2017 Day 2

The day started with a quick stop at the observation area for one of the biggest and most important dams in the world - the Hoover Dam east of Las Vegas. We had some great dam views but there were too many dam visitors there.

Then 50 miles on back roads - these back roads were on the original Route 66 - "The Mother Road" in Arizona. We stopped and met people in little towns like Hackberry, Valentine, Peach Springs, and a couple others. At one little burg, we did our first good deed of the trip. We saw a Jack in the Box and when Pee Wee and I see a Jack in the Box we stop to partake in one of our staples from our high school days - their greasy tacos. The drive-through cashier must be one of the most upbeat fast food workers in the country. We took the time out of our day to let him know what we thought. We put the car in park, asked him to stop what he was doing, and to listen to us. Then we proceeded to tell him what a great worker he is and to not change a thing about his way of doing things. His gigantic smile made us feel great.

Then lunch at The Road Kill Cafe in Seligman, Arizona. That really is the name and the service was so slow that we were afraid that they actually did go outside and find some roadkill to put inside of some buns for our lunch.

Pee Wee and I visited The Grand Canyon during our first trip, but Barry had never seen it so it was an easy decision to go again in order to record Barry's reaction to one of the biggest tourist attractions and one of the most majestic vistas in the entire world. The Grand Canyon didn't disappoint and neither did Barry - his reaction was priceless. I counted 10 "Holy Smokes!" and 4 "This is insanes."

We headed north after The G.C. and stopped at a Native American roadside jewelry stand near the Colorado River Gorge. We met the owner - Anna - her easy name - her real name sounds something like Sklabesa. We know this - she is an amazing woman. We have few inhibitions on this trip so we asked her a few questions about herself. Soon she had told us some of her life story. She  told us she grew up ... "up there," and pointed to the top of some close-by steep and desert-like mountains. No water and no electricity until very recently in her 50 years of living. Her work ethic is a 10, but her gentle and kind spirit is incomparable. We all wanted to repay her kindness so we good deeded her by buying some jewelry we were not at all interested in buying.

So two good deeds today, nothing amazing about them but two we probably would not have done back home. We're staying in Page, Arizona tonight and I expect that our first stop tomorrow morning may bring some more "Holy Smokes!"