Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon

Kiril and I woke up at the butt-crack of dawn and left our lovely Albuquerque hotel room for a new adventure in our nation's national park system.  First we stopped for lunch in Flagstaff, AZ at Macy's European Coffee House Bakery & Vegetarian Restaurant.  It was a popular place close to Northern Arizona University, with a lot of environmentally conscious folks and a street musician tooting her horn for some local children.  We had a cafe mocha and people watched while we waited for our lunch.  The chef yells your name as he brings the food out into the rustic restaurant.  Kiril enjoyed a BLT sandwich, which had some curiously smoky tasting tofubacon.  I munched on a mozzarella basil half sandwich and the most tasty tortilla soup with so many rich flavors it is like a lime-y mexicali party on your tongue.

After our lovely rest in Flagstaff and some enjoyable people-watching, we headed north to the Grand Canyon.  No picture can do this beautiful place justice.  You have to see it for yourself.

This is as precarious a spot as it looks.

In the picture below, Kiril is in the very center of the photo waving to the camera.

We stopped at each of the overlooks along the 15 mile route at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  At one of the overlooks, there was an immediate dropoff that we took photos sitting at the edge.  One of the fellow visitors told us we were scaring him, so we had him take our photo a little closer to the parking area.

After we filled our canteens with fresh spring water from the Canyon, we got back on the road and talked all about our next visit.  What better way to really see the canyon that to hike it.  That will be next.  We fed the gerbils powering the Corolla, waved to our Pod trailer as we drove south to Lake Havasu City, AZ to stay with the Reese's.

We arrived in Havasu around 6pm pst, after a long day of driving and sight-seeing.  Jennifer and Craig greeted us at the door with barley sodas and open-faced turkey sandwiches.  They say southern hospitality is the best, but there is nothing like seeing good friends again.  Jacob arrived not long after us.  We drank outside around a fire pit, and indoctrinated Kiril and Jacob into the group.  This includes, but is not limited  to, inebriated MadLibs, embarrassing stories, and some unique forms of flattery via verbal assault.  Tomorrow we have no driving scheduled, just visiting the local spots in Havasu and spending some time on the lake.