On the Way to the Grand Canyon: Part 1 | Grand Trip Out West

Last fall, my family and I suddenly had an idea.

"You know that trip we said we were going to take, what, about 8 years ago? Out west? Well, why don't we take it?!"

See, about 8 years ago, we had this wonderful little plan that we were going to travel for 3 weeks out west...in a pop-up camper. If you've ever seen/had a pop-up camper, you know what a lengthy process that is to set it up and take it down. So, somehow our little plan fizzled out and we pretty much forgot about it.

Fast forward a few years. My dad retired, and we didn't have any plans for the summer of 2013. We also have a different camper, one that's much more practical for long trips.

And thus we decided we were going to do it. The Grand Trip Out West.

We left on Thursday, May 30th and got back on Monday, July 15th. (Yes, we got back yesterday!) 6 1/2 weeks, 6,000+ miles, 47 days, and way too many memories to count. It was wonderful. And it was a little exhausting. We are so glad to be home!

So here are the first of many pictures that I'll be blogging over the next few days! The trip out to the Grand Canyon, Part 1!


Mississippi College in Clinton


So happy to be back in Louisiana!


(Don't ask me why we didn't just take a picture of Sarah and me...)


Old-school VW! :)








We thought of Rachel Leigh, Allix B., and Jessica Shae the whole time we drove through north Dallas!





Beautiful wheat fields on the way from Dallas to Wichita Falls





(This picture was awfully over-exposed due to suddenly seeing it and snapping the picture with no time to adjust the exposure! So that's why it looks funny. :))


Happy Maroon Friday from Wichita Falls!





See the sign? And the truck? :)








Rest areas in Texas are SO nice, y'all. They put every other state to shame!


My mom is scared to death of snakes. But she had me take her picture by this sign. :)





We saw so many trains!





I wish we could say we got to see this, but we didn't! Maybe next time. :) It's in Amarillo.

See it? A health promotion center right next to a donut shop. Yep. :)

Up next: the rest of the trip to the Grand Canyon!

For the love of travel,

Rebekah