We left Lees Ferry and headed to Jacobs Lake, dropped our trailer off and drove down into the N. Rim of the Grand Canyon. Altogether about a two hour drive. Remarkably different than the S Rim, as everyone had told us. Very lush and green, many different types of trees. Remember the hail storm we had on Saturday? The N Rim got 6 inches of hail accumulation that day!! There were still remnants on the ground in a few places. Amazing.

We didn't do much hiking...just out to Bright Angel Point Trail, which goes out to a point and overlooks Bright Angel Canyon, which connects to the main body of the Grand Canyon. You can see where they meet (also where the hikes to the bottom of the Canyon lead to) and also see the South Rim Visitors Center in the far distance (10 miles.) It was really gorgeous.

Clark, still not feeling well at all, has proclaimed that he likes Carlsbad Caverns way more than the Grand Canyon. To quote him directly, "This is just a big hole in the ground with some wrinkly walls." He cracks me up! Now that he knows we think that statement is ridiculous, he is really making the most of it. And the girls are getting in on the action too.

We had lunch at the N Rim Lodge, which was just gorgeous. The lunch was fine. Headed out from there, back to Jacobs Lake to pick up the trailer again and then drive on to Zion National Park. I haven't downloaded the pics from Zion yet, and we will take more in the a.m. when we head out.

We are staying at our one and only Park Lodge for the entire trip tonight..Zion Lodge. It is gorgeous. Nothing fancy, but what a setting! Kids love it! We arrived about 7, unloaded quickly and went out for a quick hike to the "Emerald Pools." They LOVE the hiking. It really doesn't qualify as a true "hike" as it is a paved trail with gradual inclines and descents. But about all we could handle before the sun went down.

Clark is enjoying Zion more than the Grand Canyon, but probably because he now has a sling shot, which he used to launch a gajillion pebbles the entire hike. The other kids are now jealous. The girls even want to trade in their stuffed animals for slingshots!!! That is serious. Jimmy Jr is just loving every bit of the trip in general. He disagrees with Clark on the Grand Canyon statements, and has my travel bug...wants to see everything, everywhere. Trying to plan next summer already. The girls are missing our pets, and therefore say they don't want to be gone all summer next year. However, they hop, skip and jump everywhere we go with sheer joy. So, I would say they are loving it too.

Had a fantastic dinner in the Lodge. Best meal of the trip for sure. Kids are all showered and in bed. I'm soon to follow. We leave EARLY tomorrow. Tell me this isn't stupid: the main road out of Zion to the east (leading to Bryce Canyon) is under construction all summer. You cannot be on that road between 9 and 4. So, we are leaving between 8 and 9. It is also the most picturesque road in the Park. Very good planning on their parts!!

Oh, one more thing, we do not have a picture of what is our favorite store sign so far for the trip. It completely cracked us up. Almost turned around to take a picture of it, but we didn't. It was an old fashioned, square marquee-type sign that stands on the ground in front of a store. There were only four words on the sign: Lotto Guns Ammo Beer. LOL! For some reason I can really see Jerry Jordan just laughing himself to death at that sign and repeating it in his best Billy Bob voice.

Bryce Canyon National Park tomorrow!