Grand Canyon, here we come!

We had a great time in sunny San Diego with Sean and Danielle.  We ate at their favorite restaurants, checked out their favorite bars, and visited Stone Brewery for a free tour and beer tasting.  Maybe the theme of the trip was pizza and beer. . . .

Stone Brewery

We stayed an extra day in San Diego so we could get some biking in (and stay in the warm sun) so we went out to Coronado Island and toured the bikeway.  Unfortunately it was very foggy, so we didn't get the nice views but we still had a great ride.  We stopped at Peet's Coffee and Tea for the best coffee ever (thanks Missy and Tom) and had lunch in Balboa Park again before meeting up with Sean & Danielle for some tasty cupcakes.

We left Wednesday morning, driving over to Mojave National Preserve and camped out near the Kelso Dunes.  We had an awesome campfire thanks to the super dry wood and just before I was crawling into bed, I spotted my first Kangaroo Rat!  He clearly had no fear of me since he was bouncing around my feet and checking out the remains of the campfire.  I snapped a few pictures and then heard a rustling in the bushes nearby which turned out to be a jackrabbit--what luck! 

Kelso Dunes

Sweet campsite and fire ring

Cribbage by the fire

Kangaroo Rat!

On to Sedona from there, stopping to fix lunch at a little place on Route 66.  The drive from Flagstaff to Sedona was absolutely gorgeous, winding through the canyon and the most beautiful rock ever. 

Roadkill Cafe on Route 66

We watched the sunset from Schnebly Hill Rd, listening to someone play the drums down below us right until the moment the sun actually set.

Views from Schnebly Hill Rd.

Not a great picture, but it gives you an idea of the view over town

Sunset!

We camped out in the national forest and got up early to explore the mountain biking.  We got a map at the local bike shop then set out to do a loop.  It was amazing!  Just look at these photos:

We had a great time biking then explored downtown Sedona (ho hum), then up to Flagstaff.  We wandered downtown and then checked out the artwalk scene before meeting up with friends (actually friends of friends) that were nice enough to put us up for the night.

We're loading up the truck now to head up to Grand Canyon to spend a couple days there before continuing on the big adventure.  Keep your fingers crossing for warm weather!