Mules are for smarties

Our fist day at the Grand Canyon
see all photos »

We had three days at the Grand Canyon. The first day we hiked the rim trail and enjoyed the views from above. We also put in our names for the waiting list for the mule ride down. We checked in the next morning and they had a cancellation so we got to go. Words of comfort, no one has ever died on a mule trip down the Grand Canyon. Hiking - a different story. Over a hundred years and no deaths seemed like pretty good odds to Sara. Sara got up on Sassy and Kent on Sugs and off we went with a group of 6 other individuals and our fearless leader. Its true, mules do like to walk close to the edge. With the mules on autopilot we could both really enjoy the scenery around us. Going down into the canyon was a totally different expereince and you could really appreciate the vastness of it.

The happy couple enjoying the sights
see all photos »

A few hours down the road and Sara's foot was completely asleep. Trying to put weight on the leg to wake it up while simultaneously leaning away from the cliff resulted in Sara's saddle (and Sara) riding practically on the side of the mule. Feeling like a wuss Sara had to hike to wake her foot up and the leader held onto her horse. She was finally deemed horse worthy before we crossed the river so she could actually say she rode into Phantom Ranch.

Kent didn't notice his wife was in jeoparty of becoming the first person to die on a mule trip!

Walking the rim trail
see all photos »

We stayed at a cute little cabin at Phantom Ranch in our romantic bunk beds. We had a giant ranch dinner and were sent off to bed after mailing ourselves a postcard. That's right the only people we had to send a postcard to were ourselves. In our defense we thought the novelty of getting mail delivered by a mule was too cool to pass up.

So, on the way up Sara was trying extra hard to sit straight in her saddle. With all of her focus and determination she actually ended up vastly over compensating and spent the trip leaning the other way. Nice picture of that attached. Funny how Kent didn't notice his wife was in jeopardy of becoming the first person to die on a mule trip!

Look out, here I come
see all photos »

At the top we got our official certificates. Creepily enough we earned the distincition of a mule skinner. Quite the visual image, huh?

The Grand Canyon marked the end of our trip and we started the long haul home.