The Grand Ride at the Grand Canyon - by ZT

We arrived to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon just in time for dinner. We decided to get a special treat of dinner at the famous Grand Canyon Lodge. Inside the dining room we were on the very edge of the canyon. It had a great view of the canyon but unfortunately it was really foggy when we ate. For dinner I had a quesadilla, my brother had prime rib and the other had chicken. It was a fancy restaurant and probably the best quesadilla I've ever had.

After dinner we found a campsite on the edge of the park but there was no electrical so it got pretty cold. You could see your breath.

In the morning we went back to the lodge and took a bus to the stables. We were each given a name of a mule to ride. Mine was named Ben.

 Bodhi’s was named Flex.

Kaden had Vivienne.

Mom had Beatrice. A mule is the hybrid of a horse mom and a donkey dad. Mules can’t have kids. They use mules because they have stronger footing along the edge of the canyon. They were as big as horses because they have a lot of traits from their moms.

To get up you put your foot in the foot hold and swung your other leg over until you sat in the saddle. They taught us how to ride, so we knew how to stop and start. Once everybody was ready we started out of the corral. I was the fourth from the back with Bodhi, Kaden and my Mom behind me. 

I was right behind the cowboy and we were chatting. He talked about the trees, his adventures riding bulls and calves and his horses back home in Bryce Canyon. He also told me about great cowboy movies to watch. It was really fun as we went by the edge of the canyon. There was a really good view on the way back and we even saw a coyote.

Once we got back on the bus Sage was really excited to see us. She had hot chocolate with Daddy in the saloon and kissed a donkey statue for good luck. In the store I found a turquoise gemstone egg for my collection.

On our way out we took some pictures and settled into the RV for a drive to Mesa Verde.