The Last Few Days....

I am finally able to post.. yippee!! I am currently bogarting free WI-Fi from one of the hotels at Grand Canyon Village :)

Well the last few days have been a whirlwind. Greg and I left Sunny San Diego in a blaze of glory.... literally... Laughlin was our first stop and it was 116 degrees when we pulled into town at 6:30 pm. Um... I didn't even know it got that hot... really (it felt like we were on the surface of the sun) ? And it didn't even cool down much. We went for a swim at 8 pm and it had cooled to a chilly 114!! We were able to dip our toes in the Colorado river as the casino we stayed in was right on the water. The water was frigid - I'm not sure if it just felt that way because we were so hot or if the water was actually cold. The water was clear though and as the sun set across the mountains... they looked red as if on fire so it was an interesting site to see. Laughlin was okay. Greg and I have said that Reno was Vegas' step-brother. So if Reno is the step-brother, Laughlin is the second cousin that no one likes to talk to. It really wasn't bad - just a different crowd and f*ing hot (did I say that already?). At least on a Monday night the tables only had $5 min. bets so we gambled a little bit - but didn't win. Sad. We slept very well... the bed was a nice change from the aero bed that we slept on the previous two nights.

On Tuesday we took our time getting out of Laughlin. Slept in until about 9 and ate at the buffet (which actually was the highlight of the hotel.... it was pretty yummy!) and then left out of town for the Grand Canyon. It was a nice 4 1/2 hour drive and much to our surprise it wasn't much dessert scenery but rolling hills with trees and shrubs on the way to the canyon. It was actually beautiful. We got \into the GC around 4:30ish... set up camp, ran to the general store to get a few things we were missing (although you wouldn't think the way our car was so stuffed we would have forgotten something), and then roasted hot dogs, made smores, played cards and went to bed early.

Today was an adventure. We actually saw the canyon for the first time. It was breathtaking. I knew it was huge and of course I've seen it in movies but it is (I think) pretty amazing in person. It is so vast - it definitely makes me feel like a speck in the world compared to its grandness. Then we decided to take a 1 1/2 mile hike into the canyon that was described by our guide book as "a great day hike for beginners." Um... 3 hours after we set out we returned back to civilization from the center of the earth. It was HARD and HOT and STEEP (at points). At one point I really didn't think I was going to make it back out. I can see how you hear stories of people dying in the canyon. Thank God we had brought water and at the turn about of the hike there was a water spigot that I was able to wet my hair and shirt with. Of course, we took the hike in the middle of the day so we weren't necessarily the smartest cookies in the bunch. We did meet some other nice hikers though. I kept seeing children and elderly doing the hike so I had to tell myself - If they can do it, I can do it. And we did!! Yeah... big accomplishment. Another great thing about the GC is all the wildlife. We literally had a deer come through our campsite last night and today on the hike we saw 2 longhorn rams and a goat in the middle of the trail!

Now, after taking showers and about 4 aspirin later, we are sitting on some rockers on the front porch of one of the hotels. We are getting along pretty well. There was only one time on the hike that I thought I could push him down the canyon (it was HIS idea to the hike). And also our fish has managed to make through so far too! We did carry him around the casino ( we didn't want him to burn up in the car) and to the buffet--it was kind of funny to see people's reactions to me carrying a little beta fish around in a jar everywhere I went! Tonight, we think we are gonna cook up some more hot dogs and then probably pass the F out. Tomorrow we leave for Albuquerque and are 1st actual detour from our original itinerary. We are thinking of going to Albuquerque via the 4 corners if we can navigate our way through the Indian Reservations in order to get there! I will write again once we find Wi-Fi. For all those following- thanks for the emails and texts of encouragement- I'm glad your enjoying it :) P.S. - Hopefully my next posts won't be so long as I will be posting more frequently!