The scenery and terrain changed drastically and quickly again as we found ourselves going up, up, up a gravel road-in-progress. Before long we were in the middle of a high country pine forest with clean, clear air and wildflowers and trees all around.
When I get to the bottom, I go back to the top of the slide
Then I stop and I turn and I go for a ride 
Turning down toward Grand Canyon's North Rim we entered a valley of mile-long lush meadows and wide open spaces. Wildflowers of every color were all around. We were having trouble keeping up with the shock waves of the constantly changing landscapes. Every half hour put us into something new, something completely unexpected.
We arrived at our campground and found our site -- this time we had soft ground, trees all around, and forest-sounding silence for company. Lucy was finally able to get out of the back seat -- she ran around saying, "I love this place!" and we felt that now we were really camping. We were experts at pitching the tent in minutes by now. Lucy ran around chasing birds and Kaibab squirrels while we set things up in the twilight. Jason had to wash the mousse out of his hair because it was attracting flies; we were now officially casual. We built a fire and roasted hot dogs. The forest sounds and smells were relaxing and cleansing. Thunder was crashing around over us, getting louder and the lightning getting brighter -- fortunately by the time the rain came we had finished all our work and ducked into the tent. It didn't rain for long and when we came out we noticed the rangers driving by for the 5th or 6th time. We decided they were curious about where we'd moved our table to this time.
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There was a definite chill in the air and we all had to pull out long pants and sweatshirts. Jason built a beautiful fire, the sky cleared to twinkling stars, and we sat out talking, drinking beer and smoking until late. We hadn't even seen the Grand Canyon yet, even though we were right next to it. But we knew it would still be there in the morning. This was a great day.
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Come with me into the trees
we'll lay on the grass, let the hours pass
Take my hand, come back to the land
where everything's ours for a few hours
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