G.A.R.T: Day Two (881 Miles)

We spent a majority of the day visiting the big hole in the ground, known as the Grand Canyon. This is the second time both Susy and I have visited this majestic place. To see just how colossal the canyon is is awe inspiring. Not only the beauty of the colors of each layer of crust, but being humbled by the scale and history. Each layer represents so many years of the Earth and then there are so many layers that one can't help but begin to think about ecology and the environment. Nik mentioned on numerous occasions how the Grand Canyon was so much larger than what he had in his minds eye. The width of the canyon alone blew his mind. Chlöe loved all the various smells associated with the canyon's floral and fauna, she was so happy to be running free and experiencing it. I couldn't help to think about the explorers who were moving west and what they thought of when they came upon the Grand Canyon. One day I hope to return and take a 7-10 day rafting trip down the Colorado River and experience the Grand Canyon from the river. While we were visiting the Canyon our Mayflower truck was delivering our household stuff to our new home in Newtown Square, PA. In one of the phone calls to Mary Ann, Susy spoke with her sister Amanda who told us about a new SkyWalk that is built out of glass and is a bridge that spans a part of the canyon so one can walk out over the canyon and look below with a feeling of suspension above the canyon floor. Unfortunately, the SkyWalk hasn't been built yet even though Popular Science magazine said it would be completed in 2006. Bummer. After we walked around the rim of the canyon we stopped off at a hotel that Susy had stayed at when she was 15, called El Tovar which is perched close to the rim of the canyon with a beautiful view where we sat had had a drink and took it all in. The hotel has an old west feel with a cozy atmosphere, it was a spectacle.
After visiting the Grand Canyon we headed to the Beaver Street Brewery and Cafe for a bite to eat. At this point we had worked up quite an appetite. The atmosphere of the brew pub was surprisingly family orientated with an outstanding menu of mouth watering choices. We all had a difficult time choosing what we wanted to eat as our main course. We ended up with steamed mussels in a yellow curry sauce, Guyere fondue, a wood fired white pizza, feta vingerette salad and a bowl of New England clam chowda. It was an amazing feast and the food was delicious. The beers I tasted were: a red amber ale, India pale ale, stout and a rasberry ale that Susy even enjoyed. All were so good but I only order a pint of red and IPA. The Beaver Street Brewery is a 120 barrel production brew pub which means at maximize capacity they can make up to 240 kegs or 3,720 gallons. If you ever find yourself in Flagstaff you must find your way to the Beaver Street Brewery (#11 Beaver St.) even if you don't enjoy beer. It's a culinary experience that is worth the visit alone.
Upon completion of our meal we headed up to the Lowell Observatory to hopefully gaze into the heavens, but it was a cloudy night so that was a bust. We did learn that the Clarke telescope was actively used for science back when NASA was working on the Apollo missions. The Lowell Observatory was utilized to map the Moon's landing spots for all the Apollo missions, but since then the observatory has used been used only for public education although they are under-construction for a new telescope with Discovery Channel which will be used for scientific research, but it isn't going to be completed until 2010.

At the time of this writing we are on interstate 40 heading to Santa Fe and we just crossed the New Mexico state line a few minutes ago. As of 12:37 p.m. on Wednesday we have travelled 881.6 miles.