We had breakfast at the hotel. As we were about to leave a "trucker type" approached us and asked if we wanted any advice from a local. He and his friend smelled to high heaven and Julayne later threatened to take them both out back, hose them down and scrub them from head to toe and burn their clothes. But he was nice enough and shared how we could get into the Grand Canyon for free and not have to worry about parking. We didn't end up taking his advice but had we been around for much longer we might have.
The last forty minutes into the Grand Canyon were on a one lane highway that periodically opened up with a passing lane. Since we were no longer on a true highway we had to deal with a range of drivers, including those who were content to putter along at a few miles an hour. What was crazy was that so many people were in such a hurry that they were willing to pass over the double line heading into oncoming traffic. Each time they did this we held our breath and hoped they made it back to the proper side in time.
As we got close to the entrance a long line formed while everyone paid park entrance fees. On the right side we passed a National Park sign reading 'Grand Canyon National Park' where there were tons of tourists taking pictures. The woman in the car in front of us hopped out to get a picture too. Perhaps she thought she had plenty of time since the traffic was bumper to bumper. But then we moved up a bit, and again, and again. Her husband didn't pull over and we looked back and got a bit worried when we didn't see her on her way back to the car yet. Soon the sign receded in the distance and the park entry gates were in front of us and her husband had yet to pull over leaving her to walk quite a ways, possibly a mile. Concern turned into laughter at the fact that her husband drove off and left her. Clay assured me he would never do that to me. I assured him I would have more sense than to have gotten out of the car at that point.
Within ten minutes of entering the park, we were parking in the third lot at the overlook - the first two were already filled though it was only 10:30 in the morning. We walked hand in hand to the most breathtaking view of the Grand Canyon. There are no words to accurately describe this wonder of the world so we will let the pictures speak for themselves.
Everyone was buzzing with energy and some people had a little too much. One guy not too far from us jumped over the rail and walked out on a rocky protrusion to pose for a picture. As we watched in horror he mimed losing his balance or taking off in flight. Mind you there was nothing beneath him but a fall of thousands of feet and a landing on sharp craggy rocks. We had to look away. Finally someone in his party convinced him to come back to the other side of the railing. All we could think about was Superman when the kid at Niagara Falls was playing on the wrong side of the bannister and fell. We were just glad he got back safely. 
We spent quite a while taking in the view. As it neared noon, the temperature warmed up considerably, so much so that we were happy to be leaving while many were still arriving and searching for parking in the filled lots. As we got back on the highway, we were still enthralled by the amazing beauty of the canyon. So enthralled that we didn't notice we were headed into a stretch of uninhabited mountainous terrain with only a quarter tank of gas. As we approached the mountains we noticed lightning in the distance and in the mountains we hit a patch of dense rain that dropped visibility to fifteen feet in front of the car. We crept along cautiously trying to ensure we stayed on the road and as we headed down one slope we noticed a patch of sunlight in the distance and focused on it knowing that the rain would be over shortly. When we reached the patch, the rain cleared up and we continued. But the gas tank level continued to lower and we still hadn't spotted a gas station. We desperately checked and rechecked the instrument which stated the number of miles we had left to go until empty and then we continued to wind our way through the mountains with no gas stations in sight for mile after mile. The atmosphere in the car grew quiet and tense. We turned the music off and stopped talking and to conserve gas we turned down the A/C and reduced our speed. Every ounce of energy was spent willing the car ahead to the next filling station. And then we saw it! Not a station, but a sign stating the next station would be found in under the number of miles we had left until the tank was empty. Still we didn't relax until the tank was full.
When we approached the border between Arizona and California, unlike all the other state borders we have crossed on this trip (Illinois to Iowa, Iowa to Missouri, Missouri to Kansas, Missouri to Arkansas, Arkansas to Louisiana, Louisiana to Texas, Texas to Oklahoma, Texas to New Mexico, and New Mexico to Arizona) this one required a complete stop. I turned down the music and took my compression sock-clad feet off the dashboard.
The man asked if we were coming from Illinois.
Clay said yes.
He asked if we had taken 66 the whole way (as in Route 66, one of the original highways, established before cars went fast, which served as a major path for those who migrated west during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.)
Clay said we had taken a lot of different highways.
The man said that was cheating and that we would have to go back and take Route 66 this time. I laughed.
Then the man was silent. Clay removed his sunglasses. The man said this was an agricultural stop and he wanted to inspect any fruits and vegetables we were carrying.
We told him that we had eaten everything we had and he waved us on.
A while later we stopped in the mojave desert for a meal. We didn't realize how hot it was until the waitress told us (115 degrees of dry heat) but on the way from the parking lot into the restaurant I noticed my necklace heating up on the back of her neck. We wondered why if it was 115 people were wearing jeans and long-sleeved shirts.
The waitress said you kinda get used to it, you know?
We said we didn't.
She said when she first moved from Albuquerque she wore shorts and t-shirts in the winter but by the next winter she wore a big jacket and thought 80 degrees was freezing.
And on we drove. We stopped in Barstow to fill up and since it was only four in the afternoon we decided to push on. We considered stopping for the night in California City but Clay soldiered on and pushed through to Bakersfield which would allow us an easier day of driving and more time to visit with one of his friends on Monday before heading into the Bay Area. So on we drove - booking a hotel in Bakersfield on the way - winding down through the mountains with our ears popping along the way and the multitude of stars above sprinkling in the dark night sky.
And then...I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. As we were headed downhill winding through the mountains, we saw something jet out from the grassy median and flash by in the glow of the headlights not five feet in front of the car. Something furry and long-legged, standing as high as the headlights themselves, moving horizontally across the lanes. Perhaps gray or tan in color. We both winced and waited for the impact that never came. The last thing we saw was the tail illuminated by the headlights as the coyote loped into the darkness.
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