Toward the Grand Canyon

Off to the Grand Canyon today after a night of hellish sleep, or should I say a morning of it? What seemed like only a few minutes after our heads hit the pillows the jackhammering began only to be outdone by the crashing of bottles breaking against one another inside of the dumpster outside of our windows...Vegas...the city where no one sleeps, even if they try :)

It really wasn't all that bad, actually. We were so tired that the noise began just sidenotes to our dreams and shortly it was eleven or so and time to pack up the car and get on the road again. Keith made a friend, as has become typical with his car being such a conversation-starter, and before we knew it we were packed in the car and begging to get the AC cranked up because it was over 100 degrees and we just aren't made for the desert weather!

Hit up a strip of stores which seemed to have just about everything and stocked up on food that we'll need for camping this week. We broke down and bought a pot, dishware, and cutlery as well since we couldn't hold out any longer for a goodwill or salvation army. haha. FINALLY, we were really on our way, we left Sin City behind and then the roofrack began to howl and the snowboard came unclipped. did I mention there was a snowboard involved in all of this? Because there is. So anyways, we pull off the road and get it fixed, and our eyes are intrigued by a van boasting "Tacos" and we just can't avoid the temptation. So we drive over, in an ungodly temperature, jump out of the car and chat it up with a hispanic man who suggests tacos or burritos, gives us jalapenos (at discovering our taste for spice) and points out "the hot sauce."

All in all a worthwhile stop.

back on the road I was behind the wheel again and took us all the way into Arizona where Amber and I were baffled at the landscape, which we thought would be completely sand dunes or desert-esque (at least I did...) but we were met with flat land and short shrubbery, but not sand...hmmm.

We stopped to rest at a scenic overlook and were tempted to take what looked like Bob the Builder along with us for our trip, but Keith was afraid the 15 year old boy might be disappointed if it went missing...oh well.

Back on the road, we finally made it to kaibab forest where we were hoping to camp for the night only to find that our first, yes first, camping location was botched and that we needed to come up with a plan. Luckily, the man at the gate either saw our license plates, our cute smiles, or Keith's puzzled look, and directed us to free camping out in the woods just a mile or two down the road.

This is what we like to call "Roughing it." I would definitely count this event as the first camping experience of my life. We pulled up, turned off the car, set up the tent in the dark. Amber began gathering wood and cutting it with her travel-saw. Keith then joined in and started setting up the fire pit area with kindling and pine needles until Amber worked with matches and then we finally found the extra lighter which got us started. After a while we were able to use the outdoor toilet, also known as "the woods," as well as get our dinner cooked on a camping stove, one piece of the meal at a time. Gallo pinto and sausage were on the menu, and for our first attempt, I would say it was pretty decent. Frank's sauce came through again and we feasted until it was time for more wood gathering...I've decided that this is my new career move as I'm pretty decent at it, if I may say so myself. Marshmallows made for a tasty dessert while we sat and waited for the fire to die down...and then proceeded to kill it because it was just taking entirely too long and we're tired. Time for bed...I think we're on a pile of rocks, but we have mats so I'm told it should be ok. Here goes!