Oooo baby baby! I am dying to finish up last years road trip with you guys especially because I am also dying to write about my trip to Europe from October for November. The anticipation is killing me, so let’s get to it. Making it to the Grand Canyon has definitely been on my American Road Trip list, I mean who doesn’t have that on their list?! So of course when we planned a road trip in and around the vicinity of the Grand Canyon, I was like oh yeah, it’s a must. Especially after my trip to Havasupai in July of 2016.

So after the decision to put Monument Valley into the trip, we decided to wake up early after stopping in there and head on down for 2 days on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Pictures will never do it justice you should just plan your next trip because ohh it is amazing! We did not go to the North rim because in March most places are on the verge of opening or are still closed during the winter season and there was plenty to do on the South rim for two days.

Upon entering the park we stopped at the first look out we saw and the first glimpse was just bomb. Even Bill Nye agreed with me. Waahhhh!

Out of all the parks we stayed at or around during our trip, the Grand Canyon was the only one that was completely sold out with no chance of getting a spot. This also was because only one small campsite was open as the others were preparing to open for the season. You can find out if there are any spots at the front gate where they have signs that let you know if the campsites are full.

This was okay with us because we found an RV lot just outside one of the gates across the street from the National Geographic center that was pretty cheap with good hot showers and stations to wash your dishes, and even electric plug at each site for you know RV’s which we weren’t but we used it to plug in a heater that came with the van because it got pretty cold at night. money!

The first day we just meandered about, the second day we got to business. I had booked us bikes at a rental shop right next to the welcome center so we could bike the South rim of the Grand Canyon. It was certainly no small undertaking and it was hard work, but these views though!

Now I’m not saying I’m the smartest person in the bunch, but when it comes to navigation I would say I’m fairly decent. I mean there are all the times that I have used a chart to navigate a ship through straits and such, and the occasional attempt at celestial navigation. But for some reason, Laura and I had the hardest time finding the path that led from the town to the South rim trail on or about a specific mule farm. Which we passed multiple times as we tried to figure it out. What the heck.

Bless you google maps for your help finally allowing us to throw our frustrations to the wind.

It certainly did not stop us from taking this photo though! This map does not make sense in the town!

Eventually, we did find our way, even after coming really close to giving up. And the views from our bikes were BOMB.COM.

I mean seriously. You can’t even make this color combination up.

Man these photos make me think of some many things on our bike ride to Hermit’s Rest. There is a bus line so you don’t have to bike, but I found it to be the most amazing way to see the canyon without being rushed, and a faster pace then only walking.

WOW. COLORS. WOW.

Hi Laura!. She may or may not have been alittle mad at me about the bike thing, but she’s training to be a badass bomb cyclist so pretty soon I’ll be just trying to keep up with her!

We definitely stopped for breaks along the route, especially after seeing the 8% slope sign for cars that we had biked up to get to the rim area. That wasn’t very cool.

Badasses in helmets, that is what I have titled this photo.

I shouldn’t have included all of the photos, but I also couldn’t help it. My blog, my rules.

After quite a few hours of seeing the Grand Canyon we found our way back to the bike rental place to drop off the bikes. I may or may not have bumped into a truck when we were parking, and I left a note so we headed to the car to see if there was any reply. I never heard anything back. We went into the town outside of the National Park gate and stopped the National Geographic Store, I mean how can you not.

Then we found a place for drinks and found the Mexican restaurant of our dreams. With homemade chips and salsa and boat loads of margaritas. It was in the parking lot where the RV lot was so we hauled up there all afternoon. With 2 pitchers and then 2 large Margaritas with coronas. Needless to say that bike ride on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon let to our craziest night out with bourbon, cribbage, and rummy back at the campsite. Ohh what a night. We laughed until we fell asleep.

Our next stop is Sedona, so don’t miss it!

This article appeared first on The Cassey Excursion.