Today is a lazy day. Not necessarily a rest day, but I only need to pedal about 20 miles to get to the park.
Tusayan is a little town right outside of the Grand Canyon. Mostly lodging and food, I stopped in the McDonald's for a cup of coffee and to get some work done.
I shared the only table with power outlets with Kyle Stein. He has quite an extensive travel history and is now touring around the western states with Bella.
They bought a plain cargo van, and Kyle's brother converted it to a camper.
Kyle & Bella in their converted van. This is Kyle's photo, from his Instagram.
Check out his adventure website!
Converting a cargo van to a camper would be an awesome project when I return home from this trip...
With work complete, I entered the Grand Canyon National Park. Words cannot describe one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
While at the market in the Grand Canyon village, I ran into another cycle-tourist. Ian, from Ireland, is on his third tour, first of the United States.
After the typical comparing routes conversation, we discussed food (as we snacked on some apples he bought).
Ian is vegan, and finds it difficult to consume enough calories each day to sustain riding. Kudos to Ian, I couldn't imagine touring with such a restrictive diet. The snack that keeps him going is celery; he goes through an entire bundle of stocks a day (is that the right terminology for celery?). He also told me how he prepares couscous, which he eats nearly every day. Couscous never crossed my mind, so I'll pick some up (and some celery) the next time I find a decent market.
Also, if you take a look at his rig, he has water bottle holders mounted to his forks. I think I'm going to try that on my bike - I can mount them behind my front panniers and carry an additional 2 liters of water!
Tonight is another night of wild camping - close enough to wake up early and watch the sun rise over the Grand Canyon!
Joe