We decided to take a trip to the Grand Canyon for our anniversary. I had been looking forward to it for so long! The Grand Canyon is an 8 hour drive from San Diego. When I told Josh that he said, "I would drive 12 hours to see it!" So, we took a couple Harry Potter books, and the drive time flew by :-) (Josh may not admit it, but he really likes HP)
I am slightly obsessed with travel websites and finding great deals on things. (If you are looking for a fabulous travel deals website, visit travelzoo.com!) I found a great deal on a Scottsdale resort, so we cut up our drive on the 1st day by staying in Scottsdale. Now, Iowa summers are hot. Really hot. But I'm not sure I've ever been 115 degree weather. It was simply stifling! (I think Elizabeth was trying not to laugh at me when I told her this, as she has lived in Spain and Nicaragua, but we're not used to it, ok!) Anyway, we tried to spend most of our time in the pool.
We woke up early in the morning to go play on the water slides. We were the only people there. If we hadn't been the only people there, we probably would have been the oldest people there.
They made the desert look pretty beautiful.
That's right, I listed my prefix as 'Dr.' when I reserved the room. The person checking me in probably thought I was 19, though. I don't think he knew what to call me. I found it pretty humorous. 
We set off the next afternoon for the Grand Canyon!
We saw quite a few elk. This one was in our campground eating each evening.
Josh was pretty nervous about getting near the edge (I think he gets it from his dad!), but I still talked him into this sweet picture.
Most of the time, however, he looked like this.
We took a hike down into the canyon one afternoon. It was pretty grueling, but we made it out alive. We had a look-out spot that we were planning on stopping at to turn around. We never saw it, however, and accidentally hiked past it to the NEXT look-out point. Oops. We still dominated it.
Later that day, we found our own secluded corner of the canyon, set up our chairs, and read for a couple hours. It was our favorite part of the trip; the most relaxing hours I've had in months!
We camped at a campground in Grand Canyon Village. It was our first time using the tent we got for our wedding a year ago. It was a great first camping trip for us, hopefully one of many more :-) Josh is a spectacular camp-food-cooker, and he made the best breakfast I've ever had!
It was a great way to celebrate our first anniversary, and we look forward to many more!P.S. The Hawks just beat Penn State, and we are going slightly crazy. GO IOWA!!!!
My favorite quote from the game:
Reporter: "Coach Ferentz, what were you thinking when Penn State came out and scored a touchdown on their first play."
Kirk Ferentz: "Crap. Simply put, crap."
I love him.
