Today we got our earliest start so far. Knowing that it would reach at least 100 degrees, we woke up at 4:30 and got on the road within an hour. Our destination, Marble Canyon, was 75 miles and included a 3,000 ft climb in the middle. Even though we started early, it got hot quickly. We ran into some road construction, but were pleasantly surprised by how helpful the construction workers were. One of the ladies working led us through in her truck with flashing lights so we didn't have to battle any traffic. The last few miles of the ride were downhill into the canyon. We stopped at the beautiful bridge that spans the Marble Canyon and Colorado River. It was cool to see the river so close (after catching only glimpses of it from afar at the Grand Canyon). 

The only campground in the area was at Lee's Ferry, which was about 5 miles from Marble Canyon. At this point, we really didn't want to bike any further. Plus, there wasn't anything else near the campground (no restaurants, stores, etc.). We decided to hang out by the Chevron gas station since they had an air-conditioned laundromat. We also were able to take showers there for $2.00. 

While we were lounging in the laundromat, we saw another touring cyclist come by. He stopped in to say hi and introduce himself. His name was Nico and he was from Germany. He just recently started his tour in Flagstaff and also plans to bike to San Francisco. However, he has to be there by early July since he's already booked his plane ticket home. After talking for awhile, we decided to camp together and bike together the next day. 

As always, we got hungry and needed to eat something. We had already eaten lunch and the one and only restaurant in town, so we opted to cook. We boiled some water for Ramen noodles. While cooking, a man came up and introduced himself as Charles. He lived across the street and invited us to stay at his house. Naturally, we said, "Yes!" 

His house is the only one on the side of the road opposite the bridge. His yard is basically a desert with the Colorado River cutting through. From his window, we were able to catch awesome views of the Chocolate Cliffs and Vermillion Cliffs. We were going to camp outside, but we decided to stay inside his house on the floor so that we wouldn't have to pack up our tents in the morning. We wanted to get up at 4:30am again to avoid the worst of the heat. 

A big thanks to Charles for his warm hospitality!! We hope he continues to host more cyclists in the future!