Day 4 & 5: Into the desert

We realize it's Day 7, however we want to provide a few words and pictures so you know we're still having fun and seeing sights that are new to us! We have officially entered the desert. Luckily, there is zero humidity, so it doesn't feel as if it's 110 degrees. Back up a few days though: We left Tuba City relatively early in the morning to head out to the Grand Canyon. Words can not do this landmark any justice, and after a while, we felt like even taking pictures was pretty useless because there is no way you could capture the scale and sheer awe of the Grand Canyon. When we arrived to the park entrance, it was about 9 AM and we couldn't check in until 4pm. We stopped at many look-out sights and points of interest along the way. Once we entered the village, we took the paved historic route around the South rim of the canyon. We also did about 20 min of hiking down the Bright Angel path. We would have love to hike to the bottom, however Alex had rolled/almost severely sprained her ankle two days before (playing at the Sand Dunes) PLUS, if we wanted to hike to the bottom and back, we needed to start "Well before 7AM" and take two days to do so because "exhaustion and dehydration are leading causes of death in the Grand Canyon" (Warning signs and maps along the rim). We dined at the Arizona Room that night, and enjoyed some of the best food we've eaten so far this trip! We grabbed some ice cream and caught the sunset along the South Rim and also caught a few rain drops as clouds rolled in over the Canyon.
Day 5 started early in the morning as we woke up at 5AM in order to catch the sunrise, but wow was it rewarding! We saw 4 elk, and a mule deer! The real reward was the sunrise and seeing the sun peek out from behind the clouds and illuminate the sides of the canyon. It's amazing how big and grand the GC is. It almost looks fake and is one of those things where it is just so extreme and great where it's unbelievable.  From there we headed over to the Hoover Dam - another thing that is very large. The Colorado River looks amazing and wonderfully blue as everything around it is completely brown. We then ventured over to Las Vegas and don't worry it's still as hot as it was when we arrived. The weather forecast has tomorrow cooling down to 80... A few days too early, huh? Our first day in vegas we stayed off the strip, in NLV and went to a few antique stores (Hunter's new favorite hobby). We were in a residential type of area and ate at a pizzeria for dinner.

Second scenic overview of the desert. At the top of the cliff there is an observation tower. That tower is about 3 stories tall! 

Hunter being risky and daring and scaring Alex by standing near the edge

Alex jumping and being as daring as she can be, which isn't very much.

Lake Mead, on the North side of the Hoover Dam

The Colorado River after the Hoover Dam PLUS the bridge that's awesome and beautiful!

The Hoover Dam and all its glory! You can barely see the cars driving across near the left of the dam.

Just some facts about the bridge that overlooks the Colorado River and Hoover Dam

The scenic look from the observation tower that was mentioned above! 

The Grand Canyon from the South Rim Village at 5:20AM sunrise! Absolutely breath-taking!

Check out this elk! He was right next to the path (we are about 3 ft from it) and was eating the best grass around! He also had 3 other friends.

Days 6 & 7 are filled with the touristy Vegas things, so we will blog about that one later :)