Havasu Day 1: The (long & boring) Drive

The driving photographer. I realize that after all this wait, this post will probably be a bit of a letdown, but you gotta start somewhere, right? Besides, my goal from here on out is a post a day until our recent trip is completely described and all of you never want to come back here ever again ('cause you'll be so bored). As a matter-of-fact, i'm not sure if any of you will actually be able to get through all of the posts before boredom overcomes you and you fall asleep and the site times out and you lose all desire to check it again.
My new 2.8 lb. tripod (that's light!)
So day one of our trip was actually pretty boring. And we didn't really have all that many pictures - i guess you'll have to use your imagination. (So i guess i could've posted this a long time ago then, eh?) For me, the day really began on Sunday, June 22nd - my birthday! I had to go to work that night. The original intent was for Jen to pick me up from work Monday morning and leave directly from there, but of course things didn't quite work out that way. The ballhead i wanted. I had ordered a new lightweight tripod and ballhead for this trip, and while the tripod had arrived as scheduled, Monday morning we were still waiting for the ballhead (which attaches the camera to the tripod) which had supposedly been overnighted three days ago. We were hoping it would arrive first thing Monday morning and then we could leave. But when i called i found out that somehow the part never arrived from their distributor to be shipped to me in the first place! Doh! So instead we hurried on over to the local camera store and bought a not-as-nice ballhead for more money so we could leave and I could use my new tripod. Oh, and on the way we stopped and grabbed our mail for the day, which was good because a few guide books i had been waiting for had arrived (yay for alibris.com). The lame ballhead i got. After picking up the ballhead we began heading our way down to Las Vegas, our first pit stop. Jen, as usual, was awesome and drove the whole way to Vegas so i could try and catch up on some sleep (we would have to leave on our hike the next day around 5 am and I had been working nights the past two weeks). We stopped in Vegas to see my sister and her family as well as my Mom who decided to skip my birthday in Vegas (and my sister thinks she's not spoiled - ha!). My sister had prepared a super yummy carb-loaded meal of noodles and shrimp (yay for pioneerwoman!). After a quick bite to eat we were on our way again, this time headed for Peach Springs. After sleeping (or trying to sleep) for the bulk of the 6-hour drive to Vegas i was ready to take over the wheel (at least until it got dark). In Peach Springs we tried to find my Aunt and her family. My Aunt Sheila, her husband, Pat, and their daughter, Kayla, as well as their friends Britny and Adam would accompany us for the first part of our trip down to Havasu Falls. But my silly Aunt had checked in under a different name and we couldn't find her. So on we went to Hualapai (pronounced wal-a-pie) Hilltop, the trailhead for our hike into Supai (the village in the canyon where we would be staying the next few nights). If only he could have done this at night! The drive from Peach Springs to the hilltop was in the dark and i was starting to get a little tired so i sped up a little to get us there faster - until i started seeing eyes reflected along the side of the road, lots of big eyes! There were animals all over the place! And big ones too! I figured ramming an elk would be the wrong way to start this trip and slowed down quite a bit and eventually had to pass the wheel over to Jen (isn't she great!).
We arrived at the packed trailhead sometime between 10 and 11, finally found a parking space and reclined our chairs and tried to sleep (yes, in the car). Of course we hardly slept at all, and a playful Aaron in the middle of the night didn’t help either.

More evidence of the drive-by photographer.
Uh no, that's not a radar detector - it's an XM radio receiver... or something.
Some people chose not to sleep on the way. But they were cute, so it was okay.
Summary:
Distance traveled: Over 650 miles
Time traveled (but not like Back to the Future): Over 10 hours
Total cost so far: $272 (inlcudes lame ballhead)