having kids on the tour. Specifically a nine year old who was on his tour visiting the Grand Canyon for the first time.

As we approached our first stop and sighting of the actual Grand Canyon he asked each of us who had seen it before and who had not. For everyone who had not he asked us to close our eyes. Those of us who had not seen it before were hand guided off the van by him and lead to a railing. He told us to put one hand on the railing and wait for him to tell us when to open our eyes. He said when he did this with said nine year old, the kid's mouth dropped open when he opened his eyes and he almost fell on the ground - not in a dangerous way. We were in a very safe spot when all this occurred. So I could see that happening and it not being dangerous.

Now there are some spots he took us to with no railing and if I were a parent I would have been holding my kids hand and watching them hard.

The crowds are really crazy! Like at the Desert View Watchtower. It was shoulder to shoulder in a small space and ridiculous. International tourist bump into you and act like you don't exist.

The crowds are another thing that made me feel like if I had kids it would have been a challenge.

The van ride ... like I said it is air conditioned, you have charging plugs and he is talking to you the whole time. Your kids can listen to him, or look out the window, or do both, or engage with devices. I don't have kids so I am just throwing stuff out there.

At most of the places we stopped the van was right in front of us so we were not worried about leaving belongings on the van. The only time I remember not having the van at reach was when we went to the area where that fancy restaurant mentioned by someone above is. He dropped us off and went and parked the van somewhere then.

♥ Inescapably Me ♥

"Love is never any better than the lover" Toni Morrison (The Bluest Eye)