Day 5: Meat Machine’s Redemption

-7am
Wakeup

-8am
Depart Watchman Campground within Zion National Park

-8:15am
Ate breakfast at a local cafe, explained to them that we are trying to fix Meat Machine after it obliterated a dumb deer, and that we had tried calling “bill” the local mechanic about 100 times with no answer. The people at the shot told us to drive about 15 miles down the road to a place called “Road Runner Auto” which would be able to help us out much faster and cheaper than “bill” would

-9:15am
Grafton, Utah. This stop was at a ghost town right out side of Zion National Park. The town became abandoned after years of flooding, and the lack of electricity when other areas near the town were well equipped with electric power. In 1930 a movie called “Arizona Kid” was filmed here, and somehow, people actually lived in the town until 1945 when the last squad moved out

-10am
Hurricane, Utah. Stopped in at the Road Runner mechanic and had him take a look at meat machine. The guy said that Meat seemed to be running fine and that we should head up the road to a junk yard to buy some used headlights. We headed up the road and instantly stuck out when the guy told us he didn’t have any that would fit my truck, but knew someone that did

-11am
Junk yard #2. This dude had a brand new headlight assembly (the top part), and a crappy used bottom turn signal. After some digging around in his warehouse, he came back out with the pieces we needed, and we were off and running. The meat machine was ready to roll, and so were we

-1pm
Walmart, somewhere in Utah. Stopped in to grab a turn signal bulb, and to grab some dinner for the night. After installing the headlights with a crap ton of zip ties and duct tape, it was time to repair ourselves. We took the next hour or so to change our clothes, brush our teeth, cut our nails, clean out our garbage… You name it, we did, all in the Walmart parking lot. We’re not homeless, we’re just living good

-2pm
Back in Zion National Park, driving through this time with an intact vehicle. This place is massive, and is filled with huge valleys and cliffs, I really wish we could’ve spend more time here, but one day we’ll make it back

-3:20pm
After making our way thru Zion, we were headed to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, our final destination. On the way there however, we had to pass the crime scene of where Meat Machine obliterated the deer. I hate that deer

-4pm
Random road somewhere in Arizona. This was an incredibly straight road, so we whipped out the drones and longboards and went for a ride

-5:45pm
Vermillion Scenic Road. This place was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. It was a wide open, 100+ mile open valley with cliffs on either side. Here’s a drone pic, but no picture can actually do this place justice

-7:25pm
Stopped for gas in Cameron, AZ. Greg is dumbfounded that they have a “McCalister’s Deli” at this gas station. This kid is definitely not a member of Mensa (a high IQ society for children)

-8:45pm
Mather Campground, South Rim Grand Canyon. We finally made it. Holy crap our campsite is in the middle of nowhere, and there is literally nobody within a 1/4 mile of us. It’s pitch black outside, it’s about 29 degrees, and supposed to drop down to 11 degrees by 5am. I really don’t know if we are going to make it on this one. Backup plans right now are: 1. sleep in the car and turn the engine on every couple of hours to warm up. or 2. find the nearest hotel if it really gets that bad, before we freeze to death. I think we’re going to be alight if we layer up enough, but holy crap its cold. I’ve never seen this many stars in my life at one time, but because I literally cannot feel any part of my body I can only look at a them for a split second before I rush back into the warm car. Tomorrow is our helicopter ride and we are beyond pumped to finally rip it up in the grand canyon