Author: melisajohnson

South Rim

This morning you had two options:  sleep in or get up at 4:30 to see the sunrise over the rim.  I figured I better not push my luck, so I let Richard sleep in.  After breakfast we headed off for what we thought was going to be a hike along the rim.  Upon further information it was actually 3 miles in and out and you descended over a mile in that distance.  So, far from an easy hike with our sore legs!  We got dressed including bandaging the blisters on our feet! 
I was getting more and more nervous as we got to the rim and the weather was getting worse as we got closer.  When we got to the rim the rain and turned to sleet and there were even lightning strikes you could see in the canyon.  Russ made the decision that we should not be hiking on the rim with the lightning.  I have to say that I was a bit relieved at his decision!
 

We ended up just hanging around the south rim and eventually heading back to Flagstaff. 

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Hike out

Today was probably our earliest start as we were up tearing down our camp at 4 am.  We wanted to get an early start before it got to hot out for the hike out.  Everyone in the group was a bit worried about the hike out and the first mile really woke up your legs as it was a steep climb up before it flattened out as you got into the village.  The next 6-miles or so went pretty well and we kept up a good pace.  I could feel my feet a bit and figured I was getting a few blisters, but I was pretty sure I didn’t want to stop and take a look!  Finally we got to that last 1 ½ mile and it was pretty intimidating standing at the bottom of the canyon and seeing how high we had to hike to get out.  We started and decided to take it slow and before we knew it we had made it to the top.  We actually finished 3rd and 4thout of our group!  We were tired and sore, but really proud of ourselves. 
The first thing we saw was a little girl and her mom selling snacks from the back of their car and we went for a Twinkie- I have to say it tasted absolutely amazing… I think it may have had something to do with the hike we just finished.
As everyone finished we had a picnic lunch and got back in the van for a 4-hour drive to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  As we got to the hotel everyone was excited to take a nice warm shower so everyone ran off to there rooms pretty quickly.  Richard and I showered and headed to the hotel bar for a beer to celebrate! 

Dinner was at a hotel right on the south rim, and the food was ok…  nothing spectacular, but it had really nice views.  Once again it was early to bed! 
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Beaver Falls

It was up early for me in the morning and I took a short little walk before everyone else woke up.   For breakfast we had scrambled eggs, bacon and hash browns… very yummy!    
Today’s hike was about 6-miles down to Beaver Falls and worth every bit of the walk.  It started with a climb down Mooney Falls. 

At the bottom of the falls we hiked through the river several times, up and over some rocks and down some ladders to arrive at Beaver Falls. 


Around every bend you were reminded how special this place was and how very lucky we were to get to experience such a place. 

I thought as the water was probably less than 70 degrees there was no way I was going to get into it, however once I was there it was just to beautiful to not get into it!  We spent about an hour relaxing in the falls before having a nice lunch of smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber bagels.  


We then hiked back to camp for a few more hours of relaxation before a dinner of chicken curry before bed.
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The trip down to Havasu Fall

The day started early, especially for me as I could hardly sleep, as I was extremely nervous.  We got up and packed up our daypacks and met at the van at 6 am for the 3-hour drive down to the rim.  As we waiting for our gear to get unloaded (and used the rest room for the last time) we had some amazing views.  Little did we know this was just the beginning of the amazing sites we were going to experience.
The trail started off with some fairly steep switchbacks for the first 1½ miles.  As I was walking down I was just imagining how tough it was going to be to get back up.  As we got to the bottom of the switchbacks we began a 6-mile slow decent before arriving at the Havasu Village. We took a few breaks on the way down, including a great picnic lunch.  

Just before we arrived at the village we stopped at a wonderful creek and Russ, our trusty guide, suggested we take off our boots and soak our feet in the creek.  I was a bit leery as I was not sure I would want to put my boots back on and the water was about 70 degrees.  Reluctantly I took my boots off and the water felt so refreshing!  It was amazing hoe much better it made me feel and it wasn’t an issue at all to put the boots back on.   


At the village we topped up our water while our guides checked us in and continued down another 2 miles to the campsite.   It was fairly steep again, but when we came around the bend and saw this, it was worth the journey down.   


We stopped at the bottom of the falls for a bit of relaxation after the 6-hour journey down while Russ sorted out our campsite.  He did a great job as our campsite was only about a five-mile walk from this waterfall right along the creek! 
First things first when we arrived at the campground was a trip to the restroom for me!  Then to our surprise we were given our tent to put up…  We managed to get it up mostly on our own. 

Amazingly we thought it was really small and later we were told it was actually a three-person tent!  After the day we had, all we really wanted was a nice cold beer… unfortunately there is no alcohol allowed at the campgrounds. For dinner that night Russ made us some beef tacos and it was early to bed for me!  I really enjoyed lying in the tent and looking up to nothing but the canyon walls and the stars.  It was so peaceful to fall asleep to the sound of the creek flowing next to us.  Richard can blog about his experience in the tent, as he did not have the same experience as I did. 
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Hoover Dam

This morning we got up and headed to urgent care to get Richard’s finger dressed properly.  It actually looked pretty good considering how he cut it… just to be safe he got at a tetanus shot.  Then it was off to REI to get some warm gear as it will be down in the 50’s at night and that for us is winter gear.
We finally made it down to the Hoover dam for a quick tour.

After the Hoover Dam we headed down to Flagstaff for our pre-hike meeting and then to a local brewery for a quick beer and pizza.

T

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Las Vegas

We arrived in Las Vegas last night after a few bumps in the road… most not unexpected.

We sorted out the kitties and headed to the airport to drop off our bags and then went over to GTYC for some lunch, only to get a call that our first flight had been delayed.  Se we took it in stride and had a drink and relaxed a bit.  We knew we would be cutting it close to make our Vegas connection… and we arrived with one hour to get to the gate, clear customs, get our luggage, recheck it, clear security again and get to the gate…  We actually made it to security in about 30 minutes, but they wouldn’t let us on the flight and rebooked us on the 9 pm flight.  That left us at the airport for 4 unexpected hours and arriving in Vegas at midnight vs. 5 pm.  Not a major deal as we figured we could get some sleep on the plane.

While standing at the gate Richard reached into his bag and cut the tip of his finger off with his razor blade… now we had blood all over the place and he wrapped it up in his handkerchief, we certainly didn’t want to miss the flight by going to get first aid.  Richard finally got it to stop bleeding on the flight.  Now it is off to urgent care this morning to get it cleaned and wrapped up before we head off and possibly a tenus shot.

Today’s agenda-

Urgent care

REI sporting goods- little did we know it would be 40 degrees at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, so off to get some warmer clothing.

Whole Foods- snacks for the hike

Hoover Dam tour and finally making it to Flagstaff Arizona for our 5 pm briefing for the hike in the morning!

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Tonight’s excitement

Tonight we got a bit of a fright as I saw Avery chase something across the kitchen floor. It appeared to be a small snake…  I got the cats upstairs while Richard got a flashlight and looked for it under the stove.  It was no place to be found, so I eventually let the cats back down.  I saw it once again go around the corner and Richard covered it with some Tupperware and eventually got it outside.

 

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An afternoon of fun on the Razors

Chrisy, Jason, Conner and Linkin all loaded up in the car and headed out to my parents house for some afternoon fun in the Razors.  We were really surprised that even Conner had his own!  However it was battery powered and died about 20 minutes after he got in it, so he had to ride with his dad.  

 Now the fun did not last very long for me as Richard was driving way to fast for my liking (70 mph)!  So I requested that he take me back to my parents house.  It was not long that they came back and Conner’s first words were “Richard rolled papa’s Razor”…  Jason and Richard soon made an appearance in the house explaining that he wasn’t going very fast when it flipped (so it was ok).  They then had to go and put it on a trailer and bring it back home…  No more fun for the boys!

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Lunch with President Bush

Today was a special lunch as we got to enjoy a conversation with former President Bush.  The day started off early with a 5 am start for my parents.  They flew down to a small airport outside Dallas and the plane was inspected and declared ok for President Bush to get onto the plane.

Mom was looking very official heading out to the plane.

The set up for lunch was really nice.  We had a spinach salad with strawberries, followed by an 8 oz filet atop a toasted crostini with fresh wrapped asparagus and twice baked red potatoes.  We finished off the meal with a lemon shortcate with blueberries.

Melisa and Richard
Judy and Mike

After lunch there was a Q and A with President Bush.  There was a wide range of questions ranging from his family, living in the White House, his painting, Iraq, Russia and much more…

As everyone was leaving they got copies of his books Decision Point and 41, autographed by Bush.

The official photos will take a few weeks I am guessing to get sent out as well I believe we will be getting a video of the event!

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