I woke up around 9:30 a.m. the next day and mom woke up earlier and took a shower. We started packing up all of our stuff while Doug took a shower. We made sure we didn’t leave anything behind. We walked into the area where they were serving food and found a place to drop off our luggage. I ordered a cinnamon roll, mom and Doug got a breakfast sandwich. I went and got a few other things from the gift shop. We finished eating and onto the car we go. We went through the doors and were blasted with the 103° heat. Mom had to catch up to us because she wanted a purse. We got to the parking garage and rearranged all of our stuff so it would fit better than when we arrived in Las Vegas. We threw away the garbage that we’ve accumulated over the course of the trip. I found my CD’s so we didn’t have to listen to the same songs over and over again. We left around 11:00 a.m. and went to find some gas and to get ice for our cooler. Gas was so cheap in Vegas. We drained the cooler and put the new ice in it and arranged our drinks so they could fit better. We packed up the car and we were on our way towards Henderson on I-15 and Lake Mead. As we got further and further away from Vegas, you could see it getting smaller through our back windshield. As we went through Henderson, you could see Lake Mead in the distance. We got onto US 93 and drove towards the Nevada/Arizona state line.
Just as we got to the Lake Mead Recreation area, we got stuck in a 3 mile back up nearing the Hoover Dam. 45 minutes later and we finally made it down to the dam. We saw tons of tourists, mostly Asians. We noticed that they were trying to build a by-pass for people who didn’t want to drive over the dam. We made it over to the other side and stopped for some pictures and to get some snacks and drinks from the cooler.
I took a picture with the Arizona sign and we took a few of the dam.
From there we were off to Kingman. When we got to Kingman, we stopped at the grocery store and used the bathroom. We also picked up some chips and cheese dip because it sounded good. We got back on the road and watched the desert turn into trees and cliffs. We got to Williams, where Route 66 snaked through, and got gas before driving north towards the Grand Canyon.
We started up Highway 64 and a bit later, we noticed the Flinstone campgrounds to our left. I actually remember those from when we came down to see Grandma Karen, many years ago. We made it to the town of Tusayan. We stopped at the visitor’s center because mom had to potty. Doug and I went in to browse. We signed the guest book and picked up some free brochures and fliers. I got in line and picked up our park pass for $25 bucks. We got back in the car and headed towards the gate and the South Rim of the canyon. We found the parking lot, parked and got a drink before we walked to the rim.
We made it to the first view point and stood there in awe. It was such as beautiful view. Breath taking. We got there as the sun was starting to go down in the late afternoon. That allowed us to see the shadows in certain areas of the rock formations and crevices. You could see the Colorado River just barely to the left of the main river valley. We started walking west towards the information center taking pictures as we went.
We definitely were the minorities. There were lots of people from many different countries, not a lot of English speaking people. Along the journey east, I’ve taken random pictures with my stuffed possum Jingles. I was really hoping someone would ask about him and someone finally did. An Italian couple had never seen a possum before and at first they thought it was real. I reassured them it was a stuffed animal and that he was along for the journey. Kind of like the Travelocity Gnome.
They nodded with a smile and continued on. We walked at least two miles down the trail before we decided to walk back to the car. We went back into town to look for a hotel and something to eat. Hotels were hard to find and the ones we did find were too expensive for what we wanted to pay. We decided we were hungry and like the entire trip has been so far, no one wanted to make a decision. So I said, we’re stopping here, at the We Cook Pizza and Pasta restaurant. We ordered, got our drinks and sat down. Mom got a salad so it took her a few minutes to join us at the table. A few minutes later, it seemed like the whole town showed up. “Aren’t you glad we got here when we did?” Our number was called and Doug went and got the pizza. “Oh my god! That’s a medium?” It was huge! I didn’t think we’d finish it, however we did. From there we went back to the entrance and took a picture of the Grand Canyon sign before leaving the park and heading east towards Cameron.
For some reason, it got dark really fast for what time it said on our clock. I knew Arizona didn’t observe daylight savings time but I didn’t know parts of the state did. We followed a retard from Nevada all the way down to where 64 met up with the 89, and they were going 20 under the speed limit the entire time. I was getting sick of him and we finally had a chance to pass him. We got to Cameron and we weren’t impressed with the selection of places to stay. We continued on to the next town. We finally got to Tuba City, which seemed like forever getting there. We got into town and a pair of horses ran through the middle of the highway near the stop light. I said, “Welcome to Tuba City, where horses roam wild through the streets.” Mom laughed. We found the hotel and went to see if there were any available rooms. We dropped mom off at the front and went to find a parking spot. She was able to get a room, which came with a comp breakfast, and we got back in the car and drove around back to our room. She told us the only available room was a queen bed smoking room. I was not happy. I really didn’t want my stuff to smell like smoke. I was proven wrong, however I left my pillow in the car anyways. The room was not that bad. It kinda smelled weird when you first walked in but then it subsided when we turned on the AC. We unpacked and relaxed a bit. I made a bed for Doug on the floor with my sleeping pad and sleeping bag since mom and I were sharing the bed. I took a quick shower and got on the internet. I posted our pictures on Facebook of our trip up to that point. Mom fell asleep and Doug was watching TV. While uploading pictures, I did some research about where we were. The Arizona Navajo Nation, a piece of Arizona that does observe daylight savings time. That’s why it got dark so fast. We lost an hour without realizing it. We went to bed because the next day would be very very long.
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