8/20/98

We left relatively early today, about 9am. The destination was the Grand Canyon, a short trip of about 150 miles or so through the desert. It was a beautiful morning, and the roads were straight, yet extremely scenic. The hills were red, the skies blue, and there was no one around, for the most part. We made a quick stop at the Navajo bridge across the Colorado River, and learned more about the history of the area. It was a nice stop, though pretty depressing to learn yet more about how we screwed them over so bad. And still do�

Anyway� from there to Jacobs Lake was a beautiful ride. We ascended into the forests, and the road was twisty and smooth. I had fun :-) From there to the North Rim was nothing special, nice roads, but full of traffic and road construction. There was a lot of dirt, some of it pretty slick. We slipped and slid a lot, but nothing major. It once again made me glad I started out with 10 years of dirt riding before getting on a street bike :-) When we got there, all the campgrounds were full, fortunately Janet had anticipated that happening, and we had made reservations a week ago. Before heading to the campsite, we went to the visitor center and the lodge. After a quick (and not very good) lunch, we took a short hike out the several view points over the Canyon. Of course, the camera was still on the bike� The hike ended up being a bit longer than we expected, but we got to see a lot of the Canyon, and learn about it from the interpretive signs along the way.

Back to the campground, I must say we were feeling pretty burned out. There was part of both of us that thought we should just press on to Vegas that night, and blow off the camping thing. We had definitely fallen into get-home mode, and were having a slightly hard time having fun� Fortunately, we stayed, and it turned out to be a fabulous night. We walked to the camp store and bought some supplies (firewood, beer, chocolate and graham crackers (for smores), then set up camp. After a walk around the area, we were feeling much better, and started a fire while cooking dinner.

I think it had been too long since our last fire. It was extremely therapeutic, and we were feeling great, and having fun within minutes. Several beers and marshmallows later, all was well with the world again.

Tomorrow, Vegas!

david.

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