Day 89

The morning began where last night left off - Andy had an enormous headache, Matt still felt under the weather, and Ken felt amazing! Regardless of how they felt, they wanted to make strides toward arriving at the Grand Canyon. Carl made Andy some eggs, and Matt and Ken had some cereal. After a small bite to eat, Carl and his son Dana drove the guys back out to where they left off the day before. He said if they had any problems that they could call, he would pick them up, and they could stay there again. Thanks Carl! He left them with some PB&J sandwiches and some apples, and the guys were on their way.

The guys were excited to get moving today, because they really felt they had spent a lot of time in Tuba City. The guys had an awesome time in Tuba City, but were very excited to explore the remaining part of the country on the NationRun route. They spent most of the day walking because they were not feeling as well as they would have liked. There was one positive thing to walking - they got an even closer look at all the incredible scenery along the road! Andy said that these large, sharp looking rocks would just come out of nowhere! They could even see the Grand Canyon in the distance! Andy said it looked forever away, but they will be there soon! They also passed and looked at real dinosaur footprints! This is the only place in North America where you can find such things, and the only other place in the world is in China! Andy said that these were really neat, and it was interesting to think that they had withstood millions of years of weather and erosion and still were around!

As they left the reservation that the footprints were on, another dog began to follow them. Andy was not comfortable at all with this dog, but Ken seemed to grow attached quickly. A little while later, Ken told the dog to go home. I think Ken was missing Big O, and the new friend only made him sad. The dog left, and the guys moved on. They also went down a few big hills during the journey. They finished about 800 feet lower in elevation today! The guys did a lot of road switching today as well. They began on RT 150, turned on to RT 160 to travel down the biggest hill of the day, and then on to RT 89. Once on RT 89 they could see Flagstaff, AZ and the San Francisco Mountains in the distance. These were snow capped, even in the hot weather they guys were traveling in! These mountains have the nickname of "The 7 Day Mountains." They are called that because it took Pioneers 7 days traveling 15 miles a day to get there. Andy quickly followed that with, "So we're quicker than pioneers! A-BOOYA!"

They also had a visit from a biker today that was kind of strange. The biker first lectured them on having florescent vests so that traffic could see them.He said, "They are like 10 bucks at Wal-Mart!" The biker did not have one on himself! They caught up to him a bit later and then he told them that they should put a pedometer on the joggers claiming, "They are like 10 bucks at Wal-Mart!" The guys came to the conclusion that he worked at Wal-Mart and only wanted their money!

The day finished by crossing over the Little Colorado River and entering Cameron, AZ. Carl had called ahead to Sister Walberger and the Church of Latterday Saints. They took the guys in and got them out of the wind and hot weather in order to rest up and get healthy! Andy and Ken walked to a restaurant about a half mile away to get some food while Matt passed out. They ate, and got some food to go for later. They planned on getting to bed early tonight and hope that helps with getting healthy.

Tomorrow they will climb about 2,800 feet on their way to arriving in the Grand Canyon! They are very excited about getting here, taking a day or two off, and meeting up with Los! Kyle "Los" Walcott is one of the guys' best friends and now works in Utah. He is going to drive from Utah to meet the guys and see them for the first time in months. They are very excited to see him and see how he is doing since his move out west!

One last thing! Dave and Scott - this is for you. The guys found 11 - count em - ELEVEN Mad Dog 20/20s today! So drink up fellas!

NATION!!!!!!!
- Rick