Grand Canyon - Day 3!!

Sunday morning we were up bright and early to get packed up and head out of Williams on the Grand Canyon Train to the Grand Canyon!  We got our luggage sorted and headed out to breakfast at The Grand Depot Cafe...well of course Tate just had hot chocolate as he ate breakfast in the room upon waking...at 6am :)  After breakfast Tate, Scotty and I headed over to Route 66 to take in the historic road and the sights for a few moments.  My mom and Lindsey had ventured over the night before and told us how cool it was!

 Then it was time for our Wild West Shoot Out complete with cowboys and sheriffs!  Tate was really worried and sat about on top of me.  The guns and shooting were not to his liking at all.  Sweet boy!

You can see how uneasy Tate was in the photo...he made his
cousin switch places with him!

We boarded our train after the shoot-out and began the gorgeous 2 hour and 15 minute ride to the Grand Canyon!  We were seated in the dome of the car, so our views were amazing.  They had yummy snacks and live music!

Our singer was fabulous and did an excellent
Elvis impersonation!

As we pulled into Grand Canyon National Park we saw an elk on the side of the tracks just hanging out!  Then we were there...we caught our first glimpse of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon!

Once we arrived we immediately hopped on a bus for our 90 minute guided tour of the canyon!  Our first stop was Mojave Point and there was absolutely noone there.  When we stepped off the bus and walked over to the Canyon it was exquisitely quiet.  Absolutely quiet.  I will never as long as I live forget that brief moment of God's perfection...I could almost feel Him there with me as I looked at His majestic creation.  I can still feel and hear it right now.

We made a couple of stops, but we were all getting so tired and we were starving as it was almost 2pm!  And we'd had breakfast at 7:30!  Our bus dropped us back off at the train depot and we headed to lunch at El Tovar Restaurant.  As always dining for Tate was a challenge, and it was a real challenge the entire time we were in the Grand Canyon...they are most definitely not prepared for food allergies, their staff seemingly oblivious to caring for people with food allergies and they really seemed not to care.  I was very disheartened.  We finally settled on something for Tate to eat and we all gobbled down our food though all of it left alot to be desired.  But we were fed and we were in the Grand Canyon!!!!!

We checked into our rooms and oh my goodness Tate, Lindsey and I had the most fabulous 'suite' in the canyon!!  We were staying at The Buckey O'Neill Cabin!  It was amazing...you walk out the door onto the Canyon...the rim was no more than 15 feet outside our door!!  This is the view from the door.  These are views from the inside...

We lounged around a bit;  I let Tate watch some tv and I just snoozed on the bed!  Bliss!

My parents and Scotty came by, and we decided to go venture out again to see the gorgeous views!  By now we had a grumpy cousin and a tired Papa, but we persevered!

Tate, my mom and I ate dinner at the Bright Angel Restaurant while the others piddled about...again not so good food.  And the staff was very reluctant to try to accommodate Tate's allergies...and strangely enough the kids' menu is the same at all the restaurants!  But weirdly not made the same!  So frustrating!  I don't even remember what he had, but I think it was grilled cheese.  Long wait but meh...we had food.  More than alot of people in this world can say!

We headed back to my room, and my mom hung out with Lindsey while I got Tate into bed.  He was thrilled to have his own rollaway bed and went straight to sleep after a warm bath! As soon as I had him under the covers I ducked outside to watch the gorgeous sunset!!!

Grand Canyon - Day 2!

Saturday morning Tate was definitely on the mend!  I still wouldn't let him have any milk products which had him quite sad, but the promise of milk with lunch if he was ok saved the day!

We ate breakfast in our room and enjoyed the views of Sedona right outside our door, then we headed off on our bus tour!!!

First stop was the Chapel of the Holy Cross.  Breathtakingly beautiful!

 Tate was enamored of the cactus!



I love this picture of Tate at the Airport Mesa!

The tour lasted about 2 1/2 hours then we were dropped at our hotel where we loaded up the car and headed off for some lunch at a place called Picazzo's.  I'd gotten a recommendation from mom on one of my allergy Facebook groups...they were great and Tate loved his pizza!  All the food was absolutely delish!

Then we loaded back up in the car and headed off to Williams!  We took an amazing scenic route!  Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!

We arrived in Williams and checked into the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel!  This place was gorgeous and our room divine!

 

We got settled in (me, Lindsey and Tate in one room, my parents and nephew in the other) then headed off to dinner at the Grand Depot Cafe.  The chef there was amazing!  The buffet was part of our package, but I never let Tate eat from a buffet...too much chance for cross contamination.  The chef offered to make him a chicken breast, but remembered that all the chicken came prepackaged and there was no way to know the ingredients.  He then offered to go buy some bread and cheese from across the street (I have no idea where this across the street was!) and he made Tate a grilled cheese sandwich and broccoli!  The waitress then brought my sweet boy some Lucy's cookies which are free of the top 8 allergens!  Two packages!!  So blessed!

Tate and I headed back to the room, and I got him to sleep while Lindsey and my dad had drinks in the bar!  I was able to blissfully join Tate by 9:30!!

Next up...The Train Ride to the Grand Canyon!!!

Grand Canyon - Day 1

This summer we decided to take a family vacation to the Grand Canyon!!!!  My mommy, daddy, Lindsey, my nephew Scotty and me and Tate!!

We flew out to Arizona on a lovely Friday Texas morning!!

We flew into Phoenix and wow it was hot!  No matter though....at least it wasn't raining!  We hung out for a bit while my dad got the rental car.  As always these boys found something to do involving pushing cars and toys along the floor!

Then another little boy joined in the fun!

We headed over to Zinburger for some of the best burgers any of us have had in a very long time!  I had brought along a hot dog for Tate that I had cooked that morning, and let him have some of their fries.  I verified they would be safe for his allergies, and we were good to go!  

Then we loaded up the car and headed for our first overnight stop...Sedona!!!

The boys were exhausted and with the time change, I wanted
Tate to try to nap.  I think they slept about 45 minutes.

Gorgeous views as we drove into Sedona...

We got checked into our hotel and I took the boys down to the pool to swim for a bit.

Then things got a tad dicey.  Tate vomited about 30 minutes after being in the pool.  Twice!!!  Ugh.

We went back to the room and got him cleaned up.  Settled into bed with some tv and cuddles.  I will never know if it was the french fries (allergic reaction?),  latent airsickness (he gets airsick, so I always give him Benadryl 30 minutes or so before descent), the hotdog being bad after being 'out' for 7 hours or the pool water being so cold while the hot tub was so warm...he kept going back and forth between the two.  I was at a loss.  It's so very scary to travel and feed him with his food allergies.  I am always on high alert...I never truly relax on vacation.  I pack a ton of food, but when we're flying and staying in hotels I'm a bit stuck.  I have to rely on restaurants and the chefs, managers and wait staff to take his life-threatening allergies seriously.  I have to worry about how well they *really* cleaned the stovetops, if they *really* checked the labels, if they *really* used different utensils for his food.  Each bite of food he takes has me in fear.  I'm constantly surreptitiously watching him for any signs of anaphylaxis.  Sometimes I even try to find out the closest hospital's locations;  I make sure we can easily get there.  I don't want Tate to know how scared I am, so I just make sure to tell the wait staff, ask for a manager and impress upon them the severity of his allergies and then I go back to chatting with my boy (as far as he knows).  I live my life on high alert.  All.The.Time.  It is exhausting.

But the good news this night was that it just didn't seem to be an allergic reaction.  He had no other signs or symptoms of anaphylaxis...no hives, no itching, no lethargy.  I chalked it up to either heat exhaustion or bad pool water.  

He was able to keep sips of gatorade down the rest of the night.  He and I just stayed in and relaxed while the other four went off to dinner.  He fell asleep and I crawled into bed with him soon thereafter!

This view outside our hotel room door made everything so much better!