My travel companion, Alex, and I drove across Nevada into Arizona to visit the spectacular Grand Canyon National Park. Exposing nearly 2 billion years' worth of history in its formation, this breath-taking natural environment was more beautiful in real life than we had ever expected. We initially visited the popular South Rim, open year-round and an area packed with historic buildings surrounding the Grand Canyon Village. While it felt like a tourist trail, we were so pleased to be here.