Day 3

Our hike

Walking/swimming through the pools

Today as Miles and I awoke we had breakfast duty.  Brendan and Carson were teamed up with us and we were all tasked to make “scromlets.”  A scromlet consists of scrambled up eggs with omelet ingredients mixed in. 

This trip is constantly getting more and more awesome.  There were not really any rapids of note today, but some were sure big enough to get your heart beat up.  We also hiked up another side canyon; this one was made of limestone so it was very slick when it got wet.  Of course all of our shoes and feet were wet because we were also hiking through pools.  The whole canyon had a sort of terrace design where you would go through a big pool, and then you would scramble up the rock to the next layer.  At the top there was a pool that was about fifteen feet long by eight feet wide and twelve feet deep.  Some of the people climbed up above it then slid down into it, which looked pretty cool.  This was also the site of the famous battle cry, "I will not give in to peer pressure!!!"





Ha ha little ant people

We stopped for lunch at a place called Red Rock Cavern.  It was a huge hole dug back into the rock that seemed the size of a football field.  When you looked at it with the perspective of people standing in it, the people looked like ants.  Later in the day, back on the river, we stopped off to refill our water at this amazing spring that just appeared right out of the rock.  It was a crazy sight to see, there you are in the middle of the desert, and boom there is water flowing out of a rock.  It looked like a little oasis of green amongst all the brown. 

A beautiful sight, not something you expect to see in a desert.

Right before camp we stopped off to see some fossils of what used to be ocean life, it was kind of cool to think of that part of the Grand Canyon to have once been part of the ocean.  That night at camp we also broke out the corn hole game for the first time.  It was a pretty cool game but the similarities between the bean bags thrown and myself makes me uneasy around it, even though Miles promises he will not throw me.

The awesome game of corn hole

Fossils from the ocean





-SM-

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Day 2

Well I have good news; we did not swim the rapid below last night’s camp. 

Sunrise in the Grand Canyon

Today was adventure filled; it included an awesome hike up a canyon, and the running of a rapid called House Rock.  House Rock is one of the handful of really big name rapids on the river.  It definitely lived up to its hype.  At the bottom of it there were two huge waves.  As we hit the first wave it nearly knocked Miles out of the boat.  He hung in there and recovered just in time to take on the next one.  The raft had gotten sideways a bit and was rising up the side of the wave.  Miles threw all of his weight to the high side of the raft to try to prevent a flip, and the wave crashed down drenching him, Tom, and Frank.  The boat remained upright and the run was a success, nice job Frank. 

Our first hike up a side canyon

The hike went up a cool side canyon carved down into the red rock.  We hiked up where the water usually ran, while occasionally scrambling up the rocky hill sides when the ledges were too tall.  The destination was a nice wide, waist deep reflective pool.  Despite the heat, the pool was still there.



Will wading in the pool which was the destination for our hike



-SM- 

P.S. Please favorite or subscribe to the blog, and friend spike on Facebook, if you have not already.  His page is http://www.facebook.com/#!/spike.miller.106

Day 1

So when you go to bed at dusk you wake up earlier, who knew?  Due to this phenomenon, the same Miles who could barely get up at 7:00AM to go to Venice just naturally awoke in the 6:00AM hour this morning.  We grabbed a hasty bite for breakfast, and then set about breaking camp and loading boats. 

Round about noon, after our ranger briefing, and getting everything loaded in a satisfactory manner, we hit the water.  The feeling was amazing.  There we were, floating down this beautiful rushing river on our big grey 18’ raft. 



Our first camp site



We encountered several small riffles and one real rapid this day; it was called Badger and had 5 out of 10 rating.  As I looked at it, I thought, “Wow if this is a 5 then a 10 sounds scary as hell.”  We made it through in style though, many thanks to the expert oaring of my raft captain Amanda! 

We stopped for camp right above the next big rapid we came to.  We get to listen to the rushing water all night, and the question is… will we swim on this one?

-SM- 

P.S. .  Please favorite or subscribe to the blog, and friend spike on Facebook, if you have not already.  His page is http://www.facebook.com/#!/spike.miller.106

Prep Day

Well we woke up in Flagstaff today; it’s nothing like any story of Arizona that I have ever heard.  Tall pine trees grace the mountains, and the weather is cool and rainy.  It’s very confusing to me.  Soon after though we all loaded on a bus, and departed for the Grand Canyon!!  We drove through pine forests, shrub forests, and barren rock desert all in the matter of a couple hours.

 We arrived at the mouth of the canyon, there were huge rock walls rising up behind us.  We would occasionally gaze upon them as we blew up the boats, and began loading.  We had to put everything on board that we would use for the next sixteen days so it was mind blowing how much gear, food, and alcohol we were able to cram on to four rafts.

In stark contrast to Flagstaff, the put in was picture perfect Arizona.  It had cactus all over the place, with small brush along the river, and the sun scorched everything it touched.  The water, however, is released from the bottom of a dam so it was cold to the point of hypothermia.  Looking around, awe is the only word that comes close to describing my feelings of what is about to unfold.   

-SM-
P.S. I must apologize but no pictures were taken on prep day, tomorrow will bring about the first photos of the Canyon.  Please favorite or subscribe to the blog and friend spike on Facebook if you have not already.  His page is http://www.facebook.com/#!/spike.miller.106

The Grand Canyon

Hello friends,

As many of you know Miles and I had the privilege to take a very amazing sixteen day rafting trip on the Grand Canyon a couple weeks ago.  There was a rough journal of each day kept, and pictures taken on most days. Over the next sixteen days, I am going to try to show you, day by day, what happened on that trip.  I hope you all enjoy seeing and reading a firsthand adventure through the Grand Canyon.

A Farewell to Italy

Well friends, this will be the last post for the Milan trip.  I have been thinking of the best way to end such an epic adventure.  Finally, a conclusion was reached, they say the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach; well, the same is true for dogs.  What is a more fitting way to show tribute to Italy than to talk about the food? 

We have already discussed gelato, and in reference to the previous post about it, the masters cup in my opinion consists of mango, peanut butter and the city, and (the overall winner) lemone y menta.  Oh wow I am having cravings just thinking of it, gelato withdrawals.  We have also touched on the 2.50 euro pizza, which was a major contributor to my diet during my stay.  Along with these, the apertivo happy hour buffets were amazing.  They usually consisted of several types of pasta and rice dishes with some ships and sandwiches.  It was a great way to explore several different kinds of food, without having to buy each as a meal. 

 The grocery store, in addition to supplying basics for me to cook with, was a godsend with its cheap watermelon and chocolates, both of which I took full advantage of.  Several places offered various kinds of sandwiches.  These were made amazing in so many ways mostly due to the superior Italian sandwich meats.  Prosciutto and salami spiced to perfection, cut so thin and delicately, that is practically melts in your mouth.  The bakeries presented temptation beyond imagination, often we indulged with a cannoli or cookies.  For the grand finally there was a small restaurant across from the showroom Miles worked in for the last couple weeks.  The menu was all in Italian with no English translation (the true sign of a good place) and anything that you ordered was superb.  We enjoyed a wonderful plate of linguini with pesto, there was gnocchi, pasta with marinara, risotto, and on the last day to top it all off I dined upon the best tiramisu of my life, and I have tried a lot of tiramisu. 

Thank you Italy for a wonderful summer experience, and the wonderful food that we were privileged enough to enjoy there.  The adventure was beyond imagination and expanded our lives in many ways.  In closing, I would like to share this from the wall of the restaurant: “for good food and friends, for health and happiness, for staying young while growing old we give thee thanks.”


-SM-

The Summer "It" Spot

Well hello again friends.  At this point, Miles and I have returned to New York City, and will be doing the last couple posts about our Milan trip. 

There was one more place, which I feel absolutely merits mention.  There is a gorgeous outdoor square that rests in front of an old church.  It’s called Colonne di San Lorenzo.   Of the day you can go there, and usually you will find people sitting on the benches, or among the pillars.  Everyone is talking, drinking, and generally enjoying themselves.  As the night progresses, the entire plaza fills up with groups of friends.   People share drinks and music in circles as they laugh, and enjoy each other’s company.   It is a great hang out for the young people, and the artistic types, to all enjoy during the summer.  



Colonne of the night



Colonne of the day



After being introduced, it was fast to become one of the favorite places for Miles and I to hang out.   Many were the night where beers were loaded into the satchel, and we would venture off to Colonne to drink, read, write, and simply enjoy the atmosphere.   If any of you happen to find your selves in Milan, I would recommend taking the time to enjoy this experience. 

-SM-