At the end of a long day, I’m writing from my wigwam in Holbrook, Arizona. Unfortunately, this won’t actually be posted until tomorrow because the wigwam has no phone and the cellular signal wasn’t strong enough for me to connect with that either. So, by the time you see this, we’ll have checked out of the wigwam, and will most likely be en route to our next destination. So, if I actually get a chance to post all the pictures I’ve been taking… you will see the Grand Canyon in all its splendor. Contrary to Jamie O’Neal’s anthem, there is indeed an Arizona, and a Grand Canyon, and I have the pictures to prove it! J Anyway here was our day:

This morning we woke up in Laughlin, just a little later than scheduled, and before leaving, took a few photos, and held our own little memorial service for Desmond, as Laughlin was his favorite place in the world. Then we began the drive to the Grand Canyon. The ride was mostly smooth sailing, until we got to the Grand Canyon itself which had a line of cars to get in that made Disneyworld seem like life in the fast lane. Once we got in, what can I say? You have to be there to really take it in. The downside is, once you’ve seen one scenic overlook, you’ve pretty much seen them all and we wound up wasting 90 minutes on an awful (and I mean awful) bus ride (we’re talking Kathleen Turner’s failed attempt to reach Cartagena in Romancing the Stone awful) to Hermit’s Rest and back only to see that the other end of the rim was just like the one we’d seen at the beginning… But anyway I picked up a souvenir keychain.

We were there for most of the afternoon. It was pretty hot – probably upper 80s-low 90s. When we finished, we headed back to 40 and drove to a Cracker Barrel outside Flagstaff for dinner. Good stuff. Then we reached our wigwam in Holbrook. It’s a total novelty kitsch thing but I love it – concrete wigwams complete with full bath and A/C (but as I mentioned, no phone). We arrived late, but fortunately Norman Bates… err… I mean, the hotel owner/manager greeted us with the key, and made sure to inform us several times that there was a shower in the bathroom. (No, I’m not making this up) He also made sure we knew that the rooms were furnished just like they were back when he was a little “tyke.”

Cindy, fearing she bears an uncanny resemblance to Janet Leigh, piled the suitcases in front of the door. I’m still not making this up.

Oh, and the whole wigwam shakes when a train goes by.

Anyway that’s all for today. Hopefully when I post this, I’ll post the pictures, too.

Off to bed…