a motion sickness pill before seeing this film! Good grief... It was really good and gave us amazing views of things that we will definitely not be seeing tomorrow during our Grand Canyon viewing.

So - that about brings you up to speed...tomorrow we've got Grand Canyon day and another 200 miles or so to Holbrook, Az. We covet your prayers for travel and health.

loving you all from 7,500 feet up...

k

ps - see more pictures from our day by clicking here...enjoy!