We Sang As We Walked and Walked and.....

Our second day in the canyon consisted of hiking, no walking the west end of the south rim. I say walking because at least half of it is wheelchair accessible and the other half was relatively flat. There was a bus that ran parallel along the trail so we could have the option to walk or ride. Mom Tobler observed that the heavy folks would ride and the slimmer folks would walk. I suppose we were part of the thinner folks ;)

It was a 7 mile hike one way. In other words there were plenty of snack breaks and moments for Jakob to make people laugh. I think he was trying to be a lizard here. The entire time we were at the canyon he was on "lizard watch." He took his self made job very seriously, every time he'd spot one he shout "Lizzzzaaard!"

I couldn't help but dangle my feet over the edge for the folks back home. Look Mom, no hands!

There was plenty of father and son bonding. Father's hip was bothering him, but he was a trooper and pushed through it. Jakob was there to support his father no matter what the cost, be it bouncing, swinging his arms in Dad's face or great big hugs. He was so helpful. Lol.

Aren't they just adorable?

There were some incredible views. It was simply breath taking.

Here is Papa on one of our rest stops. He said he quite liked that shrine. I'm sure he could have stayed there all afternoon letting the sun warm his face, but we were on a mission!

We once again spotted a cracked cliff. Only this one appeared perfectly intact from the top....

... needless to say, I was a little more cautious after that.

We arrived at Hermits Rest and only rode the bus once when the trail no longer followed the rim. My feet were starting to betray me! How could they be sore when we still had so much to see?! Ahh the life of a clown, I'm never on my feet for very long.
Hermits Rest was enchanting!

I loved these little plaques, they had a scripture on them and most of the time were looking out over the exquisite view. Just a reminder of what a beautiful earth our Father in Heaven has created.

This is Hermit's Rest Fire Place. The plaque says "One of the most attractive features of Hermits Rest is the great fireplace at the end of the long ride down Hermit Rim Road, (that must have been before the busing system was put in :) ) a seat before the fireplace in an empty chair or upon a comfortable lounge gives one a sense of ease and well being watching the snapping logs and the ruddy glow of the fire." ~ A. Fred Harvey Postcand From the 1920's

This fireplace had such a story behind it. All of the men and women whom gathered around it, sheltered from the chill of evening, exchanging stories and fond memories. Surrounded by the majesty of the Grand Canyon.

After our return from Hermits Rest, (I must give a quick shout out to our bus driver on the return trip. He was hilarious. The entire drive he was rattling off some fun facts about the Canyon and telling jokes. Before he dropped us off he thanked us for riding on his bus specifically because it helped to establish his job security.) we headed off to the most eastern part of the South Rim to see the Desert View Watch Tower at sunset. It was incredible.

The tower was open and we were able to go through it. Things like these frustrate me, simply because you cannot do it justice through photography. The inside of the tower was covered in paintings. The walls, the ceilings, not a single space was spared.

This is the view from the bottom floor. There were four levels spiraling to the top. The ceiling in the photograph is the floor to the fourth floor.

Mom climbing the stairs. The tower was designed by Mary Colter in 1930 and was opened in 1933. If you'd like to read some more information about the tower click here. It is really quite fascinating!

This is the view from the very top air vents. All of the windows were covered in plastic so I hopped on Jakob's shoulders to snap a shot. If you look closely you can see the Colorado River.

Another plaque with a scripture on it.

This is from the "porch" outside of the tower. Once again you can see the Colorado River. The lighting was much better, eliminating much of that blue haze at sunset.

Mom and Dad, Jakob started taking pictures, of their feet. Note to self never let a man who doesn't care try to capture a moment. Lol. He was slightly offended when I asked him for the camera. He kept telling Mom and Dad to "Work it... work it. Oh! the camera LOVES you!" Oh how I love him!

I don't know exactly what our problem was and why neither of us could hold still long enough to capture this beautiful back drop behind us. It's a good thing Mom has talent, because she was able to get a good one even without our full cooperation.

The sun sets on our final day in the canyon. It was stunning however, one can only take so many pictures of the same thing from different angles. Next time we go I think we'd like to take the Mules down to Phantom Lodge and see the river. It was a wonderful experience! Thank you to Mom and Dad for coming with us! We had a lot of fun!

The Grand Canyon

I know I should be attending to homework but after weighing out the excitement of either writing a final about the factors of production and Maslow's hierarchy of needs OR blogging about our super fantastic trip to the Grand Canyon, you can only imagine which one won. I must break this trip up into 3 posts because there is just so much. You should be proud however, between mother and I we only took 721 pictures.

This weekend Mom & Dad Tobler, Jakob and myself took off to see the Grand Canyon. Mom and Dad have never been and it was on my list of thing to do before I die and/or leave Las Vegas. After much persuasion and finally finding an available weekend for the four of us to go, we were off. Boy were we excited...

Alright, perhaps the 4 hour drive there wasn't the most thrilling but once we arrived we were thrilled...

...Can't you just see how happy father is. This is one of my favorite photos. Every time I see it it makes me giggle. The plan was to get on one of the buses that took us from the hotel to a transfer station which would take us East along the rim. We hopped on the bus and were privileged to get a very detailed tour of each parking lot through the South Rim. 45 minutes at the canyon and we had yet to even see it! Determined to at least catch a peek of it we anxiously hopped on the transfer bus as it took us to our first destination!

Our first photo in front of the Grand Abyss. It doesn't even look real. I felt as if I were standing on a very high ledge that lead to a massive canvas painting.

Here are the boys, pointing out into the distance. It was really nice seeing Jakob with his parents. He's so busy now, he hardly has time to visit aside from Sunday dinner. It was the perfect break and bonding time he needed.

We jumped back onto the bus which took us to a lookout point. They put up handrails along the edge for your safety, within a matter of 15 seconds I was over that thing looking for an adventure. No way did we come all this way to see the Canyon from a spot millions of others had as well. Not that the spot I found hadn't been visited before, there were shoe prints everywhere but I felt as if I had discovered a special place where were were segregated from the other tourists. I could marvel at this beautiful miracle in peace. It wasn't long before the crew found me, dangling my feet over the ledge. It was simply beautiful!

Neither Mom nor I are very fond of heights. I however have a somewhat grey area within my fears. If I'm in a harness I'm fine. Going up, no problem. Sitting on top of cliffs, easy. If I feel secure and that I have a way to escape it's no problem. Mom however doesn't like heights period. Especially mile high heights. I wasn't the only curious cat however, even dear mother came close to the edge a couple of times.

After we saw this cliff, I became a little more wary of my surroundings. From the top you'd never even know that the cliff below you was cracked all the way down.

Father taking in the scene. I love this picture. Mom has a fantastic eye for photography.

Time for a little break. We had to rest on a rock, some of us (I won't mention any names) fell asleep on their little rock. Such a tired little thing. The sun was warm, thankfully there was a gentle breeze and we had a lot of water.

I then took over the camera. I think I can count the number of pictures Mom Tobler posts on her blog of herself on one hand. I was sure to get several with them together. Last year it was a struggle to "find a picture" for their Christmas card. (Yes, we're already thinking about Christmas.) I would not let that happen again this year :)

The kissing tree. So cute.

We dropped the boys off after dinner at the hotel and Mom and I ventured out to take pictures of the Canyon at sunset. We planned on meeting back up with the boys at 8:00 to watch a presentation. We bee lined it to the rim running around trying to find the best angles and perfect lighting.

We walked along the rim thinking that eventually we'll end up at the "Shrine of the Ages" where the presentation is being held. A picture here a picture there and then we find...

... A tree. This tree was super cool. It was dead as could be and perfectly smooth from thousands of hands climbing it. Of course we had to take some pictures. The lighting was perfect for silhouettes. Which is about the time we realize... it's getting dark quickly... we have no flashlights... we don't know where we are and there is no one around. Perfect, we're lost... again! We head up the trail thinking that we'll bump in something not sure exactly what that something may be, a sign, a human, a mountain lion. Within about 10 minutes we find a sign that say is a half mile walk to the Market. So of I go. The whole time Mom is thinking we should have gone back, and asking me "Do you know how far a half mile is?!" But thinking if we're going to be lost we had better be lost together, she follows. Protesting the entire way. It's getting dark fast and we still have no clue where we're going. At least we're walking away from the canyon, I wouldn't want to walk off the edge.

We make it to the Market area just as darkness engulfs everything, we then figure we should ask for directions. We head into some store asking for help and some "dude" with a whole in his ear gave some simple directions if you lived there. How am I supposed to know which way is North? Or where a secret path is? Which two buildings did you say it was between again? This guy was defiantly not the naked man we met in Ice Box, at least the naked man proved to be useful. So we started walking down the road. It's pitch black and we're using Mom Toblers cellphone and her camera display as flash lights. There was no shoulder on this road and that didn't make Mom very happy either. We were so turned around it was absurd. All of a sudden I see some big black shape moving towards me fast. All I hear, are the hooves trotting across the pavement where the deer zooms 3 feet in front of me. Yes I almost got run over by a reindeer. I lost it! Now I'm freaking out and Mom's the one reassuring me.

We figure we should try to hop on a bus, it's so dark you can hardly even see the stops. Somehow we make our way back to the market and I asked these two girls to give us some better directions. Better yet they walked us to our presentation. It was so nice to finally have our bearings, and a useful tour guide. We arrived at the presentation half an hour late. Count on us to get lost on vacation.

Day one was full of adventure and excitement. We could hardly wait to see what the other side of the canyon had in store for us.

Wedding Bells

It's official Jessica and Chad are finally engaged! My word it took them long enough. I am so happy for them! The wedding date has not been officially announced yet but it'll be in the summer sometime. I am so excited to have a member on my side of the family get married. I was the first of the 12 grand kids and I'm number 6 down the line, Jessica is number 7. It'll be so nice having someone who I can now relate too. Congrats you two!

Behold Your Little Ones

This past Sunday was a very emotional one for me. I got up and bore my testimony which in itself was a tiny miracle. I started to cry as I spoke of the children in primary and how much they teach me each week. I must admit I hate to cry, especially in front of people, but this time it didn't matter.

We then proceeded to primary where I was teaching the children a new song. We were playing memory as the game and the children were flipping over pictures of Christ and trying to match them. This little African American boy came forward and flipped over the above picture and looked at it for a moment. He then looked at me with bright eyes and exclaimed "Sister Tobler, it's me! Jesus is holding me! Look Sister Tobler, Jesus loves me!" As you can only imagine the tears once again began to flow. The look in this three year old's eyes touched my heart. He knew who that was and he knew that Christ loves him.

Once Primary was over I went into his class and gave him the picture. He pressed it up against his heart and showed everyone he met that he was wrapped safely in Christ's arms. I have always loved this painting but it now holds a more precious place in my heart. I am so grateful for my calling and for those children.

Don't Be A Hero

Ice Box Canyon is a 5 mile round trip and what we thought would be perfect for a warmer day of hiking. I mean with a name like Ice Box it has to be cooler right? No we were wrong, it was warm, sunny, challenging and beautiful.

This hike was rated difficult which I think is an overstatement. Sure you had to climb over a ton of rocks, but that is half the fun. This hike however was not at all wheelchair accessible perhaps that's where the difficulty level comes into play?

Spring was in full bloom in the desert and it was beautiful! All of the pretty colors amidst all of the rocks was quite the site. I would highly recommend this hike in the spring time. Exquisite!

I bet you didn't know beautiful things could grow in the desert did you?

Ice Box could essentially be classified as two separate hikes. The first part involved a lot of feet watching. As you can see you could be stumbling over a rock at any moment. We had to take several breaks to take in the area surrounding us.

We then came upon some "larger" rocks. This part was 100% rock scrambling and to be honest both Mom's and my favorite part! If you're not into rock scrambling this would be a good point to turn around to "keep your hike rated PG (pretty and good.)" I really loved the feel of the second stage of this hike however. It felt as though we were discovering something entirely new all on our own. As if no one had ever ventured this far. What a thrill!

Introducing the "Necromancer" we simply called it a black stone wall. This is the beginning of the second part of the hike.

Mom posing for a picture. To be honest she's like a 3 year old when it comes to posing. She talks and blinks her eyes and is hardly ever looking in the general direction of the camera. We've got it worked out to a point now where I say cheese and she says Cheetos. I have that brief window to snap a shot and if I don't get it it's my loss. Eventually I'll have her trained. :)

After much bouldering we came across the difficult part. If you click on the picture you can see some people at the top where we were planning on going. To be honest I was surprised Mom even followed me up, she's usually such a cautious gal, but up she went. Going up for me is the easy part it's getting down that freaks me out.

This is what awaited us at the top, pretty yes, worth it? It depends on who you ask. At this point the other people were leaving and Mom started to freak out. She wanted down NOW! She didn't even want to snap a few pictures before making an exodus. The only thought on her mind was escape.

This is the part that freaked me out. This stone wasn't exactly sticky, your foot slid if you put it in the wrong place. You had to either slide across with your back to the wall or your stomach to the wall and hope that your footing was spot on or you'd fall a fair ways into freezing cold water. How embarrassing. Buff man 1 and 2 (guys we had crossed paths with towards the end of the trail) had a chihuahua with them named Tank. Tank tried to brave this part of the descent by himself before he made it 5 steps buff man one scooped him up in his arms and said "Whoa Tank, don't be a hero." It had Mom and I laughing.

The next part was Mom Toblers nemesis. At least if you fell you'd hit rock first, that's much better than cold water. She was making her way down after the two very attractive men we met on the top. They were on thier way out of the canyon when they turned around and asked her if she needed help. Without a moments delay she said "Yes! I'm slipping." Buff man 1 raced over to the rescue and helped her down the steep incline. As mom said "she may be old but she's not blind!"

This guy was smoking! Chiseled, tanned and did I mention shirtless? He then waited as the next girl carefully slid down. He looked at her and said "Don't worry I'll catch you!" And she took it literally, she jumped the last 5 feet into his open arms which took him slightly aback. Not wanting to embarrass myself the way the previous girl and *ahem* Mom Tobler did, I slid down ignoring his assistance. I wasn't scared anyways, where was he went I was hyperventilating on the previous cliff?

The two men then took their dog and scaled the side of the mountain, literally. Buff man 1 placed Tank under his arm and started to climb. It was scary to watch! We had quite the adventure this hike. Next week we'll be taking a break from our Thursday hikes because WE'RE GOING TO THE GRAND CANYON! Finally! I've been nagging Mom and Dad for months now! I'm so excited!!!!!