Crazy Pants and Bike Tours

I'm sitting in the quant little couchsurfing guest room that our generous hosts provided us with in Fresno, CA. There's a beautiful Singers sewing machine table to my left and some wide open windows with bamboo blinds to my right. The house we are staying in is historic, designed by Henry Greene in 1917, and our room is connected to the kitchen and used to be the maid's quarters. But before I write about our stay in Fresno, let me recap the past few days:

Wednesday

Before leaving Albuquerque we discovered that they have an excessive amount of CrAzY pants for sale in a store called Buffalo's. It's pretty much the equivalent of Plato's Closet, but much better (the attendant stressed the fact that Plato's Closet and any other store like it is a knock-off of Buffalo's). By CrAzY pants I mean huge, linen, comfy pants, perfect for 9 hour days in a car. So if you happen to find yourself in Albuquerque one day, be sure to get yourself some CrAzY pants at Buffalo's. We also went to a delicious coffee shop called Daily Grind, best cinnamon toast ever. Seriously. We then headed towards the Grand Canyon south rim.

Thursday

First off, the bus system at the Grand Canyon takes about an hour to get anywhere, we suggest riding bikes, although some of the hills suck if you're a weak biker (like me). We took a day hike into the Canyon down Hermit's Trail, it's about a 5 mile hike round trip. For lunch we stopped on a wide ridge of the Canyon and ended up staring at it in silence for about 20 minutes. The Canyon is vast and beyond words. As we sat there munching on cheezits and granola bars and observing the Canyon with gaping eyes, I had the feeling that it is unconquerable. No matter how many trails we carve into it, or tourist attractions we cover its ridges with, it still demands awe and fear. At sunset we went to Hopi Point and watched the clouds turn purple as the rain tugged at their underbellies. Shadows crept around the ridges of the Canyon, dulling the colors and darkening its depths. Later we stargazed at our campsite. 

 

Friday

We left the Canyon in the early morning and headed to Fresno, where I'm sitting in the quant little guest room now. Our hosts, Stephen and Nancy took us on an amazing bike tour of the city. We went to an ice cream shop called La Reina de Michoacan (no I can't pronounce it). It's famous for its sherbert ice cream made with real fruit. Then we went to a pizza place called Milano's. I think my favorite part of our stay here was getting to wear a rad yellow reflective vest while we rode bikes. Stephen and Nancy are certified bike instructors so they equipped us well for the tour. 

Today

Heading to San Francisco!

-Stephanie