Awesome

When I was 9, 10 or 11 years old (I honestly have NO idea--it was so freaking long ago), my sisters Karen and Michele, my dad, and I drove cross country from Baltimore to California and back.

We drove in a brand new station wagon. And it had cruise control. The cruise control wasn't built-in. It was a little box that hung below and to the right of the steering column.

This was the summer of 1980 - 1982 (pick one). Back then we didn't have modern conveniences, such as satellite radio, iPods, GameBoys or PSPs. We had to rely on spotty radio reception and each other for entertainment.

This meant we got on each other's nerves a lot. I especially irritated the girls because they were older, and well, girls. I'm sure my dad felt like pulling over the road at any given moment and dropping us off in the desert to find our way back home (preferably someone else's).

Surprisingly, my favorite moments did not come at DisneyLand. I really loved seeing the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon, Utah. We didn't stay long at those places--only a day. And we basically just got out of the car and looked. But I still remember thinking to myself that it looked fake. It was so damned pretty and so large that it just couldn't possibly be real.

The Grand Canyon is where I learned the word, "awe." Some guy standing next to my dad and I were talking to us. He said that he couldn't put into words the feelings he had looking, but that he was full of awe.

When I went back to the Grand Canyon in 1997, I understood what he meant.

I've been getting on Joe's case that we needed to go camping before the summer was over. It's a cheap way to go on vacation and it gets us out of Phoenix. The problem was, Joe has been working every weekend since he started back at his part time job.

So, he decided to quit and look for a different one because the hours are too much. This is good because we've been trying to take a mini vacation up at the Ranch, but our work schedules never permitted it. Now we can.

And he said we'd definitely go camping. So last night, I booked us a camp site at the Mather Camp Grounds on the South Rim. We're driving up Friday, August 11, and driving back that Sunday. It's short but I'm very excited!!!!

Joe's never been to the GC, so it'll be fun to see his reaction. Now I just need to rustle up some camping gear...