Man, it sure is nice to be earthbound again! I was camped out this morning near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The elevation there was about 8800 feet and it was pretty cold last night. Lots of frost this morning.
The North Rim is the quiet side of the Grand Canyon. Most of the tourists and concessions are on the South Rim. The view from the North is no less spectacular, however. I hiked out to the Angel's Window and Point Royal. Awesome! I felt like I'd discovered the canyon on my own. Early in the morning, it was just me, the canyon and a crisp clear sunny morning. 2000 feet below me a hawk circled and screamed. Magic.
I drove on past the Vermilion Cliffs, then up through Monument Valley and the Valley of the Gods (US 163 and Utah Highway 261), amazing country if any of you should be so inclined to road trip. I pulled into Durango about an hour ago.
So, thanks for all the kudos, everyone. Glad you enjoyed the report! A couple of questions and comments came up that I'll address...
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">It looks like you write it while you are travelling, do you take a laptop on all those flights?</font>
I do take my ancient Toshiba along. I get alot of writing done while inflight (on longer flights, at least) or in between flights in the airline lounges.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">No doubt you are already planning your next trip in BA First with all of those AS miles!!</font>
You better believe it! I've already booked my seats for April.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">If you ever decide on a second (or third, forth or fifth) career, you could be the dude who writes the menus. You've got it down.</font>
Besides collecting airline menus since the Seventies, I also used to write (as in calligraphy) menus for restaurants. I reckon I've got a feel for the lingo now...
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">You must/should have received an A+++ in English Grammer and Composition</font>
English never was my favorite or best subject though I did manage a B average in it. Until these Trip Reports, all I ever wrote were a few reports, letters and postcards. I read alot of trashy NYPD novels, WP Kinsella, Ed Abbey and all those military techno thrillers though. Maybe I picked up something. Thanks for the compliments!
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Another enjoyable report!! It's a shame for us that you don't have any upcoming flights...</font>
I do have more upcoming flights. In about a week, I'll fly American down to Orlando and get my first flight on an AA 777. Then, after the Magnoliafest, I'll fly Northwest out to San Jose, CA and back to Orlando, then back to Denver on AA. Next day, it's on to Alaska in First Class via Alaska Airlines. What - you want a n o t h e r report?!! 