Day 3

Reporting from the Grand Hotel near the entrance to the Grand Canyon.

It's cold!!! There is snow on the ground here. Which makes sense, since the elevation is about 5000 ft.

Haven't ventured to the rim yet, going to wait until tomorrow morning to hit that on our way out.

Tonight is set aside for relaxing...a soak in the hot tub, dinner at the hotel steak house, and TV.

Today's drive was uneventful. Rikki was all kinds of antsy so I finally just put him in his carrier, padded with plastic bags and my bathroom floor rug. He slept for most of the trip.

Tried him on a leash for the first time in a long time. Well, it wasn't really a leash. It was the strap to a suitcase that I hooked onto his collar, which I bought for him before we moved to Crete the first time and which he has never worn. What can I say...it served no real purpose other than to reassure me that he wouldn't run off and try to hide in a storm drain. Which is a good enough purpose, I suppose. But really, the whole point was to try to get him to pee, and he was having none of it.

I blew by a cop doing 85mph...he didn't even blink. I love driving these long, straight roads.

Found it somewhat amusing that when I stopped at the A&W fast food store in Seligman, AZ, the folks behind the counter could NOT understand why on earth I would ask for just the chicken strips. No fries, no drink, no sauce. "But ma'am, it's cheaper if you buy the meal than just the strips". Well, darlin'....it actually isn't cheaper, because the strips alone are $4.61, and the meal is $7.09. But I understand where you're going here...that it's more economical to buy the meal, because you get more. But I don't want more. I just want the strips. And I'm willing to pay too much for just them. She had to consult with a guy, who came and asked me if I was sure that all I wanted was the chicken strips. Then off they went to make my chicken strips, and they were joined by a third employee, and the three of them continued to have a conversation in plain sight/earshot of me about the fact that I just wanted the strips.

Just wrapped up dinner - buffalo brisket and cheap syrah. There was an old-timer on stage playing guitar and singing old-tyme tunes. As cheesy as it was, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Johnny Cash, The Eagles, Patsy Cline...all great "road" music. "Crazy" is one of my favorite songs ever. I prefer when Patsy does it:-) Here's the link to the youtube video from tonight's entertainer, because I can't figure out how to upload the video directly to the blog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNcTj_v-xmw&list=UU0YNeprk2cJpNMsfC8QpEqQ&index=1&feature=plcp