this time last year...

I was hiking the Grand Canyon while three months pregnant.

We started out at sunrise...

watched the sun climb over the canyon rim . . .

hiked through some wicked switchbacks . . .

but saw some beautiful country (these pictures do not do the canyon justice) . . .

I've never been so happy to see a dirty, muddy river . . .

or the lodge at the bottom of the canyon offering benches, fans and cold beverages.

We (aka Dave) set up camp along the creek . . .

and we threw ourselves in the creek . . .

 to get relief from ridiculous temperatures.

But the heat didn't last forever and we had a great afternoon relaxing in the steam & reading novels, taking occasional lemonade breaks in the lodge.  Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the best part of our trip: the 5-course beef stew dinner or the eggs-and-pancake breakfast the next morning.  I was too ravenous to stop for photos.

I was even a little sad to say goodbye to the canyon the next morning at 5am, as we started our hike out...

goodbye, Colorado river!

again, we watched the sun rise . . .

as we trudged out of the canyon.

Goodbye, canyon! (can you tell i've read Goodnight Moon one too many times?)