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Published: November 5th 2013
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Bittersweet day today. Leaving a home we've known for almost seven years to return to one that we knew for 26. Met a lot of great people and came through with many accomplishments in our short time in the golden state, but when you know it's time to go then sometimes the feeling just can not be ignored. Starting over is never easy, but at the same time can be a refresher to a life that can appear to be stuck in neutral. We're ready for this adventure, we're just hoping that what awaits on the other end is ready for us.
After saying our farewells to all the people who have become our family away from family, the wife and I managed to squeeze ourselves and our remaining belongings in the green Honda Element that has known nothing but the California roads throughout its life. While we are anxiously awaiting the open road to begin the journey, we are also gasping for a fresh cup of coffee to get us righted. Partying until the late hours the night before while planning an early AM departure time probably wasn't the best thought out plan. Not that we necessarily planned it
that way, it just sort of happened. Luckily for us, the calendar was on our side and daylights saving gave us an extra hour of rest. Unfortunately, the extra hour didn't seem to help much.
The first leg of our trip was a stop to the Grand Canyon, something Meliss has always wanted to see. In her words, 'she wasn't leaving the west coast without seeing the Grand Canyon'. So off we went, with an eight-hour trek ahead of us. Here we go... excitement, adventure... exhaustion. Meliss had the first run at the wheel and it wasn't before long that excitement of last night was outweighing the excitement of the moment. Johnnie takes over roughly an hour in. I got a little more sleep the night before as I passed out earlier and apparently I snore which kept Meliss up for part of the night. At least Meliss got some entertainment at one of the gas stops from a trucker woman looking for some butterscotch ice cream. Oh how she loves butterscotch ice cream.
Trying to keep yourself away through the amazing desert scenery of Barstow is surprisingly no easy task. It was Sunday so there was football,
but good luck finding that on the radio. We had books on CD but I couldn't listen to them without her. So I just listened to whatever radio station was coming in and did my best not to fall asleep. Great start to the journey huh?
But as you all who know me well know, the draw of football was just too much for me to take. The cellphone is right there so I pull up ESPN to take a look at some scores. Everything is going fine so I keep going and Meliss keeps nodding in and out of sleep. Time to check the scores again. Only this time the car drifts ever so slightly and into the bumps on the side of the road intended to wake you up in case you fall asleep. Well let me tell you, those things work. Meliss jumped up so fast and acted like a group of ninjas were attacking her, trying to steal her pillow. No more checking football scores, the drive goes on.
Overall, the fist leg of the drive was pretty uneventful. Nothing spectacular to look at and no weird road side attractions. We made it Grand
Canyon around 2:30, checked into the hotel and got geared up to see this beast. We didn't have a lot of time before sunset so we jumped on one of the buses that takes you around the rim where you can get off wherever you want and take pictures. We happened upon the bus that was being driven by a toothless woman which Meliss found amusing. We hopped off at Mohave point, a popular spot to take pictures of the sunset on the south rim. We then took a short hike down the rim to a couple of other spots, snapping pictures along the way. The sunset certainly didn't disappoint and even though we were only there a few hours, it was well worth the trip. As Meliss said, 'it doesn't even look real'. It's beauty is definitely something to behold.
We made our way back down the canyon and back then back into town where we enjoyed some locale eats and made a stop to the trading post for some souvenirs. Then back to motel where we crashed hard. Hard. Not only because of the beating we took the night before but also because we knew we had a long leg ahead of us. On to New Mexico where the adventure continues, hopefully with some more alert adventurers.
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