Ashleigh and I woke up in Las Vegas on Tuesday the 14th at Eduardo's apartment. We took a picture and he drove me to get my trailer. The plan was that I would bring the trailer back and then Ashleigh and I would drive straight out of town. Instead, we lolligagged around for a few hours: checked email, packed slowly, and I shaved my head. My scalp has always been uncooperative and unhealthy, and I think having a shaved head might mitigate the problem. Having 1/4 inch hair didn't do the trick, so this time we went all the way and shaved it with a razor.
We left town and headed south on route 89 across the Hoover Dam. It was Ashleigh's first time to that dam, so we parked (on the far side) and walked back to look over the edge. They are majority complete on a huge new beautiful suspension bridge about a half mile down river from the dam; the bridge will extend I-15 through the territory which now requires one to drive across the dam. I imagine it is a security precaution, allowing the government to keep large trucks and potential terrorists off the dam. The bridge is gorgeous and will have a perfect view of the dam. On the day we were there, they were just getting ready to put in the last part of the arc connecting the two sides of the bridge together.
We then hightailed it toward the canyon. When I made my reservations there I had to choose a spot with only 21 feet of parking space, which was a problem because our vehicle altogether is about 30 feet. When we got there, however, we were greeted by probably 60 feet of pull-thru space. We set up camp and peddled our newly fixed bikes to the rim just to take a look. I forgot the camera, but we happened to arrive at exactly sunset, when people congregate at the rim for the views. Wonderful!
The next day we got up early and took our bikes to the end of the road in the eastern direction, to Hermit's Rest. What a great time! We biked over ten miles to the end, then took the shuttle back most of the way, then biked the rest to the campsite. We were tired! The sun and the exercise really takes it out of you.
Our big even of the day was a helicopter ride into the canyon. Wow! It was a short ride, maybe 25 minutes, but the view was grand. We rode all the way over to the North Rim then swooped back. The pictures cannot possibly convey the views.
That night we went back to see the sun set again, this time with a camera. Afterwards we enjoyed a campfire with sausages and s'mores. In the morning we accomplished the impossible by rising at 4:30 and getting to the rim for 5:15 sunrise. We have now driven south on 64 to 180, which is the scenic byway leading to Flagstaff. We are having a bad breakfast at Downtown Diner in Flagstaff. We will be leaving here shortly on our way to Walnut Canyon, Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest, and to see dad in Heber, Arizona.
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