Grand Canyon

Am presently in the Grand Canyon, at the beginning of Epic Voyage II of 2010.

After an amazing Cutler & Co lunch on Friday, I had a fairly interrupted night's sleep.  I gave up sleeping altogether by 5ish, and made final preparations for my trip. 

Saturday morning flew Melbourne - LA, miraculously made my LA - Phoenix flight (with time for a mexican breakfast burrito) and met M at the luggage carousel in Phoenix a few minutes early (about 20 hours after leaving home).  Logistics worked incredibly well.  Watched Kick Ass and Get Him To The Greek on the plane, plus read The Age, The Australian, the AFR, the LA Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Was great to meet up with M after a month or so apart.  She's getting really big.

Picked up our red four wheel drive and got on the road - didn't see any of Phoenix.  Stopped in Sedona for lunch - a really pretty town and a good opportunity to get back into the swing of American-sized food portions.  Amazing vistas from the road, and fascinating huge red rocks - slightly reminiscent of The Kimberley.  Discovered that our 4WD had satellite radio, and annoyed M with the numerous hip-hop stations.  Then listened to Howard Stern for a while.  A good way to stay awake after my long travels.

Eventually arrived in the Grand Canyon (about 4 1/2 hours drive from Phoenix).  Staying at Maswik Lodge.  It is ok.  Met some of M's fellow-fellowshippers.  A good group from all over the world, with amazing and diverse experiences.  Went for a walk - it is SO COLD at night.  Below freezing.  Had a drink at one of the other lodges, then eventually bedtime at the end of an exceptionally long Saturday.

Sunday toured the Grand Canyon by bus in the morning with the group, after a fairly excrutiating canteen-style breakfast (though better than the lunch to come).  It really is very beautiful and basically impossible to describe.  Lunch was also impossible to describe.  Following lunch, many of us (but not M!!) took a 50 minute helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon.  It was, again, fairly indescribable.  It was a perfect, clear day with no wind - the conditions really helped the experience. 

A group dinner.  M had somehow decided it was a Halloween-themed dinner and dressed as a pumpkin.  No-one else dressed up. 

This morning got up really early and drove to a lookout point to watch the sun rise over the Grand Canyon.  Then 3 of us (one Fellowship staffer, an Indonesian lawyer and me) hiked into the canyon for about 3 hours.  1 hour down, and 2 up.  The path was VERY steep.  And, again, very beautiful.   Amazing watching the extremely sure-footed mules on the path.  Oh and yesterday I saw a huge deer, which was very placid.

We are definitely the cool kids of the group having our own car-  everyone else is stuck as they came by bus.  Having lots of interesting conversations with very impressive women from around the world in M's fellowship group.

Tomorrow to Vegas.