Grand Canyon or Bust

As you all know, one of my dreams is to go to the Grand Canyon. Well, since I couldn't make it happen this year, I figured I'd have to go for second best: go there with the Brady Bunch. So I ordered season three of that series and began my adventure.

Pit stop!

You guys, besides just enjoying the beauty of the Grand Canyon, I learned so much. For one thing, Mr. Brady has the patience of a saint, Mrs. Brady has a mullet, and Alice keeps her sense of humor in all circumstances even when riding a mule into the canyon, which she did not like. Here are some other things I learned from my Grand Canyon adventure with the Brady's.

1. Do not, under any circumstances, trust an old prospector. If he tells you that Jesse James signed the inside of the old jail cell, don't go in there with your entire family to see if he was telling the truth. Just don't. But, if you are the trusting type, and end up stuck in there, tie all your belts and socks together to make a lasso to get the key off the hook across the room. Or if you're Mrs. Brady, just whine, "Miiiiikkkee! Do something!!"

I was so happy, I didn't even mind that we were gonna die in there.

2.When you finally get to the Grand Canyon, you need to listen when Mr. Brady says that the Grand Canyon is the wilderness and not a playground. And that means you, Bobby and Cindy. We all had quite a scare when Bobby and Cindy followed a Native American boy (well, we called him an "Indian" boy but that's because it was 1971) and got lost. We couldn't find them anywhere! Mr. Brady only seemed mildly perturbed the whole time we searched for them but I'm sure he was freaking out under the surface. We eventually did find them, with the help of Greg's tracking skills and the Indian boy (who had run away from home) leading them back to camp.

3. Another thing I learned is that Indians love inviting campers to come to where they live for a rain dance and naming ceremony. Chief Eaglecloud invited us all over as a thank you for encouraging his run-away grandson to come home. The Chief gave us all Indian names which was so cool! Mom (er, Mrs. Brady) was named Yellow Flower with Many Petals. Alice was named Squaw in Waiting. I was named Girl Who Crashed Vacation. I didn't like that one, so he offered me another: She Who Vacations Through DVDs. It stung, but was accurate.

4. Brady's stick together. Through getting tricked by old prospectors, losing members of our family, convincing a young Native American boy that his dream of becoming an astronaut can come true, and so much more, we only got closer as a family. I only had to take one more step to become an official Brady, and I did it happily.

I can't imagine that seeing the Grand Canyon in real life could be any better than going there with the Brady's. Next up, Hawaii!