Much of the prior day was spent in transit from Boston to Phoenix and then from Phoenix to Boston. Needless to say there was some anxiety involved in getting on a plane and flying again, after the events of September 11. Increased security at the airports was obvious but would it do any good? I have noticed some problems before and those problems did not seem to have been addressed as yet.

After arriving in Phoenix we rented a car and headed north to Flagstaff, to see Ranger Chuck and his new digs. He had graciously invited us to spend the night and we took him up on this offer. We got to meet his mom and dad, who were also visiting and seemed like wonderful people.

Anyway, I slept very good and woke up around 6. I read a little from an eBook on my Pocket PC and finally got up and out of bed around 7, and had some coffee with Chuck. His dad made pancakes and eggs for us all for breakfast. After taking a shower the rest of the morning was spent watching him and his dad do work on the house and taking some photos of the him, the house and the dogs. His dogs, Rez and Roxie, are great.

We leave around 10:15 to head over to Grand Canyon Pioneers Society annual board meeting. It was nice to see Bill Suran, Tom Carmony and others that I don't get to see very often. Mike Coltrin showed up for lunch and the presentation at Northern Arizona University which followed. The presentation was about the book Sunk Without A Sound: The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde by the author, Brad Dimock. I picked up a copy of the book and had Brad sign it. The presentation was a very good and we didn't get out of there until around 3 pm.

After the presentation we said our good-byes to people and went shopping for food and socks/fuel. We finally start up to the Canyon a little after 4 and get there around 6. We checked into The Grand Hotel in Tusayan and also had dinner there. It was our first time staying at this fairly new hotel and although I would always prefer to stay at one of the lodges in the park I must admit that The Grand Hotel is a very nice place. After dinner we started packing up backpacks, watched a little TV and then hit the sack.