I live in New Hampshire. I’ve been to Israel. Natural beauty is not new to me. But oh my, did today take it all to a whole new level.

Waking early in Vegas, we headed out on the 45 minute drive to the Hoover Dam. Honestly, I didn’t know it existed until we began making our itinerary. 

It is incredible. Perfect. Beautiful. A mixture of man made and G-d made which is the most beautiful way.  

   It was 100 degrees, but well worth the sweat. Please, everyone, go there one day. We didn’t even take any sort of guided tour- we took ourselves around  and it was perfect.
Next, we got comfortable for the ride to the Grand Canyon.

To be honest, I couldn’t really believe that we were actually going to the GRAND CANYON. 

Ask my sisters the amount of times I said “can we just take a moment…”

This was our first beautiful view of the grand old canyon  

 
 Not too shabby.

It started out cloudy, but we ended up having a beautiful day of walking around the rim in about 70 degree weather- way more my speed than the 100 of the morning hours.

The Grand Canyon reminded me a bit of a silent monster. I felt as if we were intruding on its peace, stepping all over it.

There is a heavy silence over the entire park, you can actually hear it. We spoke almost in a whisper. I don’t know what it is…maybe an awe and reverence for the sheer beauty?

But gosh, the views are just a little too insane to not trample the rocks for. 

 
By the way, yes, I am all for cliche photos.

We are heading back to the Canyon tomorrow for a bit more hiking, and then from there we are off to Lake Powell.

This trip has been absolutely incredible thus far. There is so much to see still and each day brings a full day of wonderous sights (and a lot of laughter)