Day 11: Boulder, CO to the Grand Canyon (prelude to an adventure)

The night before leaving Boulder we decide that it is time to go out and meet new people. We ended up failing on the meeting people part, but we definitely went out and had fun. After missing out on the chance to experience our first Oxygen Bar, our first stop was the Catacombs located underneath the historic Hotel Boulderado. There were a lot of young people and $1.50 cocktail specials... which is a dangerous mix. We moved on to Pearl Street (the main drag) and made a quick stop at Seven. Starship Troopers was playing on the television, but the real show was the guy trying to get some action in the middle of the club.

We left "early" (early in the morning, late according to our desired departure time) and headed south. The long drive, much like the drives of the previous days, was absolutely beautiful as the Colorado mountain edges eventually became red plateaus and semi-desert landscapes as we moved into Utah and eventually Arizona. It felt like were crossing Martian territory, much like our robotic brethren.

During the drive, we switched from listening to John Adams' biography on CD to my iPod. During the day long drive we listened to the entire Kanye West and The White Stripes discography. Though Jack and Meg White took up a significantly longer time to get through, I feel the rap education of Dave and Alex via Mr. West was more significant in its importance.

We traveled through the Navajo Nation thinking of stand-up material that my or may not offend Native Americans and eventually ended up in Tuba City, the Nation's largest jewel at around 8000 people. After having the same conversation about Scottish soccer players twice with a slightly older resident we headed toward the Grand Canyon.

Following the GPS instructions almost too carefully, we ended up driving into the Grand Canyon National Park not really considering the potential lack of accommodations available inside. Luckily for us a huge, multi-building hotel existed inside the park (who knew?). Even Luckier WE GOT THE VERY LAST ROOM, barely beating out some French couple (take that surrender monkeys).

Though the lodge lacked Wi-Fi, we did get to see four giant elk up-close as they grazed on the hotel's front lawn. After our close encounter with a moose the day before, I would have preferred the internet.