Grand Canyon: 9 Oct 2010

While on my trip to the Grand Canyon I kept a journal of my experience in order to create an after-the-fact travelogue.  This is the last entry of an edited version + photo essay of my trip.  ( First entry here) --- 9 Oct 2010 1530

The drive to Phoenix was uneventful.  I did finally get a cactus photo.

I also finally got to eat at an In-n-Out Burger after having heard its praises on the Giant Bombcast and countless other west coast podcasts.

Danielle and I each got a Double-Double (mine without cheese) and fries.  I have to say that it’s been oversold by you left coast people.  Yeah, it’s awesome for a fast food place.  It’s leagues beyond McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, et al.  But it’s basically the same thing as a Fat Burger or 5 Guys on the East Coast.  I’m glad I ate there, but it’s a bit overblown.  Here’s an example I found on lifehacker:

“I have only fallen in love three times in my life, and the first bite of that Double-Double was one of those times. The crispy bun complimenting the cool lettuce, the special sauce accentuating the fresh tomato, the sweet meat mixing with the salty cheese, all of it coming together in a harmonious medley of flavor thus far unseen on the American fast food landscape—I was smitten. It was the single greatest fast food meal in the history of civilization. Even though I was full, I immediately ate another Double-Double. I was nearly in tears at this meal, it was so transcendently excellent.”

I can’t wait to get back home to go through my photos.

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For dinner we ate at a local Mexican restaurant called “Asi es la Vida”.  The ambiance was great.  The food was pretty neat - no tacos or fajitas.  I got a filet mignon with onions, poblano peppers, and cheese of some sort.  I found it really tasty.  For the first 3/4 of our dinner we were alone in the restaurant and that was awesome.  What made it even better was the fact that a hired musician was playing acoustic spanish guitar.  The highlight of the night was when Danielle realized he was playing the opening song from the movie “Desperado”, “Cancion del Mariachi”.  Then, a few songs later he played “Mi Primer Millon”  by Bacilos, a song I really like.  Near the end of our dinner I went to ask him to play “El Niagra en Bicicleta” by Juan Luis Guerra.  He didn’t know that song, so he played “Bachata Rosa”.  He played and sang it so well that  Danielle could tell how beautiful the song was, despite not knowing too much Spanish.  Hearing it reminded me of my grandmother.  It was a great experience.  I enjoyed it so much that I left him a pretty big tip when I left.  The only thing that marred the experience was that one other group came in and, of ALL the tables around, chose to sit in the table right next to ours.

– Throughout this travelogue series I’ve included photos from the trip.  I’ve included only a small fraction of the photos I have available on flickr at my Grand Canyon trip set, which, in turn, is only a tenth of all the photos I shot on my trip.

Here’s the photographic equipment I used on my trip (with links if it’s still available new): Rebel XT Rebel XTi EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM Holga 120N Yashica-A Garmin eTrex HCx

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