2nd week, 05/22

Hmmmm...i may forget what it's like to ride.

my plan was laid.  my plan was partially laid.  well, mylan was loosely laid.  i was to ride north toward the grand canyon on 89 till i reached cameron, then turn west into the wind and towards the east entrance of the park.  somewhere, and here the plan gets a little fuzzy, i would find a place to sleep, trying to stay warm as the winds blew @20+ mph and the temperature dropped to around 26 deg.
the next day i would head to the south rim's visitors center, camping at the campground.  monday, i would then head south to williams and I-40.

i noticed there is a warmshower host in williams, so i messaged greg & ann to see if i could spend monday night.  he replied saying monday was a potential conflict, but if i wanted, he'd come to flagstaff on saturday, pick me up, and take me to the canyon.  then, he'd bring me back to their place and i could spend sat & sun nights.  by monday the wind and temps would have swung back to normal.

and so it was.  i sacrificed an extra day at the grand canyon to keep from freezing my ass off.  i'm getting soft.  greg was at the motel sat morning, we loaded up my gear and we were up at the canyon before lunch.  we hiked a mile or so down into the canyon, took the bus along the canyon rim and visited the south visitors center hotel.

the canyon is incredible.  we all know that.  but it was just like when suzi and i went to yosemite a couple of years ago.  we've all seen the images, but the reality...... the reality is mind blowing.  enough said.  look at the pictures, you can't imagine what it actually feels like.

greg and ann were fantastic hosts.  they're from phoenix.  greg was born and raised there;  ann is actually from michigan, came to phoenix by way of school at st. mary's, the one across from notre dame in indiana.  both retired.  well, anne is semi-retired.  she works part time in the gift shop of bearizona, a wildlife, zoo type thing.  they summer up in williams, winter in phoenix, which is only 2 hours away.
along with everything else, we went on a tour through bearizona, even got a backstage view of the staff trying to teach/train (3) grizzlie cubs to vaccinate themselves.  i guess no one wanted to volunteer to give them a shot.  what they do is hold a rod towards the side of the bear.  when the bear pushes against the rod, he gets rewarded with food.  over and over.  think it would work on anti-vaxxers?

williams has a surprising downtown life.  they've managed to capitalize on rte 66 and the grand canyon.  greg and ann live just a block off main street
so i ate dinner the first night at a restaurant, 


we had chai the next morning 

and i loaded up on eggs and pancakes on monday as i was heading out.
partly because greg and ann don't drink beer, i didn't get to the brewery.  and i missed the western shoot out in the street, though i did see the little man and his pals at breakfast.  festivities ramping up for the week leading up to memoorial day.

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