Excerpts from Chad's journal....

Death Valley



I actually enjoyed Death valley although it was quite hot it was beautiful. I loved the surrounding mountains, the Sierra Nevadas. It would be a lot of fun some day to put knobbies on the bike and do some exploring especially to see all the old mines and the history that is there...some day maybe. Dwayne and I did get to see one of the mines though.



After getting out of Death Valley, Dwayne Laban and I camped outside of Las Vegas...



The next day we headed into Las Vegas...



Las Vegas was quite interesting. We met up with Nate and Kevin and we all went to a large buffet at one of the casinos for dinner. Then we got a hotel for the night, only the second hotel that I've stayed in so far on this trip. The next day Nate headed to Phoenix to fly to wedding for the weekend and Dwayne, Laban, Kevin and I headed towards the Grand Canyon. We crossed over the Hoover Dam, rode on a section of route 66, and then camped a few miles outside of the south entrance to the Grand Canyon.

The next day we went into the Grand Canyon National Park. We decided that day that we would split up and each do their own thing and then meet up afterwards. I decided to go for a 12 mile hike down into the canyon. It was amazing









I loved the Grand Canyon, so much to explore, and like many of the other places that we've been to so far it would be awesome to spend more time there some day. Side note: during these couple of days we crossed paths a couple of times with a young man named Jay who was from BC and was riding a old 250 honda cruiser from BC to LA to Chicago with his stuff strapped on the back seat and his backpack in his lap. crazy kid. anyways, from the Grand Canyon we camped outside of Sedona south of Flagstaff.

We're now in Phoenix, relaxing, working on our bikes, waiting for parts, and preparing to head into Mexico. The last two nights we stayed at my mom's cousin's place. Thank you Smokey and Donna for taking us in, for your hospitality and for the use of your shop, it was a huge blessing. We're now at Dwayne's friend's place, Sienna and Andrew. Although we've been camping most of the way let me just say that the people that we've met, that have housed us and fed us, shown us tremendous hospitality, really have been a huge part of this trip. Times of fellowship, encouragment, and refreshment. Thank you all again very much for blessing us and being part of our trip.

Chad