Five and a Half Hours Later...

       The trees are bigger, closer.  There are more people, less winded.  And the canyon is deeper, overwhelming. I thought to myself as Levi and I dragged our legs up the last few inclines of the Grand Canyon.  As we rounded the last bend, I could see the railings, and the trail head bulletin board, and a lot of people, and I knew we were finished.  With hunched backs and calves on fire, we strided up the incline.  As people passed we could no longer spare the extra energy of giving a friendly head node but kept our eyes focused on the finish.  I can only imagine the people's reaction to the sight of us,

      "What a wreck, maybe the hike is a bit harder than I thought," would probably be the typical response.

       My shirt was soaked in sweat, stained brown from all of the dust, and my facial expression was told people that I had a long day.  Levi was no better.  His earphones blocked out the noise of the excited  sightseers, his scruffy beard was magnified by the dust that dyed everything, and his giant backpack showed that he meant business.  

       As we approached the last few feet of the trail head, Levi turned around with a big smile and gave me a high five.  I slapped his hand with the little remaining energy I had left.  Although we only got looks of curiosity from the surrounding people and my legs barely had enough strength left to carry me to the finish line, in my head I was getting a standing ovation with my hands raised in victory.  

       As we walked past the end of the trail, I asked Levi, "You want to get one last look at the canyon?" 

        "I had enough of the canyon." Levi responded.

        I went over to the guard rail and starred down into the miles of deep, wide, brown walls of the canyon.  I climbed that, I thought. I am capable, I did it.  And with victory, a new appreciation for the canyon, and more respect for nature I took my last look than walked to the bus stop to take a seat.  

       That was a bit of our experience hiking the Grand Canyon.  It was super sweet, but extremely challenging at the same time.  

       The past few days we have also been to Yosemite National Park, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.  At these places we got to catch up with YWAM friends, Paul and Tina, and got to see God's crazy unique and awesome creations.  

      Next we will be heading to Fresno, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.  We plan on trying to utilize Mennonite Your Way, Couch Surfing, and Catholic Worker Houses more often.  We think it will give us a chance to hangout with locals more which we have found to be highlights of the trip.  So hopefully that will work out.  

      Keep us in your prayers,

      Much Love, 

      Levi and Elliot

      P.S. We found out that our car doesn't do to well on mountains, so keep that in your prayers.

Victory

"take my picture"

Our bearded sage friends we met at the beginning of the trip

gave us advice we have been following, 

"If you see something cool, stop."

So we stopped at this random lake in New Mexico.

Abandoned house in New Mexico.

Hmm...

Pit stop along a Texas highway

\

Drive by picture of the Alamo.  Parking was to expensive.

Oil thing

We went to Lakewood.  Joel Osteen is the pastor and 

apparently it is the U.S.'s biggest church.

The French Quater in New Orleans (Naw-Lans).