and by Grand, you mean??

After a night in Vegas, I feel like my eyes and my brain need to be purged...No seriously. Outrageously addicting, Vegas is similar to your favorite 10 layer chocolate cake. Staring at it, all you can think about doing is digging in, but once you start the sugar begins to kick in and the sick feeling begins gnawing at your stomach, and you must step away. That's Vegas. It's delicious. But only so much. You have to step away, or you will lose yourself, your mind, and everything in between. So of course, I pick the one thing that always without fail helps me to purge my mind. I pick nature. Nature, my go-to for a brain cleanse. Without fail, nature always brings my mind back down to a better perspective. Being out and staring at God's creation always without fail helps me to settle my mind and help me get my thoughts and bearings straight. But this morning, I didn't just pick any natural spot. I picked the Grand Canyon of all places. But of course, one needs a whopper to get over Vegas. You really cannot find something bigger than the Grand Canyon. I mean without stating the obvious it's grand. So we pile into the car once again on this road trip across America and head to the the nation's giant hole. Sadly waving goodbye to the glorious Vegas strip, I'm already thinking about what I'm going to do the next time I'm here. That's the danger of Las Vegas, it makes you want to come back even when it makes you crazy while you're there. It's almost like that person that drives you absolutely insane when you're with them, but as soon as they are away from them, you instantly crave their presence...yeah those are those unhealthy relationships...that's Vegas. So time for the biggest cleanse of all.

Several of my friends have been to the Grand Canyon, and they gave me a giant warning when I told them I was coming here.

"Don't get your hopes up! It's just a big hole." They warned me because they know how zealous I get and I suppose they didn't want me to be let down. Fair enough.

But in my mind I kept wondering...how on earth can the GRAND Canyon be disappointing? After all it's the Grand Canyon. The idea of this was beyond me, I really didn't think it was possible.

Pulling into the parking lot that afternoon after our day of driving, I am immediately struck by the amount of foreigners. More people are speaking French, German, and Spanish around me than I've encountered on this entire trip. If it weren't for the giant skies above me, the vast expanse of trees and fields beyond me, I would think I were in Europe somewhere. 

Ahh...hold that thought! I just stepped out of an SUV, and I parked next to two, so there's no way I'm in Europe...all good...we are still in the USA. 

I am amazed to feel my heart thumping as I walk along the trail toward the hole. I mean it's odd to me that I'm slightly nervous...I'm terrified that I'm going to be disappointed. Growing up, I always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, but now that I'm actually here, I'm worried...so so worried that it's going to be less than I expected. I'm so worried that it's going to be like one of those great letdowns that I'll never get over and then my whole fantasy of travel and expectations will be ruined!!!!!

Ok I'm being dramatic, but seriously, my friends's warnings have me a little worried. Mom and Jean are yakking with each other a few feet behind me; therefore, they have no idea of my racing mind. I keep my fears from Jennifer who is walking next to me, for fear of voicing them might make them real. We follow the fence together towards the entrance. A dirt path takes us closer. Jennifer gasps. I look up. Through the trees, I can make out valleys and jets of rocks. My pace quickens even more as do my feet. My feet pull me closer and closer to the tree line, for beyond them, I know. Beyond them is the very canyon that I have been yearning to see. The Canyon that is about to make or break my day. 

I hurry toward the edge and I peer out over the vast expanse that is the southern rim of the Grand Canyon. My eyes fixate on the rocks that range from purple to red to orange to grey to black in the variant angles of the sunlight. The dancing sun changes everything about these rocks. The sun sets the color palette. The sun dictates the hue. At first, I'm without words. The only thing that actually pops into my mind is the unrealistic look of the canyon. Yes, that word is unrealistic. The Grand Canyon doesn't look real. Yes, I am standing on the edge. Yes, I can feel the sun beating down on me. I can feel when a cloud passes and casts a shadow. I can feel the cool breeze. I can smell the trees, the dirt. I can many foreign voices of the tourists and I can hear the many, many snapping cameras, but still this place doesn't seem or feel real. It's too perfect. It's too beautiful to be real. Perfection is only possible if something is out of line, out of order, out os synch with reality, for true perfection is uniqueness, and this is exactly what I feel here. I have never seen anything like this. Yes, I've seen similar things. I've seen things in southern Arizona, in Washington, in Oregon, in Western North Carolina that remind me of this place, but nothing...nothing like this. This has its own special feel. The Grand Canyon was labeled Grand for a reason. Most likely the men couldn't think of a better name. I mean why not name it after the Indian tribe or the Spanish explorers that haunted these lands centuries ago? Because calling it Balboa's Canyon, or Apache Canyon, or Cortez's Canyon just wouldn't have done this place justice. The name would have felt small. Only the Grand Canyon suffices. 

And right about now, you are thinking...it's a giant hole in the ground. 

Maybe...but it's a magical hole in the ground. And I don't mean spells and enchantment magical. I mean it's magical in the sense that it actually has the power to wow you with no special effects, no editing, no exaggerations. It wows by just being. It wows by simply being the giant canyon that God shaped with a tiny river at the bottom of it. That's what is so magical about the Grand Canyon. It captures your heart by simply letting you walk around its rim and soak up its beauty. 

That's how we spend our evening. We meander around the edge, taking picture after picture and commenting about God's beautiful creation. His touch of color, His perfect shaping. We gaze at every turn because each bend in the trail brings another jaw-dropping view. 

It doesn't get old and I'm sad when it's time for us to go...I am generally saddened because despite all the warnings, I wasn't disappointed. On the contrary, I was wowed! I was amazed! I was taken back. And above all things, my brain and eyes were fully cleansed from the previous night. I stood on the edge and took a deep, deep breath. Clean air, and a magical view...what more could a girl want?