After the girls were done with the ground squirrel we walked around and admired the Grand Canyon. As we worked our way back to the visitor center Kathy explained to Casey and Tara that the Grand Canyon was one of the 7 wonders of the world.

"When you guys are gone, your Dad and I are going to see all 7 wonders of the world," she said.
"You mean like King Kong," Casey said sarcastically.
To which Tara quickly replied, "Casey! King Kong's the 8th wonder of the world - Duh..."

As we entered the visitor area Tara looked at me with those wanting eyes. "Dad," she said very softly, "Can we go to the book store?"
"Tara, what do you want to go to the book store for? We already have a couple of books on the Grand Canyon."
"I know that Dad. But I was hoping they might have the latest Harry Potter book there."
"Tara! It's the Grand Canyon book store. They're not going to have Harry Potter books there. But if you want to go, it's fine with me."
"Thanks Dad!" Tara said as she ran past me on her way to the store.

After visiting the book store and promising myself that we wouldn't buy anything there, we left with 3 more books on the Grand Canyon. I was just glad to make it out of there without having to buy a CD of Indian flute music. As we looked around the rim of the Grand Canyon Tara came over to my side and held my hand. I felt deeply touched.

"Hey Dad! Can we go white water rafting while we're here?" she asked.
"Tara!..." I said in protest.
She quickly added, "Dad. You said when we went to the Grand Canyon we'd go rafting. You promised." How many other promises had I made that I couldn't remember? I think I was being taken advantage of; I just wasn't sure.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Grand Canyon village that night for 150 bucks. Priceline doesn't seem to work in high traffic tourist areas. The girls quickly changed into their swimsuits and headed for the pool. I grabbed the TV remote and resumed my favorite past time: flipping channels.

As I flipped channels I saw it - High School Musical 2. There it was, and it had just started. I had a quandary though: There was Survivorman on the Discovery Channel and it looked way better. I had an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other.

"Go and get Casey," the angel said, "She really wants to see the movie."
"You're crazy dude. Do you really want to watch High School Musical 2? No! Survivorman will give you knowledge to survive. You owe it to your family to watch this."

I thought and pondered this long and hard as I watched Surviorman. Kathy was busy on the internet trying to find a rafting company. I started to get comfortable when the door to our room flew open. It was Tara and Casey.

"Oh... Hi guys... Why are you guys back so soon? I was just coming to get you," I said.
"Dad! We've been there for a long time," Casey said, "We got tired of being there."
"Oh..." My conscience was gnawing at me. "Uh..." I thought, 'Should I do it? Should I tell them? I don't want to watch it! The Discovery Channel is so much cooler. All right! ALL RIGHT!' "...I think "High School Musical 2" is on. It's been showing for awhile so you probably don't want to start watching..."

"It is! What channel. Turn it dad." I was sunk. No more "Survivorman" for the rest of the night. He should really do an episode on surviving "High School Musical 2."

The next morning I was hung over. I had mixed "Survivorman" and "High School Musical 2" - not a good combination. Kathy was chipper and announced to everyone, "Wake-up and get ready. I found a place to go rafting."
"Where? I asked.
"It's in Page"
"Where?"
"Page, it's 2 � hours from here so we have to leave soon. I booked us this morning. We have to be there at 1:00.
"2 � hours! Are you crazy?!" I shouted in protest.
"It's the only place that's reasonable."
"How much is it?"
"70 dollars per person."
"We're paying 70 dollars a person to ride down the river of the Grand Canyon?" I couldn't believe it.
"Uh... Actually it's just before the Grand Canyon," Kathy said. "Now hurry up. We can't be late. The tickets are non-refundable. Oh," she continued, "I booked us a hotel in Phoenix for tonight so we'll have to drive there after the rafting trip." The kids and I screamed in protest.
"Hey!" Kathy said sternly. We all quickly shut-up and turned in her direction. It was the kind of "Hey" that put fear into your heart. "It's the only place I could get a cheap hotel," she explained. "You'll thank me tomorrow when we only have to drive 2 � to Tucson."

We got in the car and started our drive to Page Arizona. As we drove descended down from the peaks of Grand Canyon Park we could see places where you could park you car and look out over the Canyon. Every once in awhile, just when you were least expecting it, the car was come skidding to a halt. "I have to take a picture of this!" Kathy would exclaim. The third time this happened Casey had had enough.

"No more stopping Mom!" Casey yelled. "My ears are popping like mad." Kathy ignored her and got out of the car to take some pictures.

As we drove I admired the marketing of the various gift shops along the way... "Rags, Arrows, Peace Pipes!" Another read, "Nice Indians Ahead." Still another, "Chief Yellow Horse loves you." As we kept driving we saw, "Turn back now, it's O.K."

"I want to go white water rafting," Tara complained and broke the silence in the car.
"Be quite," I replied annoyed. It was her fault I was having to sit in the car for 3 hours, to sit on a raft for 4 hours, and finally in the car for another 4 hours. "You're going brown water rafting, so be happy"
"Dad," I don't even know what that means."
"It means," Casey said matter-of-factly, "That the water's brown... He's making fun of you." The car went back to being silent.

We finally arrived in Page at 12:30; we were all hungry. I saw Burger King. I still hadn't had a Burger King Double Cheeseburger. My mouth started to salivate. Casey had other ideas though. She didn't "feel" like Burger King. Tara suggested Jack in the Box. Jack in the Box has Monster Tacos so I was willing go there. "I don't like Jack in the Box," Casey said in protest, "They don't have anything I like."

"Casey!" I interrupted hoping I could better educate her on the various fast food institutions. There's one thing I do know and that's fast food. I stayed calm and cheerful in hopes that she would be more receptive to my words. "Jack in the Box has the largest menu selection of all the fast food restaurants." I used the word "restaurant" to try and make it sound more appealing. She wasn't going for it. We stopped at Jack in the Box and Casey wasn't moving. "I'm not eating here!" Casey said and folded her arms across her chest.

Kathy, Tara, and I left her. We were hungry; there was a Monster Taco waiting for me and I wasn't going to miss it. Casey needed to calm down too. I was able to eventually get her out of the car, and get some fries and chicken strips into her. A chocolate shake helped out too.

We arrived at the rafting company and mulled around for awhile as we waited to board the bus that takes us to the rafts. Kathy and I talked about how beautiful the town of Page is. It was in the middle of nowhere and had everything: 16 churches, library, new schools, and Walmart.

The bus driver explained after we entered the bus that we were going to have to make a quick stop, vacate the bus and load all of our bags onto a pick-up truck. Homeland security needed to check our bags before descending into the tunnel to the base of the dam. We were in the front seats because Kathy likes to ask Bus drivers questions. As we exited the bus I saw the guy in the back of the pick-up truck spit - it didn't make it out of the truck. I handed him our bags and he was nice enough to place our bags on the side he hadn't spit (at least not in my presence).

As we waited to board Kathy and I talked to the bus driver. "Page sure is a beautiful little town," I said. The bus driver gleamed with pride.
"It is a nice town," he agreed and then added, "There's lots of employment opportunities too." He looked at Kathy, "There jobs for people like you - there's Burger King, Jack and the Box, and Walmart." He then looked at me and said, "And for you, there are plenty of industrial jobs." Kathy and I just looked at each other as if we'd just been told our future. A wave of fear shuddered through my body.

The rafting trip started at the Powell lake dam. Because the water was taken from very deep in the lake, the water was very cold at 48 degrees. It was also very clear too and Tara pointed this out numerous times on the trip. The canyon was beautiful and we really enjoyed the trip. We saw where they filmed some scenes from "Broken Arrow" (a TBS classic).

It was windy as the raft went down the river and water constantly broke over the bow. I hid behind Kathy and stayed dried. We stopped half way thru the trip to look at some petroglyphs (drawings chipped onto the sides of the cliff) and go to the bathroom. Tara and Kathy had deep conversation about how their lives had changed.

"Mom! We've really changed since we've been on our trip?" I could see Kathy beaming at how our oldest was finally reflecting on the virtues of our trip. Tara quickly added, "You would have never said, 'Great Bathrooms Tara' before this trip.

We finished the trip just before the Grand Canyon. We were tired and hot as we boarded the bus to take us back to our car. The bus driver showed us all the sites, such as the rock that looks like a two headed dragon and the rock that sits on another rock.

We got back to the car and Casey demanded a real meal at a good restaurant - like Denny's. Not wanting a rebellion, I capitulated. Burger King would have to wait.

The rest of the trip was mostly us complaining and Kathy telling us to be quiet. We arrived in Phoenix around 11:00 at night and crashed. It was a long trip, but I'd made good on my promises. I just hope the kids don't remember anymore of them.