Day 7

This morning started out to be a beautiful day. It was cool but sunny and I was heading up to the Grand Canyon. As I got nearer to the Grand Canyon you could see some dark clouds and lightning off in the distance. When I got to the east gate of the south rim the sun was still out but the clouds getting closer. I stopped at the first overlook for my first look at the Grand Canyon. I have to tell you, it was spectacular. I could actually begin to feel my breathing change as I got closer. This place is so overwhelming; it takes your breath away. I took numerous pictures but none of them can do it justice. Anyway, I headed off to the next overlook and it was even more spectacular. As I headed to the third overlook, I felt a drop of rain and wondered if I should stop to put my rain suit on or just head to the next stop and do it there. Well I decided on the latter and that was the wrong decision. I no sooner got out of the parking lot and onto the road and the sky just let loose. The road at that point had no shoulder so it was not possible for me to stop to put on my rain suit. So I just continued on until the road finally widened. At that point I was pretty soaked but I put on my rain suit anyway. After getting to the next overlook I sat under a sign that had a small roof over it. After about an hour the rain slowed enough to take a few pictures and head to the next few overlooks. It was lightning and thundering really bad. At one of the overlooks, there was a guy there who said, “it’s going to lightning again because my hair is standing on end.” Sure enough it was standing on end and the lightning did come. It was really strange; his hair would rise up and then go down again.

After getting a few more pictures I decided to leave. Just as I was leaving the park the rain came again really strong and the visibility was really bad. A few miles south of the canyon’s south gate, I rode into a small village and decided to stop at the National Geographic Center to try to wait out the rain. There is an IMAX theater there so I decided to see the Grand Canyon on the IMAX. I had to wait for 50 minutes for the movie to start and the movie was 35 minutes long so I was hoping the rain would pass by that time. Well, no such luck. It was still raining when I got out but it was a little lighter. In the movie I sat next to a gentleman from Australia. He has been in this country since February and is just traveling around the country seeing all the sights. He will be heading back soon because he only had a 6 month visa. I also met a guy from Chile who was in this country with his wife and daughter and they are traveling on motorcycles seeing all the national parks. It is amazing how many foreigners there are at national parks. I think they vastly outnumber Americans. Today I met people from Switzerland, Holland, Sweden, France, and Germany today. In addition, the Japanese are all over the place.

After leaving the National Geographic Center, I rode in the rain for about 15 minutes and then it finally started to clear up a little. I got a motel in Wilson, AZ. This is another of those really quaint Route 66 towns. Tomorrow I should get to the California border and on Wednesday I should arrive at my niece’s house in San Bernardino, CA.