My first day I immediately drove to a shower facility about 30 miles away and took a very hot 8 minute shower at the “village” facility. It was a good night of sleep after a long drive from Utah. I spent the next couple of days traveling up and down Rt 64 which runs through the park (south rim) end to end. There are these overlooks and points up and down the route which have amazing views . The canyon is somewhat surreal. It is almost like viewing a 3D picture, much like the old 3D viewers we had as kids with the circular cardboard disks you inserted that had about 10 pictures or so. I say this because in reality everything you view is quite a distance away. Like miles and miles away. The canyon is so massive and there is so much detail, that it almost becomes awash in the whole scope of view. Each overlook pretty much has a different view but for me they all kinda started to look the same. There are a couple of small museums along the loop, which I found interesting and learned a little bit about the history and for me my high point, the native people that inhabited the area for thousands of years. It amazes me how these people used every bit of there resources. Corn, beans, squash, clay, even a green moss that grows on the rock surface served some medicinal value.

I drove outside the park on Wednesday and went exploring with my truck on the adjacent Kaibab Forest. This is a national forest that offers free camping and there were some amazing spots in the forest close to the mountains. On my way out there was a roadside stand on the Navajo reservation and I stopped to check out the local crafts. Most of the items were manufactured but I did purchase a string of juniper seeds (beads). The Navajo call them “ghost beads” similarly, as dream catchers “catch” dreams, these beads are supposedly helpful in warding off evil spirits. I figured at the very least it would keep some of the fucktards in my life at arms length. He explained that business was slow and so I had the opportunity to spend a short while chatting with him. Good people, and he offered me a map of the forest and reservation which I gladly accepted as a parting gift.