As we ride up the bumpy road, I feel the air get thinner, and the temperature drop. I knew we were coming close to what I have been waiting for the whole trip. I was sitting in the pink jeep impatiently waiting to see. It was like waiting to open presents on Christmas day as a kid. A few moments pass and I start seeing a glimpse of the canyon in the distance telling me we are almost to a stopping point. Our tour guide shouts “About 2 minutes till we make our first stop,”

“Yay, I can’t wait,” I say as I grab my phone to fill my storage with pictures. Before we even get to the opening I keep snapping pictures. I was able to start seeing the tree line end in the distance. I was getting chilly and I was glad I had brought my sweatshirt and sweatpants. I never imagined needing to wear sweatpants and a sweatshirt in the warm Arizona heat. 

We came around the curve and I saw a part of the canyon. I knew how pretty it was from seeing it in pictures but no pictures came close to how it looked in person. The clear blue sky and the sun shining down at the canyon were like nothing I saw before. There were so many different things to look at, all the different ridges, the rivers, animals, it was a lot to take in all at once. And this was only our first stop. I knew it was going to keep getting better from here.

After being in that spot for about 30 minutes our driver called us back to the jeep to move onto our next spot. As we get to our next stopping point the view looks totally different. It was crazy to me how each place we go looks so different. I never realized how big the grand canyon was. Of course, I was trying to take as many pictures as I could, I wanted to forever remember this day. The different rock configurations with red, gray, white, and brown colors were stunning to the eye.

We kept on continuing around the canyon. As time went by the sun started to set. I was looking forward to this part the most. The sun tucking beneath the horizon of the canyon was like the sun smiling back at me. I sat on a rock until I couldn't see the sun anymore. The colors of orange and yellow start to fade away. As that happened I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I never wanted it to end.