Catching up some more - Matt

This RV park in Santa Fe is a microcosm of the entire trip's wifi fiasco. There are upwards of 5-6 networks set up throughout the park, none of which work very well. Internet is again spotty.

So, anyway. Going WAY back - Bryce Canyon. Very nice, and again totally different from all the previous parks. The highlight is the fantastic array of hoodoo formations in the canyon. So many in such a small space, it's actually hard on the eyes. I had wanted to hike at least partway down "Wall Street" into the canyon, but the walk was closed due to a recent rockslide. Better that it happened before we got there than WHEN we were there, I guess. No Bryce pics - internet too spotty.

Most recent park we went to was Grand Canyon. Obviously to most people this would have been the centerpiece of the trip, but it turned out to be a rough day in some ways. The girls were extra fussy, the sun felt even hotter than it had recently. And anyone who knows me is probably going to roll their eyes, but it's just too bustly.

First of all, you finally get to the rim, and yes, it's impressive. Mind boggling, like Canyonlands, but closer up. But for people like us, that's it. We're not in good enough shape to go down below the rim. And I know that the one thing people say about the Grand Canyon is that in order to understand it and appreciate it, you really have to do more than stand on the edge and look in. And I'm sure that PART of that is that even though I am looking at 180 degrees of unimaginable beauty on a scale beyond my mind's power to work out at a work of God measured in millions of years...I also know that if I turn beyond that 180 degree mark, I will see lodges, shops, restaurants, shuttle buses, tour groups, and crowds. Part of the magic of Canyonlands for me was the isolation - both parks are about an hour off the highway, but the drive to Canyonlands is deserted and completely undeveloped. The entrance to Grand Canyon has been a little bit Gatlinburgged if you will. And don't get me wrong, once you're actually IN the park, it's 95% tasteful, not tacky. But it's there. I kept thinking about something that I had once read about Niagara Falls, that the spectacle of nature on display deserves better than what we've built around it. Having revisited Niagara Falls last summer, I agree. And Grand Canyon isn't nearly as bad, but I just think it would be more powerful and awe-inspiring if it were not so built-up. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll go back and get on a trail and leave the crowd behind, and then it will work more of its magic on me.

Haven't transferred the pics of Grand Canyon yet, but taking pics of Grand Canyon with our little digital camera is a joke.

We're in Santa Fe now - and the more we all read about it, the more we all wished we had another day to stay here. So dad rearranged the reservations and we got another day. I'll write some more about it in a bit, but for now...two words...Carne Adovada. Seriously. I mean it.