From Grand Canyon to Holbrook, AZ

After waking up at some ungodly hour, we hurried back to the Grand Canyon to watch the sunrise and savor some breakfast. Evidently, Segui was more interested in the breakfast than the sunrise. When breakfast was over, and he was able to direct his attention elsewhere, I think Segui finally became overwhelmed by the beauty of the landscape before him. He proceeded to express that awe by repeatedly trying to hump me:



In a preemptive strike to get me blogging about things other than Segui, Lisa dropped the pup off at the kennel for the morning, and we went for a short hike down one of the trails. Tipped off by a passerby, we spotted some petroglyphs high up on the canyon wall. From a distance, one marvels at how old they must be; magnified through the camera lens, doubts are raised. Google only knows how authentic they are:



We left the Grand Canyon in the early afternoon. With exhaustion creeping up on both of us, we ended up heading straight to Holbrook, a podunk town in Navajo country. Had we know about such a place ahead of time, we would have booked a "room" in Holbrook's Wigwam Motel...



...but we ended up in the Econolodge instead.

Grand Canyon

For the first time in my life, I got to see the Grand Canyon. It was very beautiful and very fun. Andrew, Segui, & I watched the sunset at Yavapai Overlook last night and then camped at Mather Campground. It was a bit cold at night because I didn't have my long underwear with me (as it was accidentally packed with the stuff going to Florida), so I put my jeans on over my sweatpants, and put an extra sleeping bag over me, and then I was toasty warm through the night.

I woke up early (around 6:00 AM) with a lot of energy and excitement to be at the GRAND CANYON!! So, naturally, I wanted to share this excitement with someone, and promptly woke Andrew up and convinced him to run off with me to the canyon rim to watch the sunrise and eat our breakfast (cereal, coffee, and lots of fruit!). We got to Mather Point just as the sun was coming over the canyon and lighting up the tops of the canyon walls. There were lots of warm colors (oranges and reds) in some areas, and lots of cool colors (blues and grays) in others. Very beautiful.

Segui made a big impression on a group of young guys from Eastern Europe (perhaps the Czech Republic). When we walked to Mather Point, we left Segui's cone on because his allergies have been really bad. For some reason, this large group of guys thought it was hilarious. They laughed and laughed, and then started gathering around Segui to have their picture taken with him. I would have thought one picture would have been enough, but they treated Segui like a tourist attraction. They all wanted their picture taken with him, individually and in groups. Just when we we'd be looking over another vista of the canyon, thinking all the excitement was over, they'd come over again, laughing and kneeling down next to Segui to snap another picture. Maybe Segui will be famous somewhere. ;-) Andrew snapped this photo of some of the guys just as the comotion was dying down:



After breakfast at Mather Point, Andrew and I boarded Segui at the Grand Canyon dog kennel for a few hours. (He barked at us furiously as we drove away, obviously worried about why we were leaving him and *not* reassured by us telling him we'd be right back!) Andrew and I took advantage of our dog-free hours to break down our campsite and pack the car, and then explore other areas of the canyon rim.



After a few hours we picked Segui up from the kennel, now whining with excitement at our return, and drove off for Flagstaff and then on to Holbrook, Arizona. We originally planned to visit the Sunset Crater Volcano and the Meteor Crater, both near Flagstaff, but were so tired from all our Grand Canyon activities that we decided to head straight to our EconoLodge motel in Holbrook. Tomorrow (I think) we'll head off to visit the Painted Desert, Canyon de Chelly, and Monument Valley. We'll see. I'm still tired!