| Our first day was a drive to the Grand Canyon, Arizona. We got to see a part of California that we never saw, the area away from the coast. When we crossed the border into Arizona it was amazing how things changed. The classic Arizona cactus, the red rock etc. We were going to go all the way to the Canyon but we saw signs for the Cliff Castle Casino and got a cheap room rate so we stayed there for the night. We played roulette and watched the Heat beat the Celtics to force a game seven. John won, Trish and Kath loss. We ate in a restaurant in the casino but to be honest the three of us didnt eat much for most of the trip. At least there was a little pool to offset the really hot weather. |
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 We met the guy in this picture, he was actually a nice guy from Indiana. |
The next morning we drove to the Grand Canyon. There are two ways to see the Grand Canyon. It is maybe one of the most remarkable places on earth. But either look at it for two hours and leave, or spend a month going down the Colorado river and experinece it. We chose the former. They had these "hikes" planned where you walk down the canyon on trails and they warn you how dangerous they are, bring water, food, wear proper hiking shoes, walking sticks, etc. Kath and Trish had on flip flops and John had on deck shoes with no laces. We brought down three bottles of water of which we shared one and use the other two to clean the dust off our feet when we were finished. As we hiked back up we were passing all these serious hikers who were finding shade and out of breath and we were blowing past them with our flip flops. Sometimes I wonder if we are living in an alternative universe. |
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 Like I said, it is amazing and definately worth coming to see. |
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 John Contemplates life. Whatever. |
 Look at all those people, I was going to yell jump, but instead opted for, "set yourselves on fire." |
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 be nice to the people that you meet on the way up, because you might meet them again on the way down. |
 So we had enough of the canyon and got a jump on our next days drive. originally we were going to leave the grand canyon the next morning and drive to a small town named Clovis, NM. We decided to get an early start and drove that afternoon, making it to the famous, Winslow Arizona. Remember from the Eagle song "Take it Easy". The town is a dump but to honor the song they put up a statue depicting the lyrics. As you can see "he is standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona" and if you look in the store window you will see, "a girl, my lord in a flat bed ford, slowing down to take a look at me". We stayed in a hotel that had the only bar in town, and a home cooking restaurant. |