Route 66 / The Grand Canyon

FRIDAY 15th JUNE

As we left Vegas we decided to have breakfast at Hashhouse A Go Go, which we had seen on an episode of Man vs. Food. One of their specialties is Fried Chicken Eggs Benedict, which Liam ordered. As you can see, the portions are generous to say the least.

I decided to try one of their hashes, which was served with mushroom, spinach, artichoke, sundried tomato and potato. On the side there were 2 poached eggs and a biscuit (which I have realised are basically scones, only here they are savoury, rather than part of dessert). Neither of us could finish our meals, even though they were pretty damn good.

Then it was on to Arizona. We decided to take a longer route so we could drive along the historic Route 66. But we made a quick rest stop where we found these...

Then it was off to Route 66. It turned out to be pretty barren. Apparently you can get your kicks here, but I don't know exactly what kicks they could be.

 

There weren't a lot of other drivers on the road so I decided to jump behind the wheel and give US driving a go. Its pretty easy on highways and Interstates, while driving in unknown towns and cities is more difficult.

We arrived in Flagstaff and settled into our room at the Ramada Inn. The next day would be our trip to the Grand Canyon.

SATURDAY 16th JUNE

Before we went to the Grand Canyon we stopped off at the Flagstaff Visitors Centre and bought our pass. This ensured that we didn't have to wait so long at the entrance and go straight through. 

The drive was over an hour to get there. Once we arrived we parked and walked up to another Visitors Centre before a short walk to our first view. As it comes into sight it is pretty magnificent, and the sheer size is quite awe-inspiring. Photos won't do it justice but here we go anyway.

Here was a tree stump where people had stuck gum and pennies onto it. Why? I dunno.

 We continued on walking around.

The urge when you first arrive is to just go nuts with taking photos, and certainly we were no exception. There are several viewing points along the rim and you basically walk around to the next one and take more photos. After about an hour or two, though, it does get a bit tiresome (it feels blasphemous to say that). Its worth making a trip out there to see it, but it probably would have been better to see the canyon from different perspectives and not just from the rim. There are tours that take you over in a helicopter, and if you're into hiking you can go down to the desert floor. However, these tours cost several hundred dollars. I'm glad we went, but we were pretty much done with the place after a few hours, so it wasn't the day long experience that I was expecting. 

Although, it did take a long time getting out of the park, as our GPS decided to go a bit screwy and told me to drive in the opposite direction to the sign saying "Park Exit", and we ended up being told to go down a road that all of a sudden was no longer paved. After a U-Turn, we decided to ignore the GPS and Liam used good old intuition to get us outta there. Of course, this happened the 2nd time that I decided to drive. Yeah, I stressed out but I managed to keep it together!