DAY 22 - Flagstaff, AZ - Grand Canyon, Arizona

In the morning we drove back on the dirt road and stopped to thank the Sorensens for our wonderful stay. He showed us around the Star Charter school they run which was established 12 years ago and has 120 (mostly) Navajo students. The school too is powered by solar panels and is a stand alone facility. Session begins next week so we didn't see any kids there, but did get a slight understanding of how the school operates.

We took route 180 into Flagstaff and stopped for breakfast at a local cafe. Our initial plan was to go see the Grand Canyon for an hour and then head north to Lake Powell for the weekend. We drove on the old Route 66 in Flagstaff and headed to the Grand Canyon. In the past few days we climbed in elevation from approximately 400 ft in Dallas to 6000 ft near Flagstaff. The weather got cooler at night and the terrain got a lot more hilly. Even though we haven't been getting along the best with each other in the past week, the beautiful ride between the thick green forests and the million dollar views compensate for all of it. We stopped on the side of the road to stretch and take a fow photos and continued through Tusayan town toward the entrance to the park.

Our whole trip has been on a budget and when were were requested to pay $25 to enter the park we got a little mad. However we figured out we could purchase a yearly pass for all the National and State parks in the United States for $40, so we opted for that deal. We drove straight to the visitor center and went to the desk to get some answers. After the ranger explained to us what we can do and where are the best views of the canyon, we decided to change our plans of driving up north, and stay for at the Grand Canyon campsite for the weekend.

We hopped on the free bus and took the 8 mile long southern stretch of view points to see the canyon. We were told that with the stops it would be a 3 hour activity so we brought some water and a backpack for the trip.

I have never been to the Grand Canyon and when I saw the vast openness and the 2000 meter cliffs for the first time I was just overwhelmed. The canyon is huge, on a clear day it's possible to see across to the north rim and even further to the rocky mountains. I never did much research before I got here but found out the beauty of the Grand Canyon is thanks to nearly 2 billion years of geological processes. We got off the bus at all 8 scenic view points and walked around the marked paved trails. There are no roads that go through the actual canyon, however it is possible to hike down to the Colorado river.

After the seeing all the view points from above we hopped on the bus back to our bikes. A few moments before we left we were talking about the fact that we haven't seen nor met any Israeli tourist till now, and lo and behold we heard 3 other people on the bus speaking Hebrew. We usually are hesitant to interact with Israelis when we are on vacation because its enough to live with them, jokingly saying, but they seemed more friendly than usual. We found out they work for El Al as flight attendants and got two days off when they landed in LA, and decided to drive up to see the Grand Canyon. We a had short conversation with them and almost sat down for a cup of coffee but they were in a hurry to get back to California.

We had a very relaxing Friday night meal in Tusayan and camped out for the night in the town too. Tomorrow we plan on taking a day hike in the Grand Canyon to enjoy the scenic views through our legs.

DAY 21 - Grants, NM - Flagstaff, Arizona

Breakfast at the Grants KOA was a big plus because it was included in the amenities of the campsite. After the short night of not much sleep, I got up and ate with the rider from Denmark. He told me all about his three month motorcycle tour, and I shared my stories too. We exchanged blog info, and he was off on his way.

Uri and I talked to the Owner of the campsite and learned a lot about the Acoma and Navajo Indian tribes who live in the area. He explained to us the whole story of how the native Americans came thousands of years ago from Mongolia, and as of today are spread out along North and South America. Later on we went on an hour hike to El Malpais (the "badlands") which got their name from the Spanish king who came to the area in the early 16 hundreds and couldn't pass the rugged terrain with his army. The land has a few large plateaus on which one of them reside the Acoma pueblo (Spanish: village). The rest of the terrain consists of lava rock and large caves which developed due to the solidification of the lava along the years.

As we continued on I 40 west we entered the Navajo reservation. I learned from talking to the minister of treasury that the Navajo reservation is the biggest in the whole world with 110 chapters. He explained to me also how their government works and the way they interact with the American federal law, which doesn't have much affect on the reservation land. It can be quite dangerous to drive through the reservation so we tried to learn as much as we can from locals who interact with the Indians.

The ride to Flagstaff was longer than expected due to rain and thunder storms that put us in a slight delay. We stopped to eat a late lunch at a place called "Hopi cafe" which we found out later wasn't even in Hopi reservation land, but the food was good. We met another rider there who told us we have to visit this store that sells petrified wood. So after a long conversation with him we drove to Holbrook and we were really amazed by how many artifacts they have. From pieces of meteorites to petrified fossils, all in one store. I bought a postcard as a souvenir and we headed to our final destination of the day, Flagstaff.

As the sun was setting we could see nothing but cattle grazing nomads land, and horses roaming the fields. A month ago when I was in Chicago for Bruce Doblin's wedding, Rick sat with me and gave me a list of close friends of his for me to contact if we need a place to sleep at. So a few days ago I spoke to Kate Sorensen who lives on a ranch right between Flagstaff and the Navajo reservation, and she invited us to stay by her for the night. We arrived at the location she gave us which didn't even have a zip code because the area is still being developed as we speak, and gave me a big hug even though I have never met her. Kate was an amazing host and was very kind to all three of us. There was one thing we hadn't expected on doing that night, and it was the 8 mile long dirt road leading to the ranch. Our touring bikes were slipping and sliding all along the sandy way and I can count on two hands the amount of times I almost slipped and fell. We drove very slowly, around 15 mph, but it sure was an experience.

The night at the ranch was very relaxing. Kate gave us the option to sleep on the wooden deck they just recently built, which has a magnificent view of the whole area. The ranch's water is collected from the gutter, and electricity from solar panels. The exclusive place gave all three of us a feeling we made it to somewhere special, and we enjoyed our stay very much.