Driving in Arizona/Arizonassa ajamista

If you are new to our blog (from The Homeschool Post - perhaps?), welcome! We are a traveling family of seven, and live in our Airstream motorhome (aka the Mothership) for a part of the year. We are currently in Virginia, and trying to catch up the blog on our fall travels. The purpose of our blog is to document our crazy roadschooling adventures. Our quadruplet teens are turning sixteen (!) in a week, and we have an 8-year old daughter as well. So please grab a cup of coffee, get comfortable in your armchair, and come along our journey:)

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Our driving days had a certain pattern to them. After breakfast we'd get our school books out, and do our reading. Yet, it was hard to concentrate on school when the passing scenery was so breathtaking.



So I would continue to take short breaks from school books and hang out the window, or stick my camera out and snap away.



As with driving in Utah (and Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota), the Arizona scenery was so gorgeous we didn't want to miss anything.



This country of ours is so vast and diverse.



We didn't have a lot of time to spend in Arizona, but we did make one fantastic stop (in addition to visiting the northern rim of Grand Canyon). Stay tuned for the next blog post!

Make sure to go vote for our blog in The Homeschool Post Blog Awards! You can vote daily from all your devices ;-) Thank you!!!!

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Kuvia Arizonan tien varsilta... Seuraavassa postauksessa vierailemmekin uudessa mielenkiintoisessa paikassa, mutta siitä lisää myöhemmin:) Muistakaa äänestää!!! Kiitos:)

Homeschool Blog Awards 2014!

We are thrilled to announce Our Mothership Adventures has been nominated in the 2014 Homeschool Blog Awards for Best Photos Blog Award!

We would love to have your support and votes:) You can vote here. Two years ago you could vote every day from every device you own, but I couldn't find any information on that this year. Voting will be open until Monday, December 29th, 2014.

Thank you so much for the following our adventures, and have a wonderful Christmas season!

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Tämä blogimme on ehdokkaana kotikoulublogien kisassa, kategoriassa parhaimmat valokuvat. Olisimme kovin kiitollisia äänistänne:) Kaksi vuotta sitten sai äänestää joka päivä jokaisesta tietokoneesta/kännykästä/tabletista, nyt en löytänyt sitä tietoa mistään. Äänestyslinkki löytyy täältä.

Kiitos tuestanne ja oikein ihanaa joulunaikaa jokaiselle lukijalle!!!

The Grand Canyon

On Saturday October 25th, we drove from Bryce Canyon to northern Arizona, and on Sunday morning we continued driving to the northern rim of the Grand Canyon.



On our way there we saw a herd of bison! And there may have been some goofing off, too:)



The northern rim was mostly closed - we could drive to the parking lot and walk around, but nothing was open there - not even bathrooms (so glad we travel with our own facilities, haha). Which meant it was really quiet there, no tourists to photo bomb our pictures:)



It was amazing. Canyons as far as I can see, depth so deep (nearly a mile!) you couldn't see the bottom of the canyon - the cliffs just kept going down, down..




This would have been an amazing place to fly over....!



We settled for scary hikes:)



And trying to photograph the vastness - which was impossible. But maybe these images are enough to whet the appetite... The Grand Canyon is a must-see place for sure, and next time we'll plan on visiting the more popular southern rim, also. (Apparently only about 10% of the visitors go to the northern rim.)



The North Rim of the park closed for the winter on December 1, 2014. The North Rim is scheduled to reopen on May 15, 2015.

The North Rim, Averaging 8000 feet/ 2438 m above sea level, rises 1000 feet/ 305 m higher than the South Rim, and because of its remote location, is much less accessible than the South Rim. The North Rim has a short season. Lodging and restaurants are open from May 15 through October 15 each year. ---- North Rim driving directions

Even in good weather the North Rim is harder to get to. It is 220 miles / 354 km by car from the South Rim, or 21 miles / 34 km by foot across the canyon by way of the North and South Kaibab Trails.
You can read more here and plan your visit to Grand Canyon National Park.

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Bryce-kanjonin jälkeen suuntasimme Grand Canyon'ille. Ajoimme pohjoiselle reunalle, mikä olikin jo osittain suljettu. Pääsimme ajamaan parkkipaikalle ja kävelemään ympäriinsä, mutta mikään ei ollut enää auki, ei edes vessat. Tähän aikaan vuodesta ilmeisesti ei edes pääse parkkipaikalle enää? Vain noin 10% Grand Canyon'in miljoonista vierailijoista vuosittain käy pohjoisella reunalla. Meistä oli upea olla siellä omassa rauhassa...

Ja kyllä se oli vaikuttava paikka! Noin 1.5 km syvä, niin ettei kanjonien pohjaa näy, ja kanjoneita näky niin kauas kuin silmä kantoi. Kyllä ihminen on pieni.. Eivät aivot oikein pystyneet ottamaan edes vastaan tätä upeutta, ja oli kyllä vaikeuksia valokuvatakin - ei kuvista näy kuin aavistus siitä kattavuudesta.

Upea ja pelottava paikka!