One of our goals as grandparents is to take each grandchild on a trip of some kind; either mission, ministry or educational focus to help them grow in their faith. This year it was Eli's turn.
This year's trip was with ICR (Institute for Creation Research) Grand Canyon trip with explanation of the geology from a Biblical creation/flood perspective.
Our son Josh also wanted to go along as did Eli's other grandpa, Dan. They all drove up from Arkansas and spent the night with us.
I said my "byes". I wanted a last photo in case they didn't make it out!
They drove to the Wichita airport and flew from there to Las Vegas.
I will let Allen tell the story:
We had to be at the lobby of the hotel by 4:30 am to catch a ride to Boulder City airport.
Here we boarded a small single engine plane to fly to the Canyon.
On the river, we boarded our boats: two boats with 14 people each. We were allowed to bring a small duffle bag of belongings only. They supplied all of the necessary items like cots, sleeping bags, food, etc.
Life jackets were a required attire any time we were on the boat.
The morning began with morning devotions from Charles Spurgeon.
We stopped each night to set up camp around 5 or 6 pm. Not really sure as we didn't have a watch to keep time. There was no cell phone connection. Actually no contact with the outside world. After a while you forgot what day it was.
(Only the guide had a satellite phone for emergency only - which we ended up using.)
(I, Debby, felt pretty unsettled about it. A little disconcerting not being able to contact them. I mean, what if I had a heart attack and died in my chair. He wouldn't know until he came home! But the Lord was with me. He never leaves nor forsakes us so that gives one peace.)
Many side canyons run into the Grand Canyon. We would stop and hike many of them, finding waterfalls to play in.
It was usually in these where Dr. Tim Cleary, the geologist, would lecture on the geological aspects of the canyon.
Here Eli is showing the first sedimentation layer of the first megasequence of the flood, resting on the basement rock.
After a day of riding the river, and hiking side canyons, we were usually pretty tired and ready to sleep under the stars. Eli took this picture of the night sky. You see so many more stars where there is no light pollution.
"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of His mouth."
Psalm 33:6
"I AM the LORD,
Who has made all things,
Who alone stretched out the heavens,
Who spread out the earth by Myself."
Isaiah 44:24b
Since the days were 100 degrees plus, it would take a long time for the night to cool off. Way too hot to use a tent. The cots were a welcome addition as they kept you off the sand where the scorpions like to crawl around. (A word of advice: always shake your shorts out prior to putting them on in the morning. One guy didn't and a scorpion got him in a place where the sun doesn't shine.)
In six days, 5 nights, we covered 188 miles of the river and traversed 63 rapids. In the canyon, they rate the rapids on a 1-10 scale, 10 being the most extreme. We had two 10's, five-six 9's, and a bunch of 8's. Here is a photo I found on-line of one of those rapids.
Everyday had more hikes with study of the rock layers.
And more waterfalls, which were extremely cold.
I, Debby, had a copy of their itinerary and each day looked up on Google Earth where they were and Googled photos of the locations.
One advantage of the waterfalls was they washed the stink off, so you never really had to change clothes if you didn't want to.
The river was 50 degrees. We learned quickly to wear our rain clothes for some protection from the cold water. And a water bottle of hot coffee or hot chocolate would do wonders to warm you up, especially after a rapid.
With a bath like this you would be refreshed and good to hike some more.
On Day 4, one of the men accidently fell about 30 feet, off the narrow ridge and landed face down into a creek below. The guide, who was right behind him, shimmied down and got his head out of water. The man was unconscious. Because the guides have satellite phones, a life-watch helicopter was called in.
The man was taken to a hospital. He is okay. His 13 year old grandson was not able to go with them, but the rest of the group took good care of him until the end of the trip when he was reunited with his parents. We were thankful that the rescue team did such a good job!
The guides made all the meals from scratch. Supper started with horsd'oeuvres!, followed by a main meal like steak and pototoes, ending with desserts. One night there was even ice-cream! Fresh food was carried on the boat in large metal containers filled with dry ice.
End of the adventure, seeing the evidence of the global flood.
Inside the helicopter. On our way out of the canyon to Bar 10 Ranch, where we had hot showers and then boarded our small plane back to civilization.
"Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life." Genesis 9:15b
I, Debby, had a copy of their itinerary and each day looked up on Google Earth where they were and Googled photos of the locations.
So glad they had this time together! But I'm glad I stayed home!! Glad we all survived!
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