Drive and arrival to Grand Canyon

10/4/11
We woke up at 5am and left the Lodgepole camp site to drive to The Grand Canyon. The drive was about 10 hrs but we stopped on the way and it took us close to 12 hrs.  Paul drove the first half. Coming out of Sequoia the road was extremely winding and Monica was trying to read the news, after reading out loud to Paul for some time she got a bit motion sick , but fell well quickly after she stopped reading.  The next part of the road was very boring because we were driving through the desert. We entertained ourselves by reading news, writing the blog and hearing to Latin radio stations. As I mentioned, we passed the Mojave Desert, a barren place, no much of anything there. Hence, we were happy we decided to skip it for another day at Sequoia NP. The mojave desert is within California and Nevada and we found out that although barren, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. You wanna know why? Well, Las Vegas is in it. 

One interesting scene on the road was when we saw a huge wind mill farm, the biggest we have seen yet. It is always great to see green energy projects happening. 

Before arriving to the GC about 20 miles from it, Monica was driving a little too fast and got stopped by the police. Fortunately the policeman was nice and gave her a 79$ ticket instead of a 300 dollar one she deserved.  Ironically the ticket violation given was for -excessive use of gas- so much for driving a hybrid. Later at the park, Monica drove all other visitors crazy by abiding all speed limits. BTW this is the first driving violation for Monica in more than 8 years and first ever in USA.

Since we had reserved the campsite at Mather we were able to arrive and set up camp. We went for pizza in the nearby Tusayan neighborhood and bought beer and milk, the essentials for any good living. Interestingly at many Parks  you can buy an assorted 6 pack of beers.  Surprisingly many Parks have a good selection of micronbrews and even international brews. We are proud to say we have tried beers from Grand Teton brewery, Gran Canyon brewery and many more.