Moosey’s Vacation to Grand Canyon – Part 1

It’s been a little over a week my vacation to the Grand Canyon, and I finally have some pictures for you! Thank you all for being patient as I sort through 2000+ (!!!) pictures. It was so sunny, you couldn’t see your screen, so it was hard to say if pictures were turning out. Hence I took multiple shots of the same area (plus I was practicing with the aperture). In addition to sorting them, I also have to touch up the lighting and color on some of them. That’s mainly why it’s taking me so long (plus using up 6 pounds of strawberries I picked – stay tuned next week for that!).
I’m not sure how many parts you will be getting. Whether I do a post for each day or combine some days, I’m not sure. Either way, I hope you will join me in reliving my experience.
Day 1 we flew from Pittsburgh to Phoenix to Flagstaff. I haven’t flown in a few years, so I was pretty excited! I love staring out the window because the world is so beautiful from above. Especially clouds. Clouds can make or break your pictures since they add so much depth.



Farmland
Rocky Mountains
Entering Phoenix
Phoenix
Flight to Flagstaff
After we landed, we rented a car and stopped for a “late” lunch (our bodies said it was 3:00 when the time was really noon) at Beaver Street Brewery in Flagstaff before driving two hours through Kaibab Forest to the Canyon.

It’s funny because when I posted a picture about landing in Flagstaff, someone told me I should stop at Beaver Street Brewery for good food. I was reading the menu as I got her message haha I ordered the Rustic Portabello, which is one big-ass mushroom burger with a spicy stout sauce, alfalfa sprouts, tomato slices and artichoke-olive pesto, served with fries and coleslaw; and then the award-winning Big Rapid Red beer to drink. Their coleslaw wasn’t my style (I’m a picky coleslaw eater), and their burger was HUGE (in fact, I only ate half and finished the rest for dinner that night). My dad got the Salmon BLT and Bramble Brew Beer (raspberry beer) and couldn’t stop talking about the lemon-tarragon mayonnaise. If you’re in Flagstaff looking for food, we recommend here first.

Elk right outside my car window near Grand Canyon’s Visitor Center
The ride through Kaibab Forest was peaceful with all of the trees. After checking into our hotel, we decided to see the Canyon real quick before settling down for the night. It was absolutely amazing. Pictures don’t do it justice at all. You simply can’t capture the greatness and the depth of everything. Then I witnessed someone’s proposal (she said yes). If that is you, you can have your photo.

Looking down into the Canyon. You really can’t tell how deep it is.
And that’s it for day 1. What’s next on the list is the rest of South Rim, a little bit of North Rim, Monument Valley, Four Corners, Painted Desert, and Petrified Forest. Once again, thanks for being so patient with me! If you look me up on Instagram (chocolatemooseyblog), you can find pictures I uploaded during the trip.
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Carla, those pictures are beautiful! Definitely worth the wait, plus now I am dying to go to the grand canyon.
Beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing and I’m looking forward to the next post of your vacation to see more.
Your photos are gorgeous, it sounds like you had a fabulous trip!
I love the pictures! Just beautiful! Can’t wait for the rest! that mushroom burger oo I want one of those now
I haven’t been to the Grand Canyon since I was a teen…I hope to go back with my family one day! Thanks for sharing the beauty of the area with us~
Wow, love all your pics and commentary. I’m looking forward to Part 2.
Beautiful photos!
Your pictures make me miss AZ! It looks like you had a beautiful trip, I look forward to seeing pics from the rest of your lovely trip:-) Thank you for the mention, I am so excited….and a jealous that you got to enjoy the delicious food at Beaver Street Brewery:-) Hugs, Terra
Nice description of the trip,and the pictures you posted are beautiful!:-) I specially love the ones you took from your flight.
And not to be forgotten,that giant burger – with french fries and coleslaw!Looks so delicious!
Cannot wait for the coming posts;Thank you for sharing!:-)
I love plane shots! My favorite photo to take. I still remember the amazing pictures from our Grand Canyon trip…I also remember watching the sunset and deciding to walk back down the mountain…only to find out that the sunsets within a few minutes and we’re left in pitch dark…no flashlight, no cell service, no buses stopping for you. SCARRRYY. Glad you had fun!
You’ve managed to capture some amazing pictures! I’m so jealous of your trip – the Grand Canyon is on my list of places to visit. I’ve flown over it a number of time (and some of your pictures on the way into Phoenix are very familiar – pilots must stick to pretty much the same routes), but I really want to go backpacking through it someday. Soon, I hope ;)